Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: New to the board and have a ton of questions!!

Threaded View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2021
    Location
    Gulfport Mississippi
    Posts
    16
    Thanked: 3

    Question New to the board and have a ton of questions!!

    Hi! My name is Ashley. I live in Gulfport, MS and I am a momma to 3 human babies Tyler 15, Gavin 13, Ava 11, 4 dogs Millie, Copper, Ladybug, and Leroy, 1 rabbit Holly, 1 guinea pig Buster, 1 potbelly pig Petunia and our newest addition a squirrel who I call my Poochie Baby. Living on the MS gulfcoast allows me to experience a wide variety of wildlife right in my own back yard. This past August I found my myself taking on rehabbing a baby squirrel with the intention of rehab and release. Unfortunately he is not releasable and is now a member of our family. I stumbled across this board many times while researching squirrels and how to care for them, behavior, ect.. I thought I might as well join as I have a ton of questions and most recently have become very concerned and thought ya'll may be able to help me.
    Poochie has always been a very playful, spunky squirrel. He has always enjoyed cuddles with me and has grown to be very comfortable around our house as he gets a lot of time outside of his cage. He is def attached to me the most and cares very little for my husband and children. I feed him Henry's squirrel blocks as well as a mixture of fruits, vegetables and some nuts and the occasional cracker that he swipes from the kitchen before I can catch him. Our usual routine every morning is for me to get him out of his cage and he catches a ride on my shoulder to the fridge to get his breakfast. He runs the house for about 30 mins until the rest of my family gets up and then I put him back in his cage until everyone is off to school. Somedays I get him right back out and then others he's in there until the afternoon, depending on my work schedule. Every evening he gets time out of his cage again until he's ready to cuddle up for bed. He cuddles and nibbles my hands while I pet him and then I put him back in his cage for the night.
    Yesterday our day started as normal. I got him out of his cage for breakfast, instead of his block I gave him a grape and 1 cashew (this is not his normal breakfast but he jumped on his stash so I let him have it). He ran around for about 30mins acting his normal self and then I put him in his cage. When I went back in the room to check on him he was acting extremely strange. Every small movement was spooking him, he was bouncing from one side of his cage to the other to the point I thought he may hurt himself. It almost seems like something is wrong with his vision/depth perception. He will let me pet him If I move very slowly and he's aware it's me any quick movement and he goes crazy and he will not let me pick him up with out freaking out. He is not wanting to play or be held he is only sitting on the top perch in his cage sort of hunched over with his head down. He will take food my hand and nibble a little but will not get down to go to his bowl. The light also seems to be throwing him off a bit, and his balance seems a little off but not to bad. I'm very concerned as this is completely out of his normal behavior and happened so quickly. I'm not sure if he has hit his head and has some sort of mild brain trauma, possibly got into something while out, MBD or is just getting wild. Sorry for such a long post however, and insight would be greatly appreciated. I hate to see my Poochie baby like this, it seems like everything is scaring him.
    Last edited by stepnstone; 04-26-2021 at 12:43 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

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