about my flyers

[country boy]

hi im trying this for the first time so hello if anybody can see this i have some questions about my new family members i have five flyers from my house and my two girls fell in love so i need advice on keeping them healthy and alive there are three girls and two boys will anybody help

[Squerly]

hi im trying this for the first time so hello if anybody can see this i have some questions about my new family members i have five flyers from my house and my two girls fell in love so i need advice on keeping them healthy and alive there are three girls and two boys will anybody helpHi Country Boy. I want to direct you to a website that is 100% Flying Squirrel related. You can reach their web add here-> NFSA (http://www.nfsa.us/phpBB2/index.php?sid=4e5bc2abf6350ac7a4a47f1611f66a06) You will find a great bunch of people there and I'm sure that someone will be able to help you through all stages of your little flyers growth. Good luck. :thumbsup

[NatureGirl]

Yes I completely agree with Squerly, country boy! I'm a member of The National Flying Squirrel Association or NFSA too and it is a wonderful and very informitive site with many fantastic people. What did you need to know about your flyers, perhaps I could help you. I have one also!

[country boy]

well i suppose i am woundering if five of them are too many to keep togeather let alone two males in the same cage will they fight will they mate to much im not worried about the cage size its 6 foot high by 4 foot wide great for them but their wild do you guyz think i should keep them untill somebody has youngins and keep those and release the wild ones or do you think they will adjust and be great pets the only reason i have all of those is i was afraid that they stalked up on food all summer in my attic now its winter they wont leave and their driving us nuts every night thats why i had to catch them all and if i release them now they might have a hard time finding food but we also fell in love with them thats why i have sooo many questions ya see thanks for any help do you have a male or female naturegirl and how did you get it

[NatureGirl]

I know, it is very easy to fall in love with them. I'm not sure about them fighting, are they siblings? I don't think siblings would fight. Inbreeding is not a good thing though. If they're getting along fine now then I wouldn't think it would be a problem to keep them in the same cage. I got my flyer from a breeder in Texas, so I don't know much about wild ones. It might be possible for an older flyer to bond with you, but the best age to get a flyer is 6-8 weeks. You'll probably just have to see how things go, I've read that older flyers from the wild don't make very good pets. But like I said I don't know much about this so I would say the best thing to do would be to post on The National Flying Squirrel Association Message Board. I'm sure someone on there can help you. Mine is a male. His name is Jasper, do yours have names? I'm sorry I can't be much help. Good Luck!

[Squerly]

i am woundering if five of them are too many to keep togeather let alone two males in the same cage will they fight will they mate to much Well, I don’t know about that. It is my understanding that Flying Squirrels are very social animals and I don’t believe that they will have a problem living together.

but their wild do you guyz think i should keep them untill somebody has youngins and keep those and release the wild ones or do you think they will adjust and be great pets Here’s the deal with Flyers. They need to “bond” with their new owner. This needs to happen when the squirrel is fairly young, 6 weeks I believe is ideal but I’m not absolutely sure. (Someone straighten me out if I am wrong.) If the squirrel is left in a cage of that size, without the human contact required for bonding, you can not expect them to become good pets. They may tolerate your coming into the cage to feed them but they probably will never actually become friendly with you, not to the degree that qualifies them as “good” pets.

the only reason i have all of those is i was afraid that they stalked up on food all summer in my attic now its winter they wont leave and their driving us nuts every night thats why i had to catch them all and if i release them now they might have a hard time finding food I agree with your decision to give them a home and keep them fed until Spring.


but we also fell in love with them thats why i have sooo many questions ya see thanks for any help That’s the problem with Flyers, they are very easy to fall in love with. But 5 flyers are a bit much to take on for your first flying squirrel experience. A Flying Squirrels in captivity will live between 10 to 15 years and therefore will require a long term commitment of love and attention from its owner. (They actually end up owning you but that’s another story!) My personal opinion, and it is only my opinion, is that you keep these little ones fed and sheltered until Spring. Then open a release door each night so that they can go out and explore the world. (Not the main door but maybe a small 3” X 3” opening somewhere up by the top of the cage.) They will be back in the cage every morning for a week or so, maybe even longer. Close the release door during the daytime and then reopen it that night. Eventually they will all make their way out into the outside world.

