When should I start taming my Southern Flying Squirrel babes?

I have recently captured a wild Southern Flying Squirrel and also found her 3 fuzzy babies. so I am wondering when I should start playing with the babies to prevent them from being scared of humans. the mother is very fierce and won't let me really play with the babies right now


I do not want to keep the mother because she is wild. soo I've got to know when I can let the mom free. please help


When should I start taming my Southern Flying Squirrel babes?
Taking the babies from the momma is the same as kidnapping! Flyers are very protective, concerned mothers, and will search endlessly for their babies after you steal them. To have any chance of taming the babies, you would have to take them very young, and if you did that, chances are they would die - they are difficult to raise, must have a special formula, equipment, etc. PLEASE put the mother and her babies back into the wild where they belong. Flying squirrels can make wonderful pets if you know what to expect from them, They are, of course, nocturnal, so you have to be willing to stay up and play with them a couple of hours each night. After they are past the 'baby' stage, they don't really want to cuddle - they are too busy exploring and chewing on electric cords, antique furniture, and the molding around your doors and windows. The chewing is not really something you can teach them not to do - they are rodents.....they chew, climb trees, and move at the speed of light.





If you decide you must have a flyer, then buy one that is raised from captive parents and grandparents. The hobby breeders have spent a lot of time breeding for personality, and then weaning the baby and hand taming it for the new owner. In the long run, you will pay less for a hand tamed flyer than you will for all the things you would need to raise the wild ones.





I run a squirrel rescue, and about 85% of the flyers I take in have been wild caught - people find that they are not what they expected.....the flyers bite and/or run from them and/or won't come out of their nest box when the person is around. There are people that do steal flyers from the wild and sell them. I have closed down a few of them around here, but I always know when another one has opened up - I start getting phone calls about 'vicious flyers'. And I am back to rescuing again. I take them, teach them to be wild again, and release them back to the trees where they ought to be.





So PLEASE think twice about these babies and mother. They need to be living wild in the trees like they were born to do. Set them free, and look for a hobby breeder to purchase one from. And do a lot of research before you get one, so that you will know what you are getting in to. Go to NFSA (National Flying Squirrel Association) or TSB (The Squirrel Board) and do a lot of reading. These creatures can live for 15 years or more, so this is a long term committment you are considering.When should I start taming my Southern Flying Squirrel babes?
let them all go. the only reason a wild flyer should ever be in captivity is because it is injured. the mother will continue to be fierce. you should not have them if you do not know what you are doing with them. please, let them all go. you are most likely overly stressing the mother, and probably putting even the pups in danger.
squirrels are not meant to be in captivity unless they are hurt...im not sure when but you should let them all go....its not fair to the animal