Article By Shannon Grange Exotics

These are tropical squirrels native to Southeast Asia. They weigh about 1 lb, and are very colourful. They have black backs and tails with a white stripe on their sides, and a red to rust belly and shoulders. They are extremely agile and fast, and can put on a real show . When hand-raised these make wonderful pets, and are not inclined to bite as are our squirrels.

These animals need a fairly large cage (1 meter square), or a slightly smaller cage with a ferret wheel. They also need a nest box to sleep in. They are solitary, so they are fine without company, and are active during the day. They are not nocturnal, as are most small pets, so they can be kept in any room, and do not keep anyone awake.

The Prevost Squirrel is from Southeast Asia. It weighs about 1 pound, is black on the back and tail, has a white stripe on both sides, and a blue dot on the cheeks, and has red to rust colored belly and shoulders. There are several sub-species with varying colouring, but most have a similar design. It is a beautiful and very exotic looking animal. It is extremely fast and agile, and loves to play and entertain. It is quite amazing to watch, and is sometimes purchased just as a display. This is one of the few small animals that is NOT nocturnal. It can be kept in any room without interruption during the night. They do not have any scent glands or strong smell. It is also a solitary animal, so it makes a good pet on its own.

The Prevost is quite long-lived for a small rodent - about 16 years.

They have a good temperament, especially when hand-raised, and are not biters as some breeds of squirrels are. Even the non-handled breeders will eat out of your hand and climb on the front of the cage to get a close look at you. When hand-raised, they love to play on you as if you were a tree, and climb on your shoulders and arms.

These squirrels are VERY quick and agile. You would not want to let yours out unless it was hand-tamed, and young children should be supervised. I have not heard about them being trained to litter, however you can stimulate them to go with a Kleenex before you play with them. Similar to sugar gliders, these animals do sometimes urinate while sunning up the side of their cage. It is suggested that you put newspaper in a perimeter under the cage sticking out a few inches to keep your floor clean.

CARE AND FEEDING:

These squirrels eat many different foods. However, a proper diet balance will improve health and longevity. They love fleshy fruits such as apple, banana, orange, pear, grapefruit etc. I only feed about 1/2 of an orange or banana or apple etc per day, as they will eat only fruit if given the chance, and they should have a more balance diet. They also love baby cereal, rolled oats, sunflower seeds and peanuts. I also offer monkey chow, rabbit pellets, and rodent (lab chow) in an attempt to round out their diet, but they are not thrilled with them. They do seem to like the monkey chow somewhat.

The only health maintenance which is used is a yearly worming with a dog wormer. They are not prone to illness if cared for properly.

These animals do require a fair bit of space to be happy. The cage should be about a meter square. If they are a hand-raised pet, and are allowed outside of their cage each day, then a smaller cage would be fine, however anytime they are in a smaller cage, a ferret wheel is suggested. They do love to play, so branches or something to jump on is good for them.

They can be raised in family units, but it is not a good idea to have 1 large cage for several animals. When breeding it is suggested that they each be kept separate ( I have a door between the male and female, which I can open when she comes into heat.) This prevents accidents from happening and fights from occurring. I have heard of someone losing their babies because the mother’s sister who was in the same cage curled up in the nest box and suffocated the babies.

Each cage needs a nest box for them to sleep and make their nest in. Also, the squirrels like to be up high, so some people hang their cages. As breeders are kept in my basement, and there can be a cold draught from the floor, I have mine up off the floor. I put newspaper on the floor, and it makes for easy cleaning, as I can get under the cages easily. I have branches that they can perch and play on. They do like to chew at the bark on the branches.

It is suggested that they have a temperature of 60F degrees or more. I spoke with someone who has kept them at about 40F, but I wouldn’t suggest it. These animals are from a warm climate and therefore breed better in the same. In a cold climate they will have 1-2 babies, and in a warm one, 3-4 babies per litter. The gestation is 42 days, and the babies are born helpless and hairless. To hand-raise a baby for pet purposes, you should take it at about 5 weeks (before they are running around and out of the nest too much). They can be fed esbilac (puppy formula) until weaned. They reach sexual maturity at 9 months to a year old.