Hi Everyone!

[Twitch1025]

Hi everyone, my name is Danielle and I finally joined this site. I have been taking care of my squirrel for almost two months now and all of your information has been very helpful. I am in Orlando, FL. Thank you for welcoming me and my boy Twitch. I would like to attach a pic of him but it is not letting me for some reason.

[redwuff]

Hi Danielle,
:Welcome :Welcome
Welcome to the squirrel board. We love pictures!! Don't know if you have tried to resize your pictures, but that stopped me from posting pictures until I figured that out. Of course we want to see a picture of your boy. How old is he?

Trysh

[Twitch1025]

Hehe ya I'm retarded and I think I just had to activate my account or something like that. I'm not sure but I think that I do not have permission to post attachments or something Twitch is probably 10 weeks old maybe? He just started jumping about a week ago and holding his food with his lil paws. I love him to death and so does my dog. She cuddles with him and cleans him and they play.

[Twitch1025]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151170739269151&set=a.442982399150.230278.725294150&type=1&theater

[redwuff]

Hey twitch,

One of the most important parts of raising a squirrel baby is getting it on the proper diet. It will die without the proper diet, no kidding. Please read the nutrition section and ask any question. Let me know if I can help you.

Trysh

[island rehabber]

Twitch you now have full access to the Board, so post away! And let's see some pix....:poke

[UDoWhat]

Hey twitch,

One of the most important parts of raising a squirrel baby is getting it on the proper diet. It will die without the proper diet, no kidding. Please read the nutrition section and ask any question. Let me know if I can help you.

Trysh

:goodpost Sooooooooo true!!!

Marty

[FuzzyButt]

:Welcome looking forward to piccys too :D

[Twitch1025]

Thanks everyone! I have been feeding him Goat's milk, grapes, bananas, veggies and nuts. Let me see if I can post some pics now lol

[kastillo]

He's so cute, especially with the dog. I hope you are keeping him as a pet, since he's used to dog now, he prob. wouldn't do good being released.

[Twitch1025]

Yes I am keeping him. He is with me 24/7 except at night when he sleeps. My work is really cool and lets me bring him everyday.

[Squirrelis]

:Welcome hi - glad you found us:D be careful around other people and Twitch because as they get older he will become what he is a wild animal and they can bite and scratch people they don't know
Is there something wrong with him that he can't be released-what's his story?

[Twitch1025]

No nothing is wrong with him he is very healthy and getting fat lol.... I want to keep him as a pet. Of course when he starts becoming wild or acting out I will release him but as of right now he is still eating goats milk and I dont think he is old enough to be released.

[Twitch1025]

My friends dog had him in his mouth a month ago... he was very dehyrated and underweight. I have nursed him back to health and he is doing great now. I spend probably over 12 hours a day with him... bring him to work and he basically lives in my shirt. He is very attached to me and plays with my other pets.

[Squirrelis]

He's super cute:D unfortunately if he is raised with dogs and cats he won't fear them when he is released and they would end up killing him- he has to have natural fear of predators( dogs n cats)
I have raised a squirrel since she was still with her eyes closed- she was so adorable as a baby but there was nothing wrong with her so I knew that the right thing to do was to raise her and when the time was right release her. I didnt release until she was 10 months old-she started to "wild up" and yes bite and scratch. Yes of course I was so sad but she is a wild animal and who am I to not let her be with her own kind, have a squirrely boyfriend and little squirrels-happiness is being a squirrel in the trees:D you sound like a really nice person Daniel, you saved a squirrels life so I know your heart is in the right place:Love_Icon he will become aggressive as he gets older and he too will wild up - but if not prepared the right way he won't survive in the wild- there's a lot of members in your area that can help- I'm in Tampa if you need help too-
My release squirrel named Squirrelis still comes everyday to my backyard for a delicious meal along with all her squirrely friends- it's so nice to see her and she still sits on my shoulders:Love_Icon but she does fear my dogs and other
people -just my 2 cents- hope it works out for you.:)
Squirrelis:D

[Twitch1025]

Thank you I will take everything into consideration. I guess I will try to keep him away from my other pets but that is pretty difficult because I have multiple cats and dogs.

[redwuff]

Wow Twitch,

He is a super cute little boy. I can see why you love him so much. They are so easy to fall in love with.

I know that you want to keep that guy as healthy as possible. The best thing to feed him right now is Fox Valley Formula 20/50. He looks like he is a bit behind in his nutrition. You can find them on the web: foxvalleynutrition.com.

If you are just feeding the goats milk without anything else in it, it does not have enough fat. Let me find the formula and I'll get it to you.

I almost lost my squirrel cos I had no idea how challengeing it is to feed a nutritionally balanced diet to a squirrel. He is old enough to be eating block. I mentioned that in my earlier post. If Twitch starts out on eating a healthy rodent block that can be gotten at PetSmart or online, life will be very easy for your little guy. Please please please read the nutrition section, or at the very least, read about Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD).

[redwuff]

Hi Danielle,

How old is Twitch? At first you said that you had him over 2 months, but in your last post you said that your friends dog had him a month ago. He looks great if he is a 6-7 wk old squirrel, but if he is 10 11 wks he is small. Were his eyes open when the dog got him?

[Twitch1025]

I will read the nutrition section. I skimmed thru it a bit but I do need to get him some of these block things you guys are talking about. I got him on October 26th (my timing was a lil off, it seems like I have had him much longer) My friend found him a day or two before I got him and said he had just opened his eyes and at that point he was maybe 4 or 5 weeks old. So maybe he is 9-11 weeks old? I will go tomorrow to petsmart and get the rodent blocks. Thank you everyone for the information.

[Twitch1025]

Here are some more recent pics... Those other pics are a few weeks old

[redwuff]

Hi Danielle,

How are you and twitch doing? Thanks for the more recent pictures. I can tell that is one little loved squirrel.

Have you been able to find any rodent blocks for him yet? There are a lot of squirrel people on the board that live around the Orlando area. Can't stress how important diet is for any age squirrel.

We want to see more pictures:poke

[astra]

He's super cute:D unfortunately if he is raised with dogs and cats he won't fear them when he is released and they would end up killing him- he has to have natural fear of predators( dogs n cats)

:goodpost this is absolutely crucial! He MUST NOT be in any contact with cats and dogs, nor should he see you interact with them safely.

99% chances he will wild up, but if he is used to cats and dogs, he may not be able to be released. That will make his life miserable - a wild squirrel in captivity.

If it is not possible to keep him completely separated from cats and dogs, perhaps, it might be better to give him to someone who can raise and release him away from cats and dogs. There are a lot of people in FL who might be able to help. If they have a squirrel his age - that will be a great bonus: for him to have a release buddy and learn how to be a squirrel.

Either way - he can dogs/cats should never mix.

Besides, please check this: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28790

[Nemehoto]

Awww your little guy is a cutie.