Anyone raising babies to release in Southeast Florida?

[Alittleredhen]

Hi,

I can't find what I need through the search function, so maybe this will trigger an idea in someone's head.

I have a 7 week old baby male that I have been caring for over the last two weeks. He was on the road just missing cars when a neighbor alerted me. We had a serious storm the night before. He had been out on the ground for the entire day. He is doing really, really well now. No injuries, not sick and very sweet. He still gets formula and is now eating broccoli, green beans, walnuts, banana, grapes, oak bark, hibiscus twigs, millet, sunflower seeds etc in addition to his Rodent Blocks. I have been adding probiotic and vitamin D to his formula. He's a really happy camper right now.

As much as I love him, I want him to be a natural squirrel. I want him to be with other squirrels and climb trees and have a family etc. I can't do that here. I have 4 cats. He is kept completely away from them in a separate room right now, but releasing him here is too dangerous.

Is anyone near here raising some babies that could accept my little "PeeWee" to join them? If I have to, I will take him to the big Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale, but I was hoping for someplace smaller where he would still get alot of attention.

Let me know.....He's ready. I want to do it before he gets too attached to me.

Thank you,
Nina in Boca Raton

[farrelli]

We have many FL members. The board is dead today for some reason, so just keep checking.

STOP adding D to the formula. Too much is toxic to sqs. A proper formula has enough. What kind are you feeding?

HAve you seen the healthy diet thread?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...-Pet-Squirrels

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

I don't know anyone that far down, maybe Jbillings , she is in Vero, I am In ORLANDO, how far can you drive. We have releasers here.
He isn't ready to go now but should be with others so he has buddies to go with.

[Alittleredhen]

Yes, he is ready to have some little friends to play with. I want that for him.

I am feeding him Nutri-Vet Milk Replacement with Colostrum for Puppies - powder 33% protein and I add a splash of heavy whipping cream. It has calcium and D3 in it, so I will stop with the supplement. I had read about the MBD and was worried.

I read the link about the diet. I took all his foods out of the cage except the Rodent Blocks. So he will have to eat those tonite if he gets hungry.

I have alot of food choices for him. So far he likes the oak tree bark alot and the broccoli. He likes sunflower seeds, walnuts and millet too.

He is still getting formula every 4 to 6 hours. I let him out to run around in the office and climb on me and the curtains. It helps him have BM's.

I don't have a bigger cage for him and I don't have a cat tree I can put in here for him, so I am making an effort to find a group of other babies for him to join and be released with.

He is so precious. He came so close to being run over. I am so glad I have had this experience with him.

[farrelli]

Don't know that formula. We recommend the following:



Always follow proper feeding technique:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...DING-TECHNIQUE!!

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

So how far can you drive?

[Alittleredhen]

I would drive him to Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach.

I haven't contacted the big center in Ft. Lauderdale yet. I was hoping for more of a home environment with fewer animals.

From what I read, Ft. Lauderdale gets as many as 10,000 animals a year. But they may foster out squirrels. I haven't heard from anyone here, so I will see what they say there. They even pick animals up at your house which is amazing.

My ex husband adopted some Quaker parrots from them and they even did a Home Study to be sure we had appropriate accommodations. My fears of him being left in a big cage by himself are probably unfounded. I just hoped that since this site is specifically squirrel, I might get lucky and find someone who rehabs and releases who doesn't have cats and a busy road like I do.

Since my formula didn't come with probiotics, I add them myself to the formula. My little guy is doing awesome. He was sick after being out in the storm all night. The road flooded etc. But a course of Baytril fixed him up.

Thank you very much for the links. I had not found them here before.

[Alittleredhen]

Thank you to everyone who responded.

I took him to the Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale today. It is run by the ASPCA and currently they have over 170 squirrels being rehabbed for release right now.

So I feel comfortable that they will socialize him with other squirrels and prepare him for their "soft release" program.

[Rebelsalsa]

There is a rehabber on Sanibel Island called CROW (in case if anyone in the future needs help in the SWFL area!) They do raise and release and I have seen them post squirrels on their Facebook page!