Red Squirrel Babies!!

[Lisa]

Hi there,
We recently came upon a group of reds. Waited all day until dusk, no mama to be found, so we took them in. There's three of them, and I don't have good pictures yet. Guessing they're about 5 weeks? Eyes open, will attach better pictures later after they're woken up for feedings.

What are the main differences between caring for a grey and caring for reds?
We're ordering Fox Valley 20/50 and some rodent blocks right now. We have syringes and nipples still from our last squirrel still.
We're not finding a whole lot of information on the web, so any advice is helpful/appreciated!!


All I have is their butt picture, I literally just got home from work to three babes, bf has been doing the legwork thus far, so I haven't had any photo ops.

[Rhapsody]

Please continue to care for these babies as you would any other squirrel..... just feed them more at the 5% weight range every four hours and watch out for possible escape time from the cage when you open a door. Red squirrels do mature faster than your basic Grey squirrel, therefore, release will come sooner.

[Nancy in New York]

Rhapsody is right!

They are a lot more squirmy, they gain weight slower,
but feed as you would a grey at 5-7% of their body weight.
They are going to be a handful.....in a good way.

These little ones have their eyes opened, correct?
Do you have weights on them.
Careful, they are SQUIRMY!~
(and fast)


Go to this link and then the other link posted.
This is 6 pages long.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...-Squirrel-Care

[Lisa]

Yes, eyes are opened. I'm as prepared as I can be for this. Lucky was a breeze compared to the three of these guys. They are hyper and squirmy but it's so great that they aren't alone like my last one. I'm pretty sure I got three more boys. (Kind of funny we adopted two female cats the other day and my boyfriend made a comment about not liking that he was outnumbered, then two days later three little squirrel boys show up...)

I'm working a ton this weekend and really am not going to be the caregiver, bf is. We're going to get some nipples, a few smaller syringes, and a scale. I don't have weights on them yet. But they look pretty healthy.

[Lisa]

When can release take place for reds? We overwintered ours last year and did a spring release. From what I've read, they should be weaned around 7 weeks, but last time we formula fed as long as possible. Ideally these babies wont be here all winter. We live in new England, so winters can be a hindrance.

[Nancy in New York]

When can release take place for reds? We overwintered ours last year and did a spring release. From what I've read, they should be weaned around 7 weeks, but last time we formula fed as long as possible. Ideally these babies wont be here all winter. We live in new England, so winters can be a hindrance.

I too formula feed as long as possible.
We never force them to wean, but reds for some
reason seem to wean earlier than greys.
The longer they are on their forumla the better.
Which formula are you feeding?
Since they are eyes opened little ones, you may
be able to release this year if the weather holds out.

Will you be doing so in your yard? I only ask because if
so, you can supplement their food source all winter long.

I just sent my three reds for release, and they were 28 weeks.
The thing that saved my sanity was a rodent wheel. They built
up great muscle tone using that daily, and got a lot of their pent up
energy out.

SHORT VIDEO

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...wMzqfM-640.mp4


I KNOW you know this, but no cats around squirrels.
Their saliva is deadly to squirrels.

[Lisa]

I too formula feed as long as possible.
We never force them to wean, but reds for some
reason seem to wean earlier than greys.
The longer they are on their forumla the better.
Which formula are you feeding?
Since they are eyes opened little ones, you may
be able to release this year if the weather holds out.

Will you be doing so in your yard? I only ask because if
so, you can supplement their food source all winter long.

I just sent my three reds for release, and they were 28 weeks.
The thing that saved my sanity was a rodent wheel. They built
up great muscle tone using that daily, and got a lot of their pent up
energy out.

SHORT VIDEO

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...wMzqfM-640.mp4


I KNOW you know this, but no cats around squirrels.
Their saliva is deadly to squirrels.

Yeah, while they are still little they are in a cat carrier with the door closed in our bathroom. When they are older we will re-build what we called "Lucky's Squirrel Palace" which is elevated enough that the cats can't get anywhere near them. We just ordered the 20/50, last time with Lucky we used a local goat's milk at the suggestion of a friend of ours who has been rehabbing a while and it worked, so we got that since it's available immediately. Not sure if that was the best idea, but they seem to be doing fine with it, poops aren't too runny.

