3.5 year old male suddenly gets hostile and attacks like I am a stranger

[Andy]

Hi all - I tried searching on "hostile" but over 500 pages came up.

Here's the full story:

I have an adult eastern grey squirrel that was saved after a bad ice storm. The babies were only a day or 2 old and only weighed around 20 grams. He was the runt and only one who survived out of the nest and I recently realized that he is partially blind. I did not know this when I tried to soft-release him, and after a week I found him unresponsive and dehydrated. Squirrels are not pets but I had to take him back in or else the hawks would get him.

Since then he has been returned to be an indoor squirrel. My office has 12' ceilings so I have pine trees in here with long horizontal logs that tie them all together. His cage is the largest that Exotic Nutrition had and he gets out and climbs and plays for numerous hours daily. He has a dirt box to play in (and pees in) and I made lots of "hidey-holes" in the trees where he can hide his treasures. This has been the situation for a a while and all has been great. Every day he gets petted and his belly scratched and we play with his stuffed animals, which he always has loved. Usually at night I would pet him until he fell asleep and then I would put him in his fort, which is a separate wooden box that I built and is attached to his cage. There is nothing cuter than a squirrel yawning while you are holding him like a baby. His fort has nesting material and fleece and he also steals tissues to make it better for him, this also gets changed out every now and then.

He started sleeping more than usual and his eating habits have changed. In the past 2 weeks he would suddenly change from a loving and playful squirrel into a chattering attack squirrel. He stopped his calcium licks about 6 months ago and I am worried that he has developed MBD.

He is a male squirrel, just over 3 and a half years old. His teeth are good and so are his nails. His weight is about 1.75 pounds. His sleeping increased I noticed he was not as bouncy in his playing with his stuffed kangaroo and otter toys and his rear legs seemed to be sensitive, which made me afraid he has a calcium problem. His fur is good and so is his tail.

His daily diet is usually:
One handful of spring greens
some romaine lettuce
one whole mini cucumber - about 5-6 inches - broken in half
6-8 sugar snap peas
a slice of squash, with the seeds
A pinch of arggula


These are mixed with some variations every few days that include:
small tomatoes - he likes the green ones
celery
strawberries
white mushroom stems - that is the only part he likes of the mushroom
baby potatoes or sweet potatoes
collard greens
beets
okra
assorted allowable fruits

The daily treats he gets:
Pecans or walnuts, sometimes hazelnuts. I also give him unsalted peanuts but I pick out the single nut sizes out of the big bags I buy thru Sam's Club. The rest go to outside squirrels.
Dried seaweed used for sushi
Local nuts - acorns when I can collect them
I try to stick to local foods that i see the outside squirrels eat.

Occasionally he will get pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, cantaloupe, grapes, kiwi, avocado and strawberries, but he really does not sweet things.

He also always has rodent blocks (also from Exotic Nutrition) that he chews on occasionally. He absolutely hated the little square squirrel diet things from Exotic Nutrition. I tried those for 2 years and even wrote the company on those and it was a bust.

I used to put a cob of dried corn in his cage for him to chew on, but not anymore.

There has been no change on anything as far as soaps, detergents, shampoo, antiperspirants, toothpaste, or anything else. I'm a house-bound disabled vet so I am always home. Nothing has changed as far as clothing or anything with scents.

When he would get aggressive in the past it was because he had too many nuts stashed around and cleaning out the excessive stashes always worked in the past. This time is different, when we was protecting his stashes in the past he would growl and lurch but it would turn into a game. I would grab him and tickle his belly and feet and he would squeal and eventually succumb to the belly rubs.

Now it is sudden, unprovoked chattering and attacking to where he sinks the teeth into my hands. I can calm him down by holding him and petting him but he still is tense and chattering. When I put him in his cage he goes into his plywood fort/bed and 5 minutes later I can reach my arm thru the connecting tube and rub his face and belly and he rubs his face on me back.

Is he reacting to pain from MBD? The sensitive areas started with the base of his tail and now seems to have moved to his back feet at times.

Nothing else has changed. This may sound weird to most but my traumatic brain injury from the service means I don't like change either. I have the same routine, same diet, same soaps, same foods. I'm home all day and the squirrel and I have always had a very strong bond for over 3 years.

I can't take him into a vet because where I live it is illegal to own a squirrel.

I run every scenario for any possible changes as far as diet or environment.

Amy help would be greatly appreciated.

