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I got 3 new projects Easter morning. On my usual morning walk I found a dog playing with these toys in his yard. I took them home.
About 5-6 weeks old. Over Over night I became and expert on raising baby squirrels and how to spell squirrel. Two were bigger and one was the runt, which they say would have died because the big guys would always beat him to food and they liked to beat him up. I borrowed 2 bird cages, one for the little guy and one for the bigger guys. They get fed a formula 4-5 times a day with a 1cc syringe. You have to feed slow so they don't get formula in their lungs and end up with pneumonia. They are now at about 8-9 weeks and we've cut feeding down to 3 times a day and the bigger ones are eating most natural stuff we put in and the small guy is just starting to. They have nesting boxes in top of their cages and the largest and smallest appear to be females and they drag stuff in the boxes and do not like you to reach in the box to get them, that is their nest. The bigger one charges you when you reach in to get him, it's best to take him out for feeding when he is not in the box. The middle guy is a boy and is always ready to come out if you put your hand in the cage, same with the runt "female" who also tries to nest in her box. It's fun to watch them running in their boxes, fighting chasing and jumping. The big one talks to you if you mess with him. They all have different personalities. In 3 weeks they have grown 40% or so. I think at 16 weeks they will be nearly full grown.
The runt.
Sources say they can be released at 16 weeks or so. I have a larger cage I intend to put on the back porch in a week or two and move them outside to get used to outdoors and weather. At 14 weeks we should move the cage back to the shelter house at the edge of the woods. After a week you leave the door open during the daytime but continue to give food and water in the cage. They are supposed to roam a bit everyday but come back to their box at night. Maybe in a few days they no longer will stay int he box at night and transition to the wild.
I hand feed a few squirrels there and have deer and bird feeders, so I figure they will fit right in. Kind of a pain to do the feedings, but I couldn't let them stay in the yard with the dog playing with them till they were dead.
About 5-6 weeks old. Over Over night I became and expert on raising baby squirrels and how to spell squirrel. Two were bigger and one was the runt, which they say would have died because the big guys would always beat him to food and they liked to beat him up. I borrowed 2 bird cages, one for the little guy and one for the bigger guys. They get fed a formula 4-5 times a day with a 1cc syringe. You have to feed slow so they don't get formula in their lungs and end up with pneumonia. They are now at about 8-9 weeks and we've cut feeding down to 3 times a day and the bigger ones are eating most natural stuff we put in and the small guy is just starting to. They have nesting boxes in top of their cages and the largest and smallest appear to be females and they drag stuff in the boxes and do not like you to reach in the box to get them, that is their nest. The bigger one charges you when you reach in to get him, it's best to take him out for feeding when he is not in the box. The middle guy is a boy and is always ready to come out if you put your hand in the cage, same with the runt "female" who also tries to nest in her box. It's fun to watch them running in their boxes, fighting chasing and jumping. The big one talks to you if you mess with him. They all have different personalities. In 3 weeks they have grown 40% or so. I think at 16 weeks they will be nearly full grown.
The runt.
Sources say they can be released at 16 weeks or so. I have a larger cage I intend to put on the back porch in a week or two and move them outside to get used to outdoors and weather. At 14 weeks we should move the cage back to the shelter house at the edge of the woods. After a week you leave the door open during the daytime but continue to give food and water in the cage. They are supposed to roam a bit everyday but come back to their box at night. Maybe in a few days they no longer will stay int he box at night and transition to the wild.
I hand feed a few squirrels there and have deer and bird feeders, so I figure they will fit right in. Kind of a pain to do the feedings, but I couldn't let them stay in the yard with the dog playing with them till they were dead.
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