HELP! 2- 10 weekers who are mean

[md_lvt_cwr]

I have 2 mean babies who I will have to overwinter. They are 10 weeks and 10.5 weeks today. One foxer and one grey. They didnt do well in the soft release outdoor cage- lost weight... so I had to trap them in the nest box and bring them back to my indoor enclosure. I took them out there because they are down right aggressive to me. The female will even spray me with urine...

any advice?

[Rhapsody]

What kind of advice are you looking for? - feeding..... I would make sure they are feed some type of good quality squirrel block, their favorite vegetables, along with walnuts, acorns and a few fruits (apples & blue berries are good) to make sure they keep their weight on. You can feed them through the bars in a coop dish and wear thick gloves and a long sleeve shirt when you have to place your hand into their cage..... I usually distract them with some thing before I do this / or do it while they are still sleeping.

...... this always works with MY Squirrels!!

[md_lvt_cwr]

any advice really, I have never had squirrels so down right evil. The female literally charged me and bit me today. I am definitly going to have to wear gloves!

[MiriamS]

The more I think about it, the more I think you should try the release cage again. Doesn't mean you have to do the release but from what I've read sometimes there are young ones that are just meant to be wild sooner. I'm assuming you have harsh winters, which is another reason to keep them in the cage through the winter, assuming it's got nice warm weather protection.

What were you feeding them the first time they were in that cage that they lost weight? Perhaps just stick them in there and push a ton of acorns on them with offers of other fruits and veggies. But it is fall so maybe they sense that they're supposed to be eating and stashing certain foods. Do they stash food in their cage?

PM island rehabber for the very best advice. I'm not an expert. I just read a lot.

[cbell]

I have a gray and a fox squirrels and they fight all the time trying to kill each other my advise is to keep them seperated the last time I tried to stop them from fighting I had mutiable bites on my hands, arms and neck that required 12 stiches

[cuteascnb]

I dont know much about the situation or either type squirrel but if they were not raised together that could be a big part of why they are acting this way...I would suggest to just keep them in seperate rooms!

[md_lvt_cwr]

no, they were all raised together, apart for only 1 week while I tried to put the older ones in the release cage. Things are better, no more screaming or attacking me. No wounds/injuries. I added a third nest box, and have put a little rescue remedy on the mean girls feet, this has calmed her down, she even lets me pet her for a few seconds. I also have bribed them into re-liking me with pecans..just 1/2 of one each when I have to go in the cage. So far so goo!

[SquirrelPower]

I have a gray and a fox squirrels and they fight all the time trying to kill each other my advise is to keep them seperated the last time I tried to stop them from fighting I had mutiable bites on my hands, arms and neck that required 12 stiches

From what I understand gray squirrels are highly aggressive. I have a little pine squirrel (red squirrel) and she runs the fox squirrels off, they are very territorial, but apparently gray squirrels will run the red squirrels off, because they are even more aggressive.

Segregation is probably best. Equal but separate.

I had never seen a flying squirrel in my life before, til a few days ago on halloween, and the first night I put up a squirrel house a little flying squirrel visited, it looked ghoulish, very fitting for halloween, but I think maybe they fit in ok with red squirrels because they are closely related.

[lilidukes]

Just my opinion but 10 weeks is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY to early to release. Maybe trying them in separate cages will help. That's what I would do first. It sounds like they are very scared.