Squirel School

[Nutella]

Hi,

I've got a 7-week old boy who is doing great at the minute he's healthy and running around and learning how to jump, I just had a couple of questions:

1) Do I need to do anything to ' teach him how to squirrel'?? Obviously in the wild, he would learn from his mum and siblings I'm assuming? or will he just pick stuff up naturally on instinct?
2) He seems to go mad for his milk he's got a water bottle in his cage but he doesn't seem to use it? is he going mad for his milk because he loves it so much or just because he's thirsty? if it the latter how do I get him to use his water bottle?
3) I'm still not sure what the best course of action is to release him back into the wild? I'm not sure if he will survive ( reading a couple of posts I know a lot of people feel the same) I'm not sure how to do a soft release as I live in an apartment and it has no outdoor part although I do have a park nearby? I'm just concerned about him trying to come back at night or something and us not being there

I'm also from the UK so last thing I want to do is get myself or him in any trouble but as I've said in a previous post I couldn't have just left him outside to die!

Thanks for your help!

[Mel1959]

Squirrels are blessed with very wild instincts that seem to kick in all on their own. Providing him opportunity to navigate tree limbs inside his cage and out of cage time to become proficient at jumping is all that is needed for him to master maneuvering in the trees. Providing him materials to build a nest with like tissues or toilet paper when he’s older will help him learn to gather items and build a drey.

At 7 weeks he should be mad about his milk. We don’t recommend weaning them...we let them decide that on their own. He may consume formula till he is 12 weeks or older, which is great because it provides lots of nutrients. Have you provided him with a rodent block in his cage/bin to encourage him to eat other items? He should be eating a rodent block well and then introduce items from the Healthy Diet chart. https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-Pet-Squirrels. This chart shows the appropriate foods for a squirrel.

As for releasing. Do you know anyone that has a garden that could help you with a soft release? Maybe others will have some ideas about releasing. I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of hard releases, but there may not be an alternative. I would certainly not recommend him being released till he is 16+ weeks old.