Ready to be released?

[Sarah]

Hello
We have been following Henry's pets advice and our baby squirrel is now about 12 weeks old. He still likes his milk but now eats apples and carrot along with his Henry's blocks. We live in Miami - what foods can we start introducing him to that he would be eating in the wild? I attach a photo here so you can see how he is doing!

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[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hello
We have been following Henry's pets advice and our baby squirrel is now about 12 weeks old. He still likes his milk but now eats apples and carrot along with his Henry's blocks. We live in Miami - what foods can we start introducing him to that he would be eating in the wild? I attach a photo here so you can see how he is doing!

Hi Sarah and welcome to The Squirrel Board! Your little Squirrel certainly appears healthy! What is your Squirrel's name?

What formula are you using and how much and how frequently are you providing it? How many Henry's Healthy Blocks (HHBs) is your Squirrel consuming each day? Are you thoroughly checking for stashes of food and especially for remnants of HHBs at least at the end of every day? Two or at the most three HHBs are a concentrated complete source of nutrition but they must be fully consumed and not just shredded by the Squirrel to derive the maximum nutritional benefits and the y have no preservatives and spoil quickly when left out so, again, all remnants of uneaten HHBs must be removed from your Squirrel's enclosure every day!

Squirrels should be permitted to wean themselves so offering of formula regularly should continue until the Squirrel finally does not accept any more formula. This usually happens around 16 weeks (give or take). Especially if your Squirrel is a singleton, I would not recommend beginning the Release Process until at least 16 weeks of age and a bit older is fine (see more on the Soft-Release below in this post)! I would suggest continuing to ensure that your Squirrel consumes at least two HHBs each day. These should not be given together but give the first fairly early in the morning and the other later on in the morning or very early afternoon (as long as there is the formula being given as additional nutrition) after consumption of the first HHB.

Your Squirrel should also have a water source with fresh, clean bottled water that is changed every day and more often if needed. This can be with a hanging bottle and/or a shallow bowl. If using a shallow bowl (which is a fine option), I would suggest lining the bottom of the bowl with small roundish pebbles which will help prevent tipping of the bowl and even of more importance, will help prevent your Squirrel from putting his his head too deeply in the bowl and possibly aspirating or even falling into the bowl. Again, the bowl should be small enough (I have some 3 and 4 inch bowls that I have used but I usually use two hanging bottles in each enclosure but a hanging bottle must be check for proper operation at least daily to ensure it is operational and this will prevent dehydration if there should be a malfunction of the dispensing system of the bottle and is more of a concern as the formula consumption decreases) and shallow enough to permit your Squirrel to get his head over the edge and to prevent drowning if he might inadvertently fall into it!

Fruits (including apples) and nuts are treats and I would recommend giving neither except as possibly a rare treat while the Squirrel is in captivity. Also, if you do give apples, do NOT include the skin (the Squirrel can choke on it) and do NOT give any of the seeds as they should be considered toxic to a small Squirrel and simply avoided! Use only thumb tip size pieces of fruit if you are going to offer fruit. I have no experience using carrots as Squirrel food and purposely have not used them because they have a very poor Calcium to phosphorus ratio that heavily favors the phosphorus and this can adversely affect your Squirrels ability to absorb and utilize Calcium! I would NOT recommend continuing the carrots!

Further, I would suggest not transitioning to a significant concentration of "wild foods" until the Squirrel is in the Release Cage and the Soft-Release process has begun! Other sound nutritional options before that point would be for some "healthy vegetables" from Henry's Food Pyramid preferably from what Henry's calls Group One of the Healthy Vegetables. Another option would be to also offer some additional quality Blocks after consumption of the two (maximum 3) HHBs such as Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet that you can find in most Pet Stores along with the Healthy Vegetables.

Here is a link to the Henry's Healthy Foods Pyramid; ( https://henryspets.com/healthy-diet-for-pet-squirrels/ )

Please read what you can on TSB about the Soft-Release process and the construction of a Release Cage. This is all very specialized but not complex but the rationale for a Soft-Release is to permit your Squirrel to become safely and supported acclimated to the wild and facilitate the Squirrel's natural but mostly (until this point) inactive protective and functional instinct then become active during the Soft-Release process! Squirrels can NOT just be let loose (referred to a Hard Release) as they will have no active natural instincts and will NOT survive!

Thank you for caring so much for this baby Squirrel and for the love you bestow upon him!

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel