Pls Help, She stays in bed all day!

[maximuse5357]

My ground squirrel Rosie has became very sleepy lately she will sleep for about 20 hours a day, but she is active and alert, running around having fun when she IS awake though. So this has my wife and I very worried because she hasnt had any sunlight for about 4-5 days now. Is this a bad thing? I have been using hhb vita-mins and calcium supplements, I mix them in with yogurt and feed her it 2 times daily. She is a very picky eater but while awake she eats her food and drinks her fluids, we feed her a mixture grains, veggies and fruits, and let her snack on pumpkin seeds,(not to often). Could she be sleeping so much because the seasons changed? Or could she be sick? We let her run around freely in our place, and she has her own little bed under our blankets, its like super cozy, could it just be she's relaxed, because she can sit with me and my wife for hours. Well I think I have given about all the info I can, if any1 has any ideas theyd be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

[HRT4SQRLS]

maximuse5357

to TheSquirrelBoard

Someone will be along soon that knows about ground squirrels. We don't have ground squirrels in FL.
Just curious, don't ground squirrels hibernate in the winter? That would certainly account for sleeping a lot.

[CritterMom]

What type is she? Most of them do hibernate.

[Elise]

Just my two cents:

My ground squirrel Pip is currently hibernating. It came on gradually this fall/winter, with her sleeping about 15-20 hours a day at first. Now Pip sleeps for up to 8-9 days at a time. When she wakes up she potties, dusts herself in her dirt, and eats and drinks and runs around for a few hours. Then back to bed.

I would say yours is just hibernating. Is this your first winter with her?

FYI: Pip is a Columbian Ground Squirrel.

[maximuse5357]

Shes a California Ground Squirrel and from all that I've found out is that they don't hibernate all winter because our winters are like 60-70* I'm in southern California. So would that make a difference and what she is doing is just her type of hibernation for this area which doesn't ever get snow lol. Any advice helps and thank you all for quickly replying I apologize for taking so long to reply.

[Dianafas]

My Siberian Chipmunk females do the torpor behavior typical of Eastern Chipmunks in the wild. They started sleeping more in September and do a fair bit more through the winter. They even drop their body temp down, while in the 70 degree F house. Meanwhile the male is bouncing around for hours on end, they are very individual. Not sure about your girl's breed specifically but ground squirrels do have their winter quirks.