Fox squirrel diet questions

[Sduke916]

I have about a 7-8 week old baby foxer. He is currently eating FV formula 2-3 times a day anywhere from 20-30cc's a day depending on how much he wants. I put HHB's high protein blocks in with him daily but he his so not interested. I'm worried he's not chewing on hard stuff to file his teeth! What's a go to block/biscuit I could buy that he would want to chew on?

Also, I've read that an orphaned squirrel raised alone doesn't do well in the wild since it hasn't been around other squirrels...this is my only one and I want him to do well out there! Any opinions on that?

[Rhapsody]

I would suggest you try giving your squirrel the hhb first thing in the morning when he is at his hungriest, therefore, he will be more driven to eat it. (I place vanilla Yoplait on the hhb for some of my more stubborn squirrels).

As far as chewing goes..... place some safe tree branches, deer antlers or shelled almonds in there for it to gnaw on.

I have raised many singleton squirrels and they all adjusted to the wild just as easy as my pairs did...... just make sure you give the squirrel their full 30 days in the outside release cage to acclimate to its surroundings before you release it.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Fox squirrels grow up a lot slower than greys. I didn't realize this until I moved to Columbus for vet school and started taking in greys. Greys open their eyes at 5 weeks old and are eating solids by 6-7 weeks old and pretty much wean themselves by 10 weeks old. Fox squirrels on the other hand don't open their eyes until 6 weeks old and are still sleeping most of the day until 8-9 weeks old. They usually don't start nibbling on food until 8 weeks old and aren't eating a significant amount of solid food until 9-11 weeks old. I usually wean them around 12-13 weeks old. They're in general more laid back and less crazy about their food and especially about defending it. So, I wouldn't be too worried that he isn't eating solids yet, give him a couple more weeks and he'll figure it out.

As for raising him alone, I highly recommend contacting a local rehabber and either getting him a buddy or giving him to someone with another squirrel so he can have a buddy. Fox squirrels are very likely to become habituated to people if raised alone and this is bad news for them when they go free.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Thanks SRBT for this description of the difference between greys and Foxers. That's helpful to know. Those of us that only have greys just assume they're about the same. Very helpful.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I remember my first year taking in greys in vet school. They came in in March as pinkies and I was like this will be great. They'll be about 10 weeks old when school lets out and just starting to climb and get crazy. That's for foxers. Those little greys were little terrors that were hard to contain in an apartment for the last 3 weeks of school. They moved directly to the outside cage when I got home! When you raise mostly one kind or the other, you don't really realize the difference. Not until you go from only one to only the other do you go man this is crazy! Fox squirrels are also significantly more accepting of squirrel friends than greys. You can put two foxers of very different ages together and 9 times out of 10 they get along great. You need to supervise at first and make sure one isn't so big it'll crush the other, but I've had a 12 week and 5 week foxer together and they became best buds. You could never do that with greys, they are not very accepting of new friends after a certain age and the bigger guys can be bullies.

[Mel1959]

What great information. Thank you. Sounds like foxers are a much more tolerant squirrel. I like that!