Rehab Apprentice with License Rehab Mentors in NC

[kuuipo7881]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Maria and I am a rehab apprentice here in NC (Triad) area. I currently have 2 mentors with their license that are assisting me in my journey to get my full license. I can only take in squirrels, bunnies, opossums. I have a NR names Hela, and a soon to be released male that I named Thor. I have a question for all you experienced Rehabbers, how big of a cage should we build for the release squirrels we have and get. We have a huge tree out front and wanted to build something around that. We have lots of trees, and not in a high traffic area, as we sorta live on school grounds. Pics would be great or any recommendations. We have 3 stages of cages for intakes. I call it the Newborn, Adolescent, and Teenager cages. The Teenager cage is about 6.5 Ft tall and 3 FT wide. We have branches and a house in there for them. A feeding station with water as well. Thanks for any advice.

[Mel1959]

I think the bigger the better...if possible. I feel less guilty about moving them outdoors to the release cage and leaving them adjust for 2-3 weeks because I know they have lots of space to practice jumping and climbing. My release cage is 6’ x 8’ x 6’ high. I large tree branches through the cage as well as nest boxes.

The first and last pictures are of my current release cage and the others are of one we previously built around a tree. We stapled and wired the hardware cloth around the tree for the ceiling and floor of the cage.

[RockyPops]

I agree! The bigger the better. Tall is good. They love to go up.

I have a little girl singleton (11 weeks) that stays in a 2'x2'x4' tall indoor cage and it's driving her crazy. She was fine for a week or two but she's feeling her oats and wants to roam now.

I have larger cages for outside but don't want to leave her out right now. And she gets out of cage time every day to get exercise.

She has started chewing the bars when she wants out and I'm afraid she'll injure herself.