Not sure if Nutty wants to leave ? Is he ready to go or just enjoying the view?

[KeithB1572]

I am in Mass...I took in an orphaned baby squirrel back in April. Fed formula, and raised him. He is friendly with the whole family. Myself, gf, and our 13 yr old. Even friendly somewhat with the dogs, as he likes to play hide and seek with them, and will intentionally sit on the couch until they come near him, climb up the curtain and walk across the curtains rod, Just to make them follow him, then climb down on my arm or on his own , and do it all over again, as if its a game he plays with them. We also have bunnies, so I did have experience with syringe feeding. Long story short, we thought we had 2 males for months, until we had a surprise littler of 7... Nutty is on a great diet of HHB's, fruits and veggies and nuts. Has lots of toys to play with and a big cage. He gets a lot of out the cage playtime, weather its to roam the house, or hang out and play with us, or even now I have been slowly turning our enclosed back porch into his own play room. He is still friendly, except for a couple of love bites, but he does more kissing than anything. Lately when he has been on the back porch I notice he stares out the window more often. It has only been the last few weeks he has been getting more porch time. Do you think he has started to want to leave since he is now out on the porch more, oppose to being in the house. Where he just looks out the window once in a while.
I spoke to the nice woman at Henry's once when I ordered food and snacks, and she said he would let me know if he ever wanted to leave. So I am not sure if he is telling me , or he just enjoys looking out side enjoying the breeze and sounds. When he sits by the window, he still lets me pat him, and stroke him, and will still play friendly. He loves chin rubs, Am I teasing him by letting him hang out on the back porch, where there is more exposure to outside. He shows no sign of aggression, and is his normal self as usual, I'm just wondering if he wants to leave and go explore.
Here are some pics of his cage, and Nutty himself.,,,,,
P.S. Nutty want to say thanks to the Squirrell Board, for being such a great site. We have both learned alot on here......

[KeithB1572]

I will take some pics of him relaxing on the window sill on the back porch, enjoying the sun, and checking out the out side. he was just acting a little more eager to go out and explore today more than other days, that is why I am asking. It's a little chilly out today, and windy. Could he just be smelling something in the wind. I don't think it is mating season here, as I looked it up online. Could he just be picking up a scent? I want to do whats best for him and for what he wants. He lives like a king here, and I'm pretty sure he loves it here as he is quite the happy squirrel, Or is it because maybe he wants to mate, now that he is a little older. When I found him in April I estimated he was maybe 5 weeks old. His testicles seem to be growing in or should I say grown in, so i'm wondering if maybe he just want's to go on a hot date with a cute little female squirrel. I'm hoping some of the other squirrel owners could answer this. Do they go through this, at certain points of the seasons. I'm sure squirrels have needs.. LOLOL

[Shewhosweptforest]

:wave123 Nutty and Keith :grin3 I have a squirrel who was free for 2 1/2 mos....she's now lived in the house with me for 4 years :Love_Icon I have a room that is full of windows that's become the "squirrel room" :grin3 She will lay around for hours watching the outside ....I think squirrels are natural observers...if you watch them in the wild...they will find a limb and lay there for long periods of time watching....when we say "they will let you know" usually it means they start pulling away from you...and your attention. They begin to "wild up" and they don't want a human buddy. I think Nutty is just observing and getting some extra stimulation ....which is good ....fresh air and sunlight :grin3 I would personally worry about releasing him because he doesn't fear dogs :dono that could put him in real danger....dogs kill a lot of squirrels.

As for mating seasons....yes, he will be testy...maybe even ornery :facepalm but everyone here that I've seen has stayed the course and they get their sweetheart back :thumbsup You usually just have to be careful...give him space...he'll let you know when you're "plucking his last nerve" :rofl4 Even my girl gets snippy :drama

I think that's wonderful that you're opening up the enclosed porch space for him :thumbsup Sounds like you are :owned you are in an elite group...to be loved by a squirrel :Love_Icon And Nutty is remarkable himself to love all his family...that's rare :Love_Icon

[KeithB1572]

Thanks so much for the compliments. I was just out on the back porch with him, and he seemed alot more playful. Or should I say wanting to play with me instead of watching out the windows,(hand wrestling, playing with his stuffed toys, eating some nuts) and jumping from window sill to window sill, and climbing on the ropes and platforms we have been slowly adding out there. And making a giant jungle gym for him. I forgot to mention in my earlier post, he does only seem to be mesmerized with the outside for the first couple hours I put him out there after he wakes up in his cage and has his breakfast. He was paying more attention to me, than the windows, except when he would hear some noises outside, fire truck, or someone outside next store. I just want to make sure I do the right thing by Nutty, and not depriving him of making squirrel friends, or becoming not a virgin any more... LOLOL Most things I have read is that at some point he may wild up, or even become more of a 1 owner pet. But no signs of that at all yet. My gf handles him as well as Nathan our 13 yr old. In fact sometimes if Nathan has a friend over he his social and will climb or jump from shoulder to shoulder. It is usually the same friend so I'm assuming Nutty is just comfortable with him. We have gotten used to putting a sweatshirt on, LOL as we all have a few climb marks on us. But it is summer here and hot, so I may have a tank top on but still play with him. I cant get mad at him for climbing, he's being a squirrel. Another question I have , is Do squirrels do binky's . If there are any rabbit owners on here they will know what that is. When we play with him he loves to do hops, hops around are hands or hops around his stuffed animals. I'm assuming that means he's happy. At least it does for a rabbit.

