DESTRUCTOR! I CHEW EVERYTHING UP! NO RAT WHEEL IS SAFE!

[CrazySquirrelLady]

OK so far the General has torn up a large plastic rat wheel from Petco... BAM and then it is lying on the cage floor, the wheel chewed off the spindle thing....

This morning, he ate one of the bath towels I had lying across the top of the cage! HOLES in my good towel like crazy and bits of red terry cloth all over.

OBVIOUSLY, he needs more things to chew on besides nuts and deer antler and branches.

what should I do? Thanks.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Let me just tell you what not to do.

DO NOT let him up on top of the kitchen cabinets unless you want chew marks all along the edges for the whole world to see.

DO NOT let him close to any antique furniture.

DO NOT allow him access to a cell phone, a tv remote, or a vehicle remote unless you want all buttons chewed completely off.

DO NOT waste money trying to buy things to chew, cuz nothing will ever suffice except something you don't want him to destroy or something that he's not supposed to have.

My boys like to chew black walnuts. They can't open them yet, but it helps the need to chew, gnaw, munch, chaw, and chomp.

Good luck! :rotfl

[Nemehoto]

Nut shells like pecan halves with the nut removed, twigs with buds or leaves on them (fruit tree twigs, mine love pear and apple twigs) cuttle bone. one of the things my guys love to chew on is a braided flannel rope I made from an old pair of PJ pants. I cut them up into 1 inch wide stripes and braided them into a rope. They love destroying it and it's something they can sink their teeth into without worrying about fraying too much. Toliet paper rolls, paper towels, old woven basket. (I bought this woven nest thing from the petstore, they don't sleep in it but man do they love to chew on it.)

[mdyoung216]

Let me just tell you what not to do.

DO NOT let him up on top of the kitchen cabinets unless you want chew marks all along the edges for the whole world to see.

DO NOT let him close to any antique furniture.

DO NOT allow him access to a cell phone, a tv remote, or a vehicle remote unless you want all buttons chewed completely off.

DO NOT waste money trying to buy things to chew, cuz nothing will ever suffice except something you don't want him to destroy or something that he's not supposed to have.

My boys like to chew black walnuts. They can't open them yet, but it helps the need to chew, gnaw, munch, chaw, and chomp.

Good luck! :rotfl

So with a squirrel your house is just one big chew toy? LOL They make a squirrel muzzle?

[patjones]

I have a baby in my shirt pocket as I am reading this chewing the button off of my shirt. The kitchen cabinets in my house happen to be next to the sliding glass door so the jungle jim starts with them running up the curtain and back and forth along the cabinets. They have knocked a few nice things off on the tile floor as well. Nougie adopted a box on top of the refrigerator that I have to change out now and then. Plastic and cloth plants do not stand a chance they will be dismantled there are a bunch of other things. The printer in my office has no buttons they only eat the buttons I use on the remote and the car remote is a favorite for some reason. The list goes on.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

They make a squirrel muzzle?

Not that i know of. Whoever invents one could potentially become rich!!!

[SammysMom]

Oh I want a few of those!!! I personally have ramps of plain 1 x 2's all over the place. He uses them to get from point A to point B as well as to chew on. Not the "House Beautiful" I use to hope for, but certainly the one that I most enjoy now. :Love_Icon Sammy:Love_Icon

[newsquirrelmommy]

Oh man do they love to chew. I just bought a new cage and already the shelves are completely chewed thru. I put them in for like 1/2 hour waiting for the shelf covers to arrive. My wooden window sills are chewed, my desk, remotes you name it..LOL...I don't think u can ever stop them no matter what u buy. Today my Squirt was so fresh I told him no in a deep voice which I have before but he face pounced me to where it now looks like Freddy Kruger had at it on my face. Over wintering is gonna be tough. I love being a squammy!!

[shellyb1018]

Hahaha...they love to chew!!!
I have always had the ice cream cones, wood chew toys, wood blocks, tree limbs and all sorts of paper towel rolls, and she seems to be good with it all. Mind you there are about 30 different pieces of wood chews scattered throughout her cage and every one of them are chewed. lol I just get news ones and they just pile up, but keeps her busy.
the flannel is a great idea too. I also braid together fleece and flannel, and some flannel by itself. I hang them throughout her cage, and from one side to another. She seems to love it. Her cage is pretty big so I figured the more things she has to do, the less bored she will get. Its working out pretty good :thumbsup

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

The bird nest boxes are good for them to play in and chew also

[Scooterzmom]

One thing Hami enjoys is a roll of paper towels, or toilet paper - with the paper still on, or a box of Kleenex :) He makes nests all over the place with them. THen I take the cardboard roll of the paper towles or toilet paper, stuff a nut in there and solidly tape bothends off... that keeps him busy all of 10 minutes for him to retrieve the nut. You can also try hiding a nut in an empty yogurt container. He loves a tennis ball, especially the cat-size ones. Hides them as if they were nuts.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Thanks everybody! Lots of good tips here in this thread!

I already tried the apple branches suggestion!

i broke some off my apple tree and put about 8 in there.

I looked in there couple hours later, nothing left but a few leaves...????

where did they go??? lol...

not sure.

oh and about kleenex and/or tape? I think General would eat the paper and tape.

He is bad about that kind of thing.

can't believe he ate all those branches, with help from the other, in few hours!!! can you? wonder where they went.. only bits lying around now...

squirrels seem happy tho... thanks. will try more ideas as I can from your suggestions.

[Scooterzmom]

One note of caution about the apple tree branches... be careful to check them out and really shake them up ... I brought some in for my guys and before I knew it I had ants all over the place.... NOT fun.

[newsquirrelmommy]

I try to buy the apple tree sticks from petsmart. Squirt loves them. However I do give him a few from my apple tree outside with the leaves and he devours them. He definitely likes it with the leaves more but I get nervous with bugs in the house so definitely shake them out before you bring them in.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

otay! :)

[treeman]

Things I give Spicy to destroy:
sticks, unopened pine cones (best so far), sterile bones from pet store, these all natural bird toys made from coconut shells/palm fronds/sea sponge/oyster shells, stuffed animals, old socks in a ball, cotton rope toys...

About the deer antlers...I could never get Spice to spend much time on them. Then I brought her an old one that had been sitting in the woods so long that it had been weathered white in color. I could see where other squirrels had chewed it. Sure enough, she was willing to fight over that thing after I gave it to her. So, you might want to try giving them antler that you've let sit in the yard awhile.

[riefderrico]

Our Missy does the same thing. The wall by the window next to her cage has her "love bites" all down one side. It took me a minute to figure out what in the world she was chewing on. A few stern "eh eh eh's" from me and she moved on to the next item. Today she was having out of cage time while I was working on my computer. She was watching me work playing w/ her stuffed bunny - going from the bed to the chair to my shoe to the bed, then all of a sudden she snuck over to my key board and ran off with the Esc key!!! Little bugger knows not to play on momma's computer and she intentionally snuck over and hauled butt. Couldn't help but laugh. She got my attention and alot of play time after I found the damn button and put it back on. :jump

As for the stuff she is allowed to chew on - she loves sticks and branches with the lichen on it. We have a few slate rocks (found naturally around here), pine cones and hickory nuts w/ the shells - she loves to chew on the outer shells, husband built her a rope ladder w/ wooden dowels she just adores to play and chew on, he also cut her a "slab" of a fallen oak tree about 3" thick and the size of dinner plate, her two cat towers and the rope that connects them. And then of course there is my hand, my ear, my nose, my shoe laces, the metal bed, pockets on my jeans, I could go on and on - LOL!