Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hope you all don't mind me going way off topic here. Just wanted to share my experence with you all...you're all so kind and share a love for all animals.

Just before my sweet Bender passed on, my father-in-law was given a baby squirrel that was orphaned in hurricane Charley. His eyes were closed but he was a very large and stocky baby. We figured he would open his eyes anyday because of his size. But he didn't till about 2 weeks later. My father-in-law was very good about having various people feed him so he wouldn't get bonded too strong to anyone person. A few days after Bender passed, I got the honor of taking care of him. He had grown like a weed and was larger than adult ones running about. lol While in my care, I got him to start jumping. Boy oh boy was he soooo proud of his jumping! He would chitter at me if I was standing too close...he wanted to jump longer. In the morning he would wake me up with his "I'm happy! Come play with me" chatter. Sadly after a week I had to return him. Since then he's become a wonderful squirrel, running and jumping amazing well. And he's very very smart. Only once did he nip a bit too hard. Took a loud "Ouch!" and he has since learned what's too hard. Not to say he doesn't like to bite... First thing he does when he's let out is run down your arm and mouth your elbow, hand, fingers. And when jumping onto your arm, he aims for the cloth but if close enough will gently land on your arm, turning his fingers up so to not dig in (that doesn't happen all the time, hense the look of having fought with a bobcat). He's also very good about not jumping into/unto your face. A week ago we were given another little baby, had been found in a downed nest, tree cut down and removed. Hadn't had food for at least a day, very small and weak. We nursed her well and soon was eating great. Just today I was visiting them, Fidget (first big squirrel) was running around, wrestling with my hand (odd thing, he loves to play on his back). The baby was out as well, at first we were worried that Fidget might be mean but he didn't. Seemed indifferent to it. But the baby sure noticed him. In about 30 minutes it was running and jumping and wanting to be where all the action was. They're both so sweet and I feel so honor to be a part of their little lives.

Thanks for listening... Just needed to share this with others. Anyone else I talk to gives me weirder looks than I got with "I have a chameleon". In fact most people view them as pests.

Yay! I love squirrels. There are SOO many fox squirrels here on campus. There's a big maple outside my window in which one lives, yesterday it was chasing a little red squirrel out of the tree, pretty amusing.

I didn't realize that squirrels were born so late into the year. I keep hearing about so many people in Florida rescuing squirrels; I thought that the babies were born in the spring.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

What a great story - and to have come to you so soon after losing Bender! Squirrels are cool and, as you have found out, very smart. Just think of how many "squirrel proof (rarely!)" bird feeders there are!

Enjoyed your story and hope you continue to enjoy them!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

I had him for about 6 or 7 months. He was gret fun but once he bacame very "male" he became unpredictable and too dangerous to keep around. Once he got spooked by a loud sound and sunk his teeth all the way into my arm twice before I could catch him by the neck to put him back in his enclosure. It was the only way you could hang on and not get bitten. He was strong as an ox.
I still handled him after that just a bit more cautiously and with no one else in the room.
I really was attached to him but had to release him back to the wild through a friend that has wooded property and lots of squirrels on it.
I really loved that little guy and really miss him even though he tried to kill me. LOL He was such a cutie! That was two years ago and I still miss him. My african grey still says "It's a squirrel!"

Having these little guys around has made the loss of Bender not so hard. I do still miss him everyday though. The other day I saw a small dragonfly and thought "Oh! Bender would love that!" only to remember. Fidget and the baby are just wonderful. I can't get enough of their antics. Over 200 baby squirrels were orphaned in the central florida area from the hurricanes. lol Can you imagine 200 of those little guys running around??? Fidget will be released in the spring, if he's mastered cracking open nuts, which he's starting to now.

you fed him dragonflies??
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Oh no no. Never did. Was just the fact that it was a flying bug and Bender loved to eat them. As I'm sure all chameleons do.

That is too sweet!!!
I love baby squirells and raccoons, and well everythings lol.
It's nice that you helped them to grow up big and strong!