Ziggy was a naughty boy tonight!

[tazzy]

Okay,
Ziggy is now 16 weeks old. I have had him since he was a week old. We let him out to play every night (in our house) for a few hours. Tonight for some strange reason he was extremely naughty. He was really biting hard and just not being his sweet little playful self. ANy ideas or suggestions on what may be goig on? Wondering if he is wilding up and needs to be released, but have serious issues about letting him go this close to the harsh IOWA winters. Was planning on keeping him until spring when I know he can make it outdoors. Anyone with any suggestions please respond.

[Wonkawillie]

Probubly wilding up. This is the age you begin to see it.
It is cold out yet there at your place? Now is the time to release if you have fall weather that is mild and nuts and natural food dropping everywhere for him to pack away. You can do a soft release, allow him to gather natural foods, and continue to feed him in a safe spot outside. Unless it has already gotten cold. Are there other squirrels> Could you make him a nice outdoor squirrel box and get him used to it before a release?

[tazzy]

Our weather is nice right now and COULD be until November. What worries me about letting him go is that he is so unafraid of people. How does one know if a squirrel is "imprinted" or if he is releasable? I just want whats best for him. He is such a sweetie and so cute (and smart). I could put his cage outside in our back yard and leave it open and keep feeding him until he doesn't come home anymore. I just wish it was July weather. Iowa is so unpredictable that it could snow next week.
Any and all advice is welcome.

[JLM27]

Are his hormones starting?

What kind of neighborhood do you live in? If he is truly wilding up, once he completes that transformation, he won't let even you close, much less strangers. How is his fear of dogs and cats? Are there other squirrels his age out there or just mature beasties? Can you give him to some one else for release with other squirrels his age?

[Kristal]

I know that solos have a hard time adjusting to being wild squirrels, if they can at all, and that autumn babies stay with mom through the winter, especially in colder climes. Those are just a couple of things to consider. Sounds like he will need extra support, at least.

[tazzy]

I know that solos have a hard time adjusting to being wild squirrels, if they can at all, and that autumn babies stay with mom through the winter, especially in colder climes. Those are just a couple of things to consider. Sounds like he will need extra support, at least.

Thank you all for your help!
I can't wait to go home tonight and see how he handles his playtime. Maybe he was just having a "terrible twos" moment:)
Our winters are so bitter cold and the past few have been horrible, so I am really leaning on the idea of keeping him warm and dry and full for the winter and releasing him in the spring. One thing that I do notice is that he jumps from me to the couch or anything for that matter, and he doesnt really pay attention to what he is landing on. I worry about him jumping on to a branch that cant hold him etc. It may be that by next spring he will have more of that squirrel sense too!

[tazzy]

Tonight was a bad night fo Ziggy. He runs the house every night and is usually so playful and s fun. But the last few nights we have noticed that he seems to be getting rough when he plays and his nibbles have turned into bites. Tonight he literally attacked my husband (whom he usually plays with each night). He growled and drew blood and then wouldnt have anythng to do with him.
I am worried. It seems to be getting worse even since I originally posted this thread:(
I have thought about releasing him as we have many squirrels in our trees, but we live in town and afterthis past week, I am afraid he may jump on some one as they walk by.
I also am very concerned about the harsh winter months ahead. The plan was to keep him unti Sprin, but tonight really has me worried. Please help with any suggestions. I love the little guy so much.

[Kristal]

How do squirrels wild up? When does it start? Is it a stage if they stay with people? For those of you that keep NRs, how do you get past it? Do they all just get aggressive like that?

[virgo062]

How do squirrels wild up? When does it start? Is it a stage if they stay with people? For those of you that keep NRs, how do you get past it? Do they all just get aggressive like that?

