Squirrels?

[Gypsy's Mom]

Yesterday I went over to my great ante and uncle's house. They found two baby squirrels that had fallen from their nest. They were so cute. Thankfully they seem to be recovering well from the fall. They are going to be keeping them until the babies are able to eat well on their own and then they are leting then go again. We started talking about people who have pet squirrels and then started talking about flying squirrels and sugar gliders. A long time ago my family considered getting a sugar glider or flying squirrel (we even thought of getting a prairre dog for a while) but we never actually got one.

Now, I'm just wondering what you people think about keeping squirrels and the like as pets? It might be something I would consider getting. I know all exotic pets are a BIG responsibility, but I think it is something I would like to look into.

Have any input?

[Barrett]

My friend found a baby squirrel. A cat or something had caught it and bit it's tail really bad. She took it to the vet and he said he had to amputate it's tail because of the damage. The vet said it would not have balance without it's tail and would fall from the trees and eventually get caught by another cat. She and her husband went ahead with the surgery and decided to keep the squirrel as a pet. They named the baby squirrel "Skippy" and they love him more than anything. I bought Skippy a 7 foot cat tree to climb on for his 3rd birthday this year. They gave him a really good life. I think it is wonderful that they decided to keep Skippy as a pet rather than put him to sleep at the vet's office. They gave him a wonderful life and he loves them very much.

I have another friend who owns sugar gliders and said he won't buy new ones when his current ones are gone. They are very hard to take care of and are impossible to potty train. He lets them out for an hour of exercise every night and they poo and pee on everything in sight. He runs behind them with paper towels and a spray bottle of natures miracle. I can tell you that his bedroom smells bad, even though the sugar glider cage is cleaned every other day. I can't stand to feed the littel guys insects. I feel bad for the meal worms and crickets that they eat. Crunch...crunch...

[Gypsy's Mom]

I was starting to rule out the sugar glider deal anyway. I read that gliders will kill and eat birds if they get the chanse, and I have a cockatiel (which is native to Australia like the gliders so they are probably comin prey) and I don't want to risk him getting hurt.

Now Flying squirrel... that's another story. I would LOVE to have a flying squirrel. They seem like such great pets, they bond very closely to their caretakers. I was surprised to read on the internet that FSs have been kept as pets for hundreds of years. The Native American's use to keep them in pouches that they would carry round wherever they went.

But I think it would be pretty cool to get a gray squirrel as well, the problem is I don't know where I could get one (aside from taking them from their nest, and I don't think that would be a very good idea. No Siry.)

[shandoggy1]

A cousin of mine found a baby squirrel and nursed it back to health and kept it for two years. He was an indoor/outdoor squirrel. He would literaly go outside and tap on the window when he wanted to come in. He used to curl up on my cousins lap and go to sleep he was the cutest thing. He eventually weaned himself away and became wild.

[Cassiepeia]

Sugar gliders do not eat birds. They're insectivores who also eat sap from eucalyptus trees and nectar.

Cass.

[Gypsy's Mom]

Are you sure they don't eat birds? You see, I love Gliders but I just don't want to take the chance of my bird getting hurt. I read that someone once put a qual of somesort in the bottom of their glider aviary and that the next day they found that the gliders had eaten it! I know that they are mostly insectivors and eat nector and stuff, but don't they also eat small animals? I don't know, I just rather play it safe.

[Jenny]

a grey squirrel would probably eat your birds if given the chance. It's not a good idea to keep wild animals and in most places it is illegal. Best to find a local wildlife sanctuary that knows how to properly care for them.

[Cassiepeia]

They don't eat birds. Look them up on the net, you'll find they eat insects, nectar and sap. 'tiels are certainly not their 'natural prey' down here in Australia.

Either way, you won't be keeping the 'tiel and glider in the same cage together and I personally don't think you should leave an animal loose in the house without supervision anyway so I don't see a problem.

Cass.

[Jenny]

Originally Posted by Cassiepeia

They don't eat birds. Look them up on the net, you'll find they eat insects, nectar and sap.

I actually did a search on yahoo for "sugar gliders" birds and there was quite a few sites that said sugar gliders do in fact eat birds and baby birds in the wild though a cockateil is probably bigger than the birds they would go after.

[Gypsy's Mom]

Oh what ever, I don't think I'll be trying to get a glider right now anyway. Maybe someday, but not right now. I'm leaning more towards flying squirrel or I may even go a different rout and look into getting a ferret. Ferrets aren't squirrels of course but they're still cuddly and playful. I hear they are quit the handful though.

I'm not able to get another pet at this exact moment in time anyway so I have plenty of time to consider it. Any help you guys have would be great.

(Okay this is really off topic but do any of you guys remember this sort of quiz thingy that AOL had for a while that you could take to help determin what the best pet would be for a person? They had one for dogs, one for cats and one for all pets in general. They were really good quizes that had animal pictures and profiles to go along with the results. A few years ago I liked to just play around on them to see what kind of animals came up. I tried to look them up again but i can't find them. Any of you have a clue where they went?)