Feeding Baby Squirrels Without Breaking The Bank.
For over 16 years, I’ve raised orphaned baby squirrels with nothing more than dedication, instinct, and a bottle of high-fat milk. Not the fancy formulas. Not the commercial blends endorsed by rehab networks. Just a time-tested combination of cow’s and goat’s milk, enriched with care and real-world results.And for that… I was mocked.

My nickname on the Squirrel Board? “The Scalded Milk Man.” Rehabbers accused me of poisoning wildlife. Some even tried to have my license revoked. But here’s what they missed: nutritional truth hasn’t changed—it’s just been buried.

What Nursing School Taught Me—And Science Still Supports

Fifty years ago in nursing school, my early childhood development instructor said something I’ll never forget:,“Babies synthesize everything they need for growth and development from the calcium, protein, fats, carbohydrates, and simple sugars in milk or formula.”

That wasn’t hearsay. It was foundational biology. In fact, many modern studies still echo this:

• Protein and fats fuel rapid growth and neurological development.
• Simple sugars and lactose support brain energy metabolism.
• Calcium builds skeletal structure—without synthetic additives.

It’s how human infants develop. It’s how mammals evolved to survive. And it’s how my squirrels thrived.
The Rise of Formula—and the Fall of Common Sense
Don’t get me wrong—commercial formulas have their place. They’re standardized, shelf-stable, and formulated to reduce complications. Not to mention, Expensive! But they also come with blind spots:

• Formulas are not universally digestible by wildlife species.
• They contain synthetics and fillers that may disrupt natural metabolism. (Read the Label!)
• And they shift the burden from observation to routine. Rehabbers use what’s “recommended” rather than what’s proven by outcome.

When I see healthy, bushy-tailed juveniles bounding into the woods, I don’t need validation. Nature already confirmed what works!

My Results Speak Louder Than Protocols

Here’s what cow and goat milk have helped me achieve:

• Raised hundreds of squirrels with strong bones, excellent coordination, and resilient immune systems.
• Never lost a baby due to nutritional deficiency.
• Avoided expensive formulas without compromising outcomes.

In fact, when I scald cow’s milk to neutralize harmful bacteria and fortify it with healthy fats and probiotics, I create a biologically compatible solution. Not a compromise.

Documentation That Still Supports My View

Foundational Nutrition & Brain Development

• Cambridge: Early-Life Nutrition and Brain Development This Cambridge Nutrition Society article explores how nutrients like fat and protein shape brain architecture during critical developmental windows.
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/early-life-nutrition-and-brain-development-breakthroughs-challenges-and-new-horizons/DDFFD207A1D518AE614EDFBD7FF9F3EC
  
• CDC: Early Childhood Nutrition Report (2025) The CDC’s official report confirms that breast milk provides all essential nutrients for infants and supports long-term health and cognitive development.
  
• https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/media/pdfs/2025/CDC-Early-Childhood-Nutrition-Report-National-2025-508.pdf
  
  I’m Not Backing Down—And Neither Should You. They called me the Scalded Milk Man. I call myself a survivor of nutritional group-think. If you’re a Wildlife Rehabber, a caregiver, or just someone who trusts biology over branding—remember this:
  

“Nature already perfected milk. We just need to honor it.”

Thousands of people all over the world raise pet rats. Those that do report that rat are very affectionate and intelligent animals that develop strong bonds with their human caregivers. One big drawback to raising rats is the fact that they have a short lifespan. The average life of a rat is 3 to 4 years with good care and feeding.


One thing you may not know is that there is a substance that was discovered almost 90 years ago that was extensively tested on rats and discovered that it almost doubled their lifespan. The name of this substance is C-60 Fullerene, or C-60 for short. It is made by suspending nano-particles of carbon in a carrier oil such as olive oil. It's a process that is carried out in the dark due to light sensitivity of the carbon and requires constant stirring for 2 to 3 weeks then is vacuum filtered.


Life extension of the rats was only one of the amazing benefits that this research found. The following are links to the scientific studies carried out on this substance along with the findings.


