Juvenile squirrels and pre-release cage

[Qurly]

I have 2 juvenile squirrels, approximately 10 to 11 weeks old. They will not stay in their outdoor pre release cage without freaking out. They have escaped several times. They go out in my yard in the trees mid morning and come back to the patio door at dusk to come back inside of my house to an indoor cage. I do not have a fancy setup with a shed. Just an outdoor large cage and an indoor cage with their bed and "toys". New to rehabbing. Is this behavior normal or problematic? Concerned about whether they wiill transition properly and them bringing fleas,etc. into my house.

[Sottinger]

I have 2 juvenile squirrels, approximately 10 to 11 weeks old. They will not stay in their outdoor pre release cage without freaking out. They have escaped several times. They go out in my yard in the trees mid morning and come back to the patio door at dusk to come back inside of my house to an indoor cage. I do not have a fancy setup with a shed. Just an outdoor large cage and an indoor cage with their bed and "toys". New to rehabbing. Is this behavior normal or problematic? Concerned about whether they wiill transition properly and them bringing fleas,etc. into my house.

Oh my I’d so love to have this problem with my little guy! Having him free to roam yet still come home to me at night would be perfect for me. ❤️

You can put a drop of revolution on him if he gets fleas. I ordered some three weeks ago and it’s still not here so you may want to see if anyone near you has a vial you can borrow.

[Spanky]

I have 2 juvenile squirrels, approximately 10 to 11 weeks old.

This is much too young to be in an outdoor release cage. The earliest it is recommended to start the process you have already started is 14 weeks of age. Their getting free is problematic and dangerous because basically they are predator bait at this age and will be become dinner very easily.

[Qurly]

The male hates being in any type of cage which is why I attempted to put him in the outside cage. He will bite at the chicken wire and cry and i dont want him to break his teeth. He's really crazy about this cage thing. He cries, scratches, and gnaws frantically to get out of the cage in the house, but he cannot roam freely in my home. So i tried to start him maybe an hour or two a day in an outside cage even though he is young, but same problem. He will break free when i try to put him in the cage outside. Didnt have this problem with 6 other squirrels i have released. So all feedback is appreciated. I believe he is 10 to 11 weeks, but he could also be 12 weeks. Got him and his sister 9/11, eyes open, fully furred, tail already curled, but ears just opening up. Started trying to stand 9/16.

[Spanky]

So all feedback is appreciated.

He will bite at the chicken wire and cry and i don't want him to break his teeth. He's really crazy about this cage thing.

Chicken wire is not good for use with a squirrel. We recommend 1/2" hardware cloth (and 1/2" bar spacing in store bought cages) exactly because of the biting which will damage their teeth... not breaking them, but causing a malocclusion (misalignment) which is a death sentence for a squirrel. And the chicken wire often cuts into them when biting.

How large is the indoor cage you have? Do you have branches, toys and other things to distract his attention?

How large is the outdoor cage?

[Qurly]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I call all metal caging chicken wire, but it is 1/2" hardware cloth, the one with the square pattern, not the hexagonal one. (4ft tallx4ft widex2ft deep) I still dont like him crying and chewing on cage wire. I put mini stuffed animals, hanging bird toys, branches, leaves, wood beams. He played with all the toys and chewed all the branches. A couple weeks ago, i started thinking maybe he was adhd. He bores easily and needs constant attention and activity. Him and the girl used to sleep alot, but a week ago, he just needed more space, more activity. He needs to always be interacting with someone or something, very hyper. The girl squirrel sometimes seems annoyed, he often bites her playfully and wrestles with her, if no one will play with him and he is confined to cage. Trying to stick to some type of plan like the blogs say, but this one squirrel has his own plan. I got them this far and want to see them released properly. What should my next steps be? Just let them go in and out as they please until they stop coming back or something else.

[Qurly]

Oh my I’d so love to have this problem with my little guy! Having him free to roam yet still come home to me at night would be perfect for me. ❤️

You can put a drop of revolution on him if he gets fleas. I ordered some three weeks ago and it’s still not here so you may want to see if anyone near you has a vial you can borrow.

It was a nice feeling that they came back. How old is your squirrel?

[Spanky]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I call all metal caging chicken wire, but it is 1/2" hardware cloth, the one with the square pattern, not the hexagonal one. (4ft tallx4ft widex2ft deep) I still dont like him crying and chewing on cage wire. I put mini stuffed animals, hanging bird toys, branches, leaves, wood beams. He played with all the toys and chewed all the branches. A couple weeks ago, i started thinking maybe he was adhd. He bores easily and needs constant attention and activity. Him and the girl used to sleep alot, but a week ago, he just needed more space, more activity. He needs to always be interacting with someone or something, very hyper. The girl squirrel sometimes seems annoyed, he often bites her playfully and wrestles with her, if no one will play with him and he is confined to cage. Trying to stick to some type of plan like the blogs say, but this one squirrel has his own plan. I got them this far and want to see them released properly. What should my next steps be? Just let them go in and out as they please until they stop coming back or something else.

That's great that it is hardware cloth and not chicken wire. But he really should not be able to chew at 1/2" hardware cloth, at least I have never had one do so.

As far as next steps, I would still suggest they are too young to be in the outdoor release cage (minimum age 14 weeks) and they definitely should not be outside the cage "free roaming". Ideally the release cage would have an ante room to prevent their being able to escape when feeding or transferring. Speaking of transfer, a small carrier or small metal cage should be used to transfer from inside to outdoor cages, but we generally do not transfer daily. Is the outdoor cage on wheels by chance, that would allow it to be brought inside.. transfer the squirrels into the cage before taking outdoors? Does it have a small door for swapping out only food dishes?

Here is a thread / sticky on soft release that provides some good general info:
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-How-to-Sticky

[Sottinger]

It was a nice feeling that they came back. How old is your squirrel?

My little guy is 16 weeks. But note he’s my first and holds a very special place in my heart that has caused me to reroute my life at times. I also have three younger babies (10-11 weeks) and the newest addition is roughly four to five weeks. And it’s feeding time as we speak ❤️ Good luck!!!

[cava]

The first couple I had included a male who was active but also stand offish and I couldn't touch him. This happened in the fall and I survived a whole winter letting two squirrels in and out of their cage (based on a system of treats, lighting and patience) that I could NOT touch. The cage was in my house, not outdoor. They didn't go outside until the spring.

My point is that they get active, really active. Mine required out of cage time to jump, explore, wrestle, climb and run so that they weren't completely insane when I put them back in the cage. Is there anywhere in the house where he can have exercise time out of the cage?

In other words, this is normal behavior.

[Mel1959]

I have 4 that are approximately 13 weeks old. They are lunatics! The jumping and bouncing off of the walls of their cage is insane. My husband takes them, twice a day, into our master bathroom where we have a tall cat tree and sits in there with them while they race around the cat tree and jump to the towel racks. He calls it “their muscle building time”.

Before giving them free time in any indoor space you have to look for any openings under cabinets or behind furniture that they can get in to. And they need to be monitored.

Is the boy actually escaping from the secured release cage? If so, that’s problematic.