Squirrels look cute, but they make lousy pets for many reasons. It is also illegal in many places to keep them as pets, while some states will require you to have a license before you can keep the squirrel as a pet, and they have to be trained by a wildlife rehabilitator before you take it home.



The following are the reasons why a squirrel will not be a good pet for you.

- It owns you: when you want to go away, you will need to have a sitter for it who has a high pain tolerance and patience. Even going out for a night will require you to have a house sitter.
- Sharp nails: their nails have been designed to pierce bark and help the squirrel in climbing up trees. You may need to have an anti-grab suit to keep you safe when moving around it.
- Sharp teeth: when the squirrel wants to bite, it will bite and it does not have a domestic pet’s reflex to let it know that biting is not a good idea. The squirrel can also chew on anything it finds around like furniture, dry wall and wallpaper. The squirrel will need to have something to chew on so that its teeth cannot continue to grow. When the teeth grow uncontrollably, it may cause the squirrel to be ill.
- Diet: the squirrel needs a balanced and a natural diet which may take time to prepare. You will need to gather the food outside, and you should cook a high calcium diet or prepare or purchase insects. You will have to spend money on the supplements to fill in the gaps.
- Squirrels like junk food: they can plead, borrow or beg for junk food, and if their plans fail, they can take it as they want. Just like children, they will be very persistent.
- Squirrel energy: the squirrel wishes to keep their living area clean while they throw away anything that looks dirty to the floor. This includes some bits of food, food they do not like, nut shells, wilted vegetables, fruits, and other waste.

In the end, squirrels are just wild animals and they deserve to be free if you really like them. Medical issues are the only reason why the squirrel should be kept in captivity, but otherwise healthy squirrel do not have to be kept as house pets.

Go back to the Squirrels in the Attic home page.