cage recommendations

[kackoff]

Gulliver, my little red squirrel rescue, is getting bigger and more active and is ready to move up to a larger cage. As a transition cage, I'll put him in a guinea pig cage with perches, a climbing "tree", and a nest box.

My question is -- when I move up to a larger cage, what is a good bar spacing? I've been looking at what are sold as kitty condos as they have nice little platforms at various levels, but I'm afraid the bar spacing may be too wide. Gully is a little guy.

By the way, Gully is the squirrel under the topic "bald squirrel", and he is bald no more! He is covered with fuzz and is very soft. Copper color down his neck and back, greyish on his sides, a little black stripe on each side and a white belly. And it's coming in evenly! I think he should recover fully and will be a good candidate for release next spring. Hooray!

Gully loves the squirrel chow I made (recipe from this board). My only problem making it was that the recipe calls for 12 scoops of whey for squirrels under a year (as opposed to the usual 3). The wet ingredients are not enough to wet this amount of dry ingredients, so I added an extra egg and just enough water to mix everything. I also found a nice calcium supplement made by Nekton (calcium and D3) that I sprinkle over so lightly (just a pinch) over his favorite foods. Just trying to insure I protect Gully from MBD.

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

I'll show you what I put my 8 week old in when I moved him into a larger cage...and this is what he is STILL in...
Hope this help's..:thumbsup
Rachel n Bean:wave123

[ilovetwiggy]

What I used for a cage when my squirrel was a adult was a ferret cage.
He loved his ferret cage! Here is a web site where you will find good
cages, ferret.com. My friend uses this website for her squirrels.
mjs mjs

[Abacat]

Those are all great cages, but I'd be careful...since Gulliver is a Red squirrel, you need to pay close attention to bar spacing. I tried once with a ferret cage ( 1" bar spacing, the long bars) and had an escape. Not sure exactly where he got out... but he did, Thank God it was a dedicated room, and I was able to re-capture him.

For a red squirrel, I'd stick to 3/4" or smaller bar spacing if they make ferret cages with that spacing. Hardware cloth is good (1/2" by 1/2"), or if the (1/2" by 1") is used, all the better...but you'd more than likely have to build the cage. Bigger is always better, look for as high as possible...I can tell you minimum specs for rehab cages, if you're interested, just PM me.
Good luck, keep us posted...:)

(Nice site Twiggy, I'll keep it in mind for my Grays...Awesome cage Rachel! Bean's a spoiled boy... :D)

[kimpamwright]

Hi, our rocky is a red (around 16 weeks) we move him up to a lager cage that we got at petco, he seems to like it and it has room for making levels and a lot of toys.

[kackoff]

Thanks to all for pictures and suggestions.

I have a number of larger cages (I keep a number of birds), but I think Gulliver could squeeze out. And I can't risk it (with 3 dogs and number of large birds).

I had a great home-made cage from cage wire, but alas, I left it behind when I moved. But I can probably find something -- I'll check out the ferret site, and also some bird cages.

I'm moving Gulliver into a cage that is about the size some of the cages pictured, but I'd like a "next step", which would be a cage I could put out of doors and it would become his pre-release cage. I'd build him a huge enclosure -- but my house just isn't that big.

I've seen large wheels for rats and chincillas -- do squirrels actually use these? The plastic ones that attach to the side of the cage with no place for tails to get caught.

Thanks to all! Gulliver continues to grow fur and thrive! Hooray!

K

[kimpamwright]

We got rocky a large wheel, at petco $9.00, it is metal and can be hung on the side of the cage, he runs it all the time and it seems to calm him down after playing outside the cage.

[Peaches]

A pre-release cage or any cage that will be left outside must be made of hardware cloth with 1/2 X 1/2 spacing to keep preditors from getting their arms in. All doors must be made sturdy and lock securely to deture Racoons and such from opening them. A large wooden box should be secured to the inside so the squirrel has a place to hide if a animal comes and threatens them. After having a yard squirrel come and fight over a nut with my pre-release through the bars and nip his foot, I added a second layer of hardware cloth an inch above the first. Never leave the door open, use a PVC tube with a bend in it and a screw cap on the end. Keep it capped until you want him to come out and always cap it when he's in for the night. The PVC should be no less than 10 inches long on each side of the elbow to prevent a racoon from sticking his arm in to grab your squirrel.

[Abacat]

Peaches, I think they're talking indoor caging right now...release not planned until spring...Please correct me kackoff if I'm wrong about that...

[Peaches]

Yeah I know but his last post said he was interested in the next stage pre-release cage as well. Just want him to know he cant use a indoor cage outside overnight when the time comes.

[kackoff]

I've asked my feed and seed store -- they are going to look for a cage for me. Maybe I can find something that can suffice for both indoor and out.

I don't quite get the explanation of what the PVC pipe is used for. Does this serve as a doorway out of the cage? I would plan to lock the cage (I don't trust people in my neighborhood) and chain it to my front porch. I would put it in the backyard, but I have 3 dogs and don't want to risk my little guy having a run-in with one of them. I'd love to turn this little guy loose on campus, where he was found, but then I'm not there every day to provide food during his transition.

Just trying to figure out the safest, most reasonable way.

But yes, for now. He's staying indoors and the next step is a large-ish guinea pig cage with cage wire that is small enough, he cannot escape.

[Minnie's Mom]

This is the one we have Minnie in and she loves it and has not chewed through it at all.


60645

[kackoff]

A thought...

I had been planning to mount a wooden nestbox on the outside of the cage -- do I assume correctly this is NOT a good idea, as Gulliver would be likely to eventually chew through it and escape?

I can pick up a ferret hammock, if that is the case.

[SkwerlGirl]

i've found that making one yourself with NON salt treated lumber and rabbit wire (or whatever kind you can get) is cheaper than purchasing one...
the prices are outrageous!!!

But that all depends on how handy you are and how much time you have on your hands....

[Minnie's Mom]

A thought...

I had been planning to mount a wooden nestbox on the outside of the cage -- do I assume correctly this is NOT a good idea, as Gulliver would be likely to eventually chew through it and escape?

I can pick up a ferret hammock, if that is the case.


We had a ferret hammock since she was very little, but she eventually chewed it all up. :tilt My husband made a home for her out of white plank wood 1x8. He drilled a hole in it and put a hinge on the roof so we could clean it out.

:wott Minnie loves her new house and it did not take her more than an hour to get use to it. Her new home is inside of her cage. :multi :multi

I cut the bottom out of her old ferret bed and put it into her new home. I think when she smelled it she knew it was ok. :wott

Good Luck!!!

[Fallinwhisper]

This is what I use for Pip's cage. Shes a red too. What we had to do, is after getting the cage (which is a locally made ferret cage) is get some additional wire and sit there, wrap it around and use zip ties over the whole things to make it usable for a little red. She did get out between the bars before we did this. Took us until 1am to finish it, but its was worth it. Pippy loves her cage.

I have plenty of toys in there for her. She does play with them off and on. The stuffed animals I take out and put around the house when shes loose. Except for the husky ... he has no eyes and has nuts in his head! :rotfl

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage1.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage3.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage2.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage5.jpg

And here is a shot of the cage itself ... If you look hard you can see the original cage, then the wire we put around it.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn160/Pippysquirrel/PipCage8.jpg