Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Overwintering female/male siblings

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    NE Beleriand
    Posts
    660
    Thanked: 752

    Default Overwintering female/male siblings

    So, Arya & Iggy are about 3 1/2 months old.

    That age is based on my guess of 5-6 weeks old when we first got them on 8/31 - eyes open but tails not really bushy.

    Name:  Arya_Iggy_20190901.jpg
Views: 59
Size:  112.6 KB

    My plan is to overwinter them for a spring release.

    In any case, they have shared a cage since then, and up until recently have been best buddies - lots of playing around together, always sleeping together, etc. Iggy (male) is a bit larger and does tend to take food from Arya (female).

    Today, however, Iggy is really bullying Arya - chasing her around constantly, with her making scared noises, both chattering, and Arya trying (without much success) to hide.

    Do they need separate cages at this point?

    I've overwintered two male singletons, so this is new territory for me.

    Thanks!

  2. Serious fuzzy thank you's to olorin19 from:

    RockyPops (11-10-2019)

  3. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    eastcoast
    Posts
    4,810
    Thanked: 5578

    Default Re: Overwintering female/male siblings

    Overwintering is always a challenge. If I feel that the baby that is being bullied is being damaged in any way, I will separate them. I think it is cruel to keep them together. In the wild they can get away from the bully.
    redwuff
    State Licensed
    Master Wildlife Rehabilitator

  4. 3 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to redwuff:

    Nancy in New York (11-11-2019), olorin19 (11-11-2019), RockyPops (11-10-2019)

  5. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    North Alabama
    Posts
    1,268
    Thanked: 1964

    Default Re: Overwintering female/male siblings

    I've been watching 3 wild babies that live with mom in my yard. They're about the same age as yours. I'm amazed at the constant interaction they have every day. But, they do argue and chase sometimes. Especially when food is involved. They do have the ability to extract themselves from an altercation by running away if needed though.

    I would (novice advice) recommend maybe trying to keep them in separate cages when not under direct supervision.
    But also believe that social interaction at this age is very important and maybe put them together when you can keep an eye on them and maybe after they've eaten.

    Love the pictures!

  6. 3 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to RockyPops:

    Mel1959 (11-11-2019), Nancy in New York (11-11-2019), olorin19 (11-11-2019)

  7. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    NE Beleriand
    Posts
    660
    Thanked: 752

    Default Re: Overwintering female/male siblings

    Just an update:

    So, Iggy and Arya are now about 7 months old. As noted earlier, Iggy began bullying Arya at about 3 1/2 to 4 months old. Or at least chasing her when she did not want to be chased and scaring her in the process. My solution was to build an enclosure within their cage with a small enough entrance that Arya could retreat inside and keep Iggy out if needed.

    This worked fine for quite awhile. At first, they both slept in this new enclosure. Every now and then, Arya would be in such a defensive mode that when it came time to take them to the sun porch, she would remain in the enclosure, even after Iggy was on the porch, and refuse to come out.

    By about 5 months, however, Arya had laid claim to the yellow pouch pictured below and Iggy to the enclosure. They occupied the cage together well enough, but did not tend to sleep together often.

    By about 6 months, Arya had become aggressively territorial over her space. So we ended up with this weird scenario: Out on the sun porch, Iggy still chased Arya around and she would run away. Back in the cage, Arya would dive bomb Iggy so that he either had to spend his time down at the bottom of the cage or hide in the enclosure. So now there would be times that it would be Iggy that hid in the enclosure and not come out to the sun porch.

    Note that most of the time, they peacefully co-existed in the cage and on the sun porch. There was never any actual fighting - just one of them exerting dominance and the other retreating.

    Then a week ago, Arya attacked Iggy. Nobody got hurt, but it was time for separate cages. So for the rest of their time inside, they will be housed separately. They still spend time together on the sun porch, and that continues to work well.

    When it comes time to release them this spring, I will have them in separate release cages.

    I had only raised singletons previously. If/when I overwinter siblings again, I will probably move them into separate cages sooner.

    I wonder how much of a role gender plays here as well.

    Are opposite gender siblings less likely to form more permanent bonds?

    Are females more territorial about where they nest? That certainly makes sense to me, and I have seen some wild mama squirrels who run off anyone who gets near their nest.

    Arya hitting puberty might well be a factor in her being more territorial.

    Name:  Arya_Iggy_20191222.jpg
Views: 30
Size:  127.1 KB

  8. 2 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to olorin19:

    RockyPops (02-22-2020), Scooterzmom (02-22-2020)

  9. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    North Alabama
    Posts
    1,268
    Thanked: 1964

    Default Re: Overwintering female/male siblings

    That's interesting. From my experience the youthful squirrels, in the wild anyway, even at over 6 months old still hang and play together and share a nest box. It is cold weather and that may play a part.

    I have noticed that one of the females has started exploring an empty nest box, even spending time in it alone during the day, and attempting to collect dried leave and start a dray. She'll probably leave the others when the weather warms up.

    Thanks for the update.

  10. Serious fuzzy thank you's to RockyPops from:

    olorin19 (02-22-2020)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •