Weaned.... Q's

[Linda and Cooper]

Okay, so Sadie Mae, the lil gal squirrel in the cut off jeans (yes, I've spoken to her about this, but she's a typical juvenile and not paying me the least bit of attention!) and Leroy (aka Roy-roy) are weaned. They began eating the syringe! Not good. So, I got a water bottle that was very small. One with a metal tubing. I put Roy-Roy's milk in that. He needed his milk still and was biting my fingers looking for it. He took it for 4 more days and then turned up his little squirrel nose. Sadie Mae, being Sadie Mae, didn't want anything to do with the milk, but since Roy-Roy was wanting it, she'd fuss with him about it. It was pretty cute. They fuss over everything. "I got it"... "no you don't (snatch) I got it" and off they go....
So, now, my neighbor is a jerk. That Jerk. The one you hate? The one I hate? The one everybody hates?
How do I wild up these guys? I am not holding them. We have been putting their cage outside every day. It got to be out in the morning, in at dusk. But now it's raining and I have some bird calcium perches in there for them to chew on, and I don't want them melting, lol. So, they are inside today.
They are eating the rodent squirrel blocks (thanks! they love them!) and other stuff.
Main question: Will they get wild enough to stay away from Jerk? Or do I have to go read him the riot act? Will I "know" when they are wild-wild?
Squirrel Smitten Linda/FL

[Mads]

Okay, so Sadie Mae, the lil gal squirrel in the cut off jeans (yes, I've spoken to her about this, but she's a typical juvenile and not paying me the least bit of attention!) and Leroy (aka Roy-roy) are weaned. They began eating the syringe! Not good. So, I got a water bottle that was very small. One with a metal tubing. I put Roy-Roy's milk in that. He needed his milk still and was biting my fingers looking for it. He took it for 4 more days and then turned up his little squirrel nose. Sadie Mae, being Sadie Mae, didn't want anything to do with the milk, but since Roy-Roy was wanting it, she'd fuss with him about it. It was pretty cute. They fuss over everything. "I got it"... "no you don't (snatch) I got it" and off they go....
So, now, my neighbor is a jerk. That Jerk. The one you hate? The one I hate? The one everybody hates?
How do I wild up these guys? I am not holding them. We have been putting their cage outside every day. It got to be out in the morning, in at dusk. But now it's raining and I have some bird calcium perches in there for them to chew on, and I don't want them melting, lol. So, they are inside today.
They are eating the rodent squirrel blocks (thanks! they love them!) and other stuff.
Main question: Will they get wild enough to stay away from Jerk? Or do I have to go read him the riot act? Will I "know" when they are wild-wild?
Squirrel Smitten Linda/FL

I remember my babies last spring biting off the tips of the srynges as well. They got weaned because I couldn't literally feed them anymore. I put formula in a dish for a while, but that was unsuccessful as well. A few weeks later , I had read how some people used marbles to keep them from spilling liquids and they could sip from that....I thought that was brilliant. But , my babies were weaned at that point. I also have a jerk for a neighbor, and I didn't even bother to approach him because I felt for sure he would just shoot them if he knew they were special to me. I told the people across the road from me and on my other side, because they have children and I wanted them to know that if by chance, My squirrels came up to the kids, not to be alarmed by that because they were somewhat domesticated being raised by me. I never got any reports of neighbors seeing them so that is a good thing. NO news is good news.

Perhaps the best way to wild them up is to not pay attention to them everyday. As long as they have food and plenty of water, I would stay away from their outside pen and leave them out all night. Understand that I didn't pay as close attention to this fact as I should of....I tended to go out everyday, and at this point, my squirrels are still around and visit everyday for treats. They didn't wild out quite the way I intended for them to. But, as far as I know, they don't approach the neighbors. But why should they , they get everything they need here....:osnap

[Linda and Cooper]

Okay, then, thanks, Mads.
I'm guessing they'll stay away from HIM then. I hope. They are inside yet again today, because we have tornado warnings like crazy. We even brought in the potted plants because the wind was blowing so bad it would damage them.
They are soooo darn cute! Darn squirrels! Roy-Roy is learning to bark. His squeak isn't quite up to snuff yet. I think Sadie thinks he's nuts, lol. When he goes to squeaking and trying to bark, she runs over and shoves him. Like, "quit that silly noise".
Squirrel Smitten Linda/FL