If you want to make a Flying Squirrel a part of your family, get a young one and let him bond with you. But be sure that you are ready for the commitment. They will require a diet of vegetables, fruits and nuts. Mine loved yogurt. You can't just pour some food in a dish and walk away. You will need to cut them fresh fruit nightly. They are also nocturnal so if they live in the house with you, be prepared to listen to them run on a wheel for hours and hours at a time. You should also be prepared to see your wife start slipping a grape from the breakfast buffet into her purse each time you guys go out for breakfast. (After all, one grape is a major meal for a Flying Squirrel) :)

[NatureGirl]

But if you get one of Anita Tucker's famous Stealth Wheels: www.sugaraesattic.com you won't hear a sound. I know because I have one. :) And that's very good advice Squerly! The NFSA actually has a section on taming/bonding with older flyers that you might want to check out! If you do decide to keep them it's very important that they have a calcium supplement added to their diet, since they have such light bones so they can glide. Most people use Rep-Cal for reptiles and sprinkle that on their fruits and vegetables every night or on their food. They also need rodent vitamins in their water at least 3 times a week. I use Oasis, but some people use M&M multivitamins. A wild bird seed mix or parrot mix works good for their food and you can add some more sunflower seeds, nuts etc to it if you want.

[Squerly]

And that's very good advice Squerly, but no offense I'd still suggest he post on the NFSA. And certainly none taken. :) From the beginning I felt that was the best place for him to get good info on a variety of issues. (But I still want to see some pictures of the little guys. ;)

[Skwerlbaitbev]

it's very important that they have a calcium supplement added to their diet, since they have such light bones so they can glide. Most people use Rep-Cal for reptiles and sprinkle that on their fruits and vegetables every night or on their food. They also need rodent vitamins in their water at least 3 times a week. I use Oasis, but some people use M&M multivitamins. A wild bird seed mix or parrot mix works good for their food and you can add some more sunflower seeds, nuts etc to it if you want.

Greetings to all flyer fanciers. Re the calcium issue, where flyers are concerned, the calcium supplement is useful, but unless one also provides a source of Vitamin D3, as can be found in most 'small mammal' liquid vitamins, all the calcium in the world will not help, for without the D3, the calcium cannot be absorbed. As Nature Girl mentions, most flyer fanciers provide a vitamin in the water supply. (The brand I use is L&M Animal Farms Daily Liquid Multivitamin, and is sold in most pet stores (or via the net) in the rabbit/gerbil/ferret section of the stores.

Five flyers of a family living together should get along just fine, but it is likely that when they're about two years old, they'll be reproductive. First generation line breeding generally does not cause any particular developmental problems, but subsuquent line breeding does tend to 'concentrate' any genetic abnormalities in the family group, causing subsuquent 'birth defects'. These can be 'invisible' (evident only to a genetic scientist studying the chromosomes of the individual), or evident (things like extra toes, as seen on the 'Hemmingway' cats of Key West). As a rule, it's just better to avoid the line breeding altogether.

If you hope to have a friendly relationship with all five, you'll need to begin now, by taking one or two pups at a time, for several hours a day, and establishing a bond. This is usually done by carrying the flyer(s) around inside one's shirt (I think next to the skin works best), and caressing said flyer(s) throughout that time, occasionally taking them out of one's shirt, and handling them (the bathroom, made flyer safe, works very well during this early socialisation process). The flyers need to think of you as their favourite 'warm, mobile tree', provider of fun, safety and food. If you want your children to have a good relationship with the flyers, they must be a part of this process. Allowing the young flyer(s) to explore, but always offering them an open palm to jump to (using a command, and a reward (pine nut?), will help to establish this behaviour), will help the flyer connect humans with good things.

Country Boy, hope you'll keep us posted here on your progress, pilgrim!