Juvenile squirrels in Outdoor cage

[MACHOWILL]

I have two gray squirrels that I found in my yard near death about 5 weeks old , and have raised for about three months now. They are doing much better now, and doing well.
I have them outside now in a large pre-relase cage, with hay, and nesting boxes. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if I need to put some kind of heat source for them for the winter. Our temperatures are getting below freezing and I am concerned they may be too cold. I was told not to release them until the spring time or they will not survive. I have plenty of hay and cotton rags in the cage. They bury themselves under the hay at night. Any help is appreciated. I have grown attached to them, and am trying to not treat them as pets so they will adjust to the wild, but am worried they are not warm enough at night. Thank you.

[wheezer]

They should be able to deal with the cold as long as the nest box holds in their body heat. So I would make sure their nest box is insulated or has plenty of warm nesting material.

I have known people to put heat lamps near or heating pads under nest boxes.
That should be OK too because after you release them in the spring, they will be able to gradually get used to cold weather at an older age.

[wheezer]

I forgot to mention that I think you are doing a great job

[PBluejay2]

I have two gray squirrels that I found in my yard near death about 5 weeks old , and have raised for about three months now. They are doing much better now, and doing well.
I have them outside now in a large pre-relase cage, with hay, and nesting boxes. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if I need to put some kind of heat source for them for the winter. Our temperatures are getting below freezing and I am concerned they may be too cold. I was told not to release them until the spring time or they will not survive. I have plenty of hay and cotton rags in the cage. They bury themselves under the hay at night. Any help is appreciated. I have grown attached to them, and am trying to not treat them as pets so they will adjust to the wild, but am worried they are not warm enough at night. Thank you.

You say they bury themselves under the hay? Do you mean inside the next box? How well they do depends on how long they've been outside, really. The gradually increasing coldness signals to their bodies to develop a winter coat of fur and also a layer of "brown fat." If they have been outside already for a month or so, hopefully they have done this. If not, then I would provide a heat source or bring them back inside on below freezing nights. Also, hay is not considered a good substrate for rodents (any animal really) because it molds easily and quickly and the spores can cause respiritory problems. Pine needles are better.