New baby squirrel Mom

[mudsow]

Hello, I'm glad I found this board, seems like there is a lot of useful information here. About me, I've been a dog groomer for 40 years, also breed golden retrievers and have been the "go to" person that everyone seems to bring their wayward animals to. Well 2 weeks ago, someone brought me a squirrel. Luckily for me, I aged it at about 5 weeks old. The local wildlife haven is "full with orphans" so I figured I'd give it a go. Heck, my last wayward was a pigeon with neurological issues that had to be tube fed for 6 months before he was coordinated enough to eat on his own. At least the squirrel was furred, I don't think 1st squirrel being a pinkie would be as forgiving with learning.... Well, it's now been 2 weeks, he is doing good, but his one back leg is not working. I was worried about both when he was found, but but he was weak and once he pooped, I was hopeful he wasn't paralyzed. But as he was beginning to get stronger I realized the muscle in his rear left leg was not developing like it should. He kind of drags that leg. He is managing to compensate but doubt he will be releasable.

I have him in a rabbit cage with a tall birdcage upside down on top of it (looks wacky, but I wanted him to have vertical space to exercise. He was sleeping in a small cubby with a fleece blanket on the bottom of the cage until last saturday when I got his Hammock for the top of the cage. He ran up there and dove right in! Stayed tucked away up there for 2 hours, I was getting worried, then he came out yawning and stretching. I think he liked it LOL

Now the past few days, he is getting VERY active, and likes to wrestle. He flips, climbs and chews on my hands. Is this a behavior that I should nip in the bud? I know if he wanted to, even with those baby teeth, he could hurt me. But since he is my first squirrel, I don't want to encourage hand biting if that is going to be bad down the line.

I know with puppies, they chew to see just how hard is too hard for bite inhibition. Not sure if squirrels have the same inhibition when it comes to hands. ;)

[LittlestMonster]

Hi mudsow, and welcome to the joys of squirrel parenting. I'm not an expert in any way and have only raised one squirrel, Kevin, who was released early this summer. I found him lying on a sidewalk when he was between 3 & 4 weeks old, eyes still closed. From the time he first initiated play with me until (and even sometimes after) his release, he was always up for a good wrestling match with me. Baby squirrels have soooo much energy, and I made sure Kevin got two good long wrestling sessions a day. Early on, when he was figuring out how hard he could bite, I would say "Ow!" if he got too rough. But he never "bit" me while wrestling--nibbles I called them. Kevin also had a round-shaped stuffie toy called Pinky that he loved to roll around with. I think between the two, it somewhat mimics what he would have gotten with brothers & sisters.

As Kevin got older, the wrestling matches got rougher, but I always matched his energy plus a little extra. I did start wearing gloves near the end but not because of bites; his claws were tearing up my arms & hands as he jumped back & forth.

Wrestling with Kevin is one of the things I miss most about him.

[mudsow]

Thanks, at least I know my wrestling isn't going to set him up for failure. I mean, he is a wild animal, don't necessarily want to tell him hand biting is ok. ;) But he can rip the bark off a stick, I figure if he wanted to, he could rip my flesh from the bone, and he's not, so that's good. :D

[CritterMom]

Well, I have to disagree here. I am guessing LittlestMonster didn't take into consideration that this is likely a non releasable squirrel. Everything said would be fine for a squirrel that is going into the trees, but an NR essentially is going to be a pet, and a pet who tears you apart, even accidentally, is a pet who ends up not getting the attention they need.

A big part of my suggestions here have to do with how squirrels actually communicate with one another. They don't sit and chat. The only time you hear verbalizations from a squirrel they are "excited utterances" - they are fussing and crabbing because another one got too close, they are fighting among themselves, they are yelling to warn of a predator - or yelling to let all the boys know they are in heat - NONE of it is nice, calm, conversation. THAT is accomplished silently, and to a human, seems to not happen at all, because our sophisticated language abilities have allowed those senses to disappear. For lack of a better word, squirrels "feel" the energy of those around them. All animals do this to one degree or other. It also means that when we speak to them, regardless of whether it is loud and rambunctious or quiet and soothing (to our ears) it is EXCITING to the squirrel. When I need my squirrel to calm down, I shut my mouth and silently speak to him in my head. If I was a yoga master I could control my energy precisely, but since I am not, I have found this shortcut and it works great.

What I do with the wrestling is first, try to use a stuffed animal instead of your hand for most of it. I allow him to amp himself up and roll and wrestle and verbally encourage it - "Get that stuffie - kill that stuffie - get him, get him!!" When he is all amped up, I shut up and begin silently telling him to calm down and give stuffie a rest, while gently stroking him instead of wrestling. When he amps down, I will start wrestling and speaking again. This way they learn to only go as far as YOU want but the decision to calm down is really theirs, so the behavior sticks in their head pretty quickly.

And remember the "SHUT UP" school of squirrel communication the next time something frightens him. Don't run and coo and tell him it's okay. Shut up and think all of that while you are over near him. He will calm down much faster.

BTW, this, in my opinion is the best squirrel stuffie: https://www.amazon.com/Hartz-Plush-Hedgehog-Dog-Toy/dp/B002XKBF5E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

It is made for dogs so it has a squeaker in it - I only let it be played with when I am around so I left it in but you can always remove it and re-sew him. It is a perfect size, and when you jump on it you can roll around and it acts like another squirrel. It is also a great proxy for your shredded hand!

[gerbel]

CritterMom nailed it!

Thats exactly how they operate!

I had to learn this quickly, while rehabbing my squirrel fren that got hit by a car. She was scared as heck... and i had to figure out how to keep her calm, and balance that with not letting her lose her survival skills by getting used to us hoooomans.

Shes healed and back in her tree now.
I give her a small, short, soft call that i always did just to let her know i was around...

Other than that, i mimicked their alerts when something wasnt right.... or if a predator/car was near...
Since she wont give up her tree in the front yard, it helps to keep her safe, as she prairie-dogs when i alert.... and gets safe.

Talking/noise for squirrels, is akin to arguing and/or bad things.

[mudsow]

Thanks crittermom, the silence works for dogs too. 😏 Thanks for the stuffy hand substitute advice. He does like me to scratch him, but will amp up and do flips exposing his belly for wrestling. Domesticated animals are a different story than dealing with a wild baby. Dogs also respond to thrown energy better than words. But it's easy stopping a puppy from going past the ouch point, wasn't sure a squirrel would have the same off switch. So good, I'll substitute Mr Stuffy for hand wrestling. 😁