Bonnie is 125 days now - and wants to go...

[Kikiboo]

Bonnie is 125 days now... I really think she wants to go. She's eating well, (finally) passing her pellets without too much of a problem and has excellent caution/alert responses. She loves me... strangely enough has a great relationship with my 12 year old Dobermann Draco (they communicate in very strange voices) and seems very well adjusted.
She paces though.... occasionally she cruises the cage... pacing and exploring the corners.... I'm thinking that at the end of the month (she'll be 135 days) I should open up a wee escape hole and see if she wants to go.
I have a feeling she'll come back to her 'den' - I always have a healthy supply of fresh foods and block for her (and I always will if she decides to live there) ... but I think she's getting frustrated.
I know that for greys it's supposed to 180 days... but she's doing really well and I want her to have enough time before winter to figure out how to live like a 'real' squirrel.

What do you think... should I release? Should I keep her penned? Oh dear...this will break my heart but I always knew the time would come...
Opinions?
e

[island rehabber]

Good morning, Kikiboo. Sounds as if you've got things pretty well under control over there regarding Bonnie's release. To be honest, there is no hard and fast rule for releasing greys and in fact we had a bit of controversy here over that subject a while back :shakehead. I think when rehabbers have the 'luxury' of living in a warm climate and not worrying about winter, they can hold onto greys for 6-7 months before releasing. However -- in your climate and mine, it is imperative that we release when the animal will have enough lead time BEFORE winter to grow a good coat, establish nests and cache away enough food for the long cold months. The only alternative is overwintering....very stressful to both squirrel and rehabber for sure.
SO: I would say your girl is ready to explore the trees and use her old nest box/cage as her nighttime refuge. She may stay awhile, or she may build herself a drey or two in your yard. It's up to her. One little negative I see, though: you mentioned she is friendly with your dog....:nono. If there are other dogs around the neighborhood she will assume they are friendly too -- and that's not good. (BTW I love Dobermans....best dog I ever had :)) I hope there is some way of dealing with that. :peace

[Jackie in Tampa]

:wave123
cage pacing is stress related, is she a grey or a red?
I am not familiar with reds and their needs, but I would offer her more outta cage time, I take it she is in the house.
She needs to be acclimated to the weather and outdoor sounds.
How big and secure is her cage?
can it withstand a wild animals attempt to get in?
If so, you can probably start the release process and get her wilded up.
If you need help with pre release info, I'm sure alot of TSBers will share their experiences and DOs and Don'ts.
:poke I would love to see pics of Bonnie and her cage!
I try to keep my greys with me until they are at least 4-5 months old and then they stay in the Half Way House for about a month ...or until they almost chew out or dig out....jailbreak...:rotfl
Get her good and chunky...provide adequate shade on her release cage, keep high enough off ground to keep the ground varments away, close enough to a good canopy of trees, ask the neighbors to help keep on eye on her and their pets, a nest box in the release cage and one in the trees as high as you can hang it. Placing a piece of fleece with your smell on in both boxes! Some hard shelled nuts in both and I think she'll get the idea of what she needs to do....be a squirrel!:D
Give her a kiss from Tampa:jump
Have fun Bonnie Girl!:grouphug

[Kikiboo]

Yes, I thought so. She's really getting curious and I believe she's ready to explore.

Her outdoor enclosure (she's been in it since May- with her night-light/warmer for those cool nights, lol) seems to suit her fine - it's 4x4x3 - not as large as I'd like however I just don't have the space to have a larger one. She's always had lots of fresh branches to chew on - cedar and maple (the keys are what she find particularly yummy... we are absolutely surrounded by Maple trees ...(Canada, eh?!):D

Built into the cage is a section that is about 1x1x2 feet with a small hole for her entrance and a full door on one end for me to 'muck it out' if need be. I also put her food in there as there are less earwigs and other nasties trying to get at it - not to mention she eats more/hides less that way and I'm not faced with rotting broccoli, spinach and sweet potato:nono under the leaves!

