Is it time to Euthanize her?

[SquirrelLove]

My Pippa is an NR , mallacluded teeth and had to have an eye surgically removed due to a tumor growing in it and behind it.

However she was a loving squirrel up until about 5 weeks ago and then all of a sudden she turned on me and bites, claws, growls etc at me. Even if I just go near her cage. If I put food in it she jumps out and attacks me, biting my arms and hands. How can I trim her teeth or take her to the vet every 3 weeks if she bites so badly? Is it time to put her down? Is there a way to re-bond with her?

If I let her run around outside of her cage she is ok, but wont let me come near her. I have to go to her cage and pretend to play with food to get her back in.

Joanne in Jax

[Milo's Mom]

What is her daily diet? (spell out each and every item she gets each and every day)
How old is she?
This is a grey, right?
If you are trimming her teeth why is she going to the vet every 3 weeks?

Putting her down would the furthest thing from my mind right now.

[island rehabber]

It's still mating season and she may be in heat.....has she ever gone thru this type of stage before?

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

CLEAN OUT HER CAGE!!!
Stash is a very bad culprit, I clean out mine everyday so I never have this problem, I learned the hard way, still have the scars :D

[SammysMom]

This is exactly what happened with Sammy! I cleaned out the stashes and he returned to his usual sweet self!
CLEAN OUT HER CAGE!!!
Stash is a very bad culprit, I clean out mine everyday so I never have this problem, I learned the hard way, still have the scars :D

[SquirrelLove]

I removed her stash about a week ago. She is a gray, about 1 yr old, and her diet has to consist of softer foods. She goes to the vet to get her teeth trimmed. I can do it at home if she's not being a horrible mean thing but she hates it so much that I've been taking her in every 3 weeks to have it done.

She eats Avocado,
berries,
celery,
lettuce,
tomatoes,
pecans, almonds and walnuts - but limited.
peaches,
pears,
pomegranate,
carrots,
cabbage,
green beans,
zuchinni
etc. as I find them in the grocery.

[Nancy in New York]

Is she on any kind of squirrel block?

[SquirrelLove]

She wont touch squirrel blocks or rodwnt blks

[SammysMom]

She has to or she will have MBD in no time. She may now. If she hurts from it that may be what is wrong now.

[SquirrelLove]

I do give her Tum's antacid and she occasionally drinks milk from my cereal bowl. Or at least she used to.

[Rhapsody]

I would have her four front teeth surgically removed due to the malocclusion before I would even think about putting her to sleep. I have a 2 year old male squirrel that went through this procedure when he was eight months old and it made a world of difference for him and his life now. :thumbsup

[SquirrelLove]

What do I feed her if she has no teeth?



I would have her four front teeth surgically removed due to the malocclusion before I would even think about putting her to sleep. I have a 2 year old male squirrel that went through this procedure when he was eight months old and it made a world of difference for him and his life now. :thumbsup

[smoknbunny]

I have a squirrel with absolutely no teeth and even part of her lower front jaw missing. I blend her daily assortment of food to the consistency of baby food and grind up some nuts for her super fine. I was worried abot her weight with all the recent tooth pulling and jaw problems but she went from 490 grams to 700 grams (just weighed today) in about 3 months. She's a 4 or 5 year old fox squirrel i caught in my yard a few years ago. Horrible malocclusion. She doesn't like me one bit and I love her to death:-)

[farrelli]

You may give her Tums but she needs other nutrients. All that calcium is useless without D3 and magnesium, for example. If I were you, first, I'd try like all holy hell to get her to eat blocks, but if that can't be arranged for some weird reason, I;d provide a supplement like this:

http://www.henryspets.com/vita-mins/

[SquirrelLove]

Thank you for the link, I've used Henry's healthy blocks before, and no squirrel I've ever rehabbed and released would eat more than one block before saying "yucky" to them and never touching them again. And I think that's weird because so many peeps on here use them with success. I can try again of course, but it seems a waste of money that I can use on a vet. I'm thinking of having her teeth surgically removed as suggested in a previous post. However what foods do I grind up into a paste for her?
Thanks :-)


You may give her Tums but she needs other nutrients. All that calcium is useless without D3 and magnesium, for example. If I were you, first, I'd try like all holy hell to get her to eat blocks, but if that can't be arranged for some weird reason, I;d provide a supplement like this:

http://www.henryspets.com/vita-mins/

[Pennyorf]

NO! DON'T DO ANYTHING UNTIL WE FIGURE THIS OUT!

