Pet Squirrel?
- Thread starter Ro_Laren
- Start date
No. Squirrels are nothing more than rats with bushy tails. They have sharp claws that are very destructive. Leave them outside where they belong.
Squirrels are very cute, but I'd say leave it alone. You can keep it in a cage if you can catch it, but I doubt either one of you is going to be happy about that.
All Seeing Eye
Admiral
If it's wild leave it be, you should never try to domesticate an animal that's been born in the wild and has lived in the wild.
It's a bad idea.
G
Garrovick
Guest
A bad idea. Basicaly, Dogs and Cats have "chosen" to associate with Humans. Other animals are just held captive by Humans.
I think that, as with any non-domesticated animal that people try to keep as pets, you've got to have the patience and attentiveness of a zoo keeper. Remember, a tame wild animal is still a wild animal, as many a circus, zoo and animal park can attest. You can get them eating from your hand and even doing tricks, but they'll still be unpredictable.
They're not like dogs, cats, horses and even rats and rabbits. Squirrels, snakes, ferrets, parrots (et.al.) are tamed wild animals, not domesticated. They have not been bred over thousands of years for behavioral traits that make them ideal as human companions. They've been taken out of their natural habitat (for which they're ideally suited) and placed into a hostile environment, one to which most cannot adapt.
Haven't you ever wondered why people don't cage dogs and cats, yet almost without fail they keep exotic birds, reptiles, wild predatory mammals, insects and even monkeys confined in this manner? I think it's cruel and pointless (since they shouldn't be pets anyway). Keeping them to rehabilitate them from injury or sickness is one thing, but as pets?
No.
And yes, I know they're cute. But then, so are tribbles.
They're not like dogs, cats, horses and even rats and rabbits. Squirrels, snakes, ferrets, parrots (et.al.) are tamed wild animals, not domesticated. They have not been bred over thousands of years for behavioral traits that make them ideal as human companions. They've been taken out of their natural habitat (for which they're ideally suited) and placed into a hostile environment, one to which most cannot adapt.
Haven't you ever wondered why people don't cage dogs and cats, yet almost without fail they keep exotic birds, reptiles, wild predatory mammals, insects and even monkeys confined in this manner? I think it's cruel and pointless (since they shouldn't be pets anyway). Keeping them to rehabilitate them from injury or sickness is one thing, but as pets?
No.
And yes, I know they're cute. But then, so are tribbles.
This man speaks the truth. Nothing good will come of it, not for you or the squirrel.
Joe, tailed
You have to earn a cat's trust, that's the difference between them and dogs. My cats are always cuddling up next to me.
I have a pair of chinchillas. They're gray like squirrels. They have bushy tails like squirrels. But they're way cuter, way softer and I didn't just pick them up in the wild so they work a little better as pets. Still need to keep them in a cage though, since they are big chewers. I only let them out for a short period of supervised play every night.
they're pretty smart critters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F-ij_eZI3U
My son works for a wildlife refuge and we just raised a half-dozen squirrels that were blown out of their nests until they were weaned. When we got them they weighed 1.5oz and had to be fed with a syringe... when we took them back for release they were a half-pound. They are being readjusted and returned to the wild.
It was a great experience, but a squirrel does NOT make a great pet.
At around 8 weeks when they are weaned they start reverted to a wild mentality.
They are NOT happy being confined.
As they become sexually mature they become very wild.
Please do NOT attempt it.
(Miss my kids, but they will be happier in the trees...)
It was a great experience, but a squirrel does NOT make a great pet.
At around 8 weeks when they are weaned they start reverted to a wild mentality.
They are NOT happy being confined.
As they become sexually mature they become very wild.
Please do NOT attempt it.
(Miss my kids, but they will be happier in the trees...)
A møøse once bit my sister.
I think it is at least partially because cats and dogs can be house/litter-trained while most of the other animals you've listed cannot.
Cats and dogs destroy property, too, and will keep doing it unless trained not to. They're not born knowing to not use that couch as a scratching post.
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