Angry Pre-Release squirrel. Release early?

[Coffeeculturegvl]

I've got 4 rescue rehabs. The youngest, who is about 14 and 1/2 weeks old, wilded up right after weaning and has been a crotchety dude ever since.
Now in a screened porch pre-release enclosure, he has been biting me and making angry noises....even chattering his teeth at me sometimes...for no reason I can ascertain. He'd climb on me like the others when I brought food in, act playful even, and then run down my arms and purposefully bite my fingers, growling.
I thought at first he was just trying to play and wasn't biting to draw blood on purpose. A couple weeks of this, though, and each day it was more obvious he means business, whether I have food or not.
This morning he attacked me twice. Straight for the face, with zero provocation. His behavior since he was about 7 weeks old has, far as I can tell being a first timer here, shown he wants to be OUT.
I'd planned on releasing them as a group after a few more weeks in the enclosure we'll be transferring into the backyard in the next few days. But he paces, he cries, he lies on a branch staring into the yard. It's near pitiful. Now he's gotten truly MEAN with me.
He's young, but he acts ready. He's using the nest box and filled it himself with bedding. He tries to act dominant with my oldest who is a full month older than him. He is already somewhat of a loner amongst the group, doing his own thing and sleeping alone half the time.
What's appropriate here? Could I release him to the yard ahead of the others, with continued support? The planned soft release is on Christmas Day, so not too far off. I just can't imagine tolerating his attacks until then. If he wants out so bad, will it hurt or help to let him go now?
And if I let him go early, and he wants back in....what then?
Two of the other three are mostly ready. They just need a bit more acclimatization. The fourth is a problem. He doesn't want to wild up yet. Otherwise, I might rush the soft release for all four so they all go together. Blitz is already a loner, though, so I could use some experienced advice here.
Thanks!

[SammysMom]

I dont release that early myself. Often those most aggressive seem the most timid when released. I think they are actually more fearful in their own warped way. I think i would bring the one who isnt wilding back in for a while if the others are so far ahead of him. In my opinion they are all very young for release. I definitely would be limiting contact so his behavior wouldnt really be an issue anyway. You dont want them climbing on you as they approach release. That makes them more likely to climb on a stranger and that is very dangerous for them.

[Coffeeculturegvl]

This is where a lot of the information I've gathered gets confusing. I've read some release as early as 12 weeks. Others at 6 months. More often though, was to release around 18 weeks. Blitz is much younger, yes, and that's what worries me the most although in every way he acts as old as Nugget (18 1/2 weeks.) But I see your point how he might be acting aggressive out of fear/timidity.
But isnt it true the longer I keep them, the harder it will be to successfully release? So what IS the best time frame?
I'm torn about Greyson, the one who isn't wilding up. I don't think he's even ready to move outside from the screen porch, but I wonder what effect being separated from his "family" would have on him. Especially his sister. They are together most of the time.
I've been going into the enclosure to bring food and water and clean/bring in new leafy branches to chew on, etc. I don't see how I COULD keep them from climbing on me.
I really just want to do this right. I could put the aggressive one back in the ferret cage, which is rolled up right next to the main enclosure. He'd still be around the others, but not able to attack me. I don't think he'll be very happy in there, though.
The alternative is to just armor up for awhile?

[Nancy in New York]

I don't release early myself either. I overwinter if I have fall babies.
BUT I do want to thank you for looking for help with these little ones,
and wanting to do the very best for them.
I've found that all squirrels are different. Some get "crazy" at 14 weeks,
while others can remain "mellow" throughout the whole overwinter process,
and come spring STILL not show signs of wanting to leave.
I would also like to add, that even though you are in Florida, many Florida
members don't release this late in the season.
Do your trees still have leaves?
I too would not force the "shy" one out, but I'm wondering if the little more
aggressive one could be caged alone, and would he like that better...........or is that impossible with your set up?
Good luck with these little ones, and thanks for finding TSB! :blowkiss

[Coffeeculturegvl]

Alright, so I closely observed my brood this morning. The aggressive male only nibbled my elbow once when I brought in their breakfast. Between intermittent munching, he was chasing the one female around and would sometimes charge the other males. He'd catch up, jump on her back, they'd tussle, she'd seem to get mad and squawk at him and run off, only to be chased by him again. It really looked like she just wanted to get away from him. Before, but usually after he chased her, he would chatter his teeth. A lot.
But then suddenly he'd be all playful, popping up, flipping around a toy, hanging from the ropes, and just running amok like the rest.
The female is about 16 weeks old. Could she be entering estrus this early? The male's teeth chattering is the most worrisome. Apparently, I'm not the sole recipient of that behavior.

I have also noticed he has always seemed to be too rough when playing. The others have always seemed annoyed with it and don't play with him as much.

I'm becoming more inclined to just separate him into the smaller cage they were all in before I moved them to the big enclosure.

As for any planned release...it's a high of mid 70's-80's all week, with a low of 44. That's typical until mid-January here. Then, through February tends to be the coldest with a some light freezes and only a few hard freezes. Our hard freeze is mostly just around 28 or so for a few hours.
That's the reason I thought releasing them on Christmas would be alright. Now I'm uncertain what's best. I wouldn't want to bring them all back into the house. They're used to the big enclosure and it's far too large to put together inside even if we had space. If I dont release them now, they'd have to stay on the screen porch until March. What to do, what to do?

The immediate problem is Blitz, the aggressive male, with that teeth chattering. It's disturbing.

[RockySweetums]

Who knows, maybe Blitz is just a little bit crazy because maybe that trauma via bald eagle attempting to get him and eat him caused him to be a little bit loopy.

Do you have nest box/nest boxes made to put in the tree? And a pre-release cage? It might just be best to wait until Spring. Blitz's behavior might even just be temporary moodiness that phases out in a few weeks. I would say it would be best and easiest on them all to release them all at once. That way, Blitz doesn't get left out and isn't alone if he needs support.

Maybe just have Blitz in a separate cage but right next to the others so that they can still interact without him directly picking on the others.