As for my pooch Draco I have no doubt that once released she will keep him at bay - she loves to tease him from her cage but is very wary of him once I have her out with me...and she is NOT friendly with strange 'anything'; people or animals. Actually she will only 'run circuit' (tear up and down our bodies) on me and my youngest daughter (12 years)... the rest of the family she is unsure of as they didn't have much of a hand in raising her. I had her out (on me) one day when the neighbours let their dogs out (another Dobe and a Shih-tzu... they bark at EVERYTHING and NOTHING at all :soapbox );Bonnie was so startled - well let's just say I still have the scars from her claws as she scrambled for cover UNDER my shirt and did her best to dig her way into my abdominal cavity! lolzzz
then another incident - a neighbour lady fell in love with her and took her to hold and pet her... Bonnie jumped about 5 feet - from the lady's shoulder on to my daughters head... it was rather frightening as we didn't expect the extreme reaction but very funny and reassuring to me that she won't just go to 'anyone'.


Okay now, enuf chitchat -

Q ####1
I'd like to know how are the fuzzies with shell-on walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts etc. I assume they should be able to crack them with those powerful teeth... I've never really been bitten:thumbsup but having checked her teeth regularly as she grew I know they are now real 'doozies'! I'm going to the bulk store to pick up more fuzzer-food like nuts, pumpkin seeds etc... I generally have been getting the nuts already shelled..., but am thinking of buying an assortment of 'whole' nuts, Are there any I should avoid? she gets peanuts in the shell for 'treats' as I was under the impression they aren't the 'best' food in the bunch.

Q ####2:

Should I get my hubby to build an insulated nestbox to put in our tree? The one in the cage is 'built -in' but he said he would build one for the tree if I wanted. How big should it be ideally? The one she's in now was built to accommodate her incubator warmer... it's like a condo for her lol... I would imagine a 'regular' one should be smaller so as to minimize heat loss over winter ? (Our winters do sometime's hit the -40 deg C mark with the wind... usually about -10 to -15 C (sorry , I can't even remember deg F conversions any more - we switched over here when I was about 10 - MANY years ago lol) I thought we could insulate it with styrofoam - Bonnie doesn't think too much of it - so I don't think she'd eat it or anything...

Sorry for the long post... it's just that I REALLY want to do this RIGHT... I love my little fuzzer-face and have invested so much of my love, time and $$ into her... I'd just die if something happed to her because of me.

I'm going to try to attach a pic of Bonnie and her cage... it's been a while so bear with me if it doesn't show right away!

Thanks:thankyou to all of you - I know your hearts are in the same place as mine... and I love you all for that.:grouphug :Love_Icon

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk32/kikiboo43/BonnieJuly19day119003.jpg

this is Bonnie with her breakfast of fresh Romaine - protective, isn't she (note the way she holds her tail over her back) - God forbid I give her fresh (her absolute fave) strawberries... she comes at me growling she's so protective! Bite the hand that feeds you huh? I think NOT!


http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk32/kikiboo43/releasecage004.jpg

Draco calls to Bonnie for her to come out of her house (on our back deck) and 'play'. She skitters up and down the wire and chatters quietly to him as he mutters some strange noises and 'whisper barks' (Draco was a surrogate Mommy to my orphan kittens - he loves anything that is what he thinks is 'his baby'... and Bonnie is included in HIS family as far as he is concerned...) ...very strange dog indeed...we call him 'Gramma' lol!

Oh yes - for those of you who don't know - the name 'Bonnie' is short for Bonneville.
Bonnies' mother built her nest under the hood of my car, a restored 1995 Pontiac Bonneville- I had it parked while I waited for a new engine to arrive- about 2 weeks or so - just enuf time for Mama to make the bad judgement call to build her den there (it might have been a good place otherwise - nice and sheltered from the wind, rain and freezing March temperatures...she and her brother and 3 sisters were barely a week old when we found them... and sadly due to some bad advice from a wildlife rehab here - she was the only pinkie to survive.:shakehead

[JLM27]

Bonnie is just a beautiful little girl! I guess she's telling you, "Ma when do I get to leave the nest? Is it time yet? Is it?"

[Victor]

I don't have anything further to add, but like Island Rehabber, the dog issue worries me just a bit. Let's just hope all will work out well with Bonnie. Now is the best time to release her so she can prepare for the months ahead. I am sure she will stick around close by. Our back yard black squirrel, Li'l Critter has been our outdoor companion for two years now and she doesn't seem to want to venture too far..

