London Calling

[Seawitch]

Hello everyone
I'm 59 year old guy in London England, I'm looking after three Eastern Grey Squirrels, they are well established in England. They were handed to me by a friend who has a resident cat and knew my rabbit wouldn't mind lending his hutch, he never uses it himself anyway, prefers the artificial warren under my bed. They were five weeks old going by the fact their eyes opened within a day or two and they are now about eleven weeks old, they will have to spend the winter with me now so I need to keep learning and sharing. All are thriving though one does seem a bit smaller than his two brothers.
Looking forward to discussions here!
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[DarkLies212]

Welcome!!! :Welcome Thanks for taking and raising these three!

First question we focus on - what's their diet like? That's job 1, 2, and 3 of a slave caretaker to a squirrel :grin2

[stosh2010]

Oh My-
-3 young climbers....??
your place is gonna take a beating... Ha!!
What is the size of the enclosure your three are living in? L. X W. X H. ?
It is best to show cage in photos for best responses from TSB....

Oh Yeah ......................
>>>> WELCOME <<<< to T.S.B.
All Questions are Good Questions--so ask away....
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[stosh2010]

Here are a few diet guidelines from the TSB--- Squirrel Nutrition--section



Calcium to Phosphorus Ratios—in foods

Open & Print the 2 attachments in Post #1:
Keep handy for selecting safe foods.
High Phosphorus will leech good Calcium from a squirrels bones resulting-eventually- in MBD. Metabolic Bone Disease.—First it cripples-&-then it kills.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?15397-Food-Data-Chart-Update-Calcium-to-Phosphorus-Ratios


Sunshine Requirements for Squirrels

Sunshine helps in Vitamin D absorption.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?17787-Do-Squirrels-Need-Daily-Sun-Exposure


Healthy Diet

Good quality HHBs or Rodent Block-are a daily part of a healthy squirrel diet.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44440-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels

[cava]

Welcome! The rabbit hutches around here are pretty small and not suitable for squirrels. Are you thinking of building a larger cage for them to overwinter in?

They are cute and I'm glad they are exercising around the house. Three, oh boy!

[Seawitch]

Welcome! The rabbit hutches around here are pretty small and not suitable for squirrels. Are you thinking of building a larger cage for them to overwinter in?

They are cute and I'm glad they are exercising around the house. Three, oh boy!
Good point but this is a substantial rabbit hutch....it cost £250.oo and he snubbed it! It's five foot wide and nearly three foot deep and tall. I'm planning on building an extension to raise the height by three foot, but they get more time in the main room...under close watch. I've started as you can see in one of my pictures to create an aerial rope run for them...they are still challenged by this!:grin2

[stosh2010]

Good point but this is a substantial rabbit hutch....it cost £250.oo and he snubbed it! It's five foot wide and nearly three foot deep and tall. I'm planning on building an extension to raise the height by three foot, but they get more time in the main room...under close watch. I've started as you can see in one of my pictures to create an aerial rope run for them...they are still challenged by this!:grin2
Most squirrels do NOT prefer to be close to the ground....I had to put one of my smaller cages on a wheeled table , so they could feel higher. Being a prey animal, their instinct is to sit as high as possible. With their cage on the floor, every time you approach, you are looming over them, and that can stress them, a little.
You should start your additions soon...with three squirrels.....one might "wild up" ahead of the others, and start to bite. You will want a large enclosure to put him in--quickly.
Sometimes they will stay friendly until release, but if one starts to rapidly cluck/ chatter at you......BE-WARE. an attack might be 2 seconds away.

[cava]

Stosh is right. I bought a bird cage that sat on a stand, but it was so close to the ground that I took the stand off and put the cage on a kitchen table. Now I have to tippy toe to reach the top and they are just FINE with that, especially when they are playing "run away from her!"

I'm sure they will appreciate the extra height!

[Seawitch]

Stosh...are you serious, one may actually ATTACK me? :bash

[cava]

Mine are "nice" and they attack me. They went from cute, momma's babies to cute land sharks. I still love them though. I just wear a lot more protective clothing now. People probably think I sleep with a feral cat.:grin2