Mixing Babies

[Spanky]

Just when I was starting to getting used to 6 hours of straight sleep... 2 more baby boys. Eyes just opened, 99 grams and 84 grams. The little one has AP (Baytril started :thumbsup)... their bedding looks a mess with diarrhea on the original bedding. And there was a can of KMR was with them (I gave to vet office). They have yet to poop (only been here an hour +/-).

Ok, my question is should I put them with the other 5 babies that are just over 7 weeks or keep them separated? These 5 range from 123 grams (Squirt AKA Donnie) to 256grams (Samantha).

It would be easier for me to keep them separated while they are still getting night feedings, but if it is in their best interest to be with the clan, than what is what I want to do.

Thanks in advance!

[Nancy in New York]

Just when I was starting to getting used to 6 hours of straight sleep... 2 more baby boys. Eyes just opened, 99 grams and 84 grams. The little one has AP (Baytril started :thumbsup)... their bedding looks a mess with diarrhea on the original bedding. And there was a can of KMR was with them (I gave to vet office). They have yet to poop (only been here an hour +/-).

Ok, my question is should I put them with the other 5 babies that are just over 7 weeks or keep them separated? These 5 range from 123 grams (Squirt AKA Donnie) to 256grams (Samantha).

It would be easier for me to keep them separated while they are still getting night feedings, but if it is in their best interest to be with the clan, than what is what I want to do.

Thanks in advance!

I wouldn't put them in yet, and maybe not ever.
Since you just got them, give them a couple of days to adjust, and make sure they're healthy.
They have each other so I doubt that
putting them in with the ones that are already established will benefit any of them.
In fact with the weight and age difference, I think I would just keep them separate.
You most likely will release at different
times so having them separate will work out better.

Pretty soon your place will look like mine! :grin2

https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-QhdSSf7/0/M/i-QhdSSf7-M.jpg (https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Backyard-wilflife/n-kzhsL/i-QhdSSf7/A)

[Mommaluvy]

Ditto to Nancy.

Defiantly give them a few days.

Btw Nancy where did you get those nice cages !

[kcassidy]

I'd wait at least a day or two til you got control of the pooping/peeing and whatever parasites they might have. Then I'd put them together, I had all my kids together in one nest & cage, now most are soft released and the teeny kids are still hanging together in a cube ;) The only time I don't mix and match is when I have an Adult Squee and a Baby Squee. Otherwise kids all go together.

[Nancy in New York]

Ditto to Nancy.

Defiantly give them a few days.

Btw Nancy where did you get those nice cages !


Thanks Steph! :hug
I've gotten some of my cages from this site:
http://craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/cages/cages.html#

And some from Martin Cages.
On the Martin Cages, you can get the slide out pans on the larger
cages. That's what I did, and then I had hubby build a wooden platform
with wheels for easy floor cleaning. :):thumbsup
http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/ferret/

[Spanky]

Here are the brothers. Other than the AP, they seems to be in good shape all things considered. I found mommy poop in their bin a while ago, so now I am thinking they were not with the OF for very long. Maybe I should have investigated the can of KMR to see how much was missing. :dono Live and learn I guess! The little one is somewhat lethargic but she ate like a champ once she got going. :thumbsup

[Nancy in New York]

Here are the brothers. Other than the AP, they seems to be in good shape all things considered. I found mommy poop in their bin a while ago, so now I am thinking they were not with the OF for very long. Maybe I should have investigated the can of KMR to see how much was missing. :dono Live and learn I guess! The little one is somewhat lethargic but she ate like a champ once she got going. :thumbsup


Why do you ALWAYS get the cutest babies? :klunk
Is that a prerequisite to you taking them? :grin2 :poke

[Spanky]

You most likely will release at different
times so having them separate will work out better.
Thinking about release has my head hurting! I only say that because I have only ever released singletons in the fall, as late as November but they always come around almost every single day until spring. So food supply was not an issue. Nest boxes were available but I am not sure I ever had one go right to one of my boxes (return later yes, for a few weeks or months ) and they never had to worry about a food supply. Most became scarcer when Spring arrived. Not sure what conventional wisdom is about overwintering in my latitude? :dono

Pretty soon your place will look like mine! :grin2

Funny how I seem to keep collecting cages! My daughter found me a nice 2 level condo cage (for free!) I used to travel with to Michigan with the crew. That crew is now in a CN cage. I suppose when these 2 graduate from the bin to the condo, they'll have to go in the smaller Pervue cage.