[Jackie in Tampa]

:wave123 Me again...has she had enough outta cage time to develope her muscles...? she needs to be strong and that cage has alot of plywood and not real big, the plywood decreases her using her strength to hang/climb etc...but if she has alot of outta cage time and and runs and jumps, she is probably good to go!:thumbsup
Also, I am not sure I would use styrofoam in a nestbox, they're smart and they will drag in natural stuff.
Maybe in her cage you can just cut out a piece of the cage wire, just big enough for her to go in and out, 3x3 is good! {near the top}
http://www.squirrel-rehab.org/misc/greysquirrelnestbox.html

http://www.helpingwildlife.org/images/squirrelnestbox.pdf

Thanks for the pics...Bonnie is beautiful. :bowdown
:tilt There are no black sqs in Florida and of course I want one.:tilt
Give her a kiss for Tampa! She's gonna love the trees!
You'll have to continue offering food and water in her cage ...just in case.:dono
Have Fun Bonnie...Stay Safe Big Girl!

[Kikiboo]

:flash3
Bonnie and I have lots of play time... I can assure you she has muscles on her muscles! The inside of the cage is lined with wire on all sides for her to climb... not to mention all her branches - she jumps around quite nicely in there but we still have run and jump play periods to allow her to stretch her legs a tad more!
SO...I guess I'll get hubby to make a nestbox for the tree... there's a perfect spot about 15-20 feet up or so that has lots of shelter, good sturdy branches and easy access for climbing. One good thing is around here most of the cats are indoor cats... and the few that I know that are the outdoorsy type couldn't give a hoot if a squirrel climbed into bed with them; very strange, but I've seen them lounging while squirrels were no more than a mere foot away....nothing, no reaction other than an ear twitch. Not too many dogs locally either.. and they are all kept indoors except for leash-walks. Its a great area next to a private school yard, a little forest beyond that - and our immediate area is flanked (almost overgrown) by huge Maples. It's really a squirrels heaven and I don't have too many out the back here - some residents in front... looks like Bonnie can have her own little territory and not have to battle anyone.

My one big scare: Bonnie jumped up into the tree once... it scared the life out of me - I almost started crying. It was about a month ago... she was still so young... I thought I had lost her. She climbed up about 12 feet or so and just looked at me as I called to her. I began to think.. how was I going to get her... and as I walked around the other side of the tree... she jumped back onto my shoulder... right then I knew it was LOVE!!!!!! lol

I guess it's time... perhaps on the weekend I'll create the escape hatch...
You guys may be seeing a lot of me if she takes off.... I'm so worried I'll never see her again... but I know it has to happen for her... she needs to be free. (I feel like I'm the star of the new 'Born Free' movie (remember that one with Elsa the lion? TOTAL tear-jerker).
I'll keep you posted
<3 Andrea in Oshawa, ON.

[Jackie in Tampa]

:jump
lucky Bonnie, I have hawks, Cats and dogs...err!
15-20 feet off the groud sounds great! perfect!
:hidechair sorry I didn't see the wire on inside of cage. [old lady eyes].

I recomend leaving locked/secure cage outside for a acclimation period, night time noises and acclimation to darkness and weather temps etc. before actually making escape hole. Depending on her reactions to her new surroundings...you be the judge when she is ready...can be two days or two weeks. Make sure her release cage is near trees and has plenty of shade and not in the WIDE OPEN...nestled in will make her feel more secure also. I also have plywood on part of roof too.
Please Please...do not let Draco help with release...trust me, even the BEST DOG in the world is not a good idea in the first days of any release...unneeded confusion and distraction:peace
I usually try to schedule my releases when I will be home for a few days and I avoid rainy starts, and always do in the morning!
I have had sqs that will use the new tree boxes that we provide, and some that will instinctually build a nest right off the bat, and some that go back to the release cage....I also have had the ones that played and played until dark and then end up sleeping out on a limb, very unprofessional for a sq!:shakehead
NEST BOX TIP, If you have coons, you may want to add a partial shelf half way down under the hole inside the box, so sqs are out of reach.
Ok ready for pics!:jump

[Jackie in Tampa]

:nono shame on me...I reread this thread...I sound like a know it all, not my intentions...sorry.:peace
I hope that others will also offer advise on how they release!tinfoil