Tail not bushy

[Nikkimarie25]

Hey all,
Little orphaned Newton the black grey squirrel. He is about 6 months old now and his tail is not filling out like my previous squirrels. At first I thought it was diet related so I increased his calcium and magnesium intake. It's definitely not behavioral, he doesn't chew or bite his tail. Any ideas?

[island rehabber]

Hey all,
Little orphaned Newton the black grey squirrel. He is about 6 months old now and his tail is not filling out like my previous squirrels. At first I thought it was diet related so I increased his calcium and magnesium intake. It's definitely not behavioral, he doesn't chew or bite his tail. Any ideas?

One out of four squirrels I've rehabbed have been black (melanistic) so I've noticed this: black squirrel tails often look sparse compared to greys'. I don't know whether it's because of the contrast of dark and light -- we can see through their black tails and see the light through them, or if it's a characteristic of the melanistic gene. I can actually remember specifically those black squirrels I had who really had full, bushy tails --- maybe two or three at most. Most have had tails that look just like your guy's.

Make sure he is getting all the healthy veggies from our Nutrition chart, and you may want to add two Henry Healthy Blocks per day if you're not doing that already. Other than that, not a lot you can do to fluff up his tail. It may eventually fluff by itself. This is my released guy Chester, whose tail isn't super-full
either.

[Nikkimarie25]

Thank you, he is a great eater, blocks and veg!