Life extension: https://c60-france.com/media_upload/C60-Fullerene-Baati-Rats-Lifespan-Longevite.pdf


Anti- cancer effect: https://c60-france.com/media_upload/C60-Fullerene-anti-cancer.pdf


Increase in Cardiovascular Health: https://c60-france.com/media_upload/C60-Fullerene-cardiovascular-health-sante.pdf


No toxic side-effects: https://c60-france.com/media_upload/C60-Fullerene-in-oil-is%20non-toxic-toxicite.pdf


Improved brain function: https://c60-france.com/media_upload/C60-Fullerene-improves-brain-function-lifespan-mice-cerveau.pdf


Even with over 25 years of positive finding and benefits of C-60 Fullerene, the Food and Drug Administration refuses to take C-60 off of experimental status. No positive health claims are allowed to be made for it!


At SquirrelNutrition.com I've been giving my 11 ½ year old Eastern Gray squirrel C-60 daily for a long time and she is still going strong! We're also making this product available for anyone who would like to experiment with it on their own. If you opt to try it, we would appreciate any feedback of anecdotal information about results that we could publish on our website.


For further information please visit http://www.squirrelnutrition.com/carbon60.html

On or around April 2 of this year, (2018,) I received an e-mail from a man named Mark who informed me that he had a Chipmunk with blood in its urine. He had taken the animal to his Veterinarian who had tried several courses of antibiotics none of which had remedied the situation. I suggested to him that he try to catch a urine specimen on the animal and have it analyzed for the possibility of kidney stones or crystals in the urine.

From what he described, it did not sound good! His animal was bloated and passing blood in its urine. Apparently, the Veterinarian was able to get a sample of blood on the animal and also found that it had an elevated blood sugar level.

My first impression was that this animal was probably going to die because he was feeding it a normal diet that did not include anything but simple plant sugars, so for it to have an elevated blood sugar it probably meant that its pancreas was shutting down.

After I heard that the urinalysis revealed three different organisms including beta-hemolytic strep, I suspected that the strep was hemolyzing or destroying its red blood cells which were being passed through the kidneys and turning the urine dark.

I suggested to him that he give Colloidal Silver a try and told him how I would give it so as to let him draw his own conclusions as to how he would want to give it.

The gentleman gave me permission to reprint our conversations regarding his Chipmunk. So, here is our conversations:

April 2, 2018
Hi, Mark!
I can't tell you what to do regarding your chipmunk, because I'm not a Veterinarian.

What I can tell you is what I would do, and let you draw your own conclusions.

I can also cite some studies that have been done with Colloidal Silver so that you have information and findings that have been collected from research. Big Pharmaceutical Companies here in the United States have a stranglehold on what research gets funded and what doesn't. Only the research that supports patented medications that can produce a profit are the ones that usually get the funds!

Most of the time,you have to go outside the United States to find any credible studies about Colloidal Silver. But, here's one that was conducted in the Pathology Dept. of West Virginia University:

Colloidal Silver Kills 49 Different Strains of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs!

“In this clinical study titled “The Antimicrobial Efficacy of Silver on Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Isolated From Burn Wounds,” conducted by researchers at the Department of Pathology at West Virginia University, and published in the International Wound Journal in October 2012, a total of 49 different antibiotic-resistant bacteria were isolated from burn wounds and tested against silver. These deadly, drug-resistant pathogens included Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, multi-drug-resistant Vibrio sp, drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia, drug-resistant Escherichia coli, multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and 42 others. After exposing these drug-resistant pathogens to antimicrobial silver the researchers concluded, “…all forty-nine antibiotic-resistant bacteria showed susceptibility to the antimicrobial activity of silver…”

The problem is, even when these studies get published in Journals they stay buried there because Big Pharmaceutical companies are not interested in promoting or producing things they cannot patent!

If the Chipmunk is doing fine on Colloidal Silver, I would keep doing what you are doing and have him retested in a month. If he still tested positive for anything, I would add an antibiotic to the mix. Colloidal Silver has been found to work in synergy with most prescription medications.

Bill
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

April 2
Dear Bill,

This is excellent! Exactly the info I needed!