Most NR don't wild up for some reason. Knothead is 14 months old and he's been crazy since birth but he is not a "wild" squirrel if it happens I will have to deal with it then. Nut Nut didn't wild up for a year but my last batch got the urge at 4 months. Single Squirrels I think take longer because of the bonding but when Nut Nut was ready to go...All bets were off. he was a squirrel and he was ready. The agression could be just from him claiming one owner. Most squirrels tend to bond with one person and the playdates with daddy are probably over. Rick was the only one who could handle Knotty as a baby but around 7 months he decided I was his squirrel mommie and Rick had to step back. Take one day at a time and give more cage time and less human time. Squirrels are very smart and the will to survive is strong

[Kristal]

It is definitely something that I worry about sometimes since I have (count 'em) FOUR young juvenile squirrels, and they are my first squirrels ever. I have had them since infanthood, and they all are quite fond and trusting of me, for the most part. Rifa is especially so, and she is so brave. All she wants to do is explore, especially the places I don't want her to explore for safety reasons. The other day I had my neighbour over. She was sitting in my computer chair and Rifa just pounced on her as if she was me. I worry about that. She has also stopped caring about the dogs... she is too brave to be a safe squirrel, is my fear. She also adores me and would spend every moment with me if she could, siblings be damned if she had to choose, I suspect.

Well, I worry about that, but I mostly worry that I have no idea what I am getting into. I am afraid that we will be stuck together during the frozen months with them hating me more and more every day and me just getting scared worrying that they will take my eye out next time they want to lodge a complaint about their general situation. Of course I would keep them until weather permits for their own good, but doesn't that sound like a sad state of affairs?

So this whole wilding up thing sounds mysterious and scary and possibly inevitable to me. It won't change my mind about anything, but I would like to know more about what to expect in the next months.

Sorry if I am threadjacking, btw. It seems related to me, I guess.

[tazzy]

Kristal,

I feel your pain:( I can't stand seing Ziggy in a cage all of the time, but he too is so brave. Tonight really shocked me with my husband, as he has been a big part of Ziggys life since day one.
I just went in to tell him good night and give him his little neck rub that hegets every night and he was back to being a little angel. But the little Devil that I saw tonight really worrys me.
I agree about the cold winter months ahead. Iowa is horrible in the winter and Ijust want him to be safe and warm until spring.

[PDXErik]

I can't stand seeing my girl chew on the bars. I did the only thing I could.

I took her outside, we walked around. I showed her dandelion leaves, helicopter seeds, whatever I knew was ok.

From then on, I left the back door open for her and she's been spending days outside, the living room is boring.

She comes home at night (excepting the terrifying (to me) last night) and sleeps in her nest box, outside of a cage.

You must remember, this is a wild animal, you're just helping it when it needed you the most. It is your donation to life/karma/the greater good

It is your opportunity to give when some little creature needs it the most.

You saved it from dying a young, horrible death. IMO, that's one hell of a deed.

Anything the wild animal shares with you, is just gravy.

[Kristal]

You live in such a nice climate, Erik. I love the mild, temperate winters and long autumns that you get on the west coast. Here the weather is still not bad, but it drops to 4C or so at night or around 30 - 40 F. And you really never know what to expect with our winters. Sometimes they are relatively mild, throughout, and sometimes they are bitterly and dangerously cold with real risk of frostbite if you spend too much time outside. Come November, all bets are off. You could wake up any morning and find the world covered in snow... or it may stay above freezing until January. You never know what the weather is going to do here.

How old is your girl? Mine are around 10 - 11 weeks old, and they get scared if I leave them alone in the livingroom to take a pee :shakehead

[tazzy]

I can't stand seeing my girl chew on the bars. I did the only thing I could.

I took her outside, we walked around. I showed her dandelion leaves, helicopter seeds, whatever I knew was ok.

From then on, I left the back door open for her and she's been spending days outside, the living room is boring.

She comes home at night (excepting the terrifying (to me) last night) and sleeps in her nest box, outside of a cage.

You must remember, this is a wild animal, you're just helping it when it needed you the most. It is your donation to life/karma/the greater good

It is your opportunity to give when some little creature needs it the most.

You saved it from dying a young, horrible death. IMO, that's one hell of a deed.

Anything the wild animal shares with you, is just gravy.



Erik.

You are so right. I know what needs to be done, I just need to make sure it is done the right way. For Ziggy:)

[CritterMom]

This is a challenging age. This is about the age that Mister P started to climb my face:shakehead If you can get yourself through it, though, it will likely pass.