We haven't discussed where we plan to release yet, but I'm thinking our yard isn't the best choice, maybe I'm wrong. From my digging it seems that reds are more woodsy-creatures. They came from a house down the street from us, which is a better area. We have sheep pasture for acres behind our house, so it's not exactly woodsy, but the other side of the street has just woods behind it. The neighbors who found the babies and alerted us are relatively interested though, it might be possible to do a release at their house, where they were found, and have them take care of putting food out through the winter and walking them through a soft release back into the wild.

A wheel sounds good, these babies are already so much more active than the grey we rescued. They are little squirmy guys. They are also going to the bathroom on their own, though we still stimulate to make sure. I'm really not sure, but it seems like it won't be long before we need a bigger setup for them, they are already such busy little babies.

I'm really gunning for the fall release though, I start nursing school on Tuesday!! I'm setting myself up for a busy schedule. Maybe I should quit my job!

[Lisa]

I too formula feed as long as possible.
We never force them to wean, but reds for some
reason seem to wean earlier than greys.
The longer they are on their forumla the better.
Which formula are you feeding?
Since they are eyes opened little ones, you may
be able to release this year if the weather holds out.

Will you be doing so in your yard? I only ask because if
so, you can supplement their food source all winter long.

I just sent my three reds for release, and they were 28 weeks.
The thing that saved my sanity was a rodent wheel. They built
up great muscle tone using that daily, and got a lot of their pent up
energy out.

SHORT VIDEO

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...wMzqfM-640.mp4


I KNOW you know this, but no cats around squirrels.
Their saliva is deadly to squirrels.

That video is too cute!!
Do you have pictures of your setup?

[Lisa]

Better pictures of the babies!

[Nancy in New York]

That video is too cute!!
Do you have pictures of your setup?

Just came on to check emergencies and saw this.
Yes, I will post some later, company over now.

[Ekorre]

Better pictures of the babies!

OMG! Adorable!

[redwuff]

Beautiful babies. They look so cuddly. Ha!

[Rocky1]

I too formula feed as long as possible.
....

SHORT VIDEO

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...wMzqfM-640.mp4
....

.

opcorn

[Nancy in New York]

That video is too cute!!
Do you have pictures of your setup?

OK this is the second cage that I put them in.
I closed off the bottom two levels to start because they
were still small and I didn't want them getting hurt.
The bar spacing on this cage is 1" x 1"

Also because reds are ALWAYS clinging to one another, I liked a cage with
floors instead of shelves where they could fall to the bottom. That's why all
my cages have full floors.



After a couple of days, I opened up the other floors because they
adapted to the cage just fine.



I put a rubber backed bath mat on the top floor where they eat. It prevents some
of the mess getting into the lower levels.
Jack decided to eat in his bowl, so the mess was even less!



I have more of the medium sized cages pictured and one more of the large one to the left
of the reds cage. I wanted to put them into that one, but the wheel didn't fit through those doors,
so they remained in the smaller cage. They were absolutely fine, since there were only three and the cage is a decent
size for the time they were here. I'm telling you, the wheel saved the day. They LOVED it. They actually
went through 5 of them as they also loved chewing the running track!





I've gotten the Magnum Wheel and the Stealth Wheel.

http://www.atticworx.com/atticworxproducts.htm

Short Video of another thing they LOVED.
This is about 12 inches high, and SO SOFT inside and deep. They loved hiding
in the little space between the sides and the built in pillow.
The best $19.00 I have ever spent.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...cS66nG-640.mp4

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...hMm2B3-640.mp4



I got this at Petco, it's what's in the video.
Petco Deep Restful Cuddler Cat Bed in Brown
Free shipping with the code laborday

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcost...ds-and-bedding




If you want to see other photos of anything, let me know I have tons of pictures,
and I changed out their cage often to give them new things to entertain them.

[Lisa]

OK this is the second cage that I put them in.
I closed off the bottom two levels to start because they
were still small and I didn't want them getting hurt.
The bar spacing on this cage is 1" x 1"

Also because reds are ALWAYS clinging to one another, I liked a cage with
floors instead of shelves where they could fall to the bottom. That's why all
my cages have full floors.



After a couple of days, I opened up the other floors because they
adapted to the cage just fine.



I put a rubber backed bath mat on the top floor where they eat. It prevents some
of the mess getting into the lower levels.
Jack decided to eat in his bowl, so the mess was even less!