I still am not certain if it was you or Gayle that predicted (jinxed me?) in the Spring that I'd have a houseful in the fall. And it all happened so quick! Like a blink of an eye and BAM: House full of squirrels! :eek

[Spanky]

I was thinking earlier that these two did not even seem like siblings. Now looking at the picture, I think that even more!

I have zero back story on them. The lady that found them apparently said she'd drop them off tomorrow, because the first message asked me to come by tomorrow. But she dropped them off after work and the office was a little panicked hoping I could come right away and get them. No one really had a chance to speak with the finder.... probably a good thing; less time to get fed KMR!

[Cesta]

I'd wait at least a day or two til you got control of the pooping/peeing and whatever parasites they might have. Then I'd put them together, I had all my kids together in one nest & cage, now most are soft released and the teeny kids are still hanging together in a cube ;) The only time I don't mix and match is when I have an Adult Squee and a Baby Squee. Otherwise kids all go together.

How do you make them get along? I have 3 squirrels about the same age (7-10) weeks. One is sweet as sugar to me, but bullies the other two squirrels, who are both smaller than her. Will that behavior eventually stop if I cage them together? I hate to raise her as a single when I have two perfectly good buddies for her, but I don't want those buddies to get hurt. She nips at them constantly-- no attacks, just rushing at them and nipping them. If anyone has suggestions on curbing that behavior I'd really appreciate it! I also have a set of triplets a few weeks older than her, so they're getting close to adulthood, but have been hand raised since they were 3 weeks old. They are very sweet and she's met them by climbing on the outside of their cage. They were friendly to her, she was afraid of them. I could put her in there-- my hubby is building them a super-big cage right now. At least I know she won't beat them up. Thoughts/ ideas/opinions?
:thankyou
:Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

[Nancy in New York]

I think that when it comes to mixing and matching you need to be very aware of what actually is going on in the cages.
We have seen on the board numerous times, where even siblings will bully another sibling and suddenly one of the siblings is not thriving and very timid.
It can be very difficult to put older babies in with others. At least from my experience.
Without going into great detail,
I had to bring a little squirrel to my vet. He needed to be separated for a week from his
natural siblings, I kept the 2 cages right smack next to each other so they would remember
each other. At the end of the week, I got a larger cage to put all 4 back in together.
Well, for a WEEK, I had to keep the top level off limits and I kept switching which ones
would stay in the bottom etc. There was one female that would attack her brother with no
mercy. Finally I ended up taking him out and he overwintered as a single..........AND LOVED IT! :grin2


Here's a short video of two little ones that were together.
I was babysitting Maura's little ones, Berto and Otto.
Berto was playing a little too rough, for an eyes still closed Otto,
so I just kept an eye on them, separated within the
same bin when it got "too" rough. At this age distractions are easy, so I put a piece or two
of fleece over Otto, and Bam, safe and sound. :grin2

VIDEO click on picture.
https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Mauras-Babies-Otto-and-Berto/i-K8SNRZP/0/M/2014-08-25%20038-M.jpg (https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Mauras-Babies-Otto-and-Berto/i-K8SNRZP/A)

[Cesta]

They're sooo cute, and chubby!! My 'babies' are much older than those two. I think they may be past the point of successful pairing, especially since Luna's made it quite clear she prefers her own space & will fight for it. Will they still get some of the benefits of being raised with siblings by being raised in an adjoining cage?
I think that when it comes to mixing and matching you need to be very aware of what actually is going on in the cages.
We have seen on the board numerous times, where even siblings will bully another sibling and suddenly one of the siblings is not thriving and very timid.
It can be very difficult to put older babies in with others. At least from my experience.
Without going into great detail,
I had to bring a little squirrel to my vet. He needed to be separated for a week from his
natural siblings, I kept the 2 cages right smack next to each other so they would remember
each other. At the end of the week, I got a larger cage to put all 4 back in together.
Well, for a WEEK, I had to keep the top level off limits and I kept switching which ones
would stay in the bottom etc. There was one female that would attack her brother with no
mercy. Finally I ended up taking him out and he overwintered as a single..........AND LOVED IT! :grin2


