IS THERE A MENTALIST IN THE HOUSE?

[TinyPaws]

I'll get right to the point....something yesterday scared my boy...he was on his shelf eating his oatmeal....How do I know this? When I went in there was oatmeal all over the place....

Since yesterday he will not go in his cage for his treats, and he will only go on half of the top that is nearest to his pouches...

He will not go to the cat tree where I put his food out to eat....so the only time he is eating is when I am in there holding the food...he will sit in my hand and eat...that goes for drinking (water :D ) too...

He won't even go inside my shirt, his shirt..his favorite shirt (sweatshirt)..I don't wash it because it has his scent on it and he likes it that way...he has stayed in his pouch pretty much most of the time since yesterday....He comes out now and then and sits on top of the curtains...and he will sit with his head and front feet sticking out of the pouch....

I throughly cleaned his room last night...I collected all the nuts and gave him new ones....which he has not touched....I washed things down too...but no change today....so I even showered for him...he likes the smell of caress berry indulging and my infusium shampoo...No change...

I don't know what else to do....or why he is scared....the room is a tight as a drum so I know there has not been any mice in there...I thought about changing his room around but I don't know if that will help or make things worse....

I miss my bouncing baby....

[TinyPaws]

Hello....is everyone sleeping...??? I could sure use some advice on this matter.....:thankyou

[TexanSquirrel]

:dono :dono :dono

[PBluejay2]

Just questions here.

1. How old is he? Is there a chance that he's beginning to get "scrotal"? Meaning his hormones are kicking in and his little--uh--"berries" are about to enlarge?

2. Did he knock something over (like his oatmeal bowl (Is oatmeal good for them?)) that made a loud "crash."

3. Is there a window where he maybe saw something outside? I know that if I hear my overwinterers suddenly begin chattering and barking almost invariably I can go outside and see a cat (even a hawk) nearby. These guys' senses are far greater than ours.

[Feeze]

Didn't he have a "freak out period" when he was younger? Did you ever figure out what caused it... or how to fix it? I missed out on that part.:thinking

I'm sorry, I know you are looking for advice, but maybe a caring friend will do 'till then.:grouphug

[Tomo]

Could he be feeling ill?

[muffinsquirrel]

Sounds like he saw, or heard, something that scared him. As long as he doesn't show any signs of illness, I would just act like you did when you first got him. Go slow, cuddle a lot, shirt time, extra treats - in other words, treat him like you would a new flyer. Do you still have his old, smaller cage? You might try re-introducing him to it - maybe the smaller size would make him feel more secure.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

muffinsquirrel

[TinyPaws]

I believe the other time he got spooked was when a cat jumped onto the window screen...but this time he is not affraid of the window area...he still will go to the other side of the shade to look out the window...whatever it was happened in his cage while he was snacking on his oatmeal..It wasn't anything that I noticed on his video monitor or hear...I searched the whole room corner to corner and under things and there is nothing there...

Do flyers scare from spiders? although I didn't see any of those either....The only other thing I can think of is the tv...I leave it on for him so it's not so quiet for him...even while he sleeps, I think he enjoys hearing noise...

I always treat him as if I first got him...actually more so...he's very spoiled and around me all his waking and some non waking hours...

MS...do flyers and squirrels in general get upset if the furniture is rearanged? I just thought by rearanging everything he might not be so scared....:dono :thankyou

[wheezer]

I don't think I would rearange anything. I think he needs stability right now. Who knows what scared him but sounds like something did. Perhaps it was a noise on the TV. Maybe putting on a radio with soft music would be better than TV:dono
I do think in time he will be back to normal:grouphug

[muffinsquirrel]

Most of them are very irritated (to put it politely) if things are rearranged. When I want to put a new pouch in Scamper's cage, I leave all the others in there. Then, after a few days, I take one of the old ones out. He still notices it, but doesn't get quite so mad. Once I made the mistake of washing all the cages and putting him in a different one. (I had one extra cage, so I would just move a squirrel to a clean cage, then take that one out and clean it, move another squirrel, etc.) It was very easy and efficient. None of my squirrels would have anything to do with me! After a month or so, I gave up and moved everyone back to their original cages, and all was forgiven. I learned my lesson well, and don't clean the cages that way any more!

Any chance that something fell from the wall? (Do ya'll have earthquakes there?)

Just give him time and he should be OK. The 'coming of age' issue could have something to do with it, too.

muffinsquirrel

[TinyPaws]

After much searching I F-I-N-A-L-L-Y found out what spooked Timothy...although I found it by sheer chance....I was up on the step ladder feeding Timothy and I turned to look at the tv.....then my eyes got averted to the second to the top platform on the cat tree......are you ready for this....It was a CUTTLEBONE!!!!!!:shakehead

I remember moving it while I was cleaning his eating place and didn't remember putting it on the platform...I can't see it from ground level...That's why he would only go on top of half his cage...he didn't want to get too close to it....I still don't know what happened with the oatmea,l but I moved the cuttlebone and he is better...

He cautiously made his way to the platform....jerking his body the whole way...:rotfl After he was satisfied he started climbing again on the tree and cage....He still won't go in the cage to eat the oatmeal, I have to hold the bowl for him....My poor baby.....:grouphug

[Jackie in Tampa]

He really loves his momma today! saved him fom that bad scarey white cuttlebone thing!tinfoil
Good Mommy!

[TinyPaws]

:rotfl :rotfl :rotfl
He really loves his momma today! saved him fom that bad scarey white cuttlebone thing!tinfoil
Good Mommy!