releasing rehabbed babies?

[olorin19]

it was definitely a bite haha! there’s a deep gash in my finger that looks like teeth. i think i didn’t notice because i was too focused on making sure she didn’t get hurt

In situations where I need to handle squirrels and might get bitten, I have a pair of thick wool mittens with a leather mitten shelf outside them. Even if an adult squirrel chomps down and their teeth make it through the leather and wool, the teeth do not reach my hand.

I have used these mittens many times, mostly when taking care of injured squirrels.

I had one squirrel (Harry) about 3 years ago that was being overwintered who got extremely aggressive at about 6 months to where beyond the usual double layers of clothing and the wool/leather mittens I actually had to wear a fencing mask to protect my face.

Yep, he actually bit me right in the cheek. I was using one of those big plastic face shields like for using a weed whacker and he got up under it and gave me quite the bite.

After that, I went with the fencing mask, tucked under my hoodie with a towel tucked in over my throat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[astrll]

now for some not so great news… budget. my sister and i went over how much more money we can realistically spend and i’m not sure if we can stretch it to keeping them for another month.

i ordered a bag of harlan-teklad blocks so we can make our own HHB’s because that’s definitely where we’re losing a lot of money.

formula is the next one so i’m hoping pichi and daisy wean themselves before i have to order more… tomorrow they are about 16/17 weeks old.

we’ll see what we can do! my sister and i both work full time at minimum wage but we save up our money pretty diligently. we were able to start this whole adventure because of those savings! i’m really glad we were saving up so we could get this all set up for them.

all eight of them are out playing now — we put a new rope in and they love it!

[astrll]

I had one squirrel (Harry) about 3 years ago that was being overwintered who got extremely aggressive at about 6 months to where beyond the usual double layers of clothing and the wool/leather mittens I actually had to wear a fencing mask to protect my face.

Yep, he actually bit me right in the cheek. I was using one of those big plastic face shields like for using a weed whacker and he got up under it and gave me quite the bite.

oh my god!!! i’ve read a lot of stories like that on here, it’s scary! the fencing mask is really smart. these kiddos really have some chompers on them.

i have thick gloves that i used the first day and a hoodie. we’ll see how tonight goes with pichi — she gets overly enthusiastic when she sees us approaching with a cup of syringes haha

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

it was definitely a bite haha! there’s a deep gash in my finger that looks like teeth. i think i didn’t notice because i was too focused on making sure she didn’t get hurt

Hi Astril:
I have been busy at work and have been checking in on your thread as I am able. Olorin is doing a great job being your "advisor!" If you have not had a Tetanus Immunization within the past 10 years, it would be a good idea to get one! Also, there is the risk of an infection developing from the puncture wound and antibiotics may be an option to try for prophylaxis (prevention). Also, bites from a Squirrel are potentially delivered with amazingly strong force but are not necessarily given with full strength. Among the general risks of a bite (rabies is NOT one them, at least in this case) are also specific risks when the skin is relatively thin over bone and joints such as bites to a finger and having an x-ray study to rule out a fracture or even the presence of piece of tooth may be well advised! I would strongly recommend that you contact your physician (not the Vet this time, LOL!) for his or her advice.
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[astrll]

end of day 11! tonight went a little smoother than yesterday. we were gonna feed pichi (17cc) and daisy (19cc) through the wires again but… i couldn’t resist! i love how pichi will perch on me to take the formula. she was much calmer today since she got the syringe immediately. i had to bribe her off me with half a pecan though so i probably can’t feed her inside the enclosure for much longer — it’s hard to get her off me once she’s on and i don’t want her getting used to nuts yet.

in the afternoon, i sat in front of the enclosure and just watched them play. they’re so full of energy! daisy especially — he’s such a social butterfly. he’ll visit each of his siblings multiple times to kiss and greet. i’m so glad the original six accepted him (and his brother) into their unit. he’ll even play with pichi who seems dead set on separating herself from the others.

