Do your little ones fight?

[Liza]

Hi- My little gang of 4 is getting bigger every day.. and giving me new things to worry about!! I posted the other day because one of my little ones had turned nasty and aggressive on me.. He didn't want his formula, and wanted to bite the tar out of me. Well, he has gone back to his sweet self with me, and went back to eating his formula like a fairly good boy, but now he is taking his devilish streak out on the other babies! There are 4 in the cage, and it is 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet. It is pretty big, and they have plenty of room to run and chase and act crazy, or snuggle down in their nest, etc. BUT- he has been getting much more aggressive than the others, and his chasing games now involve catching the other squirrels and holding them down while they struggle and screetch like they were being killed. My husband thought he saw the aggressive squirrel being hhhhmmmm .. how do I delicatly say.. "inappropriate" with his siblings, but I have watched closely, and I don't think that is what is going on. He does grab them from behind, but there is no contact of parts, if you know what I mean. I think it is more a dominance thing. He goes from one sibling to another, grabbing them, making them scream, and then running to the next one and doing the same! I reached in the cage today, and he was so intent on holding his littermate down that I was able to pick him off her without him even noticing me! He seems to bite them, but I have not seen actual open bite wounds or other skin breaks. I know from experience, though, that his teeth are sharp. He has taken a few chunks out of me lately! I am now feeding them with soft gardening gloves on so my scratches and bites can heal, but the poor squirrelys don't have that luxury- they are stuck with mister biter and have nowhere to get away from him! Do you think he would actually injure them, or is this just squirrel sibling play?????

Shall I plan to put him in a seperate cage? I feel bad to isolate him, and I don't have another cage that is as nice and roomy... He would probably end up in a guinea pig cage, which is all I have for now. The other 3 are not ever aggressive with one another.. They are cuddly and lovey with one another and never bite or hurt each other- I don't know what is the matter with this little stinker! The other 3 still want formula (GIVE ME FORMULA-- MORE!! MORE!!!) It cracked me up when Gabe posted that greys would eat formula until they are 21! These 3 must be red greys, then, because they love their milk so much.. they are still at 10 ccs per feeding,(3-4 feeding per day) but only because I have decided not to give more right now, but try to get them on a little more solids. I get the feeling that if I kept giving them more and more milk, they would never bother to pick up a nut!!!
The little mean guy still takes his formula but you can tell he doesn't have the "passion" for it the others do.. and he is more likely to eat (or grab and hide) solid foods than the others.
These little buggers have me confused just about constantly these days! Any help would be appreciated.

Liza, "mom" to 3 sweeties and a demon-child!

[Critter_Queen]

Personally, I would separate them. He's probably been with his siblings long enough not to have the typical "only child" syndrome you hear about in squirrel rehab.

How big is the guinea pig cage and how long before you can get him a larger one? If he'd only have to be in a smaller cage (depending on size) for a week, that wouldn't hurt him any...but any longer than that might not be good for him and his muscles... But I wouldn't leave him in with the siblings...I've never had any act like what you are describing but if it went on for more than one day I would remove him from the cage.

Keep us posted!

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

I have separated some of the more shy ones from the more aggressive ones in the past because the shy ones kept getting terrorized. But, didn't find they did very well when singled out by themselves. I ended up caving and putting them all back together again, and they seemed more content being together as an unhappy family than apart.

[Plumqik]

I have a male and female about 7 weeks old (I lose track of the ages until I check my calendar) and they are siblings-the female is slightly larger than the male and they fight and tussle all the time. No one ever gets the better of the other-when one is trying to get to me the other will grab them from behind and pull them over and then its a free for all! They roll and grunt and squeal and flip. She will be on top then he will be on top-they seem to be equals and when they get tired they curl up together and fall asleep. The first time I saw this behavior it worried me until I saw that neither one was more aggressive-they are just play acting at being real squirrels one day. This I know is totally different than what you are experiencing with your male. What amazes me is they grab at each others faces with their sharp claws and I am just waiting for a scream that someone got their eyes poked. But this is natural behavior-let me tell you if they were doing these gymnastics in a drey both would be on the ground!
I looked at the back of my hands today and almost cried at the scabs and scratches I have-all from the lil claws. When one area heals up they will open up another area-no bites yet. When they gently put their teeth on me I say "No bite!" :nono and they back off-that won't last for long I am sure. I do not want to wear gloves as they are used to my scent/smell and I fear the gloves would scare them. Also the female loves to lick the palm of my hands (probably for the salt there from sweat) and it tickles so and I love it. Fool myself into thinking she is kissing me-yeah right~!!

