Is 10 degrees Celsius too cold?

[Gypsy Love]

I live in Canada and as winter is coming the temperature in my house is dropping. The room that my 13 week old baby red is in can drop down to about 10 degrees Celsius(50 farenheit), is that too cold for her right now? She weighs 175 grams and has quite the chubby little squirrel belly and a good coat of fur, she also has a couple warm fleecy spots to sleep and bits of fabric and stuffing for nesting. I do want her to recognize this as cold season so she is prepared for next year, but I also realize she would probably still be in the drey with siblings and momma for this winter so I am worried about her being too cold on her own.

[Slinky]

Red squirrels have a preference for cold weather. Once the weather dips below freezing the red squirrel stays in the nest and is completely inactive until the temperatures get warmer.

[Gypsy Love]

Oh good so she will be just fine then! I sleep in the same room she does, but I have an electric blanket to keep me warm :P I am hoping to set up an outdoor cage for her for the winter when she is older so she can be taken out to experience winter on the nicer days. We feed reds and greys and our backyard through the winter so I'll take the cue from them on what days are good for her to be put outside- supervised of course. Thanks!

[Nancy in New York]

Oh good so she will be just fine then! I sleep in the same room she does, but I have an electric blanket to keep me warm :P I am hoping to set up an outdoor cage for her for the winter when she is older so she can be taken out to experience winter on the nicer days. We feed reds and greys and our backyard through the winter so I'll take the cue from them on what days are good for her to be put outside- supervised of course. Thanks!

When you take her outside, make sure she is in a secure carrier if you are going to transfer
her to the outside cage, and vice versa when you bring her in.
As I'm sure you already know these little reds can be speed demons, and escape artists.

[Gypsy Love]

Oh my goodness yes I know! I can barely keep her in the cage when I try to put food in! Luckily she would prefer to run around on me than run away. She has gotten loose outside a couple of times but she is still enough of a mama's girl that she didn't want to go more than a meter away before she came running back to me, thank goodness! I will definitely be using a carrier when she starts going outside!

[Nancy in New York]

Oh my goodness yes I know! I can barely keep her in the cage when I try to put food in! Luckily she would prefer to run around on me than run away. She has gotten loose outside a couple of times but she is still enough of a mama's girl that she didn't want to go more than a meter away before she came running back to me, thank goodness! I will definitely be using a carrier when she starts going outside!

Perfect! Can we see more pictures of your little hot shot?

[Gypsy Love]

I have a bunch of pictures of her on my profile from when I first got her to present, I'll be adding even more this weekend! She just might get to play with a pumpkin while we carve some for Halloween decorations! I am imagining adorable photos of her popping out of a tiny jackolantern....but it will probably look more like her furiously chewing the unrecognizable face of a pumpkin... Lol

[Gypsy Love]

How do I post a video? I have an adorable clip of her wrestling with my fingers that I would love to post!

[Nancy in New York]

How do I post a video? I have an adorable clip of her wrestling with my fingers that I would love to post!

Make an account on YouTube and then post the link here.

Also make sure that you don't somehow identify yourself on YouTube, ok?

[Spanky]

The room that my 13 week old baby red is in can drop down to about 10 degrees Celsius(50 farenheit)....

I know this is is way too cold for me.. these are late January, outdoor temps!
And I grew up in Michigan... a LONG time ago!

[Nancy in New York]

I have a bunch of pictures of her on my profile from when I first got her to present.

Oh I just saw them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I absolutely love all of them, but that one of little Beensy sleeping belly up
on the sofa has just taken my heart.
I hope that other members look at your pictures on your profile as well,
they are too cute to miss.

[cava]

I looked at your photos. Very cute. She looks quite happy!

[Pikiniki]

Red squirrels have a preference for cold weather. Once the weather dips below freezing the red squirrel stays in the nest and is completely inactive until the temperatures get warmer.

Not so. I am in Calgary it was minus 22 today. My 3 wild outdoor red squirrels are out foraging and stashing food, they don’t stay home in the cold. They are trying to soak up any sun to stay warm. Shivering on my fence. I only wish they would all move into the houses I built so far only 1 has.

[island rehabber]

Thanks for correcting that, Pikiniki. If you look up on the left hand corner of the post you'll note that this is a very old thread (from 2017). Nevertheless, it's good to know the true facts about red squirrels in the cold.