Chewed electrical cord

[dda0221]

Discovered this morning that one or both of my boys had managed to pull an electrical cord in the cage (along with the cord cover and both layers of the cage cover) and chew thru about half of the cord. Both squirrels seem to be fine, eating and moving normally. I am still worried and am wondering what kind of symptoms I should be watching for.
Thanks.

[jbtartell]

OMG, lol I think if they had gotten shocked you would definately know..lol Tara can tell u about this..lol just make sure to get them away from anything they can reach outside of the cage..lol they are curiouse and will explore..

[Jackie in Tampa]

I have had a sq in my care that was shocked by an electrical cord... the incident did not happen here. He was brought to me 4 days after the incident to recover, and he did.
Marley's mouth was white inside, like cooked pork looks.
The corners of his mouth were black and raw flesh. He had an exit wound on the top of one of his feet.
It was a long healing process with heavy meds involved. The heart does not always survive this type injury and it maybe 3 weeks before the injured is out of the woods as far as heart damage.

If one or the other was truly shocked, you would know it.
I have a rabbit that chews cords constantly, yet manages to neever get in serious situation, heaven help him:dono he's been lucky for 8 or 9 years..
( I can't remember how old that bunny is:tilt , but his BD is next month)

Myadvise...be careful and look for the worst case scenero, coz sqs will find it if you don't!!!:sanp3 :crazy

[stosh2010]

I have had a sq in my care that was shocked by an electrical cord... the incident did not happen here. He was brought to me 4 days after the incident to recover, and he did.
....
If one or the other was truly shocked, you would know it.
I have a rabbit that chews cords constantly, yet manages to neever get in serious situation, heaven help him:dono he's been lucky for 8 or 9 years..
( I can't remember how old that bunny is:tilt , but his BD is next month)

Myadvise...be careful and look for the worst case scenero, coz sqs will find it if you don't!!!:sanp3 :crazy
What is the best way to protect the electrical cord on a heating pad that is in a nest box ( 24/7) ?? Maybe--A piece of PVC pipe split and attached over the wire???
CRUISER is getting very "BITEY" and is chewing everything.

[astra]

i hope, no further damage surfaces...
there have been a lot of tragic cases when electrocuted squirrels slowly died.

Look for cord protectors either at Petco or Office Depot or something.
I know that Squirrelly Steve got his at Petco

[dda0221]

Thanks for all the replies. I looked both of them over carefully and I don't see any wounds of any kind. I guess we got lucky!

[Jackie in Tampa]

give them stuff to chew...branches toys and antlers!:thumbsup
:poke and where the heck are the pics!!!???!!!!
:worthless

[dda0221]

They have plenty of things to chew....branches, antlers, cuttle bones, fleece ropes, stuffies... Spoiled little boys. :D
Usually post pics in the Nursery thread Face and Mr. T.

[stosh2010]

Great Lookin' FUZZERS,
Hope you don't mind--I played around with your photo...

[CritterMom]

My squirrel LOVES cords - I swear if given a pecan and an electrical cord to choose from he would go for the cord.

PVC is the best. You can either buy the diameter you need to accomodate the plug end, or if you are handy you can cut the plug end off, drop the cord through and re-attach the plug. I prefer the larger diameter PVC because you can elbow it so that the cord AND plug are covered (looks like a piece of PVC sticking out of the receptacle when you are done). This is my particular mania - cords... I have built ad-ons that are stained to match my dresser and my entertainment center so he can't get behind them to the cords and am working on one for my computer armoire. All the phone, lamp and other cords that used to hide under my bed are gathered up and run through a piece of flexible drainage pipe large enough so that I could also encase and cover the power strip they are plugged into.

[Jackie in Tampa]

My squirrel LOVES cords - I swear if given a pecan and an electrical cord to choose from he would go for the cord.

PVC is the best. You can either buy the diameter you need to accomodate the plug end, or if you are handy you can cut the plug end off, drop the cord through and re-attach the plug. I prefer the larger diameter PVC because you can elbow it so that the cord AND plug are covered (looks like a piece of PVC sticking out of the receptacle when you are done). This is my particular mania - cords... I have built ad-ons that are stained to match my dresser and my entertainment center so he can't get behind them to the cords and am working on one for my computer armoire. All the phone, lamp and other cords that used to hide under my bed are gathered up and run through a piece of flexible drainage pipe large enough so that I could also encase and cover the power strip they are plugged into.:shakehead the things we do for love...:D

[CritterMom]

:shakehead the things we do for love...:D


Tell me about it. I am a good finish carpenter so the stuff I did the the furniture looks like it is supposed to be that way. Trying to explain a large drainage pipe under your bed is more difficult...:shakehead Of course you have to look under the bed to see it...

[Tara]

One of my boys was electrocuted by a fan wire. We had PVC pipe around the wire, but he managed to get in between the pipe and the actual fan itself and chewed the cord. We would have never thought he could get into that small of an area, but he did. If you decide to cover with PVC, make sure you cut it out like they're recommending.

When it happened, the power in the house surged. I was in the next room and screamed to my daughter to go cut the power. Panic mode for sure! I wasn't sure, but somehow knew one of them was getting shocked. He was young at the time, and I ran in and couldn't find him. He peeked out from under the bed and started doing odd flips for no reason. I grabbed him as soon as I could and checked him over. His mouth was burned slightly on the corner, and he had singed whiskers on one side. I could tell he had been burned because of that, and he had black marks on his teeth.

He was lucky, and it was a traumatic month of worrying about the little monster. He's still with us, and okay.

I no longer have anything plugged in in their room. I do sleep there, and take in a portable fan late at night after they're put in their cage for the night. They are not allowed out the next morning until it has been unplugged and removed from the room.

I hope your sweetie is okay. :grouphug :grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

[Darwin's Momma]

Those stories sound heartbreaking! Thank god they're ok. Everyday before I let Darwin out I do a sweep through the room. The scary part is they can get into things SO fast, and one good bite is all it takes. I hope your boys are ok too. Are those foxers? So cute!