Tips ~n~ Tricks » Pet Care » MYO: Wildlife Milk Replacement Formula

MYO: Wildlife Milk Replacement Formula

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In addition to being a complete waste of money, puppy and kitten replacement formulas will also kill orphaned wild critters, squirrels in particular.

Squirrels do not have the ability to digest albumin (which is a protein found in eggs, commonly found in most manufactured replacement milk). Here is a simple homemade wildlife milk replacement formula that is tried and true.

To be perfectly honest, most wildlife “rehabilitation” books & guides are not designed to actually save lives, they’re designed to end them. It’s a fact, albeit a sad one.

While we obviously recommend that you bring any orphaned baby to a rehabilitation specialist in your area, that’s not always possible. This little girl below was discovered by a neighbors dog who very proudly carried her home, she was in rough shape, dehydrated and cold.

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When To Feed an Orphaned Critter

BEFORE YOU START: Do not feed a cold animal!

If you just found an orphaned baby critter, be sure the animal is warm BEFORE you feed it. If it is cold, it will be unable to digest the food and will die. Place a towel over a heating pad and gently & slowly warm the critter before feeding.

First and foremost, if you have a pet nursing bottle, throw it away. It will NOT work for your squirrel. What it WILL do is cause them to aspirate formula and give them pneumonia (which is essentially SLOW drowning).

If you aren’t sure whether you can control the flow of the syringe or not, I recommend practicing with warm water so you don’t accidentally drown the baby critter you’re attempting to help.

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Having a vast variety of animals (horses, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, ferrets, fish, squirrels, etc) we keep several sizes of oral syringes on hand. They’re very inexpensive, you can pick them up for a dollar at places like Tractor Supply, Paris Farmers Union, Farm Supply Stores.

In the event that you don’t need them in an emergency for a critter of some sort, you can always use them to fill strawberry jello shots!

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See Also: Complete Nutrition Nut Balls for Squirrels

For a Full and Complete Detailed Rehabilitation Guide for Raising Orphaned or Injured Baby Squirrels (& rabbits) please see This Amazing Resource by Clarissa Summers. We have used her guide to successfully raise 23 squirrels (that’s a 100% Success Rate folks) and 2 baby rabbits.

Tried this recipe? Mention @Budget101com or tag #Budget101

Love this Wildlife Replacement Formula Recipe? Pin it!

How to MYO Wildlife Milk Replacement Formula for Orphaned Babies

Here are photos of Very Happy Healthy Squirrels who have been raised on the Scalded Milk/Nutball Diet.

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15 thoughts on “MYO: Wildlife Milk Replacement Formula”

  1. excellent advice. a quiet, warm place for the animal to rest between feedings is also important. use a small box lined with a soft rag.

    fill a bottle with warm water to act as a heater cover the box loosely with another rag.

    Reply
  2. Aww this article is so sweet. Next time i find a poor critter in the woods,

    I’m just going to pick it up and carry it home and make this amazing recipe!

    Seriously why bother ignoring it when I can try to save it’s life? There’s no need to treat wildlife like they don’t matter & I can’t stand people that act like if everything ends it “It’s going to die” “It’s going to die”…. So save it from suffering!

    Such a stupendous article……….

    Reply
    • Aww this article is so sweet. Next time i find a poor critter in the woods,

      I’m just going to pick it up and carry it home and make this amazing recipe!

      Seriously why bother ignoring it when I can try to save it’s life? There’s no need to treat wildlife like they don’t matter & I can’t stand people that act like if everything ends it “It’s going to die” “It’s going to die”…. So save it from suffering!

      Such a stupendous article……….

      Awwww, that’s so sweet of you! It’s nice to see people that actually give a damn about wildlife, there are so many self absorbed people in the world today that only care about themselves and tearing others down so I really appreciated your post!

      What’s up with your avatar though? :stars:

      Reply
    • Aww this article is so sweet. Next time i find a poor critter in the woods,
      Such a stupendous article……….

      Agreed! I seriously wish I had found this site a long time ago, I can’t believe the wealth of information that I’ve discovered here.

