Misc my girlfriend rescued a Squirrel. I now have a pet Squirrel.

[Benny_Lava]

So about 2.5 months ago my girlfriend takes our dog out for a pee before she goes to sleep, and he begins pawing around at something on the ground. She finds a baby, new born squirrel that probably fell from the tree above, or was discarded by the mother. She left it there for a few hours and kept an eye on it to see if the mother would come rescue it but nothing happened. So she had the brilliant idea to try and raise it herself, because if she didn't bring it in surely it would be cat food. This is what it looked like when it first came in.

Keep in mind I pushed her to give it to a certified animal rehabilitation specialist. She tried, so did I. But we couldn't find anywhere that would take a squirrel. I assumed us trying to raise it was a guaranteed death sentence. So did anyone we talked to, including professionals. But our only option was to try, or let her die. Turns out we love animals so we tried.



I didn't think the thing had a chance. Not a hope. How would you keep a little derp like that alive. But I admired her determination. She did the majority of the work, got up every 2 hours to feed it. But I helped when needed.

So first she cleaned it up.



We started feeding her milk with a Q-Tip. She would just suck drops off the end. Apparently though a) milk is horrible for them and can kill them, and b) milk alone will not keep a baby squirrel hydrated. She started to become dehydrated. Dry skin, skin that didn't return to normal after pinching it etc. We thought she was done for sure. But I suggested we go to the store to get some pedialyte and see if that helps. Sure enough within a few hours she looked like her lovely skooshy pink self again. We took her outside to celebrate.



We did some research to find out what was best to feed her after learning milk was a poor choice. We found the best thing for a baby squirrel was puppy formula. Once we discovered this she began to grow fast. Puppy formula + water occasionally to keep her hydrated, worked like a charm.

One night we had a wedding so needed to figure out what to do with her. We asked around our neighborhood and found a nice lady who had apparently tried to raise a squirrel before herself. (Tried worried us a bit but it was our only choice) We took her the squirrel and she fed it and updated us all night like a champ. When we picked her up the next day the lady had bought the squirrel a friend.



BTW she's also starting to get furry around this point. Looking a lot less like a little alien.

She loves to bask in the sun.



We continued to feed her the puppy formula. By now she only needed to be fed about once every 4-6 hours.



Here she is drinking from her syringe, which she eventually graduated to after the Q-Tip method.



Oh crap! Her eyes are starting to open.

[Benny_Lava]

Here she is having a nap with the wifey while she watched TV. She just had a bath after eating. Shes pooped.





Now we need to start getting her used to the outdoors. Because if she won't do as a pet, we're going to have to let her go. Unfortunately I feel her odds of survival outdoors are very slim having been raised inside. But it may be our only choice. As of right now she is a great pet. She crawls all over us. Almost never bites, and if she does it's playful. Loves to be pet, even has a sweet spot like a dog if you pet her in the right spot she scratches herself. The GF even bought her a harness for taking her outside.


Right now she won't actually run away. If we put her on the ground she'll just run back up your leg and nuzzle into your neck. But the harness is just in case. If she happened to run away she'd be cat or dog food within minutes I'm sure.
So for now we're going to keep her, but also get her more and more used to the outdoors. Leave her cage out some days. Etc. He instincts are incredible. The way she knows how to build nests, fly around her cage like spiderman etc. So she may have a shot I don't know. If we have to let her go we'll give her the best chance we can.

For now she absolutely loves her life, and her cage. She doesn't even like to leave it except to cuddle on the couch while we watch TV.

Here are some photos I took just now.

Her cage, posing for the photo. We plan to eventually get a huge cage that pretty much goes from the floor to the ceiling IF we keep her.



Opened her cage, she's seeing whats up/coming to say hi.



Posing for maximum cuteness.









Cliffs:

- GF finds squirrel
- GF raises squirrel with a little of my help
- Squirrel is getting big and still is a great pet. Beats any hamster or other rodent type pet I've ever had/been around. Also doesn't stink and is cute.

[HankScorp1o]

[Benny_Lava]

lolz


must spread rep. i havent repped someone in like 3 months have barely been posting. wtf.

[ghjk24]

Fuk i want one now lol

[Auzthetics]

Looks good as dead in the first pic , then when I saw the eyes open the feels hit me. Gjdm for rescuing and nurturing it

Stay safe squirrel, in for updates



edit: hory chit, strong update 2nd post. That thing is cute af.
Does she have a name brah?

[CobraTrapz]

[mikevall]

do want

[cptnswdn]

thats a rat baby

[Parkerscott]

misc hat

[Mwizzle]

holy fuk you actually have a pet pikachu, mirin hard

[helpmee]

keep it .. no way it lives on its own after being raised inside

[meremortal]

Awesome story and squirrel growth pics.


Keep it as a pet, releasing it into the wild just because "nature" seems stupid considering it would be dead already without human intervention. You're its family now so let it stay at home until it's 18. Then you can kick it out or charge rent.

[unfitskinnyfat]

made my day thank you OP. ye he wont last a second outdoors, enjoy your new pet for life lmao.

[Benny_Lava]

Looks good as dead in the first pic , then when I saw the eyes open the feels hit me. Gjdm for rescuing and nurturing it

Stay safe squirrel, in for updates



edit: hory chit, strong update 2nd post. That thing is cute af.
Does she have a name brah?

At first we assumed it was a boy so just called it buddy. Then we found out it was a girl when we were at my buddies house so he said to call her Budette. Unfortunately that stuck. She is now Budette.

[Tdriin]

She's a hero! Would love to have one pet squirrel myself :P

[OaklandCali]

Haha! This is so fukin cool!

[PushPull21]

Lol'd at the harness. Can imagine the looks if you took your pet squirrel on a walk around the block or something.

[Footzy]

Good stuff. I rehabilitated a squirrel too. He still lives in the trees in my backyard. I put cashews and squirrel food for him and squirrel buddies.

[CobraTrapz]

[CampingBruh]

Edit: RC

[Benny_Lava]

lmao

Good stuff. I rehabilitated a squirrel too. He still lives in the trees in my backyard. I put cashews and squirrel food for him and squirrel buddies.

gjdm

[kilu]

pokemon master

[Auzthetics]

At first we assumed it was a boy so just called it buddy. Then we found out it was a girl when we were at my buddies house so he said to call her Budette. Unfortunately that stuck. She is now Budette.

ayylmao

[Mr.PissShivers]

That thing will live for well nigh 20 years.

[MrJensenn]

Keep it.

Can't survive out in the world.

And you'll miss it.

[Ironmanlet]

repped. fellow squirrel pet owner.

Here I am with my squirrel.

[Convergent]

in.

where the misc hat at?

[whosthis]

Good guy op. Gjdm

[SystemTrend]

good job OP that's amazing.