Odd behavior

[Lulu2010]

I have an unusual question. So I've heard of the squirrels trying to nurse from each other (and I've encountered it before) but I've never heard of a squirrel trying to nurse from himself (if you know what I mean). So, one of my babies is 13 weeks and for the last week or two I've noticed that when he eats any solid food, he eats a few bites and nurses himself and then repeats the process. Anybody have any idea why? He's still on formula (FV) 4 cc's 4 x a day. They are on HHBs but ran out and need more so right now I'm using the rodent block. I also give a large bowl of fruits and veggies...well mostly veggies...every morning. They get a touch of yogurt almost every day and a couple cheerios a day along with some chew things to help with their teeth. He's normal aside from that behavior. He already attacks my hands and growls at me. He will sit with me, but only if I don't try to pet him. Just wondering if anybody knows why he's doing it and if I should be concerned since it's an ongoing thing now. Thanks.
PS- He's in with his sister.....they bicker a lot but always curl up together when they sleep.

[Lulu2010]

Sorry I just realized I posted in emergency. It's not an emergency. Thought I clicked non emergency thread.

[mugzeezma]

I have an unusual question. So I've heard of the squirrels trying to nurse from each other (and I've encountered it before) but I've never heard of a squirrel trying to nurse from himself (if you know what I mean). So, one of my babies is 13 weeks and for the last week or two I've noticed that when he eats any solid food, he eats a few bites and nurses himself and then repeats the process. Anybody have any idea why? He's still on formula (FV) 4 cc's 4 x a day. They are on HHBs but ran out and need more so right now I'm using the rodent block. I also give a large bowl of fruits and veggies...well mostly veggies...every morning. They get a touch of yogurt almost every day and a couple cheerios a day along with some chew things to help with their teeth. He's normal aside from that behavior. He already attacks my hands and growls at me. He will sit with me, but only if I don't try to pet him. Just wondering if anybody knows why he's doing it and if I should be concerned since it's an ongoing thing now. Thanks.
PS- He's in with his sister.....they bicker a lot but always curl up together when they sleep.
They will self suckle...I've seen it a lot. Finnagin did it as a matter of fact.for lack of anything better to put on it i used neosporin. Nipped it in the bud.
Your fellow has a long standing habit. Try A&D ointment for diaper rash. Always have food available and find some green branches every day for him to chew. He's a big boy now. At 13 week s most are only being fed once at night. With this guy I would try the A&D and other distractions first.
BTW
how large is their cage? Are there plenty of climbing branches and climbing/hiding toys for them? He needs a job!!!

[Lulu2010]

It's not huge. But they have branches and toys, etc. He only does it while he eats. I'll def try the ointment and see if he stops. Should I cut back a feeding? I always just let them decide when they don't want formula any more. I had 1 stop taking it at 10-11 weeks. I've tried feeding him extra and that didn't make a difference to him.

[RockyRocko]

My boy Woody did this too after I first found him. He loved cheese and that was
his "trigger" food for this behavior. I thought it was "ODD" behavior too,
but sometimes it was so funny too!!! I'd try to discourage him from sucking himself, but he would just run out of reach, and still keep doing it!!
He would only do it when he was eating his CHEESE!! My other sq's never
would eat cheese..... so I wasn't sure what was going on at first!!!
I wasn't as experienced with my video equip when I was raising him, so by the time I had figured out my camera, he had stopped doing his little routine!!!
It could have been a $100,000 VIDEO if there was a X-rated Funniest Video Show!!! "Woody" The Porn Star Squirrel!!!! Hahaha
Hope no one gets offended.... it was seriously funny sometimes and guess you just had to be there!!!! Boys and their toys! Still makes me laugh now!!

