12 wk old acting weird/different- lots of questions

[ChippersMommy]

Hi TSB Friends!!!

In order to explain my dilemma and to receive the appropriate help & answers I first need to explain the routine of things now that Chippers is a young adult squirrel so please bare with me...

Chippers is approx 12-14 weeks old now if i count from when her eyes opened. She laps up formula from a bowl (finally!!) but will REFUSE the syringe EVERY TIME I TRY! She is drinking her water from her water bottle and eats her HHB's well and loves her veggies. Well she doesnt care too much for leafy greens but I do something that may be considered 'bad parenting' in order to get her to eat them:

She gets her morning bowl of warm formula and her HHBs and I keep her with lots of fresh leafy greens available at all times and I dont allow her any other veggies until she eats her leafy green mix (small amounts of each of the following: kale, bok choy, chinese cabbage, endive, romaine, iceburg lettuce, arugula, parsley, red & green cabbage & endive) I allow her to have access to the fresh leafy greens mix all day & throw what isnt eaten out once its no longer fresh.

Once she eats her leafy greens(& reds lol) mix I offer her the following at her next feeding: Chayote, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Mushroom

And once she eats that her next feeding consists of: Asparagus, Sweet Potato,Cucumber, Green Beans, Radish, Sugar Snap Pea(in Pod) Tomato, Squash (acorn & butternut) & a very small piece of avocado meat (very cautious/scarce with it bc I know the skin & pit is very toxic)

She gets a mix of very small chunks (meaning i cut the fruit into 1/4 to 1/2cm pieces) of fruit each evening which varies on the type but are either: strawberry, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, canteloupe, apple, &/or banana

I am very careful to give small pieces of each food listed above so that she gets a bit of each veggie in every serving offered. I know that it may seem like a LOT but as I mentioned I portion it out so that its a squirrel sized portion containing each veggie- & at night once all her healthy foods have been eaten during the day & formula has been drank etc, I offer her a homemade treat mix which is a couple pine nuts, a couple soynuts, a couple sunflower seed kernels, & a couple raisins (this ends up being about a tablespoon of treat mix)
A couple times a week as a treat I also offer her a peanut or walnut in the shell & once a week she gets one small almond (out the shell)

I had to leave town suddenly on Tuesday (10/7) Morning at 10am due to a family emergency and was not able to leave notes for my husband to keep this schedule up while i was gone (i returned around midnight thursday 10/9 so technically Friday ) & being that my phone doesnt work where i was at I had minimal contact with my husband & teenage daughter who was watching Chippers while my hubby worked- Luckily i had just made fresh formula before I left so she was given a fresh bowl of formula at morning & night but she was not fed according to my strict list above :( she was given various veggies & fruit to eat freely thru the day. luckily they still gave her the HHB before putting in the various fruits/vegs but she wasnt given the most healthy veg first & so forth it was just a bunch thrown in a bowl & put in her cage (they did the best they could without instructions so i cant complain too much) and she wasnt given much out of cage time since my husband works 7am-7pm - she got about 90 mins or so which is minimal considering she usually only sleeps in her cage & is out with free roam almost all day...

[ChippersMommy]

So here's the dilemma....

I immediately began normal routine Friday morning- offering her morning bowl of warm formula and HHB.... which she took without issue.
Then leafy greens mix time came & she stood over the bowl and peed (which is odd bc she never pottys anywhere other than her pottypan) !!! I removed the bowl & gave her fresh greens in a fresh bowl & she done it again!!!!! So i got fresh greens & fresh bowl and moved it to the spot where it remains accessible to her for all day munching & she never went to it...

Time for next feeding of veggies listed above- She peed in it as well after picking out & eating only the chayote
This lasted all day friday at every feeding offered!!!

She wouldnt let me touch her either, each time i tried to she would nip at me which is totally out of character for her! She wouldnt come to me when i called her name & she normally comes running to me when i call her. She wouldnt come out of her cage ( i keep it open for her to come in and out as she pleases since she has free roam ) and when i tried to pick her up to take her out she squirmed fiercely and bit me hard!! shes never bit me before, she would nibble on me playing but never bit before! She ran to her nest box which is made of hard cardboard bc she never chewed on any of it before so its been the same one i had in her plastic tote when i rescued her- she began chewing on the cardboard. She also started eating her dirt out her dirt box but wouldnt touch her food.

I made sure when i got home friday to clean her cage and remove any stashes she had and gave her fresh fleece, clean dirt, etc.
But something is different.... something is not right- this is not like her.

She is still doing the same thing today- distant, angry, aggresive, not coming out of her cage, she has bit me and clawed me when i try to pick her up, if i touch her she squirms and gets aggressive. She wont eat any of her foods and shes not using her potty pan instead she is going potty in her food (poop & pee is still normal in color, form etc)

Shes not playing as much as usual but she isnt lethargic, its like shes mad almost... none of it makes sense to me....

What could be wrong with my princess?? Please any suggestions, advice, comments, questions, anything..... ALL IS WELCOME! I just need to find out what is going on with my little angel. this is so out of character for her and she was not like this before i left tuesday- and nothing has changed other then the facts i listed above while i was out of town....

Please help. Advice & tips are needed whether in my favor or not....

