When do baby squirrels leave their mother?

[StacyRocksXO]

I am raising a 7 week old baby squirrel -- male. He is doing very good, and I am feeding him with a 1 cc syringe with a nipple at the end. He is very plump, and is starting to eat stage 1 baby applesauce.
I read on one site to release them at about 10 weeks, and on another site I ready to release them at about 18-20 weeks. BIG difference!
When can I release him?

P.S. I am sorta attached to him... how do I convince myself to release him? He is just SO tame and cuddly... :osnap

[StacyRocksXO]

But I only feed him the baby stuff one time a day... sometimes none. Mostly formula.

[mugzeezma]

I am raising a 7 week old baby squirrel -- male. He is doing very good, and I am feeding him with a 1 cc syringe with a nipple at the end. He is very plump, and is starting to eat stage 1 baby applesauce.
I read on one site to release them at about 10 weeks, and on another site I ready to release them at about 18-20 weeks. BIG difference!
When can I release him?

P.S. I am sorta attached to him... how do I convince myself to release him? He is just SO tame and cuddly... :osnap
He will be cuddly until he becomes mature in 9-10months and then he MAY get wild. enjoy the cuddly wonderful baby stage. Squirrlies are very social and as a singleton he will want your attention. he may start biting when he get older. They can get really nasty with strangers...all sorts of fun stuff. Squirrels are very high maintenance. They require a special diet to prevent MBD. They need a lot of space...like your entire house to run around in.

Pitch that applesauce for now...it fills his tummy with sugars and fluids he doesn't require. A couple plain Cheerios would be better for him to nom on.

Here is what is done at the wildlife centers and has worked extremely well for them. It's also recommended in some of the books I have.

Get some good quality RAT block.
Soak some pellets in water in water until they are soft and then pour formula over them. It's messy but it gets them started on rat blocks and closer to weaning. have some pieces of block lying around for him to nibble.

NO NUTS!
Until after weaning
this is just the beginning :D

[Anne]

Young squirrels stay with their mothers until they are about 4 months old, they don't go very far after that either. I feel that 4 months of age is the very youngest to release a squirrel. That being said-even here in Florida (at least North and Central) leaves for nesting and food are not available enough to release. I have several release cages outside with this springs squirrels, but they will not be opened until spring. I will over winter my guys, feeding them until the spring leaves are out, even then I will continue to keep an eye on them and provide supplemental food. When I do open the release cages the squirrels will know the sights and sounds of the neighborhood and be able to forage and care for themselves. That is at least how it will happen here, expensive for me, safer for them-IMHO.

[Rhapsody]

At 7 weeks old your little squirrel still has a while to go until he is old enough for you to even consider letting him go - the average release age is 4 months (16 weeks) needed for a baby squirrel to grow to be able to fend for him/her self in the wild. During this time it is up to the foster parent to feed their baby the best diet they can to get them ready for the day they are released.... HHB (@ http://www.henryspets.com/) is a good start along with a diet mixed with a variety of vegetables/kale with some fruit and the occasional 3 or 4 daily nut. Don't forget the Fresh Water!!

And most of all SPOIL that little guy with lots of love and kisses for as long as you can... until the day comes that he decides to wild up and demands to be set FREE!! :Love_Icon