[Kristal]

My boy Woody did this too after I first found him. He loved cheese and that was
his "trigger" food for this behavior. I thought it was "ODD" behavior too,
but sometimes it was so funny too!!! I'd try to discourage him from sucking himself, but he would just run out of reach, and still keep doing it!!
He would only do it when he was eating his CHEESE!! My other sq's never
would eat cheese..... so I wasn't sure what was going on at first!!!
I wasn't as experienced with my video equip when I was raising him, so by the time I had figured out my camera, he had stopped doing his little routine!!!
It could have been a $100,000 VIDEO if there was a X-rated Funniest Video Show!!! "Woody" The Porn Star Squirrel!!!! Hahaha
Hope no one gets offended.... it was seriously funny sometimes and guess you just had to be there!!!! Boys and their toys! Still makes me laugh now!!

Yep, it would go viral, at the least :D

[Lulu2010]

Glad to hear he's not the only one doing that....maybe I should take out my video camera. Lol!
Well, I added more stuff to his cage and tried the ointment....not very easy since he's wild already. He's still going to town. Poor guy.

[mugzeezma]

Glad to hear he's not the only one doing that....maybe I should take out my video camera. Lol!
Well, I added more stuff to his cage and tried the ointment....not very easy since he's wild already. He's still going to town. Poor guy.

Yes get the video recorder out so when the girls start calling you can embarrass him! :D
The A&D didn't work??
hmmm
Yuk
Bitter apple
Is his member getting sore from all the action? keep an eye out that he doesn't scab up and plug.
Sounds like neurotic behavior...need to break the cycle. You're feeding 4xs per day you can cut back to 3 then 2 then 1. Take as long as you like.
Try feeding different things.
feed at different times.
Out the food different places or feed him outside the cage in the bathroom or something.

[Kristal]

Yea, it seems like an anxious, self soothing behaviour to me, too - especially since he is still nursing so much. But I wonder if cutting down on nursing would have the desired effect? It might turn out to be the contrary. I would monitor the whole situation carefully if I decreased nursing frequency. Other anxious behaviours may crop up.

My kits had their first almost argument today. I had to go out at a time when I usually let them out to play, and they were not happy about the situation. I tossed them shelled nuts and paper towel to amuse themselves a bit, and they had a little argument. I am sure that they were angry that I was not taking them out, and that was just transfered into a bit of food aggression. It's possible that some of this is happening with your kits and leaving them both additionally stressed because they are not getting along on top of whatever else might be bothering them.

So I think Mugzeema is right that he needs a job. He sounds bored and anxious and insecure feeling to me. Perhaps give him some more out of cage play time and try to give him a bit of affection - especially if he will be with you over the winter. I found patience and nighttime petting sessions soothed my Babes nerves quite a bit. He does love to be petted, but I have to catch him when he is sleepy, else his paranoia kicks in before he can enjoy himself. Mutual grooming and petting is very soothing to a squirrels nerves, I have found. It seems to have the same effect as getting a massage does for us in that it calms them down noticably for hours or even a couple of days.

Jackie also suggested cutting down on the sunflower seeds, of which I was giving a lot. She has found that they make greys more high strung and even aggressive if they get too much of them. It's possible that helped my situation with Babe, but it is not possible to isolate one thing that I did from another since I just tried everything that seemed like it could be a good idea. So try cutting down if you are loading up on sunflower seeds. Apparently they are too high in phosphorous, anyway.

Also, if he is not hurting himself - as in leaving his penis raw, sore, or scabbed, you might just want to leave him with it and try other things to soothe his nerves rather than trying to deter him from something that he apparently finds comforting. If you can help him relax a bit he may well just grow out of it on his own.

And, as for Babe, he was not self suckling, just being generally anxious, untrusting and a bit more aggressive than my other 3. So the comparison works insofar as we are talking about squirrel anxiety in general.

[Scooterzmom]

When I had Romeo & Julie, I found Romeo doing that one day. I don't know if it was a coincidence or what but, around the same time I began putting food for Romeo on the higher shelf - the kind HE preferred- and food for Juliet on the lower shelf - the one SHE preferred - the behavior stopped.

