Protein is successfully bred at home. To do this, you need to know how to arrange a cage for an animal, how to feed, water and how to care for the animal. From the article you will also learn how to get healthy offspring of squirrels. If you want to have a squirrel at home, from this day on your life will be transformed. After all, a charming animal will settle in the apartment, which will energetically spin in the wheel, run around the cage. Looking at this perpetual motion machine, you will also want to become more energetic, and a great mood is guaranteed.
A little about the behavior of squirrels at home
It is very interesting to observe the behavior of this animal. The squirrel is graceful, it easily and quickly climbs up, carefully overcoming various obstacles. These animals are gullible, inquisitive.
If you pick up some delicacy and begin to regale your pet, it will gladly sit in your palms and gnaw on the offered treat. However, you should not take a squirrel forcibly in your hands, against its will, in this case it may bite.
Unlike some other animals, which are active at night, domestic squirrels will not make noise during this time, since they are awake during the day. These are their qualities, unpretentiousness are the factors that speak in the posture of the home keeping of these animals.
Housing for a squirrel in an apartment
In the photo, a homemade squirrel cage, as an option, you can use the old Squirrel ordinary cabinet, or, as it is also called, the veksha is quite unpretentious. But it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for her, where there would be everything necessary for living.
The squirrel cage should be tall and spacious. You can build it yourself by making a welded iron frame, attach a wire mesh to it. The minimum cage dimensions are 50 cm in height and 40 in length and width.
The cage must be two-story. On the ground floor, place a running wheel, a feeder and a drinker, it should be suspended and attached to the wall of the cage. The squirrel needs a running wheel, since in it it will spend its energy reserves.
A house should be placed in the veksha's premises, in which she could rest. It is placed on the first or second floor. In the attic compartment, she can rest during the day or run from the first to the second floor to be in great physical shape.
The squirrel will enter the attic through a circular hole made in the ceiling of the first floor. Be sure to put a thick branch or a small log in the squirrel's cage, as it will grind the sharp teeth that grow on it all its life on the tree. Therefore, she will shorten the excessive length of the teeth in such a way that is safe for herself and others.
When you clean up the animal's cage, make sure that the animal does not run out. But if the squirrel is accustomed, it will be able to walk around the room at this time, and then, when it gets hungry, it will return to the cage again. It is necessary for this time to close all windows and doors so that the animal does not run away. If he enters through an open window into the street, it will be almost impossible to return him.
Protein nutrition
In nature, the protein in summer eats mushrooms, nuts, berries, wild apples, buds of shrubs and trees. The squirrel in winter feasts on its reserves, which it harvests all summer and autumn. She also eats pine seeds, ate, gnaws young shoots of trees. Protein can include eggs and even chicks, lizards and small rodents in their diet.
At home, squirrels will be happy to feast on hazelnuts, as well as walnuts, pine nuts, and earthen nuts. Veksha will not refuse from bananas, pears, apples. You can sometimes give her dried fruit. Buds of trees, acorns also introduce proteins into the diet. In addition, the animals need grain. Include in their diet oats, which are the best grains for them. You can add a little boiled peas to the protein menu, especially such food is useful for young animals, who become plump and strong from it.
At home, squirrels are fed with mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, spruce and pine cones. It would be nice to add chopped beef or fish bones, mealworms to food. Then the organism of the Veksha will receive so much needed phosphorus and calcium. In addition to fresh water, which the animal should always have, sometimes milk is also given to it. You need to feed the squirrel twice a day - in the morning and in the evening. There is no need to overfeed the animal, as this can adversely affect its appearance and health.
Attention! In no case should an animal be given almonds, as it contains substances that are very dangerous for it, which can lead to death. Also, proteins cannot be sweet, salty, fried and smoked. The easiest way to buy an already balanced protein feed is from a specialty store.
Protein care
Squirrels are very clean animals, so they will not eat from a dirty trough or drink water that has stood for a long time. Keep the feeder and drinker as clean as the cage itself. But cleaning the house very often can be stressful for the animals. Therefore, pour wood granular filler at the bottom of the cage, cover it with hay. This bedding absorbs unpleasant odors and will stay dry for 3–4 days. Therefore, it is enough to clean the cage 1–2 times a week. At the same time, see if the pet has arranged a small warehouse there. After all, proteins can make reserves. If you find them, remove them to keep the area clean.
You do not need to wash and comb your eyelids
A neat animal itself puts its fur in order with the help of its tongue.
Reproduction of proteins
If you want to professionally breed squirrels or turn your house into a forest corner, where little squirrels will jump from branch to branch on improvised trees, then you need to purchase a couple of these animals.
The animals should be healthy, fairly well-fed, but not fat. If the female is underweight, then her offspring may be born weak, small and underdeveloped.
If the female, on the contrary, is too well-fed, then her cubs may be born dead or weak. The female and the male must have a shiny coat and be mobile. It is good if they are taken from multiparous dairy females.
You can mate squirrels from a year
It's good if they are the same age. Such animals find contact faster. If an animal has been living alone in a cage for a long time, then it may not accept a partner. Then you need to put the guest in a separate cage and put them side by side. After about two to three weeks, the animals get used to each other, then you can settle them together.
Pregnant females require enhanced nutrition. They must be fed with food containing a large amount of mineral salts and vitamins. Add cottage cheese, meat and bone meal to the female's menu. During this period, you need to be very careful with her. 10-12 days before giving birth, you need to hang or attach a nest box or nest box to it, which will become a warm nest for little squirrels. Place straw or hay on the bottom of this nest.
Squirrel pregnancy lasts about 35 days
after which from two to 12 cubs can be born. A few days before giving birth, the female can show aggression towards her partner. It is necessary to plant it in another cage. When the children arrive, if the room is cool, place a heater next to the cage.
Before giving birth, the female becomes very susceptible to noise, flashes of light. When these annoying factors appear, she can experience stress. Therefore, try to approach the cage very quietly, cover the cage with a dark cloth before turning on the light.
The female feeds her cubs with milk. If it is not enough, make artificial supplements. You can prepare a mixture from fresh cow's milk by adding 2 tbsp. l. oat broth. You can make a mixture of condensed milk by diluting one part with two parts water.
Any of these mixtures must be boiled, cooled to a warm state. In the first week of life, the baby is given the contents of half a pipette at a time (if the mother does not feed him), feeding every 2–3 hours, gradually increasing the interval between them.
In nature, the age of these animals is short-lived - on average, they live there for 4 years
A squirrel in a house where there is enough food, there are no birds of prey, lives much longer - 10 years. There are cases when these animals delighted their owners for 16 years.
Therefore, take care of your animal, provide it with everything you need, and in return you will get a faithful friend who will give you a lot of positive emotions and happy moments!
Homemade squirrels video:
Video how squirrels live in an apartment, tips:
