Squirrels multiplication

[Morax]

Hummm, I have a question, I have one male and one female baby squirrel, they are approx 9 to 11 weeks old, I am keeping them for the winter, spring release.... Well, my questions is pretty simple, at what age to they start '' appreciating the other gender '' I surely dont want to have them multiply during winter...:sanp3

[Anne]

Female squirrels reach maturity at about a year old, males a little older. Grays aren't isiall too interested is being "parents" in captivity.

[Nancy in New York]

Hummm, I have a question, I have one male and one female baby squirrel, they are approx 9 to 11 weeks old, I am keeping them for the winter, spring release.... Well, my questions is pretty simple, at what age to they start '' appreciating the other gender '' I surely dont want to have them multiply during winter...:sanp3

Well you really should contact pappy1264 about this, as one of her little females became a mama last year while being overwintered. Can you believe it, she never was wild/outside herself, yet she had babies born inside of a cage. Now how is she going to teach those babies the tricks of living in the wild. :grin
There was another member too that same year, but for the life of me, I forget who it was. :thinking

[Morax]

Shoot, two totally different answers! LMAO :grin2 , but thanks for the info...at least I have some opinions... I also read that they don't usually mate before a year old...Nancy, how old were pappy's squirrels?

[farrelli]

I've always heard that nine months is the absolute minimum to breed.

[pappy1264]

Hi, yes, I did have one I wintered over give birth. I have done this many times and had never had it happen, and was very surprised when it did, I must say. One thing, and I don't know if it would matter but they were not related by birth but were raised together. I overwintered last year and will be again this year, and of course, it is a mix of both sexes. So.....although there is always the possibility, I personally do not believe it is a very common occurrence. Btw, when she got preggers, she was somewhere in the 6-7 mos old range. I did not handle the babies, all were released.

[Morax]

thanks all for your input, greatly appreciated...same here, they have been raised but not related...so....lets see! :thumbsup