MANY OF US WITH ONE YR OLD SQUIRRELS ARE GOING THRU AWFUL BEHAVIOR RIGHT NOW! If you live in the south then my assumption has become more valid.

Please read all of my posts that I have posted almost daily. Please just wait. It seems to be some sort of phenomena. This is a really aggressive mating season.

Allow her at least two more months before you decide.

Although they are indoor pets they do change with the outdoor climate. My squirrels used to go to sleep at 7:30 then started to go to sleep at 5:30 so they do pick up on outside weather patterns although they are inside squirrels.

According to most experts the mating season lasts weeks but several of us are battling our third month of bad behavior and unusually long mating season habits.

I know you truly love your squirrel so don't give up quite yet if you can hold out.

If she is otherwise healthy and her tumor and teeth problem is pretty much resolved for now then please allow her two more months of your love.

See if she will come out of it. Many of us are waiting to see if our beloved squirrels will come out of it too!:grouphug

[SquirrelLove]

Of course I don't want to euthanize her, I will wait if this is a problem that is going into season. Goodness, that's no reason to put her down. I can handle her being mean, I just don't want her to be so mean that I can't get her teeth trimmed and have her suffer with her tooth growing into her upper palate. I'm going to clean her cage out tomorrow and make her a new cube and take out any stashes she has. Then I'm going to feed her more frequently but less food so she doesn't want to stash it. I'll wait it out for a few more months if I have to! And if I have to go through her "mating season" a few times a year I'm okay with that. I only asked because of the pain she's in when her tooth grows into her upper palate, I love my Pippa so very much!


NO! DON'T DO ANYTHING UNTIL WE FIGURE THIS OUT!

MANY OF US WITH ONE YR OLD SQUIRRELS ARE GOING THRU AWFUL BEHAVIOR RIGHT NOW! If you live in the south then my assumption has become more valid.

Please read all of my posts that I have posted almost daily. Please just wait. It seems to be some sort of phenomena. This is a really aggressive mating season.

Allow her at least two more months before you decide.

Although they are indoor pets they do change with the outdoor climate. My squirrels used to go to sleep at 7:30 then started to go to sleep at 5:30 so they do pick up on outside weather patterns although they are inside squirrels.

According to most experts the mating season lasts weeks but several of us are battling our third month of bad behavior and unusually long mating season habits.

I know you truly love your squirrel so don't give up quite yet if you can hold out.

If she is otherwise healthy and her tumor and teeth problem is pretty much resolved for now then please allow her two more months of your love.

See if she will come out of it. Many of us are waiting to see if our beloved squirrels will come out of it too!:grouphug

[Pennyorf]

My girl squirrel absolutely LOVES Silk berry milk. It has 50% more calcium than cows milk and is made from soy beans which is ok to feed squirrels naturally. She laps it up easily and so getting calcium in her diet is the easiest thing on the planet. It also comes in Almond flavor and all of the ingredients are all natural.

The label is soy milk, berry, filtered water, etc. Check it out.

[farrelli]

Thank you for the link, I've used Henry's healthy blocks before, and no squirrel I've ever rehabbed and released would eat more than one block before saying "yucky" to them and never touching them again. And I think that's weird because so many peeps on here use them with success. I can try again of course, but it seems a waste of money that I can use on a vet. I'm thinking of having her teeth surgically removed as suggested in a previous post. However what foods do I grind up into a paste for her?
Thanks :-)

Have you tried other blocks than HHB? Have you tried the "infusion" method where you heat them up with peanut or almond butter, let it soak in, and then serve them? Have you tied boo balls? Have you tried recipes of your own? If so, I;d just follow the food pyramid of other foods, pay attention to the cal/phos (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15397) balance, and mix up those vitamins with stuff that she loves. Maybe avocado? Squirrels don't get blocks in the wild, so a proper diet can be had, but it will take you more work than most.

[SquirrelLove]

I'll try that soy milk, and yes on the squirrel blocks of other brands. However I haven't tried infusing them with peanut or almond butter and I have both. In fact I ordered all natural "SQUIRREL NUT BUTTER" - you can find them online. It's for humans but it's all natural and costs a bit more than the grocery store peanut butter. They were on the tv show "Shark Tank" and I had to try it because I love squirrels and thought I'd save the jars. I bought 5 jars of different flavors. For those of you who don't know what natural peanut or almond butter is - it's very oily when you get it. You have to stir it up and I keep it in my fridge.


