Advice for 3 month old grey squirrel girl

[L0andbehold]

I’ve noticed some not so great behaviors the past few days with my squirrel Kiko.

Some background tho:
I’ve had her since she was a week old
She lives in a 3ft by 2 ft wrought iron cage
She gets 4 hours of cage free time a day
We live in MA

So the past few days during her cage free time she is very fixated on the window and looking for a way out almost the entire time and not playful at all. When I put her away to leave for work today, she started pacing at the bottom of her cage (like neurotic/ frustrated animals do in crappy zoos.) It broke my heart.

I know she can’t be released until the spring due to New England weather. But I was wondering if this would help: I have an empty indoor/outdoor chicken coop that I could add a heating element to and add reinforcements. My question is would this help her, or make her more frustrated? It’s not much bigger than her “cage free” area.

[Lighten-Up]

A few years ago, I was raising a single squirrel in a cage about the size you have, I put it in a small room where I could let it out to roam free under supervision. It was about 2 months old. One day I thought I would open the window (it was summertime) to allow the sounds of nature in. The squirrel went berserk. It wanted out the window which it could have chewed through, so I closed the glass pane. That did not help. It was fixated on getting out. I too felt really awful about it being so upset wanting to be free.

Previous to that day I opened the window, it was content to explore, chew branches and play with me. Now, everytime I let it out of it's small cage, it ran to the window with zest to try to get out in a panic mode. This happened for days. I'd wished I'd never opened the window. But it had a happy ending.

Feeling like I had no other choice, I put the 8 week old in the RC, which was big, but was in the yard, and it was summertime. The squirrel ran all over it trying to get out. Not finding a way out, it relaxed and was at ease, chewing branches and playing etc until I released it at 17 weeks of age, or about 4 months old.

My squirrel was content being outside, yet confined. This solution worked well for me. I know it was summertime which made it easier, but if that happened to me again, I would try the same thing with heat.

Try it, you could always take her back in. With the supplemental heat, make SURE to keep all electrical wires safe and away from the squirrel. If it works, and you have the resources, you could possibly build an extension on your coop, but you may not need to.

[Lighten-Up]

One added thought for you... How easily will you be able to care for her in the coop outside? My RC had a double door entrance to stop an escape attempt, and it was big enough for me to go inside. So I could continue to give the formula feedings in the RC as if it was in the house.

Do you have a release cage for this girl? If not, you could construct one now and attach the coop to it for added room and a way for you to access her. Just thoughts. Best to you.

[L0andbehold]

I have had the window open from time to time. The last time was last Saturday. I had it open for a few hours to air out after I cleaned her cage/ the bathroom. The frustration started 2-3 days ago with today being the most intense, that has to be what it is though. She isn’t fixated on the door to get out of the bathroom, just the window. I’m going to duct tape the blind shut and see if she can get over it.

I don’t have an RC set up yet for her. I was going to either use the coop/ extend it or have something made separately. The part of the coop that I could move her into soon once alterations are made, is where we’ve kept baby chicks/ quarantined new birds in the past. It is attached to the main coop but separated by a sliding wood door. The outside area is big enough for me to walk into. During winter I will be able to get to her no problem to feed. Hanging out with her tho… the indoor area isn’t huge. From what I’ve read tho, once they’re in their outside cage you’re suppose to stop handling though right? I’ll post some photos of the coop tomorrow and you can let me know what you think.

[Mel1959]

I think transitioning to the outside coop is a good idea, provided you can make it secure and warm enough….your winters can be brutal.

There is a special heating pad made for animals that is safer than a standard heating pad. You can look online for one. You’ll also probably need some type of heater for his water source so it doesn’t freeze. I’d recommend a wooden nest box that will keep him dry. I have nest box plans that could be modified so foam insulation board could be sandwiched between two pieces of wood for the bottom, sides and top. If you’re interested in the nest box plans send me your email in a private message and I’ll send them to you.

I know how hard it is to witness their neurotic behavior when they want out. This might be the answer that will help both of you.

[L0andbehold]

This morning during her cage free time she spent 2/4 hours fixated. I had duct taped
It closed but she scrambled in from the sides,so I Just open the blinds so she didn’t get stuck and freak out. The last two hours tho she was completely normal and was playing like crazy. I’m going to order some wooden blinds that I don’t think she’ll be able to move. She did leave it alone for a bit when She thought she couldn’t get to the window. I’m hoping this behavior just keeps dissipating over the next few days, but if it doesn’t I’m going to plan on moving her.

This is the coop right now :

[Lighten-Up]

That is good news that she returned to some kind of normal. You just might be in luck. :-)

From what I can see, the outside area has chicken wire over the fencing. For sure that will keep her from getting loose quickly if she got out there, but if left out there, she could chew through it, hardware cloth would be what is needed. But I'm thinking this is just a quick fix for you until you build the RC. Also, you plan on keeping her in the inside part.

