Anyone have Chipmunk experience?

[Duckman]

Hello all!

We have gotten in so many chipmunks this year, that I am going to have to put together some datasheets for my volunteers at Squirrel Refuge. Does anyone have any experience with Chipmunks they wouldn't mind sharing? The main question right now is at what weight do they usually wean (we wean our baby squirrels at around 320g for an Eastern Grey and 380 for a Fox Squirrel)?

Thanks in advance!!

PS - Sorry I haven't posted much in a while, but I am always lurking but it always seems I don't have a lot of time to do more than read.

Duckman Aka, Michael

[island rehabber]

We miss you Michael! Unfortunately I have had zero luck with the few Chipmunks that I ever got in. I am told they are very susceptible to pneumonia and URI, and by the time they are slowed down enough to capture for treatment they are too far gone. I hope you have better luck than I!

[Milo's Mom]

Yes, we raise chippies. I don't wean my guys I allow them to wean themselves. I will say dish feeding the chippies does encourage weaning though. We loosely follow WMB...it's a guideline, not gospel.
Not sure if that's helpful or not.

[Duckman]

I miss everyone here too!:grouphug I am always in the shadows though, and I really do appreciate the members here who have referred people to us! Unfortunately we are still the only licensed rehabbers in all of SW Washington so we fill up mid to late August and have to turn people away (with directions to use our website with detailed instructions on how to care for a baby. It also doesn't help being on the border of the biggest kill state in the country!). A lot of people don't understand that we can only take in what the state allows us to have at one time. If we lose our license, there are up to a thousand babies that won't be able to get back to the trees each year!

We have had a good success rate with the chippies to date, but for some reason, we have had more come in this spring than the last 10 years combined! Also, usually we get in singletons but we have had quite a few groups of 2-4, as well as singletons. One thing we found that helps. We start them from day one picking them up with a fleece blanket and keeping them wrapped up with just their heads out. That has worked out very well and when they get to the age of wanting to bolt out of the hand, they can't! We have only lost 1 chippy in the last 12 years now using this method (and that was in the first year of us working with the Refuge!).


We miss you Michael! Unfortunately I have had zero luck with the few Chipmunks that I ever got in. I am told they are very susceptible to pneumonia and URI, and by the time they are slowed down enough to capture for treatment they are too far gone. I hope you have better luck than I!

[Duckman]

That is a good idea! I will try the dish feeding to see if we can get the little piggie chippies to wean!

We loaned out the 2 copies of WMB we had and never got them back so we are working off of memory of what it recommends...


Yes, we raise chippies. I don't wean my guys I allow them to wean themselves. I will say dish feeding the chippies does encourage weaning though. We loosely follow WMB...it's a guideline, not gospel.
Not sure if that's helpful or not.