new cage prob.

[thumper]

hey all I could use a lil advice; I built a much larger cage for bumper with a detachable hollow log nest mounted at the top in the corner....he checked it out then came back out and showes no intrest in sleeping in there... I left him in the big cage all day and he never took his naps after feeding..finnaly last night I put him back into his old (pet taxi) cage so the lil dude could get some sleep.now its a new day.I plan on releasing him in a few weeks and want to put the big cage outside for a while first,then moving his nest log into a tree.do I need to be more patient???? or leave him in the big cage???will he ever sleep in the log??? did he overdose on new input??? please share your experence,I want him to be happy in his big new (temp) home. thanks ....:smiley_pirate THUMPER and bumper the wonder squirrel

[muffinsquirrel]

Is it possible to put his old cage inside the new one? If not, try moving everything that is in the old cage into the new one, so it will all be familiar to him. My rescues usually prefer a pouch or hammock to a box - I get old denim-type purses,(shoulder bags), at garage sales or Goodwill, take out the zipper if there is one, and hang them in the cage, and they just love them, I put small pieces of fleece in them for bedding. Squirrels do not seem to be all that crazy about change, and it takes them a while to get used to new things. We have a grey female that we put out in our pre-release cage last week. We have 3 guinea pigs that also live in the cage (I started doing that in my flyer cages - the guinea pigs help keep the floor clean by eating the fruit and veggies that the flyers throw out) and usually the squirrels just think they are some weird type of squirrel. They will eat from the guinea pigs bowl right along side them, and play leap frog over them. But this little female decided that she was scared to death of them and would not even move around in the cage. We finally took the pigs out, and she is fine now - it doesn't seem to bother her that there are pigs in the cages on either side of her. Goofy squirrel!

Anyhow, good luck with your squirrel, and try the purse/pouch thing - it usually works really well.

muffinsquirrel

[Secret Squirrel]

Give the lil one time in the new cage alone, he will have to find a place to sleep at some point. Don't worry he'll do fine!
My pre release cage had a new nesting box in the top corner. My guys layed on top of it...layed on the 2x4 cross beams, layed on the logs and all huddled together for warmth in a lite shower storm.
After three days I took a tree saw to the nesting box opening. It was just to small, but they got the message and made the hole bigger on their own...when I wasn't looking. :peace
Good luck and keep us posted.
Also putting the pet taxi in the bigger cage just like muffensquirrel said ...is a good idea..he will do fine!