A rare and deadly Eastern Gray Squirrel pup. Approximately six weeks old. I need a name for him.
Krishna (destroyer of worlds)
>>1814 He fell out of a tree and some idiot brought him to our vet clinic. Stupid receptionists don't know that if you put the baby back under the tree it fell out of, the mother will come get it. So they took him and sent the man home. I am a trained veterinary technician with experience with both wildlife and infant animals. If he doesn't die from the fall, parasites, a cold, or just bad luck then he'll do fine.
He looks like a Jeffrey to me. Good luck, OP.
Oh my god. You lucky sonuvabitch. I would kill for a squirrel. If you're a veterinary technician, I'm assuming you know exactly what a squirrel pup needs to survive. Perfect situation for a new lovable pet. Walk him on a leash, too. Because I've seen that a few times before, and it never fails to be insanely adorable. My name suggestions, Squirrely1, Squirrely2, or Hazelnut.
I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told the guy with the rat, as he probably didn't take my suggestion, the name is still available. Professor.
>>1820 >Hazelnut Oh, duh, Filbert. Filbert's way better.
>>1820 I'd prefer not to keep him as a pet, since pretty soon he's going to start chewing like a sonofabitch, everything from clothes to furniture to fingers. The obvious counter to that is to keep him in a cage at all times, but he's not like a rat - wild adult squirrels are very vertical creatures, and need a large area in which to roam around. The counter to that is to build him a large, outdoor, 8-foot-tall enclosure, but I really don't want to go to those lengths for what is essentially an expendable varmint (cold but true). The issue with releasing him is that the longer I spend feeding him and interacting with him, the more he imprints on humans. He'll walk right up to strangers from now on, expecting food or attention, and come mating season he might get violent with perceived human "competitors". It all depends on how cute he is when he actually opens his eyes and starts doing more than sleeping in his nest (t-shirt). If he's less-than-adorable, his future might include carrots, potatoes, and chicken stock.
I'd be more worried about pissing than chewing, since he's male. Squirrel pee is rank. In my experience, if you raise an animal yourself, it'll act the way you want it to. I've had several friends keep wild animals as pets, and foxes were the only ones I've heard about not listening, or just retaining wild animal habits. I'd figure that if you were to raise him like one would an indoor ferret, he could be okay. Litterbox training him would be useful. It's kind of a bitch that he's male, since the last time I had to deal with a buck hands on I ended up with bloody, musky, piss soaked hands. But hey, maybe he's your special best friend. I don't think it's legal to keep animals that are locally native, if you're on the east coast. So do you know how to neuter a squirrel yet? It could help a bit.
Frederick
Update: Die Eichhörnchenführer, as I've taken to calling him, has taken to the bottle and puppy formula like a duck to water, and, with a full belly, has become active as fuck. He scribbles around, blind of course, and seeks out warm bodies. This includes the cat, who is not pleased, and the dog, who is a fucking moron anyhow so he doesn't know what to think. This thing is going to be pretty cool once his eyes open and he starts moving with purpose.
>1834 Führer is male, i.e. it's der Eichhörnchenführer. Next time look this sort of shit up.
>>1837
Squirrely, we hardly knew ye. Since the thing was dumped on me, I never had a chance to do any research on squirrels. Turns out, they need to be raised with other squirrels and learn how to interact with their own kind or they'll be unreleasable when they're older - this is in addition to the problems of him imprinting on humans. I found this crazy old Russian lady who works for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Association. This lady was nuts - every available surface in her house had a small cage with a litter of infant squirrels, chipmunks, baby birds, a baby raccoon, and she even had five tiny Flying Squirrels which she let me hold and were probably the cutest thing I have ever in my life seen. Her poor husband seemed normal enough - he probably earns all the money that his wife uses to fill his house with wild animals. He'll be better off with her. She put him in with another litter of squirrels about the same age. Now I have an issue. I bought a medium-sized rodent cage for him, thinking he'd grow into it. It's currently empty, but brand new, and it'd be a shame to take it back. I'm thinking hedgehog.
>>1860 If it's medium it may be to small for a hedgehog. They need a lot of floorspace, like four square feet at least.
>>1862 Actually, it may be to tall now that I've done my research. 2'x2'x3'. I was expecting the squirrel to grow into it. I'll put it on Craigslist and acquire a better cage.
>>1863 That's a fine sized cage. Why would it be too tall.
>>1864 Unnecessary. Hedgehogs aren't climbing animals I thought.
>>1865 Yeah, google tells me that hedgehogs, being ground animals, are naturally short-sighted with bad depth perception. They're prone to falling off shit. Cute, but potentially harmful to my $175 investment.
Got the hedgehog. I actually ended up building him a cage - about 2.5'x3.0 feet, with a 6-inch-tall plastic base and 14-inch-tall metal grid sides. I'll post a picture of it soon. I'll also post a picture of the hedgehog, just as soon as he relaxes into his new home and I can pick him up...fucker's sharp!
Cage. Base is 1/4-inch Coroplast. Sides are 14.5" stackable cube organizers from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Aspen bedding. ProPlan dry kitten food. Various toys.
Hedgehog. Named Mogomer (long story). Approx. 2.5 to 3 months old. About the size of a medium-sized hamster. Spines are sharp as fuck. Currently pissed at having been removed from his home. He'll get over it.
he looks angry at you but that makes him so much cuter :]
>>2036 He's angry at a mod, that makes him one of us.
biscuit
ruby is the best squirrel name, or sandy..if your into the whole talking sponge thing
nibbler
IGGINS!!!! (yes all caps too)