Can You Tame A Squirrel To Be Your Pet? Or Can You Have A Pet Squirrel?

Very difficult to tame a squirrel even when they have been raised from babies. At about one year old, their sweet domestic behavior begins to turn wild. Basically, owning this type of exotic animal requires a lot of dietary knowledge as well because they are in need of high calcium and lower phosphorus ratios in their food. If they don't receive the right balance, they get a disease called metabolic bone disease which causes a lot of pain, the bones to fracture and ultimately the Squirrel becomes  paralyzed. This is very common when people try to keep squirrels as pets.
Back to training a squirrel. It may appear that you have tamed your pet squirrel, then suddenly all the training disappears and they become aggressive. It is very unpredictable and should be left to those with a lot of experience in caring for wild animals under captivity. Housing is very difficult because they need an extremely large living environment and direct sunlight (not through windows or screens) in order to produce enough vitamin D to produce Calcium. So your cage has to be the size of a small room. Very expensive and specialized veterinary care because regular vets don't normally take squirrels because it's illegal in most states to have them in the first place. They need to be seen by an Exotic Animal Vet. My suggestion is that you find a local wildlife rehabilitation specialist in your area. By the way, peanuts are one of the worst kind of nut to feed a squirrel because they have way too much phosphorus in them. Try almonds or hazelnuts. They contain a better amount of calcium. Be careful when dealing with an injured animal because they may think that your a predator and respond with fear and aggression. It's wonderful to be concerned for injured wildlife. I can't believe people shoot animals for fun. It's such a primitive mentality. Someday  the disrespectful way we treat our animals will cause our destruction. Bird flu, swine flu, ...

I rather not.

For every queston about squirrels please go to:
Www thesquirrelboard com

there is many people there to help you and a great archive of information.

(merman)

I have a squirrel I found when his eyes were still shut. He is a year this month. My whole family loves him so much. He runs freely in our home. We have researched how to care for him.He loves scrubs,we kiss on him and he snuggles with us in bed and enjoys playing with us. We spaend a lot of time with haim daily as one might do with a dog. He is adorable. But last week all of a sudden, while I was playing with him he bit me and drew blood. What happened? Figured it was an accident until over the next four days.During those four days he became more and more aggressive. He bit me on the hand 3more times and I bled. Then hw began charging at me and trying to attack and bite me just for entering the room. It breaks my heart. What happened? I can't paet him anymore suddenly. I can't even go in the room where he is or he hunts me down and aggresively tries to attack and bite me. I have to run. Very scarey.

A squirrel is a wild animal and should be kept outside. If there is an animal sanctuary near you they might help but I doubt they will.

I also want to know because we have a cat trap because one of my neighbors (cat lady) has a lot of wild cats. And my last hamster died a month ago which was terrible for me. And I would love to have a squirrel.Because my room is by my front door. And so I see outside and there is a lot of squirrels by my window getting nuts.And they look so cute with there fluffy tail and little face which makes me want to have one. But they are so quick in the trees that I can not catch them. -sarah