My girl squirrel absolutely LOVES Silk berry milk. It has 50% more calcium than cows milk and is made from soy beans which is ok to feed squirrels naturally. She laps it up easily and so getting calcium in her diet is the easiest thing on the planet. It also comes in Almond flavor and all of the ingredients are all natural.

The label is soy milk, berry, filtered water, etc. Check it out.

[Pennyorf]

Of course I don't want to euthanize her, I will wait if this is a problem that is going into season. Goodness, that's no reason to put her down. I can handle her being mean, I just don't want her to be so mean that I can't get her teeth trimmed and have her suffer with her tooth growing into her upper palate. I'm going to clean her cage out tomorrow and make her a new cube and take out any stashes she has. Then I'm going to feed her more frequently but less food so she doesn't want to stash it. I'll wait it out for a few more months if I have to! And if I have to go through her "mating season" a few times a year I'm okay with that. I only asked because of the pain she's in when her tooth grows into her upper palate, I love my Pippa so very much!

I know how much you love your baby. They are the greatest gifts. The love that they are capable of pulling out of a human is utterly remarkable. Who knew that we could love this honestly with our hearts so wide open? I pray that she gets better. Keep us posted.:Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

[farrelli]

The recipe, as per CritterMom, is:

I put some of the block in a microwavable dish and pour just enough oil (I use olive oil) on them so that the blocks are all coated with it. I then put a blob of coconut oil and a blob of peanut butter on top of the mess and nuke it for about 60 seconds to melt the PB and coconut oil. I then stir, stir, stir until they are coated, and then put them back in the nuker for another 60 seconds. You want them HOT – the oil should be bubbling and popping in there. More stir, stir, and then let them cool. The blocks SUCK the oil into them, and in the process, also suck the peanut butter into them so squirrely can’t just lick it off the outside. You could dust them with some added calcium if you wanted to as well. They eat every one.

Oh, and have you tried acorns? Clearly the wilds eat them by the ton. You can order them online, but most people seem to gather them during season and freeze them.

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

Henry's sells a viatamin packet for those who make their own block, I sprinkle a very light dusting of vitamins ( it is powder form) on their fav food, i also sprinkle Fox Valley on their food.
Block can be nuked for 10 seconds and rolled in Fox Valley for an extra treat (Peaches loves her's this way) and no they dont eat it every day but they do get around to eating it when they are hungry.
read Picky eaters thread.http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31473

[smoknbunny]

I blend different kinds of winter squash without the seeds, snap peas, spring greens salad mix, apple, broccoli mainly tops not much stem, avocado, pear sometimes and water. Sometimes I add the chopped up nuts and you could add whatever supplement block you use. I usually keep the nuts separate so I can give them as a treat instead of every day but sometimes I blend them in. Blended food eliminates the problem with stashing too :-)
If you do get the teeth pulled I would recommend doing it one at a time. Especially the top ones. It can cause trauma to the sinus cavity and make breathing difficult. Have someone very good at rodent dentistry do it.

[Charley Chuckles]

OK have you ever tried the NEW HHB...and they even have one for picky eaters :thumbsup Charley wouldn't touch the old ones, the new ones he has been on for a year and still gobbles them up, I use the regular adult ones, it has made a world of difference in him /Hair & Nail growth/he doesn't have constipation any more/and most of all I know he is getting his calcium :thumbsup I am a HUGE fan of HHB :thumbsup
http://www.henryspets.com/

[Rhapsody]

What do I feed her if she has no teeth?If you have her four front teeth pulled she will still have her back molars to eat with..... and you will just be required to chop her regular food & squirrel block up in smaller bite sizes like I do for Marven 3x a day.

Before:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/Rhapsody_1/MARVEN_NR/DSCN0854.jpg


After:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e116/Rhapsody_1/MARVEN_NR/DSCN0859.jpg

[Gina]

[COLOR="Purple"]Wayne goes through monster stages too. During this time he does not want me to hold him, no cuddles. Just when I think he will stay that way, bam..he is cuddly again. I never thought about his stashes! He is a horder and I only (deep) clean his cage once a week. Maybe it is the times I am late at cleaning it out that he is this way:dono

Garth (Wayne's brother) developed MBD before one year. If I had known the symptoms then I could have nipped it in the bud but this is when I found TSB and all the advise saved his life. He is now living the life of a real squirrel and is a happy boy.
Mean and cranky is a symptom due to the pain they are feeling. He went through agony and nearly died. Not saying yours has it but I don't think it would hurt her to treat her for it and see if it makes any difference. In the meantime try to sneak fox valley formula into her daily diet even if she does not show symptoms of mbd this will be very good for her.

