hand wrestling

[Eejay]

Last night Lilo started to wrestle with my hands a little bit.. I was wondering if it would be best to discourage her little playful bites or if this is not going to be an issue as she gets older.
Ive always hand wrestled with my other species of babies. She is my first squirrel so im learning as i go about behaviour.

[cava]

Mine started the same thing about a week ago and he also backs up into my hand when I scritch his lower back. It's pretty cute. But my gut tells me that I shouldn't hand play like that with him (because you aren't supposed to with puppies or kittens) so I wiggle a little stuffed animal (or knotted up piece of t shirt) and he goes after that. Then he keeps playing with it when I take my hand out AND he has a girlfriend to wrestle with.

I'm probably being anal, but I am doing my best to keep them off my body and not snuggling or petting too, too much. I really want them to dislike humans so they don't go around some a-hole human when they are released. It's just a joy to watch them and handle them during feeding and speak sweet nothings to them.

Although my little man hops on my shoulder and climbs my back and licks my shoulders as fast as he can before I can get him off, now, every time I open the door, so not sure my tough love is working. :grin2

[Nancy in New York]

Last night Lilo started to wrestle with my hands a little bit.. I was wondering if it would be best to discourage her little playful bites or if this is not going to be an issue as she gets older.
Ive always hand wrestled with my other species of babies. She is my first squirrel so im learning as i go about behaviour.

This is how they learn, by playing with one another.
Since there is no other, Lilo has chosen YOU!

Here's a short video of a little one playing with his
eyes closed brother. I had to really watch them closely
for a few days, so it didn't get too aggressive.

Once Berto opened his eyes, you should have seen them then. :grin2
I even asked if they should be separated, but this is what they do
when Mom isn't watching. :tap

AND this is how they learn their "position" in the wild.

VIDEO

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-hwGJQVT/0/640/i-hwGJQVT-640.mp4

[Eejay]

I had always hand wrestled with my raccoons and sometimes my bunnies. I figured when raising one baby of any species that are born in litters i play with them as they would their siblings.. Perfect idea about using a stuffie instead of my hand though.. I am going to go thru my collection and find her one. Lol. Im sure i have a "stitch" stuffie around here somewhere

[FreeK]

Kid is my 8 week old that I recieved on 8/19. She was doing something like this then. Her eyes opened on the 23 and it's been off to the races since. I have a nice vid of her chasing my hand like a cat or dog. She mouths the fingers and will bite my nails with a tad bit more force but if I say ow, she softens up. I will not say it is right but she has to learn these skills from somewhere and since I was the first thing she opened those eyes up to behold, my ugly mug became her muder <Popeye>. That makes it my job to be teacher, provider, and when necessary, a mouthing toy. Til she is released or bites down too hard anyways. 18 yr old cat died earlier this year so if she gets use to me alone, she'll be allright. Fingers, toes, and unmentionables crossed in hopes.

[DarkLies212]

Kid is my 8 week old that I recieved on 8/19. She was doing something like this then. Her eyes opened on the 23 and it's been off to the races since. I have a nice vid of her chasing my hand like a cat or dog. She mouths the fingers and will bite my nails with a tad bit more force but if I say ow, she softens up. I will not say it is right but she has to learn these skills from somewhere and since I was the first thing she opened those eyes up to behold, my ugly mug became her muder <Popeye>. That makes it my job to be teacher, provider, and when necessary, a mouthing toy. Til she is released or bites down too hard anyways. 18 yr old cat died earlier this year so if she gets use to me alone, she'll be allright. Fingers, toes, and unmentionables crossed in hopes.

Hihi! Welcome to TSB!

What are you feeding your little one? She's adorable! Can't wait to learn more about her!

[Chickenlegs]

You KNOW we're gonna need LOTS MORE PICTURES! Being :owned by a squirrel is quite the rollycoster ride but it's all UP as far as a squirrelaholic is concerned. Lilo is gorgeous. You're gonna get badgered a lot about diet cause we all want to see her (and you) around for a loooooooooong time. So glad you both are here! :grin3

[FreeK]

Ebsilac powder, watermelon, banana, celery, lettuce, acorns are falling so those are fresh, first ones yesterday, a hamster mix she enjoys some pieces there of, some not so much. Gonna start her on cheese and see how she likes it today. My chipmunk used to love his cheese treats. A well rounded natural variety with little extras included. As I'm typing she running around me and the bench and the occasional screen hop. <back porch is a screen room open air> and she parked for a moment on my leg. That's over now. "Gotta wuv me." She says with those eyes. I will start a new thread if someone would be so kind as to point me toward the open stories forum as apposed to hijacking this 1.

[DarkLies212]

Ebsilac powder, watermelon, banana, celery, lettuce, acorns are falling so those are fresh, first ones yesterday, a hamster mix she enjoys some pieces there of, some not so much. Gonna start her on cheese and see how she likes it today. My chipmunk used to love his cheese treats. A well rounded natural variety with little extras included. As I'm typing she running around me and the bench and the occasional screen hop. <back porch is a screen room open air> and she parked for a moment on my leg. That's over now. "Gotta wuv me." She says with those eyes. I will start a new thread if someone would be so kind as to point me toward the open stories forum as apposed to hijacking this 1.

Here you go: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?144-The-Nursery

You'll want to replace the hamster food with some rodent or rat block as it's MUCH healthier for them. Just a quick overview, this is what many of us use: http://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

[Lighten-Up]

Last night Lilo started to wrestle with my hands a little bit.. I was wondering if it would be best to discourage her little playful bites or if this is not going to be an issue as she gets older.
Ive always hand wrestled with my other species of babies. She is my first squirrel so im learning as i go about behaviour.

I hand wrestled the two I had. But they were siblings, and as they grew older, two things happened, they began to bite harder, I would say "ow", and they would back off; at the same time, they became less interested in wrestling with me, so it pretty much went away in time. It seemed as they got older, guarding nut stashes (which I tried not to give them), and chasing each other replaced, playing with "mom". That was my experience. Because of circumstances, I had mine longer than most before release, but by release time, they weren't "playing" much at all with me.