Chewing YOUR skin

[Pocket]

If I let Chubs, she would chew a hole in me. I've had squirrels groom me but, I've never had a squirrel try to eat me.
I try giving her roaches and meal worms thinking that maybe she wants meat protein. That's not the case. She just wants to eat through my skin.
Anyone have this issue with their squirrels?

[Diggie's Friend]

It may be that your squirrel is gnawing on your skin due to a mineral or other nutrient deficiency in their diet?

Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc, are the most common mineral deficiencies in mammals cared for in captivity.

Please list what you feed your squirrel daily, sources, measures etc..in detail, so we can better advise you on what may be missing in the diet of your squirrel.

Henry's Healthy Blocks is a good place to begin when it comes to nutrition; adding whole foods to the diet daily to complete this diet is needful.

[Bella's Mom]

If I let Chubs, she would chew a hole in me. I've had squirrels groom me but, I've never had a squirrel try to eat me.
I try giving her roaches and meal worms thinking that maybe she wants meat protein. That's not the case. She just wants to eat through my skin.
Anyone have this issue with their squirrels?

Yes, my squirrel, Jacob, does the same thing to me sometimes. He doesn't do it maliciously. He's not attacking me or anything like that. He sometimes starts grooming meet lightly and then he just goes to town and starts gnawing on my feet and hands. And then I tell him, "No, no, Jacob", and slowly start to pull my hands or feet away from him, he reaches out to his hands and grabs on and won't let go of me. I have no idea why he does this. It's like I am a tree branch or chewing stick to him. My best guess as to why he does it is merely to satisfy that need and urge they have to instinctively chew on things. But why he chooses to chew on me specifically, I don't know.

[Diggie's Friend]

https://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

Do you provide deer antler pieces for your squirrel to gnaw on, which also provide minerals?

[TamiKakes]

https://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

Do you provide deer antler pieces for your squirrel to gnaw on, which also provide minerals?

Where can you find deer antlers?

[Sottinger]

Where can you find deer antlers?

I got mine from Amazon but I believe PetSmart has them as well.

[HRT4SQRLS]

My flyer LOVES to chew skin on my face. :grin2

[Diggie's Friend]

Squirrels do groom other squirrels, and so groom their caregivers, but this isn't where it becomes aggressive gnawing.


Pet stores are where you want to purchase these, as the buyers are more aware that the antlers are consumed by animals.

that may consider bleached sources fine for crafts.

What you want is cross sections not the slices where the inner matrix of the bone is exposed, as those pieces are sharp and can break off and be swallowed.

[Jen413]

My NR Sammy gently does it all the time. I had a release that did it a little more vigorously and he’d make me bleed after a while even though he didn’t bite me. He wasn’t aggressive he just really liked to groom me and I don’t think he understood how to be gentle. His brother often got aggravated with his grooming for the same reasons!:grin2

[Pocket]

She isn't interested in antlers, I tried those.
She gets a variety of fruits and veggies, greens, apples, prickly pear,strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, Roman, blueberries, broccoli, sugar snap peas, asparagus,carrots,basically a huge variety of fruits and veggies, obviously not all of those at once, every 2 weeks I buy different selections hay/grass salad(petsmart sells it, it has dandelion, mint and other types of things, I'm at the vet with my raccoon so, I dont have the bag with me) a few almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds(not a lot, just speratically) outside I fill her cage with some tree branches, Rose's, fresh cut grass when we mow.
She has a salt lick and a mineral block. She uses the salt lick, I never see her use the mineral one. She also gets dry oatmeal and she'll sift through the prairie dogs food once in a while. I've tried squirrel blocks, she wont touch them.

[Diggie's Friend]

A salt block shouldn't be given to tree squirrels, as excess salt in the diet, that which is not obtained from foods, promotes kidney stones in rodents.

Consider using this source instead of your mineral block; it provides both minerals and vitamins.

https://www.henryspets.com/vita-mins/

Hay is not suitable food source for tree squirrels; they aren't able to get sufficient nutrients from these sources as ruminants that chew the cud can.

Grasses can also promote gas that cause GI distress.