Other Squirrel as a pet good websites?

[1frankie7]

It looks like a red squirrel.

 

[Sirene]

No problem, Fridzalone!

I have looked at a few websites and can't find the type of squirrel it is, but it looks a lot like some kind of tree squirrel, so maybe it will eat similar things?

Tree squirrel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Here's some information from the general Wikipedia page on squirrels:

Unlike rabbits or deer, squirrels cannot digest cellulose and must rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fat. In temperate regions early spring is the hardest time of year for squirrels, since buried nuts begin to sprout and are no longer available for the squirrel to eat, and new food sources have not become available yet. During these times squirrels rely heavily on the buds of trees. Squirrels' diet consists primarily of a wide variety of plant food, including nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi and green vegetation. However some squirrels also consume meat, especially when faced with hunger.[5] Squirrels have been known to eat insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes and smaller rodents.

 

[Cogni]

What a cute animal!

I'm not a rodent expert but I don't think it looks the same as the red squirrels they have in Europe (including England, before the gray squirrels pretty much supplanted them). The nose looks longer and pointier and the ears different. Also, I don't think all or most tree squirrels look similar to each other as opposed to ground squirrels; there are species of ground squirrels with bushy tails that look like the classic S-shaped squirrel tail of our tree squirrels.

In any case, I like looking at pics of squirrels. I can see they are not-that-distant cousins of our friends the piggies.

 

[vicky2]

Cogni is right, that is the kind of squirrel that is found throughout Europe which is probably where the seller got it, from being traded down. I'll try to find something on that type of squirrel for you.

 

[vicky2]

Sorry for double posting, I'm posting my thoughts and ideas so far.
So far on my list of squirrels to check out is the "Red Bush Squirrel".
I'll try to see if there's anything else I can find.

 

[Sirene]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. To me, it looks like the squirrels of the genus "Sciurus", which includes the tree squirrels we commonly see in Europe and the US (Eastern Gray, Red Squirrel and Fox Squirrel). There is a list of the different species here: Sciurus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . I don't have time to go through them all now (I'm at work!) but maybe someone can!

 

[MissFormosa]

How big is the squirrel? Does it have "ear tuffs" at the top or not? I have a book that lists all of the different of squirrels. I told you I was obsessed!

 

[fridzalone]

I found another picture that looks 90% similar with the one my friend has :
(broken link removed)

And it's almost as big as that picture, but my friend's squirrel is a bit smaller.
I searched on the net and it said that in Indonesia it called Tupai Kekes, so I searched on wikipedia and it says its biological name is Tupaia javanica.

 

[Sirene]

That's very helpful! In English it's called a Horsfield's Treeshrew:

Horsfield's Treeshrew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now all we have to do is find out what they eat!

 

[Sirene]

OK, here is a little bit of info about treeshrews:

Treeshrew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and some more here:
Tupai

This is very important - it explains how treeshrews are different from squirrels and that they eat different things (mostly soft fruits, not really nuts or plants):

The fruit-eating behavior of Tupaia differs sharply from that of squirrels. Treeshrews feed mainly on the soft, edible fruit parts “designed” as rewards for dispersers and eject large, hard seeds before consumption. My observations in Sabah suggest that treeshrews and squirrels feed on different fruit species, as well as on different parts of the fruit. Only one squirrel (Callosciurus prevosti) largely overlaps treeshrews in fruit preference, and this squirrel is a large, high-canopy species that directly competes for fruit only with T. minor, and which was never seen insect foraging. Treeshrews lack both the dentition to open hard nuts and the digestive apparatus to process much plant material. They profit from the abundant energy, and likely calcium, available in fruit crops by a batlike fruit-feeding pattern apparently geared to rapid digestion of readily assimilated nutrients during high-speed passage.

Apparently treeshrews also eat insects. I hope this helps!

 

[MissFormosa]

Yes, Sirene is correct - that picture is a shrew, not a squirrel.
What kind of teeth does it have? If it doesn't have rodent teeth, it's definitely not a squirrel. Shrews are not rodents.

 

[Cogni]

I do hope it is a tree shrew!! when we got on this thread I was reading about squirrels of that part of the world and I read that a species of squirrel, the long-nosed squirrel, looks very similar to a long-nosed tree shrew, so similar that the local people call them by the same name, tupai.
It's a bit tricky to have two animals looking so alike but requiring such different things! Shrews are closer to primates than to rodents.

Ah I found a quote, not the same page as I read before but a different one, to support this idea of superficial similarity despite evolutionary difference:

Most tree-shrews share many morphological and behavioral characteristics with squirrels, so much so that the Malay word tupai is used for both tree-shrews and squirrels (Martin, 1990).
Tree-shrews as Primates

​

I agree with checking out its teeth. Agree in principle that is!! I wouldn't want to do it!

 

[fridzalone]

Wow...so my friend has a shrew and not a squirrel...It's nice to know the truth...lol

And for the food, is it fine to give it veggies? Or should he stick with the fruits? He give it bananas, apples and some veggies. And how large the cage needed for this animal?

 

[Katie_Kutthroat]

I would think the bigger the better for squirrels or shrew in this case.

 

[Cogni]

The 'size of cage needed for this animal' was discussed a lot above. Since it is a wild animal, it needs a forest, not a cage, so there really isn't a cage large enough for it. Now that is in captivity, if it is not indigenous to your region, all he can do is give it the most space he can, but it will be like a tiger in a cage the size of a horse stall.