he’s also been the most acrobatic! he’s definitely practicing more difficult and longer jumps. pichi and a few others were also practicing climbing the rope and jumping on the more flimsy branches. the others just love running and chasing.

while i was out there, i got to see all eight at once. they all look like they’re at a healthy weight if i’m comparing to my wilds who are the same age. the only thing is that the muscles aren’t as defined but is that to be expected?

today after they ate their blocks and had some veggies, i brought out some apples and bananas for them. they haven’t had fruit since the 18th when i gave them some watermelon. my sister also got a beautiful branch of fresh green helicopter leaves and they went absolutely nuts over it!!

[astrll]

i do have a question and problem about food. so the HHB’s haven’t shipped yet because they wanted to check if i had the address correct since i ordered the formula to canada and the blocks to the states.

basically, the fox valley is allowed to ship into canafa but the blocks aren’t. i live close to the border so i send the blocks to a pick up place in the states and then bring it across back into canada. i don’t do the blocks and formula all in one order because it would be difficult to hide the blocks and formula at the same time. the things we do for these kiddos, haha!

we’re on our last bag of HHB’s and it takes about three days for them to ship. the harlan-teklad shooooould be coming tomorrow but i’m not sure what time. i’ll be without HHB’s for a couple days. is there anything i should do?

the plan right now is to give the normal amount of blocks tomorrow and hope the rodent blocks come in time. plus the veggies. but is there anything i need to know about giving the harlan-teklad? how much and how often?

and final question is about variety. the veggies we’ve been putting out have been spring mix, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. they didn’t like the brussel sprouts but i think it’s because they were soggy haha we’re gonna try steaming them next. is there anything else i could be adding?

the reason i ask is because tonight (around 8:30/9:00 pm) as i was closing the enclosure with the sheets, i saw that a few were still out looking for food. i know they ate their blocks, had the veggies and fruits, and had the helicopter leaves so it was weird that they were out. i wanted to give them more blocks but since i’m on the last bag i thought better of it.

do i need to increase how much food i’m putting out? or is it just them being “greedy”? they usually finish most of the veggies but i do end up with a little waste.

i saw on the squirrel food pyramid that it said variety is key — is that because they can get bored of the same thing everyday? are they not eating enough?

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

i do have a question and problem about food. so the HHB’s haven’t shipped yet because they wanted to check if i had the address correct since i ordered the formula to canada and the blocks to the states.

basically, the fox valley is allowed to ship into canafa but the blocks aren’t. i live close to the border so i send the blocks to a pick up place in the states and then bring it across back into canada. i don’t do the blocks and formula all in one order because it would be difficult to hide the blocks and formula at the same time. the things we do for these kiddos, haha!

we’re on our last bag of HHB’s and it takes about three days for them to ship. the harlan-teklad shooooould be coming tomorrow but i’m not sure what time. i’ll be without HHB’s for a couple days. is there anything i should do?

the plan right now is to give the normal amount of blocks tomorrow and hope the rodent blocks come in time. plus the veggies. but is there anything i need to know about giving the harlan-teklad? how much and how often?

and final question is about variety. the veggies we’ve been putting out have been spring mix, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. they didn’t like the brussel sprouts but i think it’s because they were soggy haha we’re gonna try steaming them next. is there anything else i could be adding?

the reason i ask is because tonight (around 8:30/9:00 pm) as i was closing the enclosure with the sheets, i saw that a few were still out looking for food. i know they ate their blocks, had the veggies and fruits, and had the helicopter leaves so it was weird that they were out. i wanted to give them more blocks but since i’m on the last bag i thought better of it.

do i need to increase how much food i’m putting out? or is it just them being “greedy”? they usually finish most of the veggies but i do end up with a little waste.

i saw on the squirrel food pyramid that it said variety is key — is that because they can get bored of the same thing everyday? are they not eating enough?

