Sqwirlz - Cage Crazies

While this is a multi-level question, we are going to address the solution for the most common reason: BOREDOM!

I have researched the following with my team of experts and am now providing you, the foster parent, with a tried and true list of things to help keep your squirrel cheerfully occupied! Our experts’ responses have been kept as true to original form as possible!

I would also like to take this moment to advise that squirrels are not meant to be domesticated pets, and nowhere, nor for any reason, do we endorse their being kept as pets. Squirrels have the capacity to nip and scratch quite ferociously, and this can be most alarming to the unsuspecting caretaker. Like all babies, they are so adorable when young, but like all babies, they do grow up. We understand that it is hard not to become attached, but though you have saved their lives by bringing them in, you are taking away their lives by trying to keep them in a cage rather than give them their freedom if they are healthy and releasable. This page is set up to address the concerns of entertaining in both short-term and long-term care situations. Do not misconstrue this page as an endorsement for keeping squirrels as pets.

Cautionary Statements: When bringing your squirrel out for floor time, you will quickly discover that floor time really means “anywhere the squirrel can find to go and includes every place in your home from floor to ceiling, including on yourself;” consequently, it is our recommendation that all time outside of the cage(s) be 100% supervised. Ten minutes of supervised play is far better than an hour unsupervised, where you could find yourself having to work with an injured squirrel. An ounce of prevention…

Also, ensure that no other animals, no matter how sweet and gentle their dispositions are, are out at the same time. This is a responsible, preventative practice, for you, your other pets, AND the squirrel(s).

Hopie’s mom, Teresa, one of our seasoned veterans, specifically recommends moving electrical cords and remote controls out of the reach of these busy and curious squirrels!

Anyone who has ever observed squirrel behavior in their natural habitats understands two basic things: 1. Squirrels have seemingly endless amounts of energy, and 2. Squirrels move really fast! They are really not that different in many ways from your average human toddler! Keep this in mind as you proceed, reading about supervision to selection of toys – keep safety at the top of your mind!

For the ones too young to release yet:
My ' cage is much smaller right now, so I do move her to a room that is empty (remodeling) to play, one to two hours about every other day. (I have dogs, cats, etc., so they cannot be loose at the same time.)

For Releasables:
• My two boys do not wish to be handled anymore, so I don't bring them out. But I do "get" them with my hand like playing with a cat.
• Sometimes, for a half hour or more [they come out to play], I have to make sure my cats are nowhere in the room.

For Unreleasables:
• I most definitely bring Hopie out for as long as I can! Since Hopie is crippled, she cannot "play" like a normal squirrel can.

If you are unsure the criteria for unreleasable, please get in touch with Clarissa or myself or your animal health care provider. Some injuries are life-long, and would only make the squirrel an easy target for prey, or make him or her unable to find their own food or build a nest; these are the long-term type cases; if you cannot provide appropriate care, you need to find some one who can. Our 20-year veteran writes:

"Too tame" is not really a reason for not releasing, if anyone wants
to "think" that, since it can be human caused, from letting them
have the freedom to climb and jump on people who are strangers or
who are "not the Mama". We don't want to send them out into
nature thinking people are nice, since people, as a rule, aren't nice.
The "tameness" or friendliness of a squirrel can often be
misunderstood by the general public.
This bad habit can hopefully be broken after confinement to a cage
for a good 4-5 weeks and/or not letting them out where climbing or
jumping on people will be feasible. Squirrels are naturally tame and
friendly to us when we let them go, and that's perfectly normal
since we are their mamas and they are one-person animals, but
they should head for the hills (trees) when strangers approach.

If the squirrel is, in fact, determined to be unreleasable, we encourage you to complete the appropriate licensure. Your loving them too much to let go does NOT make a squirrel unreleasable. Please, for the sake of the animal, love him or her enough to let go when appropriate.

Welcome to CC’s playhouse! Isn’t he precious? This happy, healthy, handsome young man loves playing and wrestling with all his toys! He is also still young enough to need nurturing attention from his foster mom, Penny. She has made sure to include a swinging rope for him to practice his climbing skills on! CC is the picture of the properly entertained and challenged young squirrel! His mom somehow manages to stay a step ahead of him and keeps his little hands very busy! (You go, girl!) No pacing here!

QUICK SAFETY TIPS
Cut all loose string strands as they can wrap around delicate toes.

Remove all plastic or small eyes/noses/etc. from plush type toys as these can be choked on.

Climbing, Jumping & Swinging Skills
• One Donut-shaped poly-filled toy, suspended with a piece of cut cloth.
• Tack a long sock for them to swing on and climb up.
• Ladders to perch on and get as high as possible.
• Tree limbs of course!
• Bars for acrobatic tricks and hanging upside down.
• One homemade swing made of a 2"diameter sycamore branch, 12" long. Fasten two screw eyes at each end (on "top" of swing) and use wire, hanger, or twine, to secure to top of cage.
• They have a ferret hammock and ferret tube (both cloth). The tube was hanging from the top of the cage just like the hammock, but they have successfully “chewed” the two back straps off, so until I find time to sew them back on, it is at the bottom of the cage. When it was still hanging, they jumped around on it and slept in it.
• We invested in some really cool rope dog toys at the dollar store; they are shaped in a figure-8, quite rigid rope, and are secured to the top of the cage with the metal key chain clips you can pick up at Home Depot for 99¢.
• Old pillowcases and t-shirts make terrific rope swings! Knot one end through the top of the cage so it doesn’t fall through and let your squirrel enjoy!