I suspected as much, that at the end of the day it seems that colloidal silver, (despite its obvious curative characteristics,) is being put aside in favor of antibiotic medications, ( produced of course by the big corporations,) so that the name of the game is big profit!

And, on top of that, I believe colloidal silver can and will kill the bacteria isolated in the urine!

Thank-you again for the info! I am aware that you are not a Veterinarian, nevertheless your advice I believe is true and a much healthier way to go with my Chip!

Moreover, it is significant that my own Vet has specifically suggested to me to check with you about a further course of action, stating clearly that he also values the quality of your opinion as an expert on squirrels. He was really surprised about the curative effect of silver (they probably uses only antibiotics in cases like this,) and his advice is basically the same as yours, but I wanted to know your opinion because it's very important to me!

Incidentally, how long can I give him colloidal silver in water? Are there any time limitations in your experience, side effects?

Thanks again, and best!
Mark
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

April 3
Hi, Mark!
I put a few drops of Colloidal Silver in all of my squirrels water bowls and lick-tube bottles on a regular basis. It keeps bacteria and algae from growing in the water. Studies have shown that silver is excreted from the body in the same way as other trace metals such as iron, magnesium, selenium, etc. They are excreted, through the urine, sweat,and the gut.

There are no know allergic reactions or tolerance resistance associated with colloidal silver. The only known side-effect is a condition called “Argeria,” which is a silver/blue coloration to the skin that could occur from drinking more colloidal silver than the body can excrete. In other words, this only can happen if someone massively overdosed on it, ( and I'm talking gallons of it over an extended period of time!)

Bill
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

April 12
Dear Bill,

Hi! According to your instructions, I had his urine analyzed, it was negative regarding calcium oxalate crystals (so no stones). That's the good news!

The bad news is that they also did a bacterial analysis of the urine. They found 3 different organisms, :Staphylococus aureus, Enterococcus, and beta-hemolytic Streptoccus (10⁵ CFU/ml).
The urine sample was collected on the 5th of this month, (April,) and I started giving him colloidal silver on 3rd of April up until today, ( April 12,) a total of 9 days.

Do you think I should continue to give him silver? Can it even kill those bacteria? Or, should I go back to giving antibiotics? He had two courses of antibiotics. The first was Feb 13 to 27 and the second March 18 to 31. Both were unsuccessful.

The Vet suggested that I ask you for a further course of action, ( by the way,he was surprised about silver as a treatment!)

The chippie seems better since starting the silver, no more blood in urine, he's no longer puffed and is eating normally.

So, what do I do,Silver or antibiotics?

Best, Mark
____________________________________________________________________

April 12
Hi, Mark!

As I had said before, if the Chipmunk is doing fine on Colloidal Silver, I would keep doing what you are doing and have him retested in a month. If he still tested positive for anything, I would add an antibiotic to the mix. Colloidal Silver has been found to work in synergy with other medications.

Bill
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

June 29, 2018

Dear Bill,

I just wanted to inform you that my little furry friend is fully OK, he's completely recovered, even sugar levels are normal , all thanks to the amazing properties of the silver!

All this, much to my Vets disbelief! His prognosis was a quick and painful death, fortunately, he was completely!wrong!

I do hope he'll prescribe silver as future remedy to other patients but I'm not sure of that, he's not really convinced, (Vet school apparently does not take silver seriously on account that only prescription medications are recommended as we previously discussed).

I wanted to thank you again for you help, it was literally a lifesaver!

God bless you and your family!
Best, Mark
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

If anyone reading this has a physical problem with one of their animals or even for themselves and would like to try Colloidal Silver please contact me at [email protected].

You can buy Colloidal Silver at any Health Food Store, but be prepared for sticker shock! Most places charge $20.00 to $30.00 for 4 ounces. We sell 4 ounces for $6.95 with postage it is an even $10.00.

We would love to hear more success stories from all of you!

To your health,

Bill

Why a squirrel will not eat a Nut Square / Nut Ball is a question that I am sometimes asked. Since the answer can be multifaceted, I decided to address it here in my Blog.