Are you okay if she chews the rafters? My RC was made out of a shed, and the squirrels chewed a lot of the rafters, as she will be spending a lot of time at the top edge of the walls. That's where mine even built thin nests with the leaves of branches that I brought in.

Other than my thoughts, I'm thinking you could use that if you had to. I'm hoping that your girl settles back in for you.

[Lighten-Up]

I had one other thought after looking at your coop.

I was just wondering if the windows were a glass/plexiglass, or hardware cloth, as I was wondering if the squirrel would have access to the outside at all.

I'm guessing your windows are solid, or how else could you warm the coop?

My RC was a shed with the one wall taken off and a bump-out of hardware cloth installed, so that they could be close to and see nature. I also took a small section of roof off so that light could enter. Of course, the weather was nice in summer.

It would be nice if you had to put the squirrel in the coop, with heat, that it had a portal to a hardware cloth section of outdoors that it could have that interaction with nature, and yet go back inside to a warmish nest.

You'll figure it out. Hopefully she'll calm down and you won't have to think about all this for a while.

[L0andbehold]

Update:
We have started renovating the coop for Kiko. She is still fixated and spends most of her time sitting on the windowsill longing for the outdoors.

I have a couple questions about heating.
I have her animal heating pad from when she was a baby with a “chew proof cord.” In your opinion, is it really chew proof? I found a heated water bowl that was advertised as chew proof also. How would you go about hiding cords though ? Would running them through pvc pipe work? I had been looking at a dog house furnace, but would need to hide the cords and put some type of caging over it so she can’t chew it. I need to see if it’s even safe to use in there with it being all wood.

Now I know I need hardware cloth for the outside area, but does the coop need to be covered too? 1/4 should be good right?

The windows are plexiglass, but there’s a removable cut out in the door and she’ll have access to the outside area during the day.

[Lighten-Up]

Update:
We have started renovating the coop for Kiko. She is still fixated and spends most of her time sitting on the windowsill longing for the outdoors.

I have a couple questions about heating.
I have her animal heating pad from when she was a baby with a “chew proof cord.” In your opinion, is it really chew proof? I found a heated water bowl that was advertised as chew proof also. How would you go about hiding cords though ? Would running them through pvc pipe work? I had been looking at a dog house furnace, but would need to hide the cords and put some type of caging over it so she can’t chew it. I need to see if it’s even safe to use in there with it being all wood.

Now I know I need hardware cloth for the outside area, but does the coop need to be covered too? 1/4 should be good right?

The windows are plexiglass, but there’s a removable cut out in the door and she’ll have access to the outside area during the day.

She's cute!!

I wouldn't trust chew proof cords. I'd put them in pvc, or behind hardware cloth.

You might not need the heated water bowl. One way around this is to put out fresh water every day. When it's frozen then change it out. I assume you'll be visiting her daily, so this should not be an issue. But do what you figure best.

Personally, I would not even let her have access to the heating pad. put it at the nest area, but behind a board or hardware cloth so she can't chew the elements. Just like we never put a heating pad in the incubator, but we put it under the incubator. Build a nest, nestbox, incubator warm box of some kind, and put the heating pad outside of it, but in a way that she won't be able to touch it to chew it.

I know nothing of dog house furnaces, so I can't reply to that.

Are you asking if you have to cover the outside of the chicken coop that is inside the fenced in area? I don't think so, unless you want to assure it doesn't get chewed. She won't be able to climb it without any hardware cloth and I think she will leave it alone.

That's wonderful that she will have access to the outside area during the day, she'll get a great view on nature, and also be able to go inside the coop to get out of cold winds and bad weather. My question about the plexiglass windows doesn't matter now that she will have access to be outside of them through the little door.

1/2 inch hardware cloth is what we use. I can't think of a reason you would need 1/4. 1/2 is easy to work with and you can use "j-Clips" to attach it to itself easily, since you already have the outer fence to add it too, you won't need to build a wooden frame.

[Tashahaven]

Since you won’t really have a way to “sandwich” the cut ends of the hardware cloth, I highly suggest a good pair of flush cutters. They are different than normal side cutters, usually they are a smaller pair of pliers, and they don’t leave a sharp point when cutting. I used them with my cage and they are AMAZING. I only had to file a couple of spots that were a bit sharp.

it will reduce the risk of her cutting herself when she climbs around.

[Lighten-Up]

Since you won’t really have a way to “sandwich” the cut ends of the hardware cloth, I highly suggest a good pair of flush cutters. They are different than normal side cutters, usually they are a smaller pair of pliers, and they don’t leave a sharp point when cutting. I used them with my cage and they are AMAZING. I only had to file a couple of spots that were a bit sharp.

it will reduce the risk of her cutting herself when she climbs around.

I second this! A flush cutter will nip the end of each cut off flush to the edge and not leave a 1/16 inch spike on each cut.