11 week old biting

[Squidgirl76]

Ok... My 11 week old male is biting hard, hard enough he attacked my step son and sank his teeth through the meat of his finger! Up to this point it had been playful bites and i have been telling him NO and pulling away when I think it is too rough. Can anyone give me any insight as what to do with him and his biting?

[Nancy in New York]

Ok... My 11 week old male is biting hard, hard enough he attacked my step son and sank his teeth through the meat of his finger! Up to this point it had been playful bites and i have been telling him NO and pulling away when I think it is too rough. Can anyone give me any insight as what to do with him and his biting?

He's a squirrel and this is what they do.
We see this a lot when they start getting older, they will turn
and "play" will become rougher and not so playful.
It's survival.
Are you planning on overwintering?
You should keep him away from your step son, how old is
he by the way.

[Squidgirl76]

My step son is 15. He was sitting on the bed with his dad and the squirrel was out he came up on the bed and he went to pet him, which we had no issues before, and he attacked him out of the blue... I don't get it

[Nancy in New York]

My step son is 15. He was sitting on the bed with his dad and the squirrel was out he came up on the bed and he went to pet him, which we had no issues before, and he attacked him out of the blue... I don't get it

We have seen this so many times..........they are wild animals.
As much as we try to tell people they don't make good pets, they
insist theirs is different. Not you, but we see it often.
Out of the blue is typically how it goes, unprovoked and BAM.
It's NOT their fault, they are prey animals with a small brain.
They are always on the defensive even when you think they aren't.
They have to be. :shakehead
Typically only one person can handle a squirrel, and then it turns
out that even that person no longer can.
It's in their nature.

[SQUIRRELSAREME]

Where in Washington are you? I have serval squirrels that are 13 weeks old I'll be more than happy to put yours with mine for overwintering

[Nancy in New York]

Where in Washington are you? I have serval squirrels that are 13 weeks old I'll be more than happy to put yours with mine for overwintering
What a fantastic offer.
This is just what this little one needs.....to learn to be a squirrel! :w00t

[Spanky]

That is a super-terrific offer!!! The young ones are always so much happier in a group... I always get sad when I have to raise a singleton.

Like Nancy said, while baby squirrels seem like they would be great pets that really is not the case... and that is only discovered as they get older and, well, become "real" squirrels. And they almost always become one-person animals in the relatively short time required to raise them to be released. My better half loves to help with all the babies when she can... but once they are about 8 - 9 weeks old, she pretty well leaves any direct interaction (e.g. handling) to me because they do become intolerant of everyone except their primary human caretaker... even then they often are barely tolerant of even "that" human (my hands are always covered in bites and scratches like so many other member's during baby season)! And my wife is someone that has interacted with dozens of squirrels so she is not a "novice" when it comes to handling and caring for squirrels, she just understands it is a no-win situation to not accept that they are simply doing exactly what squirrels do. :thumbsup

[BamaHam]

Hammy attacked my husband around 12 weeks. Then again at one year. That was it for him. My two daughters and I were the only ones who could handle him for five years and then as of last year they havent interacted with him so I dont let him out around them anymore because he tried to bite one of my girls. Dont want to take risk but they helped raise him and the three of us were interacting and holding him on a daily basis when he was young so that is why the 3 of us could handle him. Things changed where they were hardly ever around him so he started showing sign of aggression towards them and thats when I decided to seperate them. My girls feel bad because they miss playing with him and petting him. They feed him through the cage and talk to him and he sometimes shows aggression and sometimes he's fine. You never know how they are going to be. Sometimes he shows me aggression if he's in a bad mood that day. He lets me know he doesnt want to play in an instant and then other days he shows me much attention, playful and loveable. He is a NR 6 1/2 year old grey squirrel and my baby. Others I"ve raised I dont handle when they are old enough to go in release cage. I wear gloves when I deal with them or feed them.