      Welcome to the site, self proclaimed “Troll”, lol! :purr::coffeebath:

      Reply
  3. the only part i would not do, is to microwave the milk. it has been found that microwaving food destroys any vitamins the food may have. (i suggested this experiment for my friend’s daughter’s science project: plant 2 seeds, each in their own pot.

    Water one with regular water and the other with cooled microwaved water. The one watered with microwaved water may not grow at all, but if it does, it will be quite stunted and malformed. The soil will also become hard as a rock, as the microwaving changes the water’s components.) I try to microwave very little, if at all.

    Reply
    • The only part I would not do, is to microwave the milk. It has been found that microwaving food destroys any vitamins the food may have. (I suggested this experiment for my friend’s daughter’s science project: plant 2 seeds, each in their own pot.

      Water one with regular water and the other with cooled microwaved water. The one watered with microwaved water may not grow at all, but if it does, it will be quite stunted and malformed. The soil will also become hard as a rock, as the microwaving changes the water’s components.) I try to microwave very little, if at all.

      The microwave “destroying” nutrients is a myth and has been debunked numerous times. The reason her seeds failed is because most seeds have a germination rate and it was by chance, now if she grew 10 to 20 of the same plants and all 10 failed or were shrunk, that might be something, but not 2. As a matter of fact, Microwaves Retain more nutrients that cooking on the stove, That has been proven.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.html

      Reply
  4. I recently found a baby chipmunk that my cat brought back, it has a broken leg, and should still be nursing, and when I found this site I got so exited and I thought maybe I can save it, but get this, I don’t have vitamin e drops….so I was wondering if there is anything else I can use?? I’m really worried about this little guy.

    Reply
    • I recently found a baby chipmunk that my cat brought back, it has a broken leg, and should still be nursing, and when I found this site I got so exited and I thought maybe I can save it, but get this, I don’t have vitamin e drops….so I was wondering if there is anything else I can use?? I’m really worried about this little guy.

      You can get vitamin E capsules at walmart, cvs, walgreens, target, pretty much ANY grocery store, poke a hole in them with a needle and add the drops. The issue with your little fellow is that he needs his leg set to properly heal. You should google a wildlife rehabilitation specialist in your area to see if they have a vet available to help him. If his leg is broke he may have other internal injuries or puncture wounds you’re not aware of.

      Reply
  5. Ok so last night I went do a little night fishing and heard a poor little critter in distress so I scan the area and wouldn’t ya know a baby nutria. Poor little guy was shivering out in the middle of a cane field so I put him in my pouch and continued on my way home. I took a few steps with my flash light back to the off position and behind me I heard another cry for help. I scanned the area for 15 minutes before I finally found the little fella crawling up the bank towards me so, I scooped him up too.. I finally made it all the way to the road with everything ready to go and yes you guessed it I heard another. So back into the field I went to search for their lost sibling. Now I have three baby nutria in my room and I’m just tickled pink that I have babies!!! Now that I’m a mother its my job to care for these little rascals till they grow up. I need help!! I’ve had one before but I think he was more a preteen. These barely have their precious little eyes open and one little guy looks very weak. I’m about to run over to tractor supply and get things I’m in need of. If anyone has anymore helpful tips or suggestions please comment back.

    Reply
  6. Can I feed this to baby mice? I found 4 in my chicken coop and I can’t seem to find a recipe without formulas or goats milk as I don’t have any.

    Reply
    • Yes, as posted in the article above:

      Carnivorous animals, such as possums, raccoons, kittens, and puppies do well on Scalded Milk with one or more raw egg yolks added per cup of milk. The “rule of thumb” is to omit the egg yolk with vegetarian animals but to add it for carnivores.

      Reply
  7. 3 stars
    Pretty good article except for one glaring error: many of the critters listed are omnivores, not herbivores. Wild mice, rats, gerbils, and hamsters all supplement their plant based diet with insects and in the case of mice and ESPECIALLY rats, scavenged meat. Their domestic counterparts are no different. I supplement the basic mixed food and blocks with dried and live mealworms and occasionally shreds of chicken breast. All my mice and gerbils LOVE the added protein.

    Reply

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