QUOTE(White Palace @ Feb 15 2008, 02:39 AM)
You get them when they ae 4-5 weeks? Wild caught or bought one? Any special care needed ar at such a young age?
My bf is a contractor. He was building a new Goat House (kandang kambing) for PDC Agrotech in Juru (the site was palm oil plantation before). The workers cut the palm trees, and caused the nest to fall down to the ground. The Mama ran away. Even the workers tried to put the nest on the other tree and waited for the Mama to come back, the Mama never shown up. So my bf had to find a new Mama for the babies.. and it was me!

When they arrived, they havent open their eyes yet.. They slept all the time and woke up during feeding time only.. Of course they need special care since they was still small.. I had to feed them 4 times a day.. My vet recommend me to use this formula for feeding - . I had to keep them clean n warm since they urinate a lot and wet their whole body. Before feeding, i have to wiped them with wet towel, and dried them with warm towel (i had to iron the towel!) to avoid them from hypothermia (Remember this - we cant feed a cold baby animal, this might kill the baby). An infant squirrel should be stimulated to urinate and defecate every time you feed it. Failure to do so can cause uremic poisoning. Just pat their genitals using a warm and soaked toilet paper to stimulate them.
They slowly reduced their milk intake by themselves.. At this stage, i fed them with chopped banana n apple. Actually i dont know their exact age.. i just assumed their age by refer to a chart i got from internet.. (Cant remember where i got the chart).
Rearing them are not easy.. Squirrel are not a suitable pet. They're a bit high-maintenance. Have to clean their cage everyday.. They're more stink than having 10 hamsters in a cage. Since i got them from infant, they're tame, shy and gentle.. They love to climb on me and clinging to my arms and legs. But i must wear a long sleeve jeans jacket to handle them. Their claws, OMG.. They make me a new deep scratch and scars everyday!
When they was 12-weeks old, i wanted to release them to their habitat.. but unfortunately, the younger one always show a paralyse symptom (maybe the fall had caused an injured to him).. In a month, the younger one will paralyses for a few days.. And everytime i let his big brother out, the younger one will cried out loud. He will stop cry when the big brother is beside him. They sleep together, even there was two plastic houses in their cage. That 's why i have to think twice (and more) before let them out to their nature
Here is the pic when they was 8-9 weeks old. The fur wasnt fully grown, so it looks like patches on the abdomen

.. And some of their latest pics i shot a few days ago while letting them out. Enjoy~