Questions about Overwintering

[Beth]

Hey everyone!

This year I have three squirrels I'm going to overwinter. It's my first time keeping them over the winter, so I just had a few questions!

It's two males and one female. Can they all be kept in the same cage?

Is it a good idea to let them loose in my bedroom or will they destroy and pee on everything? Or become too wild to re-catch and put in their cage(s)? Alternatively, can I have them loose in the room most of the time and only put them away at night?

Is it better to leave them outside in a garage (I live in Iowa where it can get extremely cold), or can they stay in the nice cozy house where the heater is?

Right now they're 8-9 weeks. Should I let them wild up or try to keep them used to humans and only wild them up near springtime?

I'm kinda nervous about having adult squirrels...so far my only experience has been babies that were released well before Fall, until this year :D Sorry if some of these questions seem silly. I'd love to hear your set ups and how you treat your overwintered babies, and any tips or tricks!

[Shewhosweptforest]

First of all thanks for taking care of these babies :bowdown they are blessed to have found someone who cares enough to go the extra mile for them:Love_Icon

This is a tricky situation...I've raised two squirrels in the house...the first one I released but she wasn't thriving...so we brought her in...she sleeps with us...she's queen of the roost and quite happy:Love_Icon she's 5 1/2 now :grin3 the second squirrel I was overwintering...she was an August baby and cat caught....her tail was damaged and the vet deemed she shouldn't be released...she did well the first two winters...but in the spring she had to have her tail amputated and had a bad experience at the vet...that changed her...she became unfriendly...I still took her out nightly because she needed the excercise....but in the fall she attacked me (she had been making small sneak attacks) rather aggressively and I decided to give her what she wanted..her freedom...I put her in my release cage and she overwintered there....and in the spring I released her and she's been hanging here...and she's nice again:klunk
Now, I overwintered another August baby this year...let me say I have always handled my babies the entire time...giving them out of cage time every day...no problems....but this little girl started biting the hand that feeds her...literally...in March...so she stayed in her cage after that...which was two ferret nations put together. I released her this summer and she's still hanging around....I do have to watch her...she's gone after me once....and then again today...but I was ready and got out of the way in time :grin3

So...I gave you these differing stories to let you see it's different for every squirrel :dono and it's different with caregivers...some like myself continue to interact with them...others do not take them out of the cage during the winter :dono oh and I do remember a case where someone overwintered some squirrels and one of the girls ended up pregnant :eek :dono so now that I've totally confused you :sorry hopefully others will give you their take on it:great

[Shewhosweptforest]

Oh and yes :grin3 my first squirrel played in our bedroom when she ran free...now she has a squirrel room...I would coax her with a nut back into a soft carrier and then put her back in the cage. Now she just rides around on my shoulder :grin3 with three it's going to be more difficult....and I think a cage in the garage would be fine....they would be protected from the elements more than they would have been otherwise...we overwinter not so much because of the cold...but because they haven't had a mom teaching them the ropes and helping them get established...it's hard to find nesting and food when you're a young squirrel with no back up. There's less cover from predators...keeping them gives them time to mature...then learn the ropes in the release cage:great so the garage would be fine...in my opinion:great

[Beth]

Thanks so much for the quick response!! Loved reading your stories as that actually gives me a really good idea of what to expect! :glomp I was worried about them "turning" as some of yours sound like did since they got a little persnickety. I believe that may happen with one of my males, because he's already totally crazy at play time :gigg He may be one I keep out in the garage, but the other two are pretty mellow and may end up being indoors in a cage with play time loose in my bedroom (I live with my parents so squirrels are only allowed free "run-time" in my room, lol!)

[Shewhosweptforest]

That would work :great also...I've raised two sets of siblings...spring babies with summer release....they were girl/boy pairs....both boys were getting feisty before release :dono so I always thought boys were the tough ones....I have all girls :grin3 but we have members here who have the sweetest boys :klunk so who knows...but at least you do have that option...the garage:great and one suggestion...when you let them run in your bedroom....cover your furniture with blankets...sheets...that way less furniture gets chewed on...that's what I did:great and if you have the cage in your room...a simple enticement with a nut should get them to hop back in....two of my overwinters would just go back in the cage when it got late and I'd just shut the door :highfive