[ChippersMommy]

Here are some pics...
(Sorry about the size, im not sure how to resize them- if someone could tell me how id be much appreciative)
One of her Monday Night (the night before i left)

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And the others are of her friday morning when she began acting weird - quality isnt great because she wouldnt allow me to touch her....
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[Shewhosweptforest]

Hi ChippersMommy:wave123 I'm not sure what's going on :dono she seems like she was traumatized somehow...maybe because you were gone ....not as much attention given to her:dono if she nipped at hubby or daughter would they do anything to her? Not accusing anyone of anything ....I'm just trying to figure it out....maybe it's the time of year...I think they become a little more anxious....even my girl who's lived inside almost her whole life seems more determined to stash food...and doesn't want any attention until bedtime...Perhaps she's maturing...but 3 mos. seems too young :thinking I'm at a loss...but if I were you I'd keep the same routine with her...I'd stop trying to hold her..I'd just sit doing my own thing near her...let her come to you ...maybe have a treat you know she likes (other than nuts...just because of the need to stash and protect may be part of her problem) give her time...they can be moody, but they usually get over it quite fast. That's always been my experience :thumbsup Good luck :hug

[Mommaluvy]

I think..

She did not get as much handling as when you are home and she is wilding up. With the exception of refusing the syringe your 12 weekers sound like my 13 weekers.

She could be mad at you also cause she does not understand family emergencies.

[ChippersMommy]

Hi ChippersMommy:wave123 I'm not sure what's going on :dono she seems like she was traumatized somehow...maybe because you were gone ....not as much attention given to her:dono if she nipped at hubby or daughter would they do anything to her? Not accusing anyone of anything ....I'm just trying to figure it out....maybe it's the time of year...I think they become a little more anxious....even my girl who's lived inside almost her whole life seems more determined to stash food...and doesn't want any attention until bedtime...Perhaps she's maturing...but 3 mos. seems too young :thinking I'm at a loss...but if I were you I'd keep the same routine with her...I'd stop trying to hold her..I'd just sit doing my own thing near her...let her come to you ...maybe have a treat you know she likes (other than nuts...just because of the need to stash and protect may be part of her problem) give her time...they can be moody, but they usually get over it quite fast. That's always been my experience :thumbsup Good luck :hug

I guess what made the whole thing so odd is that she is not doing it to my husband. However, I dont allow my children to hold her just because she does have long nails & teeth and squirrels are wild animals so therefore unpredictable and i cant safely assume that she wouldnt nip one of the kids playing or scratch them on accident and the child throw her out of fear or scream loudly and scare her, etc, so to protect the kids and the squirrel i only let them have immediate contact with her when i am holding her sitting next to them. My teenager (almost 15) will place her food bowl in the cage, refill water, and things like that but doesnt actually have much immediate contact with her. But she has been fine with my husband. She hasnt nipped at him or anything like that. She still doesnt come to him like she would come to us a couple days ago but its just so out of character for her. The last couple hours she has been gnawing at the cage as if she wants to come out but she wont come out (her cage door stays open for her to come and go as she pleases) but she just wont come out and ive tried to get her to come to me to come out but she wont....

Shes always been sooo attached to me and soo loving and its just so out of character for her and im worried about her also. Is it safe for her to be gnawing on the cage and eating cardboard and dirt?

[ChippersMommy]

I think..

She did not get as much handling as when you are home and she is wilding up. With the exception of refusing the syringe your 12 weekers sound like my 13 weekers.

She could be mad at you also cause she does not understand family emergencies.


If this is the case, what should i do or can i do to make it better?

[SquirrelyDad]

Hello ChippersMommy,

I wanted to tell you that you've done a wonderful job :thumbsup with her diet, formula and can't believe you got her to potty in a special pan for that matter. I can only suggest.....to give her some time :imp to return to her "old self". This is my past experience with a NR female "Squirrely" that I raised for almost 3yrs unfortunately (she passed in May:boohoo). When I read your post it reminded me of how dedicated I was with her, (just like you she was my princess and there was NO wrong she could ever do). The only difference is that I never left the door open to her cage to roam the house freely only with my supervision. She would only let me grab her and from the cage, she was extremely tamed (I was very lucky and learned to recognized her behavior). Just like all people here.......say squirrels only get attached to one person, and anyone else they might scratch, bite or attack. I did a lot of crazy things (now looking back knowing they are illegal as pets here in Texas) that would have gotten me in deep trouble and confiscated "her" from me. I took her with me in the car (no cage) thru drive-thus at different restaurants, inside at a Denny's, and to different classes my daughter wanted me to show her off. She would be ok for people to pet her, take pictures:camera w/her as long as I was right there with her.

Now this is what happened in my case..... I would always take her with me on road trips or to my mom's house in a smaller cage. I decided to leave her at home w/hubby with plenty of food and water, since my mom had rat poison all over her house and the "out of cage" time was dangerous. Squirrely would get depressed/sad and not sleep inside her "blanket" during the night. My husband would send me a picture of her waiting for me on top of her blanket since she would sleep with us in our bed on my side only. She had a very special place in my heart and there is not a day that goes by, that I don't remember her. Only on one occasion that the whole family had to attend an out of town funeral, I had to leave her for 5 days at home alone with the rest of the pets. Upon our return she charged from the inside of the cage, she wanted nothing to do w/me......I know she was mad at me. I gave her a few days to "rant and rave" feeding her a "treat" when she was at the top level of her cage using a distraction to clean her cage. I noticed for almost a week she didn't want to come out of her cage either. I would open the cage and walk away and give her the opportunity to adjust back to me and the attention I gave her. I think your baby missed you and they don't understand what happened? I've learned that when you give them lots, lots and lots of time they get used to all the attention and when they don't get it for whatever reason you'll see it in their behavior. I hope your baby turns back to the way she was before you left her!!....GOOD LUCK:grin2

I currently have 2 boys (Nikko & Rocky who do not get along:poke) about 10-12wks old that I'm planning on releasing in the Spring. I'm happy to rehab them and has helped me with my grieving process but I'm trying not to give them as much time and affection so they can be wild squirrels and be ready for release.

Nikko & Rocky's Mom