Hello, eastern grey foster parents here

[Ratatouille]

hello, new member here.

this is Tesla. my girlfriend brought her in and rehabbed her from about 6 weeks old. we've had her about a month now.

she's been off formula for about two weeks, by her own choice. we still offered it for that entire first week of her no longer accepting it.

Her diet is Harlan Teklad 2018, the same as our sprague dawley research rats who were adopted (girlfriend works in stroke research)

She is beyond tame, and plays with our Boxer; I'm not sure how we're going to release her, maybe she will eventually get more wild, but for now she's just like our pet rats, and I would not imagine ever releasing them and them having a chance at survival.

anyway, here are some photos of her.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/481032_10151183765798751_977700544_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/305932_10151183786583751_299764502_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/305953_10151183760583751_1339573468_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/547027_10151176218213751_1897736732_n.jpg

[kastillo]

:Welcome

[stepnstone]

Hello Ratatouille,:wave123 Telsa is a cutie... :Love_Icon

TSB is certainly the go to place for anything squirrel, our member base holds some of the finest and most experenced and knowledgable rehabbers on the net. :thumbsup

Have you had the chance to look at our nutrition forums for the healthy diet for squirrels? Especially important since Telsa has weaned. Although a squirrel is considered a rodent, their dietary needs are much more complex then a rats diet. Proper nutrition is the ultimate key to raising a healthy squirrel. They know how to balance their own diets in the wild, in captivity they have to depend solely on us as caretakers. Seeing how your estimate is approx. 2 1/2 months old now, I can't help but think from her pictures she looks to be a bit underweight, do you know what she weighs? Of course this could just be me :dono, it's been quite some time ago since my own big girl was that small.

Browse through our forums, we are packed with information. Ask any and all questions that come to mind, we are here for you and your little one 24/7. ~ Welcome to TSB! :grouphug

[quagmire]

Welcome to TSB-

Your photo of Tesla looks like it may make a good Christmas card :D

Just so you know there are LOTS of Florida members on here, so help, if you need it is easy to get.

Be careful, Tesla will chew through that screen given a chance in about three seconds, even it is aluminum.

Good luck with Tesla.

[Nemehoto]

welcome and she is quite a little cutie.

[Ratatouille]

I just massed her with our digital food scale. Her mass is 209g. I cannot feel her ribs unless I really press against her; she does not feel underweight. She could be, however, but she has a plump belly after she eats, always has tons of energy, and seems to be a very similar build to young squirrels that I see around our neighborhood. I have looked into their diet to see what I can supplement with. I give her the option of fresh acorns, still in the shell almonds, fresh fruits and vegetables, and all sorts of things. I have not offered her crickets or mealworms yet.

I'm going to look into her diet a little bit more, as I vary the food for my ratatouilles I will make an effort to help this tornado out a little bit also.

[Ratatouille]

I just massed her with our digital food scale. Her mass is 209g. I cannot feel her ribs unless I really press against her; she does not feel underweight. She could be, however, but she has a plump belly after she eats, always has tons of energy, and seems to be a very similar build to young squirrels that I see around our neighborhood. I have looked into their diet to see what I can supplement with. I give her the option of fresh acorns, still in the shell almonds, fresh fruits and vegetables, and all sorts of things. I have not offered her crickets or mealworms yet.

I'm going to look into her diet a little bit more, as I vary the food for my ratatouilles I will make an effort to help this tornado out a little bit also.


would you like me to start a log for her in the nursery? her mass was 227g last night.

[farrelli]

She is a cutie! Maybe she'll never wild up and you've got yourself a friend for life.

Indeed diet is critical. Just look around the Emergency thread for all the cases of MBD resulting from improper diet. Two or three have died from it in just the past week, and yesterday alone I think three different cases came in. Judging by the fact that you just opened a thread in the Nutrition section, you may have already seen this, but this is the food pyramid:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32218

You will find that Henry's blocks are pretty much universally used here. Not only are they the only ones made specifically for squirrels, most people find that after shopping around and pricing things out, they actually come out cheapest in the long run because you need less of them than regular rodent blocks.

:Welcome

[Ratatouille]

don't get me wrong, I am sure the henry's are a good product, but my neighbors have a flyer named Nermal, and she just likes to break open the henry's blocks for the pecans on the inside, and leave the rest of it ground up in the bottom of the food dish. That food block breakdown is also provided by Henry's! Sort of a conflict of interest there.

I get the 2018 for free in 25lb bags, so ideally she will continue to eat this until released, alongside a mixture of wild foods and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I am not big on treats; raising animals to eat too many treats is a disaster. Our boxer has a lot of issues when she is off her main diet as well, so I think she will do alright.

[Jackie in Tampa]

:wave123 :Welcome
schedule the HHBs to the minute the sq wakes up and is hungry... no salads until HHB is gone.. everything wonderful takes time.
Tough love is a good thing.
Been doing sqs over 10 years everyday, I love HHBs and my BEAUTIFUL HEALTHY sqs beg for them...
and eat the entire block... no crumbs:alright.gif .

[Ratatouille]

i will definitely get some hhb's and see what tesla thinks, haha. right now she is actually sleeping and living with the rats. they've accepted her and everyone grooms each other etc. they're just a little jealous of her tail, that's all. hahaha. I will start a log for tesla i suppose today.

[Saverywood]

:Welcome What a cutie. Great pictures. Words of warning about letting her play with your dog; just today someone told me about a little girl squirrel who was raised with thier boxer. Unfortunately the squirrel saw others dogs in thier cage & went inside to play with them. It was horrible & squirrel did not survive. Terrible story -but swear it's true. Lady telling me this story cried, it was so sad. Don't want something like that to happen to your precious one.

CMsantacold
Santa's coming soon!

[FuzzyButt]

:Welcome
what cute pics :D