It was like the 2 of them had made a pact "you eat ost of the romaine and i'll eat most of the snow peas. We'll share the sugar peas. etc..." Was kinda cute to see them work out their system.

[Lulu2010]

I'll have to try feeding him out of the cage. Or I could swap out siblings with him. His other brother and sister live in a different cage. His suckling isn't doing any damage exactly....it's making him more "well endowed" than he already was. I don't see that as being a problem.... :)
I have noticed that the other two siblings get along great with each other and rarely bicker. But, these two just can't control themselves when it's meal time. He used to not do that so maybe swapping out siblings will help.
As far as handling, he is very difficult to handle. He will climb on me but I cannot try to pet him or he freaks and runs.

[Kristal]

Curious, is there some reason why you put two in one cage and two in another? Do they all have play time together? Are they all siblings?

[Lulu2010]

Atleast 3 of the 4 are siblings. I keep them in pairs now because it's hard to tell them apart (2 boys/2 girls) when I do the formula. Their cages are side by side. They play through the bars when they come out. If I can get them weaned then they can live together again in a huge cage we bought until they're released.

[mugzeezma]

Atleast 3 of the 4 are siblings. I keep them in pairs now because it's hard to tell them apart (2 boys/2 girls) when I do the formula. Their cages are side by side. They play through the bars when they come out. If I can get them weaned then they can live together again in a huge cage we bought until they're released.
Dab their ears with different colored nail polish..., makes it SOOO much easier

[Kristal]

I did that, too. They change so much as they are growing up, don't they? Now I can tell them apart by looking at them, but it is still hard in certain light or from some angles. I put nail polish on their heads and backs, though, and they wound up with little bald spots for a while because their sibs would groom them off :shakehead So that worked until their hair grew back. Nibbler was just "tail-spot" for quite a while since his spot was nearest to his tail. He was the last to get a name.

Yea, maybe a big cage could be good for them. It would give them space to run around in and shake up the social dynamic, hopefully in a good way. If their cage is too small it can be quite stressfull to them at that age. I had mine in a large hamster cage until almost 10 weeks old, and Rifa used to go nuts in there - even though they got a lot of outside time. She figured out 2 different, clever ways to make an escape, and I had to put cast iron pans, glass mixing bowls and a cutting board in different places on top of and around the cage to keep her from doing it again. She was very determined about it.

My big cage is still not big enough to leave them in 24/7, so they also need out of cage time, but they are SO much happier in there. They are a lot more quiet, too. Rifa and Squeaky, especially, would come and coo-purr at me and shake the bars like they were a couple of miserable convicts in the last one. Talk about cabin fever :shakehead

[Lulu2010]

I didn't know nail polish was safe to use. I'll have to try that. I used to cut the hair on the tails but when I got these 4 they were already nearly 8 weeks old and active so I was scared to try to do that. Finally I just separated them. Now I know who I'm feeding so I don't skip someone and double feed someone else.

[Jackie in Tampa]

put all 4 in the biggest cage you have...
small cages lead to broken backs and dead babies...
small cages will make them pace...
they need room to wrestle and tumble...
they need each other...:Love_Icon
seperating them seldom works..
put triple anti b on it if it gets raw...it's safe and healing...
never fed baby sqs seed..thank you Kristal:thumbsup
IF penis is really bad, post a pic...if just red a wee swollen..they will be fine...
let them rumble...
I know about the 100k videos...with sqs they are always in the making...sqs are so fun..truly entertaining..:jump
:poke we NEED pics! we LOVE pics! we WANT pics!!!!!!!!:D

[Lulu2010]

It'll be a couple days before the big cage is ready. I have to bleach it outside and let it air out and reset it. The cage they're in is a decent size, just not huge. I noticed that he doesn't do it when he's cracking nuts, only when eating other solids. Also, I never give them seeds. None of mine have ever had a sunflower seed. I stick to block, veggies, formula, regulated nuts and yogurt.
His part is not swollen or red. He's peeing good and no scabbing.