Exercise ball for young squirrel?

[Kakesie]

I am rehabbing two male red fox squirrels that I believe are about one month old. I will keep them over the winter because it is too late to release them now. (I live in Nebraska). Has anyone used a clear large 13" diameter hamster exercise ball for baby squirrels for them to get exercise in or is that a bad idea? I have 3 dogs so I am keeping the squirrels in cages in my bedroom away from the dogs, but I want them to get more exercise. Also, is an exercise wheel or an exercise disk better for squirrels? I'm looking at the ones here: https://freerunnerinc.ecwid.com/k Thank you so much for any advice you can give me! Karen

[Mel1959]

I couldn’t access your link. Balls are not a good idea. I’ve heard of folks using a wheel but for your guys it would have to be a very big wheel. I have a 12” wheel for my flyer. There can be no cross bars on the wheel which could trap tails and feet.

I personally think a better idea is to give them chaperoned out of cage time in a closed room where they can learn to jump and run. I would take my guys into a bathroom and let them jump from the towel bar to me and explore the room. Being a smaller room they couldn’t get too crazy and it was easy to get them to jump on me and ride back to their cage. You have to be sure there are no openings under the cabinets they can get into and toilet lids are down. Also make sure nothing in the shower/tub could be knocked over if they were to jump on it like shampoo bottles. They could get hurt landing on an unstable surface.

You could also do this in a bedroom as long as the same precautions are taken.

If you start this practice when they’re young they will be more accommodating about returning to the cage. I know folks that have reinforced the cage return with a positive reinforcement of some type of special treat. Nuts are always liked but can lead to aggression and you have to be very careful giving them. I personally don’t give any till they’re out in the release cage. It avoids a lot of problems that way. You could try dried banana chips as a treat. My flyer loves them.

Best of luck. They’re quite cute. ❤️

[Kakesie]

Thank you so very much, Mel1959!!!