I have more of the medium sized cages pictured and one more of the large one to the left
of the reds cage. I wanted to put them into that one, but the wheel didn't fit through those doors,
so they remained in the smaller cage. They were absolutely fine, since there were only three and the cage is a decent
size for the time they were here. I'm telling you, the wheel saved the day. They LOVED it. They actually
went through 5 of them as they also loved chewing the running track!





I've gotten the Magnum Wheel and the Stealth Wheel.

http://www.atticworx.com/atticworxproducts.htm

Short Video of another thing they LOVED.
This is about 12 inches high, and SO SOFT inside and deep. They loved hiding
in the little space between the sides and the built in pillow.
The best $19.00 I have ever spent.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...cS66nG-640.mp4

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...hMm2B3-640.mp4



I got this at Petco, it's what's in the video.
Petco Deep Restful Cuddler Cat Bed in Brown
Free shipping with the code laborday

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcost...ds-and-bedding




If you want to see other photos of anything, let me know I have tons of pictures,
and I changed out their cage often to give them new things to entertain them.

Do you happen to have any pictures of the cages in construction? We are going to be building a cage this following weekend and we're going with a different design than with Lucky's cage. We need more room, since there's three, probably more floors it seems like and smaller doors. We only had one large door but getting three in a large door seems crazy.

We're also squirrel proofing the room they're going to be allowed out to play in.

[cava]

I also think your cage set up is functional and tidy and would like to know where you got those cages or instructions to build them.

Having a nice large bird cage is good and well, but I absolutely love that you have different levels that close off and each has it's own door. It's like having a cage block, like at the vets. They can be separated. Cool.

[Ekorre]

OK this is the second cage that I put them in.
I closed off the bottom two levels to start because they
were still small and I didn't want them getting hurt.
The bar spacing on this cage is 1" x 1"

Also because reds are ALWAYS clinging to one another, I liked a cage with
floors instead of shelves where they could fall to the bottom. That's why all
my cages have full floors.



After a couple of days, I opened up the other floors because they
adapted to the cage just fine.



I put a rubber backed bath mat on the top floor where they eat. It prevents some
of the mess getting into the lower levels.
Jack decided to eat in his bowl, so the mess was even less!



I have more of the medium sized cages pictured and one more of the large one to the left
of the reds cage. I wanted to put them into that one, but the wheel didn't fit through those doors,
so they remained in the smaller cage. They were absolutely fine, since there were only three and the cage is a decent
size for the time they were here. I'm telling you, the wheel saved the day. They LOVED it. They actually
went through 5 of them as they also loved chewing the running track!





I've gotten the Magnum Wheel and the Stealth Wheel.

http://www.atticworx.com/atticworxproducts.htm

Short Video of another thing they LOVED.
This is about 12 inches high, and SO SOFT inside and deep. They loved hiding
in the little space between the sides and the built in pillow.
The best $19.00 I have ever spent.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...cS66nG-640.mp4

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...hMm2B3-640.mp4



I got this at Petco, it's what's in the video.
Petco Deep Restful Cuddler Cat Bed in Brown
Free shipping with the code laborday

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcost...ds-and-bedding




If you want to see other photos of anything, let me know I have tons of pictures,
and I changed out their cage often to give them new things to entertain them.

That cage & the accessories are fabulous! And the videos in this thread (all 3 of them) put a huge smile on my face! What happy, healthy babies!

[DaSquirrelMom]

Some reds are very easy to feed with a syringe/nipple and others are nearly impossible once their eyes open. If you have some who are too hyperactive to nurse, put them in a squirrel burrito (wrapped in a thin blanket) with only their heads sticking out. If they are too squirmy to eat while in a burrito, it is sometimes helpful to hold them in a burrito with your finger or blanket covering their eyes.

Some will start to wean themselves as they reach 7 weeks. I always keep trying to give them formula to put weight on them, but they will put on the most weight in the Fall.

Don't release them in an area where there is not a history of red squirrels. (There is some reason why that area can't support red squirrels if no one ever sees red squirrels there.) They eat 50% pine cone seeds and horde huge stashes for the winter. This is very different than grays and foxes.

They can and will chew through anything plastic in a few minutes. They will escape from a dog crate within several hours by chewing out the area around the breathing holes.

They need things to chew on constantly. Deer antlers are excellent for their need. A wooden nest box made of untreated hard wood (oak, maple, mahogany) is also good for them.