[FL Squirrel]

I have seen my wilds binky like a rabbit. They do it when they are very happy I gave them a peanut. They twitch and jump when running off. They also do the crazy jumps and playing sometimes when its a nice day out.

[Shewhosweptforest]

I had posted a long post yesterday ....when :eek my power went out :tap I had hoped it posted...because I had hit submit...but at the moment my internet has decided to "crawl along" :facepalm

Now, to repeat what I had said :grin3 First, I had never heard the phrase "binky" for hopping...I have heard it used for pacifiers...and I'm thinking...this guy is really going all out :rofl4 thinking of getting him a pacifier...then of course I realized what you were talking about:grin3 Yes, they do hop and pounce...all in great fun :blissThey can really hurt you with their claws...unlike a cat, they aren't retractable :crazy1 tooooo bad! Wouldn't that be nice....I wear a fleece robe when handling my squirrels...it's my "squirrel armor" :highfive

I also wanted to tell you that it is great that Nutty is attached to you, your GF and your son :thumbsup You are very lucky....my Baby is attached to my husband and myself...there was a time that she liked our daughter...but then my daughter stopped interacting with her...and now Baby doesn't want anything to do with her....so, if I were you I'd make sure everyone has interaction with Nutty everyday....at least try not to go days without interacting with him:thumbsup
Lastly, and most importantly, I wanted to warn you about letting others around him....only your most trusted friends.....because all you need is for Nutty to scratch or nip someone, and they or a parent call animal control...it has happened...:shakehead with terrible results....in that case it was a baby raccoon :( but they really don't care...any wild animal would be confiscated and destroyed ...for testing. So be very careful :great I know you would be devastated to have that happen :shakehead

Keep up the good work and post some pics of Nutty :hyper :Love_Icon

[Beeliz]

I am in Mass...I took in an orphaned baby squirrel back in April. Fed formula, and raised him. He is friendly with the whole family. Myself, gf, and our 13 yr old. Even friendly somewhat with the dogs, as he likes to play hide and seek with them, and will intentionally sit on the couch until they come near him, climb up the curtain and walk across the curtains rod, Just to make them follow him, then climb down on my arm or on his own , and do it all over again, as if its a game he plays with them. We also have bunnies, so I did have experience with syringe feeding. Long story short, we thought we had 2 males for months, until we had a surprise littler of 7... Nutty is on a great diet of HHB's, fruits and veggies and nuts. Has lots of toys to play with and a big cage. He gets a lot of out the cage playtime, weather its to roam the house, or hang out and play with us, or even now I have been slowly turning our enclosed back porch into his own play room. He is still friendly, except for a couple of love bites, but he does more kissing than anything. Lately when he has been on the back porch I notice he stares out the window more often. It has only been the last few weeks he has been getting more porch time. Do you think he has started to want to leave since he is now out on the porch more, oppose to being in the house. Where he just looks out the window once in a while.
I spoke to the nice woman at Henry's once when I ordered food and snacks, and she said he would let me know if he ever wanted to leave. So I am not sure if he is telling me , or he just enjoys looking out side enjoying the breeze and sounds. When he sits by the window, he still lets me pat him, and stroke him, and will still play friendly. He loves chin rubs, Am I teasing him by letting him hang out on the back porch, where there is more exposure to outside. He shows no sign of aggression, and is his normal self as usual, I'm just wondering if he wants to leave and go explore.
Here are some pics of his cage, and Nutty himself.,,,,,
P.S. Nutty want to say thanks to the Squirrell Board, for being such a great site. We have both learned alot on here......


Oh my Goodness,what a beautiful boy,I don't see how he would want to leave,he seems to have his family and love right where he is :) great job!

[KeithB1572]

Hi all thanks for all the input. He really is a happy squirrel. And no I was not talking pacifier, although that would probably make for a great pic, a squirrel and a pacifier..... A "binky" is a term for what a rabbit does when it's extremely happy.. It sort of jumps and shakes, like a squirrel does.....
And we don't just let Nutty around anyone,,, It just happens to be during this past summer school vacation,our 13 yr old had a friend stay over a lot, and nutty really warmed up to him to. Probably because he was here alot...

Anyhow, Nutty gave us a scare last night. Here is a link to the thread I just posted...

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?51541-Nutty-rally-had-me-scared-last-night-Please-Help-us-In-Mass&p=1117039&posted=1#post1117039

I thought Nutty had saw the light last night but he is his normal self this morning....

[KeithB1572]

@ BEELIZ, wow that's alot of pets. It is like wild kingdom here as well, 2 dogs, 7 buns, a pet mouse, a leopard gecko, a parakeet, and now Nutty .......

Long story short, we had a pet rabbit for 9 yrs, she passed last year. We went and got another and was told he was a male, we were not good at sexting back then. A few months later I got him a male roomate, as I felt he needed a friend. And then 6 months later a surprise littler of 7 showed up 1 night. We have been slowly in the process of re homing some. It's one big zoo family here. My friends all call me Dr. Doolittle now. It's a lot of work, but all worth it....Nutty has never met the buns though, and it's not an experiminet I am going to try, He does like to sit on my shoulder and watch them from a far sometimes.... I think he is fascinated by them..... But he sees the dogs interact with them, and he knows the dogs wont hurt him, so I think he feels comfortable...