I've often said that raising a squirrel is much like raising a child. The difference is that what takes place over 18 years with a child, takes place in a year or less with a squirrel. The main similarity is that squirrels, like children, have their own distinct likes and dislikes. They also have their own distinct personalities. One squirrel can be very sweet and compliant, while another can be a royal terror.

The idea of personal likes and dislikes can be seen when you raise multiple squirrels at one time over a long period of time. You observe that what one squirrel will eat, another one will not touch. It's very obvious that they have their own unique likes and dislikes, and that extends into what they will and will not eat. So, personal tastes can play a role in what foods a squirrel will eat.

One thing that is pretty universal among squirrels is the fact that they like nuts. At first thought, it doesn't seem to make sense that a squirrel would not like a Nut Square, after all, it is over 80% Pecan meal. But, in the process of making them, people put different types of fruit puree in the mix. Some use peaches, some applesauce, some strawberries and even avocado. If the fruit that is used, is not one of the favorites of the squirrel, it is possible that the scent of that fruit in that Nut Square turns them off to eating it.

Another aspect of this likes and dislikes idea is that sometimes a squirrel is overfed. When someone writes with a squirrel feeding problem, I always ask how they feed. Nine times out of ten, the people with a feeding problem provide a smorgasbord of different fruits, vegetables and nuts, and allow their squirrel to pick and choose what it wants to eat. I also ask if their squirrel is allowed to have stashes of food hidden in their cage or habitat. Scatter hoarding, ( hiding food,) is a survival instinct that has no place in a captive situation.

A squirrel that is allowed to pick and choose what it wants to eat, very often becomes a problem eater. This can be a real problem when they refuse to eat something as important as a Nut Square.

There's one more aspect of squirrel behavior that I have observed by having my blind squirrel, Lucky for over the past 8 years. And, that is, that she does not eat a Nut square everyday. There are days that she will not touch it, so, I leave in her cage. What I do notice is, that she will nibble on it, and gradually it will get eaten. I also noticed that if I withhold a Nut Square for several days, she will often accept and eat it. Being blind and inactive makes it difficult to keep her from gaining weight, so we try to keep her in a state of being hungry most of the time, and we limit the amount of food she is allowed to consume.

What this tells me is that squirrels instinctively know and will eat what their body needs. In the wild, if a squirrel is needing calcium it will raid a birds nest and eat an egg, shell and all, or chew on the bones of dead animals. They instinctively know what their body needs and will eat accordingly.

All this brings us back to the question of how to get a captive squirrel to eat healthy. The first step is to quit the smorgasbord, and do progressive feeding. Squirrels in the wild do not get 3 meals a day of unlimited quantity. They eat what they can find and take full advantage of abundant times to prepare for hard times. Survival is the name of the game for wild squirrels.

Hunger is a powerful motivator when it comes to getting a squirrel to eat what you want them to eat. This is how you do progressive feeding:

First, you clean out all food stashes in your squirrel's habitat. Starting the next morning, you serve your Nut Square. If the squirrel turns up its nose at it, that's fine, it stays in the squirrel's bowl until it gets eaten. No other food is given until the Nut Square gets eaten. When the Nut Square is eaten, you bring on the next course. If the squirrel eats it, then the next course is served. This continues until the squirrel doesn't want any more food. Nothing is left in the food bowl.

In the evening, you serve what the squirrel will eat, and nothing more. The next morning, you do the same thing. Squirrels are quick learners. It doesn't take long at all for them to make the connection that eating the Nut Square is the way to get more food.

This is an adaptation of a technique my mother used when I was growing up back in the 1950's. It was a rule for my sisters and I that we had to eat at least one bite of everything that was served for dinner, or we would have to sit at the table until we did. My mother always grew a large garden, so there was always different vegetables that were served at meal times that weren't always our favorites. But, the rule was the rule, and it seemed that I was always the one who was opposing the rule. I think my record was to hold out until 8 PM for a dinner that was served at 6PM. If I remember correctly it was over a bite of eggplant. The bottom line is, today there is no vegetable, ( except for slimy Okra,) that I don't thoroughly enjoy eating!

Apparently, squirrels are quicker learners than I was!

