Should a potential pet squirrel fall into your life the first set of advice we would offer is to find an experienced wildlife rescue and listen to what they say. If they say put the baby back, then put it back for mom to find it. If it meets the rescue’s criteria to come in for care, then it is your responsibility to get the animal to the rescue. If the animal is sick or injured do not try to keep it. Get it to a rescue ASAP.
In South Carolina it is LAWFUL to keep a squirrel as a pet.
If you find an orphaned, injured, or displaced squirrel and decide this is the pet for you, then you will need to figure out what to do. And you will have a very short amount of time to get your ducks – we mean squirrels – in a row.
You will need to know what to feed the squirrel?
How to feed the squirrel?
When to feed the squirrel?
What kind of bottles do you need?
How long should you wait to feed a baby squirrel after you find it?
We will go ahead and answer that last question. You need to wait until you have the correct supplies and know what you are doing before you EVER offer any formula or food of any kind…not even water.
If the wildlife you found needs help the best thing you can do is take it to a wildlife rescue the moment you KNOW it cannot be reunited with its mother. Not tomorrow. Or in a few days because you want to let your kids see it. Not because you want to give it a few days to see if you have what it takes.
If you are still kinda stubborn and know in your heart that you can successfully raise and keep a pet squirrel, then and only then should you consider purchasing a copy of our handy dandy booklet Raising Squirrels: A Beginners Guide to Keeping Pet Squirrels. We will email you an electronic copy. Also available for purchase is our Beginner’s Kit for raising squirrels and one-on-one tutorials.
We absolutely DO NOT recommend anyone keeping wildlife as pets, but if you insist, we will happily provide the following resources, for a small fee, of course.
•Raising Squirrels: A Beginners Guide to Raising Pet Squirrels, $25 available by download only.
•Beginners Kit for Raising Squirrels: Includes oral rehydrating solution, one week of formula, 25 1ml syringes, two nipples, nursery box with bedding for $150 + S&H OR local pick up available in Kershaw County.
•One-on-One Tutorials from a trained rehabber, $75/hour