Hi Astril:
The Teklad Blocks and any of the other quality hard extruded Blocks can and should be free-fed which means that the Squirrels can eat as much as they want so you can leave some out. Also, they are less likely to spoil than HHB's which have no preservatives but they can spoil and the babies should be eating fresh food, not stashed food so still check for stashes! If you need some quality Blocks while awaiting the arrival of the Teklad Blocks you can obtain Mazuri Rat and Mouse diet in BC but I'm not sure if there is a location near you that carries them. It's probably worth finding out though.

As far as the Pyramid goes, I'm not so sure that variety should be though of as the "key" because as the real key is to provide optimal nutritional support and avoid MBD in the process! Along with a well planned Soft-Release program utilizing optimal methods and a well designed release cage; having had ideal nutritional support prior to release is the very best gift you can give to your Squirrels to ensure the best odds for initial survival and for thriving in the wild! The base of the Pyramid is "Blocks" and this should comprise at least 80% of the Squirrel's dietary intake (other than formula until weaned) and then sticking with the lower levels of the pyramid for other sources of nutrition!

Also, once the Teklad Blocks (or other blocks beside the HHBs) arrive, the Squirrels can eat as much as they want. There should be enough made available for all! Also, in my opinion, the "greedy" Squirrel is really just a hungry Squirrel and again, being well fed primarily with Blocks prior to release is ideal and should be a high level goal!

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[olorin19]

Also, in my opinion, the "greedy" Squirrel is really just a hungry Squirrel and again, being well fed primarily with Blocks prior to release is ideal and should be a high level goal!

Agreed!

[olorin19]

he’s also been the most acrobatic! he’s definitely practicing more difficult and longer jumps. pichi and a few others were also practicing climbing the rope and jumping on the more flimsy branches. the others just love running and chasing.

while i was out there, i got to see all eight at once. they all look like they’re at a healthy weight if i’m comparing to my wilds who are the same age. the only thing is that the muscles aren’t as defined but is that to be expected?

All the running, chasing, climbing, jumping, play fighting, etc. is really important, as this is how they develop the strength, coordination, agility, etc. that they will need to thrive in the wild.

The bigger the enclosure and the more stuff they have to climb on, the better for their development.

With singletons, I usually put in a small stuffed animal or simply a knotted sock hanging on a cord to give them a "playmate".

Another thing you might try is a large container with dirt so they can have some practice (and fun) digging.

While this is not suitable for your situation, I also let squirrels I am raising out of their cage to run around in my basement, sun porch, etc. While they need to climb, jump, etc., they also need to be good at scampering about on the ground.

In my observation, no matter what you do, squirrels going from a cage to freedom will probably still be a bit underdeveloped as far as coordination, skills, etc. They will, however, catch up quite quickly. But this is all the more reason to make sure they are as well nourished as possible prior to release.

[astrll]

thank you all! day 12 is done!

i got the mazuri blocks and they were hesitant at first but then gobbled them up. the harlan-teklad came today! so i will be making some blocks tomorrow. i need to head to the store to get a few more ingredients. i received a recipe for blocks similar to HHB’s! that will help immensely with costs.

if anyone else has recipes i’d love to see them!!

pichi bit me again this morning in her excitement. i was still sleepy so the blame is totally with me of course. i kind of adore the little scratch and bite marks on my hands haha!

this morning daisy refused any more formula at 18 cc’s and pichi got 15 cc’s. in the evening daisy had 21 cc’s and pichi had 17 cc’s.

for the rest of them, i gave them the rest of their HHB’s. i have half a bag left for tomorrow. my dad brought home some daisy’s so we shared a few of them with the kiddos after cleaning them. they demolished those flowers haha and then of course they had their veggie plate and lots of water too.

they weren’t as active today because it was hooooot and humid so there was a lot of baby pancakes going on! even my wilds didn’t come as much today. in the evening they got out to play a little — they ADORE the rope jungle we made! they’re all practicing really acrobatic moves and long jumps, it makes me so happy to see. i can’t wait to give them their trees!

i also gave them a ball of willow branches that they were playing with too.

i’m a complete newbie at this but i want to say that maybe i think they are doing okay? i wish i had more experience so i could make an accurate judgement. but i think they are happy! i can’t believe we’ve had them for almost two weeks!

