Red Squirrels

[Terry H]

Hello all. My three baby squirrels are doing fine. Im guessing they are 5 and a half weeks old now. I was wondering what the ideal weight is for them at this age. One is 40 grams, second is 43 grams third is 45 grams. I was a little late giving them fox valley as it took some time to get delivered.(I'm in Canada) Also, I was wondering who else has, or has raised red squirrelsin the past? Thanks. Terry.

[Diggie's Friend]

I knew a rehabber in North Dakota that did; I supported them with the diet for a large litter of red squirrels, and how to support a release that was successful. If you have any questions I would be glad to share what was learned by the rehabber of what was needed to support the release in detail. One thing that was different for these reds was that they were born in the summer not the late winter, which led to them being wintered over. In that process they had to be separated from each other in a condo type cage to keep them from fighting with each other as they began to assert their dominance. For late winter or mid spring born reds winterign over should not be needed. Why it is needed for reds in particular is that they rely heavily upon their mother's cache of nuts and seeds(midden) and often will nest with her. If they don't have sufficient cache of nuts and seeds they won't survive the winter.

They consume more greens than the E. gray or fox squirrels have been observed doing, and also rely more on non toxic mushrooms that they harvest and bring up into the crown of trees to dry out and store when they need a ready source of protein. I know of a wild harvested source that is one of the best available that is easy to add to the diet that is dried or in powdered form that can be added to yogurt.