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sqrlpup
11-07-2006, 12:02 PM
Hey everyone. Been busy between work and school.

Well my squirrel is 3 months old now. He's still not the size of a regular squirrel, which I thought he should be by now...? But he acts just like a regular squirrel in all ways and the rest of his development has been steady with what I've read. He eats everything he can get his hands on, and formula still as always.

So where do I go from here? He is beginning to act aggressively now. He loves me to death (I'm his tree and thusly covered in cuts, and he loves to fight) but he will growl and bite strangers. Today he got into a barking session that would not end.. Then he got really agitated and ran in circles around me making the "angry squirrel noise". He is in tune to every noise he hears and is very possesive, especially if there is food involved. This is all "a good thing" as far as I'm concerned, he needs to be a squirrel, but its getting harder to handle him.

I've been keeping him in a large cage and transporting him with a cat carrier so far. I was going to make him his aviary in my parent's house back yard since they are squirrel people in a squirrel neighborhood. Should I make the aviary now for him outside and start leaving him out there during the day time (i can visit at lunch time for a formula feed since I work for my parents and go to their house a lot). It's cold (i'm from MD so the days are anywhere from 30-55 degrees) but not reaallly cold. I'd take him home at night so he wouldn't freeze.

Does this sound like a good idea? Or should I wait another month? I don't want him to spend the winter inside, I mean he'll be 7 months come March and I don't want to shelter him physically /and/ mentally. But I don't want to make him ill either.

Also, I plan on building my own aviary, does anyone here who has done the same have a site they could refer me to? Or even those websites that sell cage walls and pieces you put together yourself [i can't remember the company name but I've made ferret and rat cages with them that worked nicely].

Thanks!!

island rehabber
11-07-2006, 02:21 PM
.... This is all "a good thing" as far as I'm concerned, he needs to be a squirrel, but its getting harder to handle him.

I've been keeping him in a large cage and transporting him with a cat carrier so far. I was going to make him his aviary in my parent's house back yard since they are squirrel people in a squirrel neighborhood. Should I make the aviary now for him outside and start leaving him out there during the day time (i can visit at lunch time for a formula feed since I work for my parents and go to their house a lot). It's cold (i'm from MD so the days are anywhere from 30-55 degrees) but not reaallly cold. I'd take him home at night so he wouldn't freeze.Thanks!!

Hi sqrlpup...this is a tricky one. If you are planning to release your squirrel this fall/winter, I would say yes make an outdoor aviary for him and leave him in it, with an opening, able to come and go as he pleases. You might want to wait a couple of days to open the door, until he gets acclimated. He is young, but at 14-15 weeks and with a place to come home to and supplemental food he should be fine. HOWEVER, if you're thinking of "commuting" with him -- taking him home at night in the carrier, Good Luck. :D If you think he's crazy now, wait a couple of weeks. Getting him out of the aviary and into the carrier every night could really be a trip and will get progressively harder as he gets older and wilder! So I would say build him the biggest overwintering enclosure you can with a nice warm nest box in it, and let him stay there. Give him Polartec fleece pieces for his nest and he'll stay toasty warm.

Buddy'sMom
11-07-2006, 08:35 PM
sqrlpup, definitely rely on what IR and the other rehabbers have to say about where to keep him.

Just thought I'd let you know that Buddy (16 weeks) has been doing just fine with the nights we've had so far in MD, even last weekend's very cold ones (by Maryland standards, anyway). He's been outside 24/7 for a little over one week. He seems to like it a lot.

IR's right, it will get much harder to get him into the carrier. One thing Buddy'sDad did to get Buddy into his smaller (inside) cage was to use a nut as a lure. Let him smell it and he will follow your hand anywhere! That way the carrier is associated with something good and not just being trapped. Especially when he won't let you hold him anymore. Just HOLD ON TIGHT to the nut or he'll steal it from you and go somewhere else to eat it! :D