My co worker found this little one yesterday. I’m a bit concerned because he was not using one leg. Yesterday he was eating vegetables but to me he seems too small for that. Today he is not doing well at all. Does anyone know what diseases they can get and how they can present? I’m kinda upset that she brought him here. I wanna help but I don’t want to compromise our health and our patients. So we booted him out of the incubator and I bleached it.

No idea on how to help, but good for thinking of your health and other patients first. Not to sound cruel, but it is a groundhog, nothing special. I'd try to find a wildlife rehab place and pass it along.

Cute little fella

as Tatiana said , they are a possible carrier of plague

I am sure your co-worker was well intentioned
there was one year we had over 100 tomato plants , I had to plant every start , as my wife couldn't let anything die , had lost a baby at 17 weeks that winter so I just planted everything as instructed.

but thinking long term what do you do with a human socialized ground hog keep it in a pen get it a gig on Feb 2nd or accept it is nature and there is no shortage of groundhogs.

one you have it in possession , you also can't release it in most states back to any where you don't own or have permission from the owner.

if it is not doing well , leave it veg and water and if it makes it fine if nature takes it also fine. hopefully your co-worker can understand that.

nature can be cruel but it is what it is.

Looks like $25.00 If I was doing my ADC work.

We did give him Nutrical and about 10 cc warm SQ fluids. Moved him out of the incubator into a box with a heating pad and plenty of blankets. We do have B 12 here . Thanks everyone

“ You learn more here by accident than elsewhere by design “

Osky

Well I wanted to put him to sleep because he started having labored breathing but my pal wanted to give it the b 12 and I said it’s gonna die. She just kept petting it. He just died.
I can’t stand suffering. These young ones wanna save everything

I would have suggested 22 oz east wing. I'm not a fan.

If you get another groundhog, or any other mammal needing nursed, they all thrive on goat's milk and goat's milk replacer.Goat's milk is the equivalent in milk of Blood Type O blood in blood. It works for all common mammals.

Keith

play a ground hog call on youtube, like a baby crying.

heres a video you could use:

This^^^^^^
Even chickens like

Don't lose any sleep about that groundhog suffering while you were trying to save it. Animals, wild or domestic, do not suffer pain or discomfort like people do. Their desire to remain alive is strong and is not hindered by any notion of suffering along the way.
A human breaks their arm with the bone showing and they freak out, go into shock and need an ambulance to get to the emergency room. A dog gets hit by a car and ends up with a compound fracture with bone showing, it looks at it and thinks, "Well, good thing I still have 3 good legs." and walks back home and then doesn't want to go to the vet.

Maybe it was attacked by a Hawk and got away .those talons can do a lot of damage

Shock is a big killer for rescue critters a little sugar water goes a long way to prevent them from crashing.

had 2 growing up. Apples but gave them warm milk each day . They are hilarious to watch in the yard...

I've raised alot of baby ground hogs.

I've never caught the plague.

Is it eating on its own? No milk?
If he's still on milk kitten formula qill qork.

He qill eat apples , beans, cabbage..Basically anything raised in a garden


They're good pets but protective.

Mine alwaya bit everyone but me.

Its dead.

Dead as a door nail. I feel bad, we tried. Babies shouldn’t die

A guy I knew dated a woman who worked as a vet tech and wildlife rehabilitator. Her entire freezer above her fridge and a small deep freeze were full of baby animals that she had tried to save. She had almost no space for food or ice, which I turned down. Some of the dead animals had been frozen for 12 plus years. She would take them out and look at them all and put them back. It was really creepy. I suggested that she should learn taxidermy.

I have freezers full of dead animals too, but I sell them and try to move them along. I don't reminisce, hold and cry over them. I don't keep them with my food either, unless they have been butchered.

Keith