Aggressive and angry squirrel

[M.Bear]

Hi all!

I'm having an issue with my 2 1/2 year old squirrel. He has suddenly become very aggressive... Chattering, jumping towards and biting my husband not in a playful way. He's not as aggressive with me. ... But he's not himself. I was reading about mating season and his testicles are shrunk up in his body when before they were huge! Does that have something to do with it? We can't even let him out of his cage currently because he's so aggressive and I'm 7 months pregnant I'm afraid of him now. It's sad because he is normally so loving & affectionate. Is something seriously wrong?

[pappy1264]

With you being pregnant, and it being mating season, lots of elevated hormones going on there. It should pass. Stay safe, give him treats through the bars (but not too many, you don't want him stashing them, as that can make them even more aggressive. Living with squirrrels can be very tough.

[Scooterzmom]

First of all, you have my sympaathy for going through what must be emotionally distressing as well as frightening - I know how this feels when you really love a little buzzer and he suddenly turns on you.

My 4 yr old guy Hami went through this recently. I was at a loss as to what caused it at first - many changes in his situation over the last few months, many other babies in the room now etc - and I did literally lose some chunks of flesh to his aggression. I also have the pictures to prove it :( Twice I ended up in the hospital, in fact. So, yes, you are right to keep him in his cage if you are pregnant.
In Hami's case I wore him down with love, thankfully. :Love_Icon

He's used to me rocking him every night before I go to bed and give all of them their boo-ball treat and next morning's blocks. He's always calm at night. So, I chanced it the 1st night after he bit me, reached inside his next box… and he simply let me pull him out and rock him as usual. I then decided to make the cuddle sessions longer each night. During the day I also made sure to walk up to his cage many times during the day and talk gently to him, pasting my hand against the cage for him to smell it. I kept my tone loving and calm, even if he did growl and chatter his teeth at me. Finally, after nearly a month of aggression, he suddenly got up one morning with his usual "smile" on his face again.

Give him time… but whatever you do, don't give up on him. Don't ignore him: you want him to remember he can always go back to mama when everything is right again. They're so tense and nervous during their hormonal time, I think they actually feel miserable themselves.

[farrelli]

ALso make sure that he doesn't have sashes that he's protecting and that nothing has changed in his environment. Some people just change hand cream or detergent and suddenly everything goes haywire.

[M.Bear]

Thanks everyone he's still so upset. We are so sad at his behavior but we have tried to make sure he gets lots of sun, treats, and we talk to him as much as we can. It's actually devastating that he's going through this hard time... All we want to do is love on him.


Question his testicles have all but shrunk up into his body when before they were huge.... Are y'all sure he isn't sick or there's something more serious going on?!?
I'm starting to think he won't go back to his sweet self.

[jbtartell]

Lots of very good advise here.. :thumbsup

[JLM27]

Really check all his bedding for stashes. Also, did you or your husband change shampoos, lotions, conditioners, dish detergents, etc. anything with a scent?

[farrelli]

It's normal for them to shrink back up. Some don't settle back down, but in the many, many cases that I've seen here, it seems to almost always happen. Sometimes it takes months and a lot of investigation into possible solutions.

[SammysMom]

Air freshener, soap, anything different can cause odd and angry behavior. God luck, we went through several brief periods of thus with sammy and it stinks!!!:grouphug:grouphug:grouphug

[jbtartell]

yup lol cleaned house Monday top to bottom and used Clorox and other cleansers in bathrooms and well hard to get off skin.. used lemon just which takes the smell from me but umm Analiese isn't standing for it.. she wants me to hold her but when I try she comes after me lol soo no se hasn't been out of cage since sunday.. have not held her all week but I try every day.. even alex is giving me a hard time.. ziggy don't care much as long as he is on some part of my body..lol

soo think back.. the slightest thing different..