Four, then three, then two, now 3 again... maybe

[foursquirrels]

Hi all. I know this board has a lot of squirrels to worry about so I try not burden you with every issue. Just thought I'd let you know what's happened with my four.

Opened the hatch of the release cage in August. Mr. Scragglyass, always had bad tail hair, Mr. SOB's brother, disappeared, showed up once after a week then never again.

Their big sister Gloria took off right away, came back after 5 days, returned and stayed around for three weeks with the others in the release cage then went missing. Gloria had around 2 inches degloved from her tail while growing up. Today a squirrel came by that also was missing the same amount of tail but this one would not respond to my offers of food. Could it be Gloria gone completely wild?

Mr. SOB and his other sister, I still call her Little Girl, even though she has outgrown Mr. SOB, have stayed close the whole time and have taken up permanent residence in the release cage.

I just completed a nest box for Little Girl. As I understand, she will need it soon with mating season approaching and will not be able to live in the release cage with Mr. SOB should she become pregnant.

I have a few diet questions.

Since release, SOB and Little have become increasingly picky eaters. When they were captive they ate what I gave them since they had no choice, lol. Right now they will only eat avacodo, grapes and papaya. I still give them block, Kaytee Pro Health Forti-Diet, twice a day but they of course bury/hide most of that and the wilds are always raiding their turf/food too. SOB and Little even run off with the avacado chunks and grapes to add to their imaginary hidden larders.

I add powdered calcium carbonate to their food every three days but I can't help but wonder if this diet is compromising their health. I know avacado isn't very good served in mass quantity and the two of them eat most of a whole avacado every day :eek

I wonder if there's enough proper forage here in the suburbs. I've read they know what to eat to maintain proper health but what if the right things are not available?

Can anyone suggest a proper feeding strategy for this situation or should I just stop feeding them altogether and let them find their own way?

DISCLAIMER: I am selfish and love having them around...

I've added a few pics. The one is a pic of them trying to see what's going on in my kitchen. They have ripped through the screen door. The lighting made the pic turn out in such a way as to give it an interesting halloween look, made them look a touch demonic:devil

[Rhapsody]

Love the PICS. :)
I would cut back on the fruits and push the blocks and vegetables.
...... they will find what ever else they need in the wild.

[MollyBear361]

How cute is that buffet pic???

[farrelli]

Have you thought about rodent blocks? The best are Henry's, of course, but they also make Wild Bites which are cheaper:

http://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

And if those are too expensive, we have ways of making much cheaper blocks more tasty.

[foursquirrels]

Thanks everyone,

Right now the bottom line is to feed them what they'll eat or feed them nothing and let them find what they need on their own. They are free now so they do as they choose. I give them coarsely broken block twice daily so they will be less likely to take off with it and do their stash thing. It bothers me to see them burying all those expensive tidbits. I know I'd freak if I bought the Henry's stuff only to watch them put it in the ground to dissolve. It would be impractical.

They were raised on KT block, GMF, proper veggies, high cal fruits according to the recommended diet chart. No excessive treats at all while in captivity. No interaction with me either. I let them be squirrels as best as I could and learn to relate with each other rather than me to prepare them for reality. Now they leap on me demanding nuts whenever I walk out the door. They get half a nut a day.

On another note, they have gnawed through my heavy duty waste disposal container, the one supplied by the garbage company. Nothing has ever chewed through that container. It's been unmolested for over 15 years. I saw one running off with a BBQed rib bone today, LOL. I offered them different protein sources when they were growing up. The only thing they ever accepted were insects, live and dried. Now they eat BBQ ribs??

The wilds are tuned to every aspect of their feeding schedule and boldly/fearlessly take advantage. They take full advantage of my two spoiled loafers.

I'll seal the garbage can tomorrow but that won't keep them out of the neighbors trash. My real concern is them eating junk food and all the things I've scrupulously denied them!

SHEESH!

[Mommaluvy]

My releases bury the blocks also. I stopped offering the blocks cause they will either dissolve or mold in the scatter cache . They have buried both the HHB kind and the KT kind.