Pre-weathering cage question

[Snoopi77]

I live in Mid Eastern Georgia. We don't have much of a spring here. Typically April's temperature spike right up to 85 - 90 degres. Nighttime can be a little cooler though. I have been putting their cage out on my safe and shady screened porch during the warm part of the day, and bringing them in at night.
Of course they are all bushy tailed now and very healthy and have blankets to curl under. Their new cage which will be ready this weekend will have wooden nesting compartments.
What temperature should I look for at night before leaving them out in the evening? This week, it will be 55 - 65 degrees.
Thanks in advance.

:thankyou

[island rehabber]

Hi Snoopi -- in my humble opinion they are fine to be out overnight if it's 55-65 degrees. They are fully furred, they have each other to snuggle with, and they have blankets. No problem....unless someone who knows more than me says otherwise :)

[thundersquirrel]

ok, so raccoons can't get them? just make sure that if other animals can be near their cage, it's double wired to avoid an attack. :eek:

our poor squirrels are so tired of being inside, but we can't take them out until we're sure that the youngest girl is OK with surgery. as soon as she is, we're kicking them out of the house. :D

[Snoopi77]

Nicely constructed screened porch off the back of my house. We made sure there are no holes in the screen and even put that hard clear plastic over the screen near the door. The door is an automatically closing type, so no chance of it being left open. They seem to enjoy the fresh air.
The houses in my neighborhood are not far apart and I have never seen any thing wild except for squirrels, but have heard recently of my neighbor seeing a couple of raccoons. Do you think raccoons could break through the screen on the porch to get inside at my squirrels?
Also, we didn't double the wire but used pretty small gauge 1/2 inch I believe. Do we need to double it anyway? This cage will never be going outside of the porch.
I sure don't want them to be anybody's dinner!!!

[thundersquirrel]

i don't think it'll be too much of a problem. just don't put food in their cage at night, cause that will attract raccoons. in fact, if you can clean it out before sunset, that would be even better.
raccoons could probably break into your porch if they really wanted to. you can take the said precaution, but honestly if you have a lot of wildlands around then the raccoons will most likely have enough food out there. ;)

[Snoopi77]

Oh my hubby is going to kill me when I say to double the wire. I was mistaken and thought if the wire was small enough we wouldn't have to double. I guess that is to protect their little feet from being bitten. I can see how that can happen. Any new noise brings the little boys out to guard. I don't think I will be able to feel comfortable unless he doubles it. Either that or bring them inside at night. The new cage will be kinda big, but I think I can manage it.
When the weather is nice, I wanted them to be able to get used to the fresh air at night and also the temperature. They will be going to another person for the weathering cages, however. That will be sad as I wish I could release them here, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Thanks for all the help guys! :thankyou