Being a second mother?

[MsOakley]

I took in a squirrel this afternoon, 10 weeks old (give or take), that has been raised for about 6 weeks by someone who can no longer keep her. I think she's had decent care and lots of love. She was attacked by a dog and it seems her only remaining wounds are 2 sores on her tail that need some treatment. I think this is part of the reason this young woman turned her in to our rehab group. She also doesn't have a good release space. This is the first time I've had a squirrel this old to work with that didn't know me. She already nipped me once, didn't break the skin. I tried to scratch her head a little through the cage. Dumb move. I do need to get a better look at her tail wounds and am supposed to hot compress them. Should I wait until tomorrow and see if she calms down a bit? I need help with how to handle her. Thanks folks.

[4skwerlz]

I think everyone's busy tonite, MsOakley. I'll just repeat a couple of good ideas I've seen on TSB.

Put a t-shirt or sock or something else you've worn in her cage so she gets used to associating your scent with safety and comfort.

Avoid "through the bars" interactions. They seem to lead to bites.

The way to any critter's heart is through her stomach!

Good luck.:grouphug

[MsOakley]

I decided to try lifting the top of the cage and putting my hand in to say hello. She aggresively attacked the back of my hand. I was wise enough to keep my fingers balled in a lose fist so no fleshy areas got bit. Maybe I'll let it be for tonight and try again tomorrow.

[Mars]

Sounds like she is just plain scared. Give her plenty of blankies to hide in but not a nest box so you can stay in control. I would put a drop or two of Rescue remedy in a misting bottle with about a cup of water and gently spray her and the cage (don't soak her:D ) and then let her rest. You can also put a drop in her drinking water for a couple of days to help calm her.:)

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

I've also had a few that turned aggressive around 8 weeks, and decided to ween themselves. It hurt my feelings, but I felt better about their survival in the wild at release time.

[squirrelfriend]

I don't know if she will tame down to someone else or not. She might. But for now since you need to look at her tail to give it treatment I would treat her as an adult wildie. Get her in a towel and then kind of wrap her up in it like a burito (Squirrelito) with just the head sticking out. You can then manouver it so that the other end is open enough to get the tail through. I have dealt with a few injured adults and this is how I go about treatments. DO NOT let y9our fingers go anywhere near the face. If you do have to be very alert.

With Grumbles all it took was one glance away and his teeth were through my finger nail. Meanwhile, just before that he was belly up, sound asleep gettin' his belly rubbed. I could hold him in the towel and he would curl up and sleep but there was no way I could go near his nose.

[jules]

Hi!

A rehabber friend of mine said that she put a glove with her scent on, that she used for protection, in the cage. Each time she went in the cage she slipped on the glove and started to handle him that way. Eventually, he got used to it.
He identified the glove as being part of his bedding and got used to her scent at the same time. She continued to use the glove, just in case, but he was a lot calmer and stopped trying to attack her.
She also used the glove to feed him with, so I guess he associated it with good things!

Worth a try, I guess!:dono

[Gabe]

Poor baby. I agree he is scared and misses his previous owner. He really has no idea where he is or why he has been left in your care. They do tend to grieve when they are ripped away from their "family" at this age. I really hate taking pet squirrels for this reason and try to talk the owner through their own soft release.
If the owner doesn't live too far away it may be beneficial for her to come visit. She can handle the squirrel first then pass it off to you to handle. This sometimes helps to calm things down.

[MsOakley]

Thanks for all the ideas. My post should have read 3rd mother, counting her biological mommy :-). I'll put in a call to the director of the group as she's expecting me to assess her condition, which I haven't done yet, as I can't get near her. The only older squirrel I've treated was a guy I released that knew me and came back for me to take care of his abscess.He never once tried to bite me and I was doing some pretty intense wound cleaning with him. So far no change this a.m. in her attitude. She does not like me.

[MsOakley]

Some minor progress with Tia the new wild child. Last night she was wigging out in her cage and I remembered her previous owner saying that she takes her out about 3 hours a day to play. So I took a gamble and let her loose in my home office. She jumped on me and ran around but was not aggressive. She doesn't want to be touched,held or confined (pretty normal juvie behavior :-) but as long as I don't do that she's happy. Mostly plays on me, my chair and explores a bit. She actually has gone back in her cage by herself every time I've had her out. But... I still have not been able to examine her tail and I HAVE to figure that out today. I talked to the director last night and she gave me the same grab her and wrap her up advice. I just can't catch her to do that. She sleeps in one of those hanging sacks in the cage so I can't even nab her while she's sleeping. I could take that out, but sort of hated to take her bed from home away from her. Today's the day, what should I do?

[Mars]

you don't have to grab her and wrap her up but if you can confine her and get a towel over her you can pin her down and lift only that part of the towel you need to to see her tail. I use a small cage that opens on the top or a deep storage bin. Hope this helps. :)

[4skwerlz]

An old veterinary adage: If you can't catch your patient, there's probably not much wrong with him....