[Andy]

Sorry about the typo on the first part - arrgula should read as arugula.

I wanted to add that he does not eat everything that I put down for him, as that is a lot of food. He usually will eat on it throughout the day and then I toss out the leftovers.

[Bravo]

Credit to you for giving this a lot of thought and considering everything that might have changed in your squirrel's environment.

However there are reasons why 500 pages under 'hostile' come up. Squirrels are not domesticated, and as wild animals remain unpredictable throughout their lives. One factor is the natural instincts that are required for survival. Some squirrels -perhaps primarily female- are less dramatic when they start 'wilding up'. Impossible to say from one squirrel to the next. Yet as you and many others have documented, there's a switch that goes on, and their gentle character may suddenly be replaced by unfamiliar, aggressive traits.

These episodes may appear and possibly fade at intervals. Extra grace required.

[Tashahaven]

The diet you described seems to be missing the most crucial element…a high quality rodent block, such as Henry’s healthy blocks. These blocks are vital for the health of a captive squirrel and provide all necessary vitamins and minerals to support a healthy balanced diet. It’s important to start him on these asap. 2 a day.

Lacking a quality block, and feeding nuts, even with healthy veggies, could certainly cause MBD. Start the emergency MBD protocol (Henry’s website) and when you order henrys healthy blocks from their website, order the MBD kit/calcium. It’s flat rate shipping so best to get what you can all on one order if possible.

Starting MBD treatment won’t cause any harm if it doesn’t turn out to be MBD. But if you start to see improvements it will confirm the cause. However it’s important to follow the treatment regime/length regardless of acting better. It will take time and continued treatment to cure it.

Do not feed ANY nuts during the course of MBD treatment as they will counteract the positive effects of the calcium.

Even after adding in HHBs, and continuing with healthy veggies, please limit any nuts to one every few days.

[Spanky]

I agree with Tasha that his diet needs some work... I would consider starting the MBD protocol because it can't hurt and can only help.

A calcium lick cannot replace a high quality rodent block.

[CritterMom]

Yes, the Exotic Nutrition food is of questionable value. It seems to be more "what they like to eat" than "what is GOOD for them to eat." The Henry's blocks need to be stored in the freezer as they have no preservatives.

You also MUST get rid of all stashes he has - of ANY kind of food. Given the no preservatives, the Henry's blocks will go bad eventually and you don't want him hiding one and digging it out weeks later and eating it. Stashed nuts will make them completely insane. It seems like they have a magic number of how many they can have before they lose their mind, so ZERO is a good number. Go through the cage and remove ALL uneaten food daily.

And when you DO give nuts, take them out of the shell and cut them into tiny pieces. A half pecan can become 8-10 "treats" with a knife.

I would definitely start the MBD treatment due just to his diet.

[Andy]

Thank you everyone for the help.

When I tried the soft releases I did not know he could not see out of one eye. I knew that if I left him out in the wild he would not last. So now I try and give him as much play room as I can. He used to love to go outside an hour or so but after the bad experience he had on the last release attempt he no longer wants to. There are also numerous hawks who are fearless on my property.

He has always been bit of a finicky eater. I have tried the Henry's blocks on several occasions - both the Wild Bites and the Healthy Blocks and I'm pretty sure the Picky Blocks as well. I always kept them stored correctly and even went through conversations with Henry's Customer Support. I tried everything they recommended but he would never eat them - even when they were the only food source for numerous days. I tried giving them to him frozen as he loves ice cubes, thawed, and even warmed in the microwave.

I don't think he has tried the hazelnut blocks from Henry's, so I will try those along with the other new one that I had not tried. I'll order them now (done).

I do use Squirrel-Cal and Squirrel Booster from Exotic Nutrition. This squirrel does not like any kind of peanut butter, even 100% natural where it is ground peanuts only, so I use a business size card of seaweed. I wash the dried seaweed to remove any possible salt, even if the label says there is none. I then put a pinch of both powders on each piece with some drops of water and mix it until it is all dissolved. It then gets folded up or rolled, as sometimes he prefers the rolled up over folded. Since the Cal and Booster is on the inside he never notices and this works very well in getting him his daily vitamins and minerals. I have a case of feeding syringes because of taking care of other animals. I always use new ones.

His water is regularly changed out and I only use bottled water.

I have some liquid calcium coming in the mail and it should be here by the end of the week. I have already started the MBD protocol but he is still sleeping a lot more than normal and not near as energetic as he should be.