First, it is very tempting to stop interacting with them when it results in injury, but if you do, it will get worse and worse. You need to do what you have to do to protect yourself - gloves, heavy shirts/jeans - I actually made a "hickey mask" rig out of a big, metal sieve with ties on it so I could cover my face with the sieve and tie it behind my head - I looked like a spaceman in a very low budget 60's ski fi flick. And got caught wearing it by the UPS guy once:shakehead . But it was December and no way was he going anywhere, and I didnt want to be his jail warden, and that way we could still play together without me getting torn to pieces (I have a fairly visible scar on my lower lip from the little boob). And guess what? He stopped. He chilled out. Things calmed down, and the only facial wounds I have had since then involved me accidently turning at *just* the right time to be the victim of a face plant.

When P gets agressive to me - when it isn't play but him being mean, whether he is out or I am playing with him from outside his cage - rushing the bars, swatting, growling - I take my attention away from him immediately. If he is out of the cage he gets immediately picked up and put away and I leave and do not return for a while. If I am outside the cage and he rushes me, I spin and walk out. He almost never does either because my attention is the thing he craves most, and he knows that if he's mean, I abruptly disappear and don't return for a long time. But you have to be 100% consistent - you can't "let it slide" sometimes. They are incredibly smart - they learn REALLY fast. This is really the best way to train pretty much ANY animal that loves you to not do something - I use it for the parrots RE: biting, too. It is completely passive, so nobody gets yelled at or hit.

None of this will prevent him from wilding up next spring. You want to be able to have as stress free a winter as possible, and being friends is the best way to do that.

So protect yourself so you can keep interacting with him and "shun" him when he is bad and I bet things will calm down. Your hubby may never be fave, but I think things CAN improve.

[tazzy]

This is a challenging age. This is about the age that Mister P started to climb my face:shakehead If you can get yourself through it, though, it will likely pass.

First, it is very tempting to stop interacting with them when it results in injury, but if you do, it will get worse and worse. You need to do what you have to do to protect yourself - gloves, heavy shirts/jeans - I actually made a "hickey mask" rig out of a big, metal sieve with ties on it so I could cover my face with the sieve and tie it behind my head - I looked like a spaceman in a very low budget 60's ski fi flick. And got caught wearing it by the UPS guy once:shakehead . But it was December and no way was he going anywhere, and I didnt want to be his jail warden, and that way we could still play together without me getting torn to pieces (I have a fairly visible scar on my lower lip from the little boob). And guess what? He stopped. He chilled out. Things calmed down, and the only facial wounds I have had since then involved me accidently turning at *just* the right time to be the victim of a face plant.

When P gets agressive to me - when it isn't play but him being mean, whether he is out or I am playing with him from outside his cage - rushing the bars, swatting, growling - I take my attention away from him immediately. If he is out of the cage he gets immediately picked up and put away and I leave and do not return for a while. If I am outside the cage and he rushes me, I spin and walk out. He almost never does either because my attention is the thing he craves most, and he knows that if he's mean, I abruptly disappear and don't return for a long time. But you have to be 100% consistent - you can't "let it slide" sometimes. They are incredibly smart - they learn REALLY fast. This is really the best way to train pretty much ANY animal that loves you to not do something - I use it for the parrots RE: biting, too. It is completely passive, so nobody gets yelled at or hit.

None of this will prevent him from wilding up next spring. You want to be able to have as stress free a winter as possible, and being friends is the best way to do that.

So protect yourself so you can keep interacting with him and "shun" him when he is bad and I bet things will calm down. Your hubby may never be fave, but I think things CAN improve.
WOW! Thank you for the great advice. That is good to know that this behavior "could" change. Like I said, last night at bedtime he was back to being a sweet little angel.
And you are right about them being unbelievably smart and he has the BEST memory of any creature (including humans) that I know:) He hides acorns and walnuts around the house and I wonder if that may be part of the reason he was naughty last night maybe thinking that hubby was wanting his food storage. I don't give him food when he is outside of his cage, but I have had a bucket of Acorns that I left on his counter top and one day last week he "found" them and hid quite a few that day around the house before I could get them put away.
Just a thought, but your right about his age and hormones may be playing a big part in this too.
Thanks again I appreciate these boards sooooooo much!:jump

[Kristal]

This is a challenging age. This is about the age that Mister P started to climb my face:shakehead If you can get yourself through it, though, it will likely pass.

