Hello All,

I joined this forum 5 years as a new squirrel owner. Since initially getting Benni I learned a lot from the board and the last four years have gone really well with him being a healthy happy flyer. I am coming here today to ask a question about an odd change in behavior.

Brief background on his care: Benni eats veggies from the PDF provided by Henry's Healthy Pets (the standard squirrel diet chart I have seen) with one block per day (he will not eat 2 and will stash the second). He has a large (5' x 3' x 3') cage with multiple "houses"/nesting cubes (also from Henry's) and multiple foraging toys, some homemade some bought. He will only play with them when there are special treats like in-shell nuts, fruit and coconut flakes. He has a running wheel he loves to use. He has had a lot of time out of cage, at my previous studio apartment he was out every evening and put back in the cage when I went to bed. I have moved a couple times and cats have come and gone, but I always make sure my bedroom is a sanctuary where he feels safe to roam and play when he can (keeping the door shut so cats can't come in ever). He only tolerates myself and my mom handling him or being near his cage. When I am out of town and friends feed him they know to just replace food and not bother him (or he will attack). During summer months (not this year) he has gone to my mom's house since I am doing field work and not home all summer. At my moms he doesn't get out of cage time. In short he has moved quite a bit but always had the same houses, toys and cage to ease stress of a new place.

Change in behavior: Starting in late June he began to attack me at night time - when I normally play with him or take him out of the cage. We moved to the new apartment in March and he seemed happy up until late June. I also became emotionally stressed out at the time due to outside circumstance and I thought he might be aware of my stress and reacting to me with that same energy. For awhile he didn't come out of the cage, I would leave the door open like normal but he didn't roam. Since then I started making sure I take him out of the cage each night and into a snuggie sack where I would pet him and "wrestle", he would not attack me like before when he was in the cage.
When he decides he wants to, I let him run out of the sack and roam the room - he always goes to his favorite spot no matter where I've lived - the closet. Lately the new change is that when I go to put him back in the cage when I am ready to fall asleep, he acts like he doesn't recognize it and is scared to go back in or something. Normally he would put HIMSELF to bed back in the cage after an hour of running around! He has always loved his home and that was his safety spot. Last night it took him over 40 minutes to decide to go back into his sleeping house - that is crazy and unlike his normal self! He stood on a block outside the house for over 15 minutes - frozen like a scared squirrel before jumping on the house and checking out the entrance. He poked his head in and flew back out immediately. After a bit he put half his body in, jumped out, until after many times he finally totally jumped in the house and then I went to bed.

Other symptoms/changes I'm observing:
- His testicles did not rescind this year (or go back into his body), they have been full and descended since the winter.
- Last year I noticed what felt like full bean sized glands above his hind legs near his anus, one on each side(never felt this or seen it in him before). They went away last year when his testicles rescinded. This year both "glands" and testicles are out through the whole year.
- His tail looks horrible and only has short hair. The tip is starting to grow in again and has longer hairs but the midsection is very short, I wondered if he was pulling out is own hair. There is hair on the tail bone and no skin exposed but it looks like someone took scissors and trimmed each side (think of a flat flyer tail, its not bushy). He sometimes goes through a phase where his tail looks ratty and I've always attributed it to molting.

Apologies this post is so long but I want to know if anyone has had a similar experience with their 5+ year old flyer.
Other questions:
- He is 5, very old for a wild flyer! Is there some cognitive diminishing seen around that age?
- Could his senses be diminishing? I think smell is so important for them - but he can smell just fine when I bring a morning treat for him! He wakes up instantly as soon as I bring it near his nest house.
- What has been the average lifespan for all you flyer owners?
- During day time he is just fine with me petting him and touching him like I normally do, this odd behavior is only observed at night (but night is also only when he is active).

Any thoughts, advice or similar stories that may solve this mystery would be great, I am worried he is reaching the end of his lifespan but I read flyers can live up to 15 years in captivity with proper care

Best,
Mel and Benni