Here's a short video of two little ones that were together.
I was babysitting Maura's little ones, Berto and Otto.
Berto was playing a little too rough, for an eyes still closed Otto,
so I just kept an eye on them, separated within the
same bin when it got "too" rough. At this age distractions are easy, so I put a piece or two
of fleece over Otto, and Bam, safe and sound. :grin2

VIDEO click on picture.
https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Mauras-Babies-Otto-and-Berto/i-K8SNRZP/0/M/2014-08-25%20038-M.jpg (https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Mauras-Babies-Otto-and-Berto/i-K8SNRZP/A)

[Nancy in New York]

They're sooo cute, and chubby!! My 'babies' are much older than those two. I think they may be past the point of successful pairing, especially since Luna's made it quite clear she prefers her own space & will fight for it. Will they still get some of the benefits of being raised with siblings by being raised in an adjoining cage?

Oh I definitely think so. They see and watch each other constantly.
When one does warning sounds, the other will learn and take notice as well.
They may be past the point. You know I think it really depends a lot on the squirrel's
personalities. Some are very laid back, while others..............well not so much.
You know your babies, and if you think Luna has told you her desires, well as we know,
we better listen to these squirrels or else. :tap:grin2

[Cesta]

Oh I definitely think so. They see and watch each other constantly.
When one does warning sounds, the other will learn and take notice as well.
They may be past the point. You know I think it really depends a lot on the squirrel's
personalities. Some are very laid back, while others..............well not so much.
You know your babies, and if you think Luna has told you her desires, well as we know,
we better listen to these squirrels or else. :tap:grin2

No kidding! What's funny is she is SO SWEET to me. I put my hand in her cage and she runs to climb on my palm and looks at me like 'Come on, let's GO!' She'd sit on my shoulder all day if I let her. And she was rescued as an eyes open baby-- usually skittish. I took in another squirrel, Star, the day after I got her to be her buddy and you saw how that turned out. Unfortunately, Star really needed a friend. One finally showed up- a baby her same age but 1/2 her size because it was being raised exclusively on goat milk. Star and Bridgett get along great, and I guess Luna will be their next door neighbor. If they're happy, I'm happy! :serene

[Nancy in New York]

No kidding! What's funny is she is SO SWEET to me. I put my hand in her cage and she runs to climb on my palm and looks at me like 'Come on, let's GO!' She'd sit on my shoulder all day if I let her. And she was rescued as an eyes open baby-- usually skittish. I took in another squirrel, Star, the day after I got her to be her buddy and you saw how that turned out. Unfortunately, Star really needed a friend. One finally showed up- a baby her same age but 1/2 her size because it was being raised exclusively on goat milk. Star and Bridgett get along great, and I guess Luna will be their next door neighbor. If they're happy, I'm happy! :serene

Awe, I'm glad that Star got her friend, and Luna has you!
Sounds like a win win for everyone.
I TOTALLY agree, if they're happy, I'm happy............regardless of what we have
to juggle! :rolf

[LaurelLynn]

I have good luck mixing babies IF I pay really close attention to making up a larger neutral enclosure with multiple hammocks/nest boxes, food and water areas and lots of new enrichment like fresh branches and stuff from outside.

I was nervous this year because I was mixing my Douglas squirrel with another singleton Douglas, a group of 4 Douglas and another singleton after they were all weaned (they came from different places to hopefully form a release group). Ages ranged from 3-5 month and they hadn't been raised even next to each other. I gave them time to get comfortable in their own nest boxes and then took them in their box and hung the whole thing in the release enclosure. I also had extra boxes hung up, multiple water bottles and dishes, lots of branches and hides and scattered food through the whole enclosure. The new ones were added at different times depending on when theywwere brought to me but everyone has done wonderful. And Douglas squirrels are especially territorial lol. They still make a ruckus but no one has gotten into fights thankfully. They actually all sleep in one box now and fill the rest with crap lol

I also did the same with a group of 6 greys and another group of 7 greys, all weaned and about 14+ wks old and they have also done well

But I think it's because they have lots of space, enough boxes and feeding areas that they don't have to compete for resources and can stay out of eachother way if needed