Long time ago, perhaps no one would ever imagine that squirrel would be a good companion, not these days ladies and gentlemen; in these present days, people start to fascinated to keep squirrels as pet. There are several species that become the most preferable type to keep such as flying squirrels, ground squirrels, eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels, and etc. Furthermore, some other squirrel was called as the name of their distribution places such as Japanese Squirrels, Texas Squirrels, and etc.
To raise your own squirrels, you need to learn about the basic things of squirrels, one of them is nesting. In the wildlife, squirrel nest become important thing for their survival. It becomes squirrel’s hiding place from the sight of predators, the resting place, and one of the most important: it become a refuge for kind of extreme climates. However, before you bring this little creature inside of your house, there are 3 things you need to know about pet a squirrel.
How to provide a proper environment and how to keep this animal safe and health under your watch. Actually, these things are applied for all the animal’s owners – no matter what kind of animal do you have, you must fulfill your duty as an owner. So, without further do, here are 3 things you need to know about pet a squirrel.
1. Legality
My dear friends, you need to understand that squirrel originated as undomesticated animals. It is why a lot of concern arise due the legality of keeping squirrel under someone’s property, outside the official departments (local animal protection and law enforcement). Consequently, some countries was classified squirrel as exotic animal which is only permit if you submit legal permission to keep squirrel to local law enforcement.
The fears of illness and diseases carried by wild and undomesticated animals are the fundamental reasons why such order is made. The only choices you have is take it or leave it; if you serious to have squirrel as your pet, the first thing you need to do is check the regulation of exotic animal in your local town (wherever you lived in) to makes sure that you are not brake any law applied. First, you need to contact local office, then ask all the information about the laws of animal ownership in your area.
With a permission, you could keep your beloved animal without fears of any problems in the future. During the legal process, ordinarily you would be ask to do a full-checkup conditions of animal you would keep inside your house; making sure that the squirrel is safe and free from illness and perhaps some disease. Keep in mind, diseases that carried by animal could be transfer into human body; not only would affect you as the owner, it could spread to your entire family and even people surround you.
So, please, make an arrangement to veterinarian or experienced wildlife rehabilitator to check the squirrel health condition. Moreover, by doing this, you could also ask some guides and advice on how to properly keeping a squirrel inside your home sweet home.
2. The Environment
The next thing is the environmental need of your new squirrel. As wild animal, squirrels are used to live among mother-nature – among trees and bushes. But, they would not found anything like that again once he enters your house; therefore, you as the new care taker must provide the best place as his new environment. First thing first, purchase the most suitable cage you could found (suitable with your money too, of course).
The minimum size of squirrel cage is about two feet deep and two feet wide, plus several feet tall. The calculation number approximately about 0.6 meters deep, 0.6 meters wide, and one meter tall – at least. Remember, that squirrel is a very active animal; you need to consider his needs to play around inside the cage. Plus, one thing for sure, they love to hide. It is important to create some space inside the cage that provide a hiding place for him.
Furthermore, squirrel teeth are strong, I suggest you to choose metal cage over the plastic or wooden, otherwise he would demolish it little by little. Then the last thing to remember about the cage is the cage’s safety. Make sure there are no space for your squirrel to escape or object that could hurt him (pointed tip). The cage is ready, and now we move on to the equipment inside the cage. Yes, to create a perfect environment, you’re going to need some extra equipment to complete the mission.
First, don’t forget to place things to climb; and yes, squirrel love to climb such as clean strong branches or wood pieces; the other alternative could be parrot toys and perches. To make it easier, install the toys first before you put the squirrel inside. Next, provide a nest; there’s variant of nest squirrel sell on stores, or you could simply use a cardboard box as the nest!
Then, place a warm and comfortable bedding inside the box; you could use an old t-shirt or fleece blanket – avoid using towel terrycloth cause squirrel’s nails can trap inside the fabric.
3. Proper Food for Squirrel
The last but not least is provided the proper and healthy foods for your new pet squirrel. Thankfully, these days, you could easily found squirrel foods on pet stores around you. The most popular one is rodent block food. Beside the simple appliance, rodent block was made with full important nutrients for your squirrel. At first, your squirrel might not really interest to eat the block, and if this happen, you could easily coat the block with peanut butter or other sweeten like grape and apple.
Feed three to four blocks each day and remove the uneaten block to prevent unwelcome health issues. Furthermore, do not forget to provide accessible fresh, clean water; refill it daily, and replace the water with the new one once it is dirty. However, you could feed your squirrel with insect and fruit as addition; keep in mind, the block food is fulfilled eighty percent of the diet that squirrel needs. So, the last twenty percent could be fill with supplement or other organic foods squirrel would eat in the wildlife – just like I mentioned before: fruit and insect.
But, limit the consumption of corns, nuts, and seeds, cause these type of foods are the main reasons of obesity among squirrels. Give it in a small quantity as a treat at the end of the day. Too much consumption of those foods also trigger some diseases such as metabolic bone disease and nutritional disorders.