[TomahawkFlyers]

Hey, Astril! can you please check your PM for a note from us? We'd like to verify delivery of the Email you should have received from Henry's. Thanks a ton!

Jamie and Pam

[astrll]

day 13 is finished!

it was a grey and rainy day and all the kiddos mostly took it easy today. i put a new piece of wood in there and they were playing on it all day

for formula’s, pichi got 18 cc’s in the morning and evening and daisy got 18 cc’s in the morning and 19 cc’s in the evening. he’s starting to refuse taking all his formula — i hope that’s good news!

the harlan-teklad has come so i’ve put the mazuri blocks in my freezer. they loved the harlan-teklad blocks! we couldn’t find everything at the store so we had to order some stuff online to start making our own HHB’s, specifically the whey powder. i’m also waiting for protein powder from henry’s. i already have lots of henry’s vitamin powder!

for the baby food, can i use any kind? or is there a flavour that’s better?

we named a sixth baby today — mooki! he looks SO MUCH like his mama i do a double take every time. he’s slowly getting more comfortable with us being in the enclosure though he won’t come near us. the last unnamed two always hide the moment the see us so we haven’t had a chance to get to know them!

that brings our moo crew to moo (grey girl), pichi (tan girl), daisy (black boy), bunki (black boy), pochi (tan boy), mooki (grey boy), an unnamed grey, and an unnamed tan. i can’t wait to meet them!!!

side note — with the humidity today the enclosure smelled AWFUL. any suggestions on how to get rid of that funk? maybe we need to open all five walls to air it out.

oh! that’s another question i had — right now we open 2/5 walls every day and the cover all the walls at night. should i be slowly opening more walls or is it fine as is? the two walls they can see out of have a view of the trees and all the activity on the balcony.

today they got a little taste of the elements — it was windy and drizzly. i read on another tsb post that it’s important they be exposed to the weather.

my sister and i are settling into a routine and slowly reclaiming our sleep schedules haha it feels nice. MUCH less stressful than the first few days!! we couldn’t do this without you all and i really mean it — thank you

[astrll]

oh! i forgot to mention something really cool they did a couple days ago — i think it was on monday.

the babies were playing like crazy in the enclosure — running around and jumping and chasing. they were full of energy! then one of the wilds started an alarm call and all the babies immediately froze and went quiet. a few of them went to hide and a couple of them were listening for the all clear. once the alarm call stopped, they waited a few minutes before playing again.

it was so cool to see their instincts kick in!!!

[olorin19]

side note — with the humidity today the enclosure smelled AWFUL. any suggestions on how to get rid of that funk? maybe we need to open all five walls to air it out.

oh! that’s another question i had — right now we open 2/5 walls every day and the cover all the walls at night. should i be slowly opening more walls or is it fine as is? the two walls they can see out of have a view of the trees and all the activity on the balcony.

today they got a little taste of the elements — it was windy and drizzly. i read on another tsb post that it’s important they be exposed to the weather.

My suggestion back a few weeks ago about covering the sides a bit was meant more to help them feel safe and secure at first.

At this point, I would make sure there is enough roof cover plus any extra side cover necessary to assure their hammocks do not get wet.

Beyond that, I would suggest leaving things as open as you can.

My release cages have nest boxes that have an overhanging roof, so they stay snug and dry inside. I place an outdoor door mat on the roof above the nest box so they have an area to perch and hang out during drizzly weather. But other than that, the release cage is fairly open. I also have them up against a hedge (which since this picture was taken has grown well into all three cages). If the cages are in use during warm weather, I sometimes add a little covering on the side away from the hedge to provide afternoon shade.