First, it is very tempting to stop interacting with them when it results in injury, but if you do, it will get worse and worse. You need to do what you have to do to protect yourself - gloves, heavy shirts/jeans - I actually made a "hickey mask" rig out of a big, metal sieve with ties on it so I could cover my face with the sieve and tie it behind my head - I looked like a spaceman in a very low budget 60's ski fi flick. And got caught wearing it by the UPS guy once:shakehead . But it was December and no way was he going anywhere, and I didnt want to be his jail warden, and that way we could still play together without me getting torn to pieces (I have a fairly visible scar on my lower lip from the little boob). And guess what? He stopped. He chilled out. Things calmed down, and the only facial wounds I have had since then involved me accidently turning at *just* the right time to be the victim of a face plant.

When P gets agressive to me - when it isn't play but him being mean, whether he is out or I am playing with him from outside his cage - rushing the bars, swatting, growling - I take my attention away from him immediately. If he is out of the cage he gets immediately picked up and put away and I leave and do not return for a while. If I am outside the cage and he rushes me, I spin and walk out. He almost never does either because my attention is the thing he craves most, and he knows that if he's mean, I abruptly disappear and don't return for a long time. But you have to be 100% consistent - you can't "let it slide" sometimes. They are incredibly smart - they learn REALLY fast. This is really the best way to train pretty much ANY animal that loves you to not do something - I use it for the parrots RE: biting, too. It is completely passive, so nobody gets yelled at or hit.

None of this will prevent him from wilding up next spring. You want to be able to have as stress free a winter as possible, and being friends is the best way to do that.

So protect yourself so you can keep interacting with him and "shun" him when he is bad and I bet things will calm down. Your hubby may never be fave, but I think things CAN improve.

Yea, that is good advice. I was just contemplating getting some squirrel protective gear, too. I am covered in little scratches from when I was wearing lighter clothing. It's just started now that they are more active and weigh more. I let them use me as a tree, and they love to climb around on me and hang from my dreadlocks. They also chase each other in circles around me. They make an effort to avoid my face, but sometimes they still hit it. I have a few small scratches there, too, but it is mostly my hands and arms. I have a heavy fleece sweater that I can don for them, and maybe those fingerless bicycle gloves would do the trick. I wonder where I could buy those....

[PDXErik]

You live in such a nice climate, Erik. I love the mild, temperate winters and long autumns that you get on the west coast. Here the weather is still not bad, but it drops to 4C or so at night or around 30 - 40 F. And you really never know what to expect with our winters. Sometimes they are relatively mild, throughout, and sometimes they are bitterly and dangerously cold with real risk of frostbite if you spend too much time outside. Come November, all bets are off. You could wake up any morning and find the world covered in snow... or it may stay above freezing until January. You never know what the weather is going to do here.

How old is your girl? Mine are around 10 - 11 weeks old, and they get scared if I leave them alone in the livingroom to take a pee :shakehead

Mine's around 14 weeks, maybe 15.

I'm really liking the "days outside, evening/nights in" thing and I think she does, too.

[CritterMom]

OMG - a "hicky mask???" LOL! Proofread, girl, proofread...

[Countess O]

I took a pair of knee socks and cut them off at the ankle. I then took a pair of gloves and sewed them to the sock legs. They really seem to help with handling without getting scratched or bit.

Great advice, Crittermom. I also keep a zip up hoodie near my squirrels cage and wear it when he's loose.

[Runestonez]

We moved our four greys outside to a hutch in the carport about a week ago?...it seems like longer! lol :)

They are 14 weeks old this Sunday...they were chewing on the bars of their smaller cage and acting really hyper.
Since we live in Southern Ontario it is a crap shoot.
I agonized for weeks before we decided to over-winter them.
If I release them we will undoubtedly have the earliest and harshest winter ever and I will worry about them constantly. If I don't release them I'll end up wondering if I could have done different...the difference...4 ticked off hormonal squirrels to release in the spring...but all alive and warm in the meantime!! :D

The kids are much happier with their extra room in the hutch...I add few new toys once a week and take away some of the older ones so they always have something to explore. Its something we started to do with our rabbits when they stopped playing with their toys! It seems to work really well.