In late July of 2015 a delightful young lady from Sri Lanka contacted me about a skin disease that she was treating on a female Palm Squirrel named Tishi. She was able to send pictures which revealed some kind of flesh eating disease that had engulfed the squirrel's entire tail, and was advancing onto the lower body. The squirrel was quite ill, and had started chewing the tail off segment by segment.
I had no idea as to what was causing this disease, but was willing to try to help her. After learning what she was treating it with, I made a few suggestions and agreed to send her an Immune system boosting herb to try. Time was not on our side, as it took over 3 weeks for my package to arrive. She was able to start giving the drops, and for a while, the squirrels seemed to be rallying. She said that it's appetite came back, but that there was very little change in the appearance of the disease.

Unfortunately, the treatment was too little, too late, because when the squirrel tried chewing off some of the last segments of the tail, it must have opened the artery and the squirrel lost a considerable amount of blood and died of probable hypovolemic shock secondary to sepsis.

Needless to say, we were both devastated that we were not able to help Tishi! A few days later I received another e-mail from this young lady. She had another Palm Squirrel named Timmy that developed a red, raw lesion on one of it's rear legs. She informed me that this was exactly how Tishi's condition had started, and wanted to know what to do. Since she had the herb drops from Tishi, I told her to start giving it to Timmy in the same amount. She sent me an initial picture of the leg.

About one week later, she sent a second picture. In this picture I saw a considerable amount of induration surrounding the lesion, something that the young lady described as “brewing up.” It somewhat had the appearance of getting worse, but within a few day she wrote and said that the lesion appeared to be going away. And indeed it did completely heal and go away.

Since that time, I have receive numerous inquiries, mainly from India, from people who had other Palm Squirrels with similar skin conditions. Each time I received these inquiries I would have them take pictures of the lesions, then I would forward them to the young lady in Sri Lanka to get her opinion on them. Since she still had a considerable amount of the herb left, she was willing to send some to these people to get their squirrel started on the treatment, so that I would have the time to mail more to replace what she had given.

Unfortunately, these people had waited too long to seek help, and their squirrels were already in an advanced stage of the disease. Every time we tried to make arrangements to send the herb, the squirrel would die before arrangements were made.

Over the past few months I've been doing research on flesh eating diseases that are endemic to that area of the world, and believe that I may have found what is causing this devastating disease in Palm Squirrels. I believe it is a condition called “Cutaneous Leishmaniasis,” a flesh eating parasite that is spread by the bite of sand flies.

I also found that the substance that I used as a diluent, preservative and carrier of the herb that I sent, was an effective treatment for this disease. So, it appears that the combination of these substances are effective in the treatment and cure of this disease.

The problem still remained about the time required to get this to people on time to treat their squirrels before it killed them! I believe that we just may have come up with a solution to this problem!

This same young lady, that initially contacted me about her squirrels, has agreed to join me as an associate and representative in her area of the world. We are in the process of getting her set up to compound and distribute this product to the people of India and Sri Lanka, plus any other area that it may be needed. Instead of a 3 week window, we are now going to be able to cut that time to a week or less!

I'm really excited to welcome this young lady, who's name is Shanaz, as she shares our same love and passion for squirrels! But, also the fact that she shares the same values and care for the people who love these little creatures, and will be helping us fulfill our company motto of, “Loving people, one squirrel at a time!”

If you, or anyone you know has a Palm Squirrel with a skin condition that resembles this, or is not responding to treatment, we have set up a Web page with information, pictures and a contact form that will enable us to get this treatment to you.

Please click HERE to access this page!

Let me preface what I'm about to say with this disclaimer: If you are happy with what you are feeding your baby squirrel, and the baby is doing fine, by all means keep doing what you are doing!

But, if you are not sure and are wondering if there is an alternative to commercial formula, allow me to lay out some facts for you to consider.

To begin, you should always read labels. What you will find on the label of most commercial formulas is the fact that they start with skim milk, then add fillers and finish up with a bunch of vitamins. At first glance, this seems to make sense, after all, who doesn't need vitamins? People should take vitamins to supplement what they are lacking. Because, if you take vitamins that your body doesn't need, especially the water soluble kind, you will simply pee them out. Many doctors will tell you that many people who take vitamins have the most expensive pee in the world!

