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Liza
05-07-2007, 11:18 PM
Good grief.. I feel like I'm in charge of the asylum here :shakehead Do your young adolescent squirrels seem to eat EVERYTHING?? Charlie and Soren are on a chow-it-down kick! Today I changed their bedding, and I was out of fleece pieces, so I used a yard of flannel as the base for the cage. They both grabbed it up and took a bite! (yes it had pictures of fruit on it, but come on...) Then I put the little corner litter box (it is soo cute) in the corner of the cage and put in some natural cat litter.. Charlie charged over, grabbed up 2 handfuls, and shoved them in his mouth like they were some new gourmet, high mineral squirrel diet!! Of course, he started choking and sputtering, so he needed a modified squirrel Heimlich maneuver.. (he's choked before.. he once jammed his mouth totally full of cheerio crumbs, forgetting to leave room for ..air!:D ) Even after that, I had to take the litterbox out 'cuz he kept sneaking over and nibbling it up a bit at a time.. I hate to think what that would do to his little squirrely poo's. It looks alot like concrete :hidechair ...

I understand that they are young, adventurous explorer types, but geez. They have rodent block, the Kay_Tee Fortidiet type and another one that is like Prime or Premeir or something.. They also have monkey biscuit, and we all know how durable monkey biscuit is. So it isn't like they are lacking in chewables.. I can't imagine what would happen to my house if I let these 2 devourers roam at will.. There would be nothing left but the foundation and their empty cage!

So what do I give these nut butts to chew on? They don't seem to be capable of eating veggies yet, they just wrestle with them and hide them in their hat.. I am scared to put branches in there yet, as they seem oblivious to the dangers of just randomly EATING stuff!! Maybe it is a phase and I'll just have to keep giving them what they are getting with a few pieces of pretty printed fabric for dessert!

Liza, or what is left of her

darrakm
05-07-2007, 11:44 PM
In the doggie section at the pet stores, get "Greenies". The smallest ones, NOT the ones with mint. I use these for my flyers all the time. They love them, keeps them from chewing on other stuff and it is good for their teeth. But I dont see anything wrong with going ahead and putting limbs in there.

Pam
05-08-2007, 12:19 AM
:wave123 Liza. When I first put a litter box in Roxy's cage, she ate the litter, too. I experimented around with several types of litter. I have used Yesterday's News Litter...it works good...sort of nasty looking when it is wet. I stick with the natural litters instead of the clay cat litters. Right now I am using a really neat litter that I found at Petsmart. It is called Kaytee Rose Soft-Sorbent. It is a naturally scented bedding and litter. It has real rose petals in it. It smells great and it doesn't get nasty looking...plus it makes Roxy smell like a rose bud.
Good luck!! :)

ljhpsauce
05-08-2007, 01:39 AM
hay i was just wondering if you are releasing your squirrels.??...because i inteand to reaease mine so i never really thought about litter box training what age would you say you started this and do you think it is a good idea for me to do for my little one "Flower" who is 9ish weeks now and i plan to release her soon. :thinking :thumbsup

island rehabber
05-08-2007, 06:09 AM
Liza, I think their urge to chew is leading them to these strange habits -- definitely put branches in there, preferably ones with nice juicy buds and smooth bark that they can strip off. Pasquale was a litter-eater, too, so I had to take it out of their cage. Keep trying the veggies because green stuff is what they're going to live on most of the time.....kale, chicory, escarole, zucchini and broccoli ......they've gotta like at least ONE of those. :)

rippie-n-lilgirlsmom
05-08-2007, 07:26 AM
Today I changed their bedding, and I was out of fleece pieces, so I used a yard of flannel as the base for the cage. They both grabbed it up and took a bite! (yes it had pictures of fruit on it, but come on...) :D OMG Liza you are just too funny! That is something I think they see the rest of the family eating those big meals and they want the same service!:jump

MaiThiJade
05-08-2007, 01:12 PM
mine is a pizzaholic...

Secret Squirrel
05-08-2007, 02:29 PM
Try a deer antler, cuttle bone, femur bones, a chunk of firewood. Remember they love to tear things up. I take empty toilet paper rolls and fill them with rodent block or something hard and chewie....a nut in the shell...crumple the ends in to form a tight seal. Well, as tight as it's gonna get anyway!!! Some times I poke a hole so they can smell what is inside the roll. Sit back and watch them explore!!! Everything belongs to the squirrel....so use caution if you do let them out.....chances are you won't be faster than they are!!!! LOL!!!! Good luck and have fun!

Branches as IR suggested are awesome!!!!

quirlgirl
05-08-2007, 02:37 PM
When Scooter was little,( yes, he was at one time,) I went out to the woods and found him small logs to chew on, if I didn't he would chew on everything and anything in the trailer.When we couldn't go outside I put him in the bathroom with a log or branch so the mess would be just in there at the moment....

Liza
05-08-2007, 02:50 PM
You guys are so awesome! I went out and got a few branches from our apple tree, with those succulent, juicy buds on them :D - The kids went wild! They chewed and chomped and chowed until they all fell into a zonked out squirrel-pile nap!! I was worried they would choke or stick each other with slivers or something, but they had a blast. Even little Lola had a nibble of apple blossom..

Now as soon as DH gets home, I'm off to find rose-bud scented kitty litter... With the combination of rose petals and apple blossoms I should have the most delicately scented squirrels in town!!

PS- to whomever asked about it (bad memory :tilt ), I am NOT planning on keeping them as pets.. The litter box is just a way to keep the cage cleaner longer. They have one corner they use as a "potty", and I've noticed they dig around and adjust the bedding there before they "use" it.. hopefully they will transition to messing with the litter in the box, and continue using the corner, which would make it infinitely easier to keep their cage clean. The red squirrels we had seemed to like a bedding of leaves and pine boughs with just a bit of cloth here and there for nesting stuff, but these guys want only the finest fleece, with pretty pictures on it. It gets nasty in that corner pretty fast, and then I have to change the whole cage. :yuck Beside the fact that the litter box was cute, and cheap, I am trying to save myself some work!!:crazy :crazy

Liza