[SquirrelLove]

Today I sewed new cubes for my squirrels. Especially PIPPA! I wanted to clean out her cage early in the day but my son recently had a baby with his girlfriend and they asked me to babysit. I can't turn down babysitting my snuggle buddy! So anyway, I just got the new cube up, and took down her old one, her hammock and cleaned out her cage of all nuts and goodies she had hidden. Right now she's in the living room digging through potato chip pieces silly squirrel. Hopefully I can get her back on me, she seems to have forgotten who I am and runs for her life when either my husband and I get near her. She also bit the living daylights out of me when I let her out of her cage to clean it. Thankfully I put her in the living room while cleaning her cage or I'm sure I would have heard about it from her with scars to show for it. I'm hoping this helps. If not, I don't know what to do.

[Gina]

OK have you ever tried the NEW HHB...and they even have one for picky eaters :thumbsup Charley wouldn't touch the old ones, the new ones he has been on for a year and still gobbles them up, I use the regular adult ones, it has made a world of difference in him /Hair & Nail growth/he doesn't have constipation any more/and most of all I know he is getting his calcium :thumbsup I am a HUGE fan of HHB :thumbsup
http://www.henryspets.com/



Mine go crazy over HHB's too!!

[SammysMom]

Sammy too went through the "enormous jerk" phase. I have several scars to show for it. I will tell you that wearing lightweight knitted gloves got us through it. They were not bite-proof but for some reason he didn't bite through them. That enabled me to carry on and get past it. He is my sweet baby again and hasn't returned to that monster again. He still has moments, but if I ignore them he gets over it.:Love_Icon

[SquirrelLove]

For those of you that have hoarders, how long did it take for your squirrel to stop acting mean after cleaning out the cage and stashes of goodies? Thanks, Joanne.

[Scooterzmom]

I have not had trouble with horading from my kids but since your baby is a young female I will speak from my own experience.

I had one young female who around the age of 6 mos started becoming VERY agressive... I mean she'd lunge at me to bite me even when I approached the cage. It lasted for a few weeks... she was also really mean with Scooter if he even walked on top of her cage - poor thing never understood what he had done wrong. The two used to share a beg cage but I had to separate them for fear she would hurt poor Scooter. But then, one morning all of a sudden, just like by some sort of magic, she totally flipped attitude and decided to be totally sweet with everyone. Go figure :sanp3

I believe it must have been her becoming sexually mature. :dono

[SquirrelLove]

Thank you. She used to have a cage mate too, but I separated them so the other could be slow released. They missed each other for a long time but that was over 6 months ago. I think Pippa might just be a hoarder because the change happened when my husband said I should put a fleece blanket on the bottom of her cage. She started getting mean and jumping from corner to corner of her cage like she was protecting something in the blanket. I threw the blanket out because I also put a sand box in there for her to dig in. But she was burying her goodies in the sandbox too I think. So tonight I removed everything she could hide things in except I did make her a new sleeping cube. Fresh with no nuts or things in it lol. I'm going to try feeding her more frequently but less food at once so she can't hide any of it because she's hungry enough to eat it.

Time for bed, hopefully she's a little nicer tomorrow :-)



I have not had trouble with horading from my kids but since your baby is a young female I will speak from my own experience.

I had one young female who around the age of 6 mos started becoming VERY agressive... I mean she'd lunge at me to bite me even when I approached the cage. It lasted for a few weeks... she was also really mean with Scooter if he even walked on top of her cage - poor thing never understood what he had done wrong. The two used to share a beg cage but I had to separate them for fear she would hurt poor Scooter. But then, one morning all of a sudden, just like by some sort of magic, she totally flipped attitude and decided to be totally sweet with everyone. Go figure :sanp3

I believe it must have been her becoming sexually mature. :dono

[Margie]

Do you keep a cuttle bone or deer antler for her to chew on? Stormy Lee has both and I can see where she chews on them. I have had to replace both in the year and a half that she has been here.

[SquirrelLove]

Yes, I have those things in her cage and a metal file just in case. She ignores them :-) But thank you for asking .

Do you keep a cuttle bone or deer antler for her to chew on? Stormy Lee has both and I can see where she chews on them. I have had to replace both in the year and a half that she has been here.