Some of you might think. Why squirrel? Why should we choose squirrel as a pet, and is it really worth it to get squirrel as a pet? Well, if you are asking whether squirrel can be a good pet for your home or not, then the answer it depends. It depends on your taste on home pet. Do you want a pet that you can bring out for walk, or do you want small pet that you can pet with one hand? Pet that only good for decoration or pet that function as guard or any other functions? Well, squirrel is one of a pet that really are something else, different than any other kind of pet.
Squirrel is common animal that you might see it every day and everywhere, especially if you live in countryside. Squirrel is wild animal, so adopting them and taking care of them at home is pretty hard and some might consider it impossible. Wild animals fear human, that is why they they don’t trust human. It can be quite hard to adopt and taking care of something that even don’t trust you at all.
Taking care of squirrel isn’t that easy as you might think. It might be similar than taking care of sugar glider, but it sure is different. Squirrel is a type of pet that sometimes unpredictable. It can be quite overwhelming to take care of if you are beginner. Raising baby squirrel from baby to adult at home can be quite delicate matter. It can be complicated at first, but if you know the trick it is very easy. So, are you curious about what you should do to take care of baby squirrel at home? Bellow here are guide on How To Adopt and Raise Baby Squirrel At Home.
Tips and guide on how to raise baby squirrel at home
If you find an abandoned baby squirrel in park, don’t abandon them. Abandoning orphaned and abandoned baby squirrel alone in the wild means you abandon them to their certain doom. If you see they are alone, and they seems hurt, try to pick them carefully, care for their wounds by yourself or seek veterinary helps. Depending on the severity of the wound, you might be able to cure it, but don’t be sad if you can’t help it. If you decide to adopting an abandoned baby squirrel you found, then here are some guide and tips to help you getting started.
- Determining squirrel age
Determining how old abandoned squirrel you found might be good idea to get started. If you found squirrel that is too old, they might have already develop their instinct to afraid of human, however if you found baby squirrel that is at least 8 weeks old, they might be learn about how to interact with human. You also need to be careful around newborn squirrel though. Newborn squirrel that is at least 1 week old where they don’t have any fur, their body is still pink and they are really fragile without their parents care. Squirrel that is at least under 2 weeks old is really fragile, and that means you need to be careful around them. 2 weeks baby squirrel have already developed fur on their body, but their eyes actually still closed. Determine the age of baby squirrel you found before you do anything rash.
- Checking their wounds and clean them
If you found it hurts and they have injuries, then you will need to look out for it. Checking baby squirrel injuries is a must. It also need to be done correctly or else they will get infected and won’t last long. In natural habitat, even mother squirrel couldn’t help much if their baby is injured too much. Human care could help injured baby squirrel and nurse them back. Look for baby squirrel face, check if they have injuries on their face, then look for their back, spinal injuries and broken neck. If you see some bruises and blisters, make sure to clean them and apply disinfectant using Q-tip. If you found more severe injuries, make sure to contact veterinary helps.
After checking their injuries, make sure to clean them properly. Try to stimulate baby squirrel to urinate by gently stimulating their bladder using Q-tip. Use warm soft clot to clean baby from dirt, wash their nose, face, bladder, anus and their body. Don’t use cold water to bath them as they are not ready for it and it might surprise them.
- Warming them and create warm place for them to sleep
Next is finding a warm place for your baby squirrel to sleep. You can provide them with warm cloth and cotton placed inside a box, then you can place them inside it. If you want to make extra comfort, place bottle of warm water inside the box, then cover it with cloth and cotton. It will make them warm for one night. Make sure you use clean cotton or cloth.
- Feeding and rehydrating squirrel
Rehydrating and feeding your squirrel is important part in the first few days. You can use feeding syringe to feed them. Mix half teaspoon of salt and sugar with cup of water, then feed it using feeding syringe. You can also use pedualyte to help more effective feeds your baby squirrel. Make sure you gently pick up your squirrel, position in sitting or uplifting position then try to drip the liquid slowly into their mouth. Make sure you don’t do it rash or it will overflow their throat and flowing down to their lungs.
- General tips to help you
Here are some general tips on How To Adopt and Raise Baby Squirrel At Home that might help you. First of all, you can use puppy milk, mixed with pedialyte or sugar and salt with water for squirrel that is at least 3 weeks old to eat. Next, You should try to judge and determine your squirrel digestive health. If you found it is really fragile and you can’t help them, try to contact local wildlife service of veterinary, they will know what to do with that baby squirrel.