First time Flyer Mom

[MandyP]

Hey y’all

My dad found a baby Flyer a few weeks ago and called to see if I could take care of her. I’ve raised a few greys so I told him of course. She had fallen out of a nest onto a wooden porch. She had a slight bloody nose but nothing serious. Mom never came for her and my dad was worried that one of the feral cats in the area would get her. I’ve had her about three weeks now. And I’m unsure of her age. She weighted 23g when I got her. I haven’t been able to weight her lately because she won’t sit still long enough lol. Her top teeth only started coming in this week also. She is starting to nibble broccoli and sugar snap peas but doesn’t seem to want it. I’m worried she may not be eating enough. She seems constantly hungry. She’s still drinking lots of formula. This is my first Flyer and I’m scared I’ll screw up. I lost two baby greys already this year. Both were cat bit. One was paralyzed and had to be put to sleep. The other was doing good and but took a fever and died suddenly.

I’ll try to attach some photos of Tippy

Thank you soo much for any and all advice.

The top pic is the one my cousin sent me when she was found. The middle was about a week later. The bottom is from this morning.

[Mel1959]

Thank you for helping her.

What formula are you feeding? How often? The first solid food you want her to eat and to be eating well is a rodent block. From Henrys Pets online you should order a bag of picky eater or hazelnut blocks. Both are well liked. Although Henrys makes a high protein block for flyers I haven’t heard of any flyers that like them.

The blocks must be stored in the freezer. Cut one in half and put it in her cage. It takes awhile for them to realize that food comes from solid sources and not just liquid. She’ll probably shred it at first but eventually will begin to eat it. Don’t stop giving formula. We don’t recommend weaning squirrels. We let them decide. Many times even after they refuse the syringe they will take formula from a bowl. I give my flyer a spoonful of yogurt every night and occasionally formula. He’s almost 2.

Here’s the diet for flyers. https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...ying-Squirrels Only after the block is being eaten we’ll do you want to introduce veggies. Flyers must also have a daily protein. In addition to mealworms and wax worms, I buy a dog/cat treat called Pure Bites. It’s dehydrated chicken from the US with no other ingredients. My guy loves it.

I wanted to be sure that you understand that flyers can’t be released like grays. They MUST be released with a colony, never by themselves. It would be a death sentence. The flip side to that is that they do very well in captivity..... unlike grays.

As for your previous experience with your squirrel babies. If a squirrel is ever in the mouth or clawed by a cat they MUST be given an antibiotic for a min. of 5 days. Even if no wound is visible. Sometimes the wound can be so small that it’s not seen. Cat saliva is deadly to squirrels and it sounds like the death of your little one may have been because of that.

[MandyP]

Thank you soo very much!

---

For formula I’ve been using the powdered Esbilac from the vet’s office. I’ve been trying to feed every 4 hours. And once during the night. I was told by someone on FB that they skip night feedings but I was worried she’d get hungry. How much she takes varies. Sometimes it’s only 3ml. Other times it’s 6ml.

I’ve ordered some of the blocks. I think I got the mixed bag because I wasn’t sure what to get. I did know about not weaning. I let my greys tell me when they were tired of formula. My girls dropped it no problem but my boy, Merle, decided he wanted to be a bottle baby a week longer than his sisters lol. He passed away earlier this year at the ripe age of eight. He would still visit the front porch for treats I always knew it was him, he would take treats from my hands and his ears were chewed looking. He was covered in fire ants when I found him. His sisters, Dotty and Tink, were fine but he had scarring on his ears and belly.

I’ve been trying to read everything I can find on flyers and saw that they have to have a colony. The craziest thing is about a month before I got her I discovered some in our yard We’ve been having problems with coyotes so every time my dogs bark I jump up and check the yard. About 4am I heard some chirping and found what I thought was a young grey in a cedar tree. I couldn’t see it well and figured it had followed mom and gotten lost. I looked for it the next day and couldn’t find it. Two days later, again at 4am my dogs were cutting up. I heard the chirping again and followed the sound to an old barn. I got a good look at it that night! Was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I saw 4 grown flyers that night. Since then we’ve been seeing them on a game camera we have out where we know the coyote is crossing the yard. Most nights we just get pics of the camera glare from their eyes. We call them our little UFOs lol.

TBH I was worried about releasing her even knowing there’s some nearby. I know they are nocturnal but we have hunters close by and that worries me. Plus I don’t want her to bond with me and then feel like I’m abandoning her. I’m hoping that she will bond close with me. I love her soo much already.

