How Old is this Squirrel

[WilliamH4]

Just an update...Emma is taking the formula well. She is so cute, she will stick her head out from her cozy sleeping blanket, take what she wants, then go back to sleep. I'll try and get a picture at next feeding. I'll weigh the formula so I'll have a better idea of what she's taking in. She's been taking about 3 full syringes 3 times a day so far. I'll weigh her again in a couple/few days to see if there's any progress in weight.

Meant to say that's a 1ml syringe, looks like she's getting about what is recommended.

[cava]

She's a sweetie. Keep up the good work!

[WilliamH4]

Here's Emma's indoor home (still a work in progress). I'll let her run around in my office during the day, but she can sleep here. I only need to build the door at the end facing away in this image (and add a few things here and there as I think through some options). Now all I need to do is talk my wife in to letting me set this up in the Living Room, LOL. Otherwise, I'll move some things around in my office to make space. The enclosure is 3 x 4 x 6. I hope that's big enough. We had a big scare as I was working on this, I shot most of a 2 1/2" trim nail into my hand (horizontally across the back of my index and middle fingers, palm side). Luckily I didn't hit any bone. So far so good. Had a tetanus shot not too long ago. Amazingly, there was very little pain after the first day.

[cava]

I recommend putting a small door on your big door. Just in case this sweet muffin needs to stay in the cage but you want to swap out food dishes or something. I have a cage similar and opening the big door means squirrels are out of there.

Are you planning on releasing her?

[WilliamH4]

I recommend putting a small door on your big door. Just in case this sweet muffin needs to stay in the cage but you want to swap out food dishes or something. I have a cage similar and opening the big door means squirrels are out of there.

Are you planning on releasing her?

Thank you. I do plan on installing a small door within the big door.

As far as releasing goes, I'm open for some guidance/suggestions. I've read where many on here do release. Before I found this forum, I read where someone suggested squirrels may have a difficult time acclimating to life in the wild after living in captivity (may not acclimate at all), and this was a spouse of a licensed rehabilitator. We don't mind keeping her if that's the best option for her. I posted somewhere else in this forum where I "evicted" a squirrel from my attic. A few days after that, Emma showed up at my back door when it was raining. I assumed she was offspring from the Red I locked out of the attic. We put Emma outside (we were there with her at a distance) when there was a mature Red in the backyard. Emma just moved across our yard to the neighbor's yard, so we retrieved her. I didn't want to leave her hoping the parents would find her. If it was Emma's mom I evicted, Emma doesn't even have a home now. I don't think she would fair very well at this point, IMO. Winter is closing in.

Regarding the amount of formula, she is actually consuming more than what is on the chart. Not sure what I was thinking before. She takes anywhere from 2 - 5 full syringes 3 times a day (I would average to 3ml per feeding). That works out to 9ml average a day. I'm not forcing her to take it. I just present it to her and let her have more if she wants it.

[cava]

Well, even if you were going to release her, we would recommend you overwinter her in your home until springtime anyway. Last year I got two babies in late summer and I kept them all winter. Due to a cool spring, I didn't put them in their outdoor release cage until May so they were 9 months when they were released and boy were they wild and ready to go.

Every squirrel is different but the majority of them wild up and are itching to get outside. Mine would sit on the window and stare outside when they were out for playtime.

Anyway, the reason I asked is because you'll need to build a small, squirrel sized hole toward the top of the cage for release comings and goings. One that can be closed and locked, like the other doors. This cage would be a nice release cage with a bit more weatherproofing, when the time comes.

I hope she is happy about her new large space!

[WilliamH4]

Emma has a little tummy now, LOL. She likes the formula. I'll weigh her again over the weekend to see how much she has progressed. She's starting make cute little squeak sounds now.

[WilliamH4]

She weighs 47 grams.

11/01/2017 Emma is now at 104 grams. She's more than doubled her weight in 2 weeks. Is this about where she should be for 8 weeks?