This begs the question, " What vitamins does a baby squirrel need?" Here again I deffer to what most doctors and pediatricians say when asked the question, " What is the most important part of formula and/or breast milk for the growth and development of a baby?" Almost without fail they will tell you that it is the milk fat and protein in the formula or breast milk that is the most important component. Why the milk fat? Because babies synthesize everything they need for growth and development from the milk fat and protein!  Think about that last statement, that's why I underlined it. They synthesize everything they need for growth and development from the milk fat and protein!

All babies are in that unique stage of life where the main emphasis is on growth and development. Since doctors agree that everything they need in this stage is synthesized from milk fat and protein, why is there a need for formula to be fortified with vitamins?

The next question you should ask yourself is, " How much milk fat does a baby squirrel need, and does my formula meet that need?" Most Rehabbers cannot answer that question for you. But, I have an ancient research paper, that predates most modern formulas, that sheds some light on the milk fat requirements of squirrels. It was conducted by the Ohio State University back in the 1960's where they took a number of lactating female Grey Squirrels and milked them to analyze the contents of their breast milk. They were only able to obtain just a few cc's of breast milk and had to use ancient technology in their analysis. What they found was astounding! They found that the fat content of Squirrel breast milk ranged fro 12 to 24%. To put this into perspective, that would mean that Squirrel breast milk is second only to whale and seal milk in the amount of milk fat!  A PDF of this study can be viewed at: https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/5665/V72N01_003.pdf?sequence=1



I think it is safe to say that baby squirrels in the wild are raised on milk that is very high in fat. If baby squirrels require a high fat content in the wild, why on earth would you want a formula that has skim milk as the main ingredient?

As a note of interest, the above report by the Ohio State University also mentions that they were feeding their research baby squirrels a combination of whole cow's milk with canned condensed milk added. In other words, they were increasing the fat content of whole cows milk with high fat condensed milk to increase the fat content of their formula. It doesn't say that they were using some powdered milk re placer. It also doesn't say that their babies were dying horrible deaths because they were feeding them formula made from cow's milk!

The idea of Cow's milk killing baby squirrels is a lie that is intended to get you to fear and doubt the idea of ever feeding them regular milk. The fact is, that if you feed a baby squirrel Cow's milk without first boiling it, it can give them diarrhea because their immature gut reacts to the enzymes present in the milk. If diarrhea is left untreated, a baby squirrel can get dehydrated and develop an electrolyte imbalance. If an electrolyte imbalance is left untreated, it can cause a heart arrhythmia, which could lead to sudden cardiac death. All this can be prevented by bringing milk and cream mixture to a boil. Doing so destroys the enzymes and leaves you with a high fat formula that is perfect for baby squirrels at a fraction of the cost.

Some of you may be asking yourself, why would Rehabbers and Formula Manufacturers intentionally mislead people about formula? All I can tell you is to follow the money line. Formula manufacturers make millions of extra dollars per year by expanding the scope of their sales into wild animal rehabilitation. They send their "experts" to the various State Rehab' conventions to explain to the Rehabbers that attend, why their product is superior for various animal species, and present half-truths like the above mentioned diarrhea to death scenario as being the end result of feeding anything else. To seal the deal, I'm sure that lots of money gets dumped back into the coffers of State Rehab' organizations, in exchange for them promoting their products.

It irritates me to no end that this stuff takes place, but it does not bother me. My goal is to provide my readers with truthful facts, and let them draw their own conclusions. I've never lost a baby squirrel to a formula related problem, and I've taken care of babies that were within days of dying from severe malnutrition and advanced metabolic bone disease! My homemade formula has never failed me, and I have no financial interest that would motivate me to lie.

I've taken heat from a number Wildlife Rehab' individuals including a pair that once tried to get my State Rehab' license revoked for, "spreading lies about feeding baby squirrels Cow's milk." I've always patiently refuted all their arguments and even made my State's director of the Division of Wildlife laugh when I explained my position in the ensuing investigation. Needless to say I'm still allowed to rehab' squirrels! 

If you have any questions or comments, you can always contact me at [email protected].