Do you have any guesses on how old she looks? And I also have a question, I guess it would be kinda about bonding... but it may be food related. She is really sweet early morning and during all day feedings. She cuddles and crawls all over me. But tonight (and Tuesday night) when I went to get her out of the cage to feed her she seems agitated. She slapped at my hands and even nipped me. Didn’t draw blood but was a hard pinch. I was a little late with her formula both nights...about an hour each time. So I don’t know if she was aggravated about that or just at me in general. After a few mins of talking and petting her, she took her formula.

As for my other babies. Cat bites are the absolute worst. The first baby had puncture wounds and her spinal cord had been nicked right between her shoulders The second baby had scratches on her hips. She was on antibiotics and we thought she was doing good

Once again thank you soo much!

[Mel1959]

Here is the link to flyer ages based on weight. https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...eights-and-age

On this forum there is a section for breed specific squirrels. Flyers are listed there and there is a wealth of information.

[MandyP]

Thank you soo much again I’m still trying to find my way around the board and missed the section on breed specific.

This morning she was once again a total cuddle bug. I made her a bonding pouch and have her in it now. She seems to like it. I put a tiny bit of pine shavings in it and I can hear her nibbling on them.

[CritterMom]

So....food related - or let's be specific - TREAT related craziness. My little flyer Laz is just the picture of sweetness. He is 7. He loves playing and snuggling with mom. Here is how it goes if I give him a little fragment of nut:

Laz: "I love you so much, mommy!"
Me: "I love you too, Lazzy Lou! Here is a tiny fragment of pecan, little punkinhead!"
Laz, taking nut fragment: "I KEEL YOU I KEEL YOU I KEEL YOU WITH KNIVES I BITE YOU INTO LITTLE PIECES AND KEEL THE LITTLE PIECES!!

The only thing that protects me is that he has a nut in his mouth so all he can really do is swarm, scream, swear and pound me with his little fists. I remember the time I opened the cage door and gave him a nut piece and my brain registered the sound of him accidentally DROPPING IT. Have you ever read about how "the blood drained from her face" well I could feel that happening to me. Little jerk swarmed all over me and nailed me pretty good! Once he finishes it he is back to sweet Laz. He gets his little nut treat through the cage bars now! Other foods are fine to hand to him but not nuts!

[island rehabber]

. That's my Charlotte, exactly, except that she is an Eastern Grey, not a flyer.

[Mel1959]

I don’t have that problem....yet.....with my flyer Gizmo. He readily accepts a nut from my hand and moves to the top of the shelf in his cage and eats it. Even if I stick my hand back in the cage to gather discarded food he doesn’t lash out, luckily. I do find it hilarious that he sometimes takes his nut for a spin in his wheel before he settles down to eat it.

I have to know how your flyers cuddle? When I get Gizmo out he zooms around me, dives into my shirt and most times is very anxious to return to his cage. He never stops moving long enough to do any cuddling. Sometimes I stop his racing and hold him flat against my chest so I can brush his head, back and neck with a mascara wand. He tolerates that for a short time but when he’s had enough he lashes out with teeth or hands to say “ENOUGH!”. “Cuddly” is never a word I’d use to describe him. So, do tell, how your flyers are cuddly??

Those free tester mascara wands that you get at Ulta work great as flyer brushes.

[CritterMom]

I don’t have that problem....yet.....with my flyer Gizmo. He readily accepts a nut from my hand and moves to the top of the shelf in his cage and eats it. Even if I stick my hand back in the cage to gather discarded food he doesn’t lash out, luckily. I do find it hilarious that he sometimes takes his nut for a spin in his wheel before he settles down to eat it.

I have to know how your flyers cuddle? When I get Gizmo out he zooms around me, dives into my shirt and most times is very anxious to return to his cage. He never stops moving long enough to do any cuddling. Sometimes I stop his racing and hold him flat against my chest so I can brush his head, back and neck with a mascara wand. He tolerates that for a short time but when he’s had enough he lashes out with teeth or hands to say “ENOUGH!”. “Cuddly” is never a word I’d use to describe him. So, do tell, how your flyers are cuddly??

Those free tester mascara wands that you get at Ulta work great as flyer brushes.

Laz runs everything he eats on the wheel for a couple miles. It is probably a really sound dieting technique!