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

I have had race tracks on my arms for what seems like 6 months, once I had a dermatoligist appt. I had to fib & tell him I was triming bushes, I was sooo scratched..:dono I dont think he believed me?

Rip tormented BG alot if I had it to do over I would have seperated them, I did try it once but they just sat & worried about each other, I think she was passive & backwards after that being picked on so much.

[Mrs. Jack]

I just watched two of my big guys go at it halfway up a tree. They tangled up and then both fell off in a knot of squirrel, THUMP on the ground. Ack!! I go running over there, not a squirrel to be found. now they're all eating peacefully, no one admitting they were the troublemaker.

[Critter_Queen]

The reason this doesn't seem to be typical rough play is that the attacking squirrel baby is doing it to the point that he makes his siblings scream. Barking, chattering, swatting, wrestling, etc...all normal, but how often have you heard a squirrel screaming in the wild?

Now, if it's just a lot of chatter, and no injuries, I wouldn't worry about it...but she used the word "scream" and that implies something else entirely.

[island rehabber]

I find that as soon as everyone is about the age of 9-10weeks there is a whole lotta squabbling going on all day. Right now both my cages are shaking alarmingly and squirrels are scrambling around after each other carrying on like there's one nut left in the world and five squirrels after it! Anyway I would only worry if the aggressive squirrel is having an increasingly bad effect on any of the other babies....in other words, have any of the other ones started to hide, not come out to eat, display depressed or reclusive behavior? For a couple of weeks, Sheila was so afraid of Roadie she would not come out of her sleepysack....I even fed her by sticking the syringe in there. He would try to keep her from eating if she came out, even if he didn't want what she had! I was about to separate them when she came out one morning and gave Roadie the beating of his life ("I am woman, hear me roar!") and now she co-exists with him by keeping him in his place, LOL! Seriously, though, had she not come around like that I would have separated them because of her hiding and not eating. Use your judgment as to whether your little gang-banger is actually hurting anyone.

[Liza]

Thanks, Island. Thats what I needed to hear. (that all sibs fight, just not half-kill each other.) Last night when they fed, I looked tham all over really close for bite marks, scratches, etc. and there aren't any. One female has a little patch of hair pulled out on her neck, but it isn't bad. (well, that's MY opinion- don't ask her what she thinks! LOL) I have been really watching closely and it seems to be the other male that gets the brunt of the beatings. He is a little guy, and has a gentle spirit. He doesn't fight back, but runs away- But he is not as fast as Basil (that is tough-guys new name- it is as close to Beelzubub as I could get without actually calling him the devil-LOL), so he gets caught and whooped. They have been pretty settled since yesterday afternoon, though. Everytime Basil got nasty, I went over, stuck my hand in the cage and pulled him off his "victim".. and plopped him in the nestbox. I don't know if they learn from experiences like that, but by last night, the screetching and fur-flinging had stopped, and this morning they are downright sedate.
Go figure- would momma squirrel in the wild "discipline" her kids for behavior like this? I'm not sure, but as long as you live under my roof, you will be respectful, buddy! :D :D :D

Liza

[Liza]

Thanks, Island. Thats what I needed to hear. (that all sibs fight, just not half-kill each other.) Last night when they fed, I looked tham all over really close for bite marks, scratches, etc. and there aren't any. One female has a little patch of hair pulled out on her neck, but it isn't bad. (well, that's MY opinion- don't ask her what she thinks! LOL) I have been really watching closely and it seems to be the other male that gets the brunt of the beatings. He is a little guy, and has a gentle spirit. He doesn't fight back, but runs away- But he is not as fast as Basil (that is tough-guys new name- it is as close to Beelzubub as I could get without actually calling him the devil-LOL), so he gets caught and whooped. They have been pretty settled since yesterday afternoon, though. Everytime Basil got nasty, I went over, stuck my hand in the cage and pulled him off his "victim".. and plopped him in the nestbox. I don't know if they learn from experiences like that, but by last night, the screetching and fur-flinging had stopped, and this morning they are downright sedate.
Go figure- would momma squirrel in the wild "discipline" her kids for behavior like this? I'm not sure, but as long as you live under my roof, you will be respectful, buddy! :D :D :D

Liza

[island rehabber]

Sounds as if you have the situation well under control -- and as for Basil's name, at least you didn't name him Hitler, LOL! (I know someone here has a killer female squirrel named Hitler, right?) As for the mild-mannered male who's getting picked on, watch him to be sure he doesn't become really downcast or submissive because he will need to have some aggressiveness out in the wild after release. He won't have mamma to pull the bullies off him anymore.