At Home with CC & His Mom

I have a little v-tech toy that CC loves to pounce on and crawl all over on it. I think he thinks I am talking to him when it talks. He plays with a shape sorter toy as well. I will put his walnuts or pecans whole in the shells in them and then he tries to figure out how to get them out. This idea I got from watching my dog play with their treat toys. He loves his climbing rope and stuffed toys. I bought a dog pull-tug rope and hung it in his cage and he climbs all over it and uses it to get to his platforms and into his house as well. My guy is very active and yes, he runs laps as well in his cage. Every evening I try faithfully to have our "down" time together. I take him into our bedroom away from all other family members and pets and we have "our" time. He runs like crazy all over the bed and loves to bounce off me and run right back up me. I watch TV as he plays and runs. He never leaves me more than a few seconds! He always runs back to me to make sure I am there. He loves to hand wrestle with me all the time and he thinks he is so tough. He rarely ever bites hard on my hands. If he starts to get rough I just say "easy" or I will make his squirrel grunt sounds like he does and he will pull back and go back into any easy playful mode. He gets his quality time with "Momma" every night and we both look forward to it. He tuckers out about 45 minutes into our routine and them will start going in and out of my big shirt pocket. That's how I know he is getting tired. When he has had enough he will settle into the pocket and I usually will let him snooze for 20-30 minutes before I return him to his bed.

Wrestling Skills & General Horsing Around
• Two small poly-filled toys, no buttons or anything on them. Found them at Dollar General for $1 each. They LOVE them.
• One McDonald's (Neopets TM) poly filled toy.
• Washed out pill bottles- Gnaws and wrestles until cap is off.
• Small fuzzy toys- wrestle and tear off eyes.
• Knotted chew toys for pulling and shaking their heads back and forth!
• My hands!
• They have a plastic “hamster” tube that they jump around and push all over their cage.
• I wad up newspaper and let her go to town, too. No need for anything fancy!!
• Little throw pillows on the floor for them to attack and throw around are also fun when they're out and about. Keeps their minds off chewing on the corners of walls or doors.

Chewing, Tearing & Nesting Skills
• Empty toilet paper rolls - Put a hazelnut inside and close ends. Wrestle bite and tear. (This toilet paper roll trick was shared with the web-mistress about a year ago and this is by far one of the squirrels’ favorite toys!)
• They love tearing up paper towels. They like it for bedding, but is messy of course.
• I buy Hopie little plastic dinosaurs so she can tear their heads off. Buy a whole bag at the dollar store.
• Black Walnuts in the shell can keep one occupied for quite awhile.
• Anything rubbery!
• Go to your local feed store and pick up a half bale of hay (about $1.50); liberally distribute the hay in a pile in the corner of the cage(s). What fun jumping in, rooting through, chewing on, and using for bedding!
• Watch those polished rocks, pieces of petrified wood, or any crystals you have sprinkled around your house! Not good for them to work their brittle little teeth on. Offer or substitute something else they do want if they get hold of something we don't want them to have -- same way we would with a small child!

Taking a Playtime Break
• Their own pillows by the window to sun themselves. (Preferably high up!)

Check out what Clarissa recommends in her Common Sense section.

ROTATING THE TOYS

Don’t bombard them with all the "toys" at once since it can be too overwhelming. Doling them out when they're bored is the best way to keep them entertained and occupied. (Thank you, Patron Saint of Squirrels! You know who you are!)

• Changing the location of a cage is good for when they start getting restless and antsy and start pacing. Shakes them up for a day or two while they adjust to the change!
• I have not changed the location of the cages in a while due to weather, but when it is nice, they do go outside on the porch.
• Can’t in the winter, but summertime cage is out in the daytime.
• I recently moved them from my room to the living room.
• I’ve always enjoyed the company, so I tend to locate the indoor cage in whichever room I am going to be the majority of the day.
• We have all but one of our squirrels located out on the screen-enclosed sun porch (roofed), where they have a 270° view of the yard and all the activities and outdoors sounds! Plus, they can observe the squirrels in the yard and pick up on certain behaviors and all the subtleties of squirrel etiquette!

• Mine live in my front room for the winter, so they see the TV, hear the radio, and the rest of the family every day.
• There are 2 cockatiels in the room that talk all day.
• At the moment we only have one much younger squirrel who is kept indoors as her coat and size are not yet compatible with the colder weather; for her we have discovered leaving soft music on, and her cage is placed at the big window in the family room. The budgie is also indoors, so sometimes the “girls” kind of chat I think.

All of the above ideas have been tried and tested, and are used in homes of very successful squirrel foster parents. It all sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of play time (yes to both!) but there are also valid concerns, one of which is best voiced by the Ohio Contingent:

I worry so much about someone getting a squirrel thinking it might be neat and then the squirrel is miserable or mistreated because it bit or scratched.

One must closely examine one’s own motives with every step we take in the care of these fragile animals. Love the squirrel enough to let go at the appropriate time, whether back to the wild or to another caregiver. If the above playground guidelines sound like it is going to be too much time or too much effort, please do what is best for the squirrel and find a new foster home for him or her.