advice needed

[mattb]

My 3 rescue greys are probably about 8-9 weeks old now.

The runt is still maybe 2/3 size of the big ones. Biggest, baddest one must be a female, She does not want anything to mess with her, especially in the nest box. Try to pick her up for feedings she fusses and runs away, but is happy to eat when she gets out. In her box she will strike and bite if you try to get her out. Yesterday she got out on top the cage and when I got her, I had to hold pretty tight to keep her from getting away. She sank a tooth deep in my finger. I stopped at one of the med offices I used to work with and got a tetanus shot and some Amox in case it gets infected. She is eating most anything we put in the cage from veggies to yard and tree pickings. Still taking 10-15cc of formula 2 times a day.

The next biggest (boy) is a nice guy and loves to come out and visit. He eats good 2-3 times a day and all the stuff we put in the cage. The big bad squirrel just has to fight and dominate this easy going guy, although he does fight back.

The run is till taking formula 2- 3 times a day. Eating some regular food, also, not as much as the big guys. He is in a cage next to theirs. They want to beat him up any time they are together.

I quit worrying about feedings. I try 3 times a day every 5-6 hours and if they don't want to eat, I put them back in the cage. Sometimes they eat and sometimes not. I am thinking of moving the big cage to the porch next week for a week or so and then back to my shelter house at the woods. That would be about week 10-11 outside and 11-12 in the shelter house. After a few days in the shelter house, leaving the cage open. I really don't think this big squirrel can take being cage for another 6-7 weeks and I don't want to fight with her every day. The runt I figure to keep as long as needed to grow and be strong.

Any advice on a mean squirrel, the cut back feeding schedule and release at 11-12 weeks?

[Chirps]

Curious here, when you say you take them out for feedings, are you still using a syringe? And holding them? At their age they can drink their formula from a bowl. If they aren't doing that yet, start with a very flat dish that they can't submerge their noses in and let them lick/slurp the formula up. You can keep adding more as they finish until they're done. After they figure out the technique the depth can increase bit by bit until they are capable of drinking the whole portion at once, but stick with as shallow a container as possible.

If they're already drinking it, never mind what I just said.

Do they get their formula separately from each other? Is that why you take them out? To feed them from a syringe? If so I'd get them drinking from a dish/bowl asap. And be especially careful with the runt. It might take longer to learn to drink, and after all your hard work you don't want it aspirating formula at this late date. Or it might learn as quickly as the others.

As for the big one striking and biting when you try to get her out, are you talking about reaching inside her actual nest box to take her out? I dunno, but that seems like a great breach of her personal space. One's nest should be sacrosanct imo unless there's dire need to intrude.

For a not-so-parallel parallel, I have a family of wilds who are around their age. The babies are getting full of themselves. The nest box is not at a proper height since I never got it put up, but the mother uses it anyway. I can walk right up and look into the entry hole. I give them "room service" on the predator baffle inside the hole. If the babies are in there when I come, the feisty one (like yours) will jump up to the baffle and strike and growl at me. I try to sneak the room service so they don't come up at me. Sometimes they know, sometimes not, but I always get growls and strikes if it sees me. I can accept that for myself, but I've seen this baby treat its own mother exactly the same, even when she sticks her face in the hole for it to smell her and recognize her. I think this is very bratty for it to do that to its own mother, especially if she's still living there with them. But, if this wild will act this way, maybe it's trying to assert its ownership of the box. Maybe your big one is doing something similar?


Sad that the big ones want to beat up the runt. Nature ain't a Disney movie for sure.

[mattb]

Thanks for your reply and help. I have responded in the other thread you posted to, but will confine posts to this thread from now on.
thanks
mattb

[Chirps]

The diet you posted in the other thread sounds good, just be careful about the junk food like sunflower seeds and cracked corn. It defies logic to see wilds apparently scarf that stuff up and appear to eat only that food, but they are eating other things we don't know about that counter the harm or calcium to phosphorus imbalance that would occur if they ONLY ate those foods. One has to be extra diligent with captive squirrels since they are totally dependent on their human to supply their nutritional needs. If your babies get to try "candy" they may get snooty about eating their healthy veggies etc. and then you have a problem. Not so much of a problem that tough love won't fix, but it may be best to not let them know such ambrosia exists in the first place lol. What block are you feeding?

[mattb]

2-3 Henry's Tasty Blocks per day. Also picking up pods from a Poplar tree,light green branches from a Japanese Cherry, Maple seed pods last week, Petunias my wife pulls from her plants. Trying to give them all types of local and store bought green stuff.