Our Malli has started to ignore me for the most part...but the boys will popcorn and bounce around trying to convince me to come in the cage to play! LOL Yeah right....like when they're freaking out there's no place I'd rather be! :D
They still act like little kids...they do bury things...but then they dig them right back up and eat them. :shakehead They stripped all the leaves off the tree in their cage...but didn't try to make a nest or add any to their nest box.
I doubt I would try to release until they show more wild behavior....so I guess they are mine for the winter! :D

So far the only "gear" I require is a long sleeve shirt with a turtleneck on top(gives them somewhere to bury stuff too) and a touque or baseball cap for my head...mostly to keep me warm on the cooler nights! Our kids are pretty good about keeping their claws off of skin!
One thing I noticed was since we put the tree in their cage their nails have blunted down ALOT! Makes it a little more fun if you don't have to worry about peeling a squirrel off of you like velcro! :D

Our kids don't crawl up my face anymore since they are able to work off their energy during the day (I go in at night when they are C-A-L-M!) :D
The worst I have gotten lately...Clivey punched me in the eyeball! Yup and honest to God punch! Now...I get kisses if someone scratches me...apparently if there is no blood involved no gives a hoot and rejoices that mom has leaky watery eyes! <sigh> Sometimes I wish I knew what they were thinking....then again....maybe it's safer that I don't! :)

[Kristal]

fleece gloves with the fingers cut off and a fleece hoodie.... :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Plus there is a squirrel pocket in front for one or two to take a nap ;)

[Runestonez]

<snort>
I tried the hoody thing...goobers thought it was a great place to hide and chase each other around and 'round! :shakehead

[JLM27]

Sometimes people go around the house and find the nut stashes and confiscate them. Out of sight of their owner, of course. And then the behavior stops.

[tazzy]

Took Ziggys cage out last Saturday (it was mid 70's with no rain in sight for days). Opened all three doors and sat with him. 5 hours later, he still does NOT want to come out. He wouldnt even take a treat outside. So I rolled his cage back in and the instant that we were back indoors, he wants to come out and play. Dont think it's the right time for him to be released. I have decided to spend the winter with him:)

[Kristal]

My kits are around 13 weeks old or maybe a bit more, and they get scared just being in my house alone, sometimes. If I leave them outside their cage in an unfamiliar room, they are very quiet, watching for me to come back, I assume. When I do come back, they all pounce on me, and it is all "OMG, YOU WERE GONE AND WE WERE ALL ALONE AND IT WAS SOOOOOOOO HORRIBLE!!!!" Sometimes I do that if they refuse to go back in their cage, for example. You can't force them to do anything, but you can remind them that they are hungry... so sometimes I take that tack rather than begging when all they seem to want to do is play :shakehead Maybe they get more independent with age? :dono I can't imagine that my kits would be ready to go at this age even under the best of conditions. They probably wouldn't go, either, even if I started putting them outside now.

To more experienced releasers, does it come down to hormones? That is my current hypothesis, anyway. That one day natures call just overwhelms any other feelings that they have and it is time to sow some oats, danger, consequences and burnt bridges be damned. So far they still need me to feel secure and are quite attached to me... though they are rarely as affectionate as they were when they were little. It's all play, play, play these days, but I do get some nice cuddles in here and there :)

[LittleFootsMama]

My kits are around 13 weeks old or maybe a bit more, and they get scared just being in my house alone, sometimes. If I leave them outside their cage in an unfamiliar room, they are very quiet, watching for me to come back, I assume. When I do come back, they all pounce on me, and it is all "OMG, YOU WERE GONE AND WE WERE ALL ALONE AND IT WAS SOOOOOOOO HORRIBLE!!!!" Sometimes I do that if they refuse to go back in their cage, for example. You can't force them to do anything, but you can remind them that they are hungry... so sometimes I take that tack rather than begging when all they seem to want to do is play :shakehead Maybe they get more independent with age? :dono I can't imagine that my kits would be ready to go at this age even under the best of conditions. They probably wouldn't go, either, even if I started putting them outside now.

To more experienced releasers, does it come down to hormones? That is my current hypothesis, anyway. That one day natures call just overwhelms any other feelings that they have and it is time to sow some oats, danger, consequences and burnt bridges be damned. So far they still need me to feel secure and are quite attached to me... though they are rarely as affectionate as they were when they were little. It's all play, play, play these days, but I do get some nice cuddles in here and there :)


Lol LF gives me a pouncing and a ZOMG. You were gone for HOURS look if I leave his bedroom while he's out of his cage - usually followed by a solid thrashing to my hoodie :)

Oh cuddles..I remember when I still got those - now im just the worlds most fun race track and jungle gym ./sniffle