~MR. MOJO RISIN~
****It's with great sadness that I announce that on November, 21, 2008, Mr. Mojo Risin went to the Big Pecan Tree in the Sky. He will be missed. I have left this page up as a memorial to him and for educational purposes.****
Mr. Mojo Risin is the most exotic pet of Sekc's Zoo. He came to our family in April of 2000. He came from a breeder who raises captive bred SFS's. I chose a SFS because I wanted a small pet but something unusual. After doing some research, I decided to go with a SFS and I haven't been disappointed. Mojo is a great pet. He's also named after Jim Morrison of the Doors. Unfortunately, I have found that there isn't much information about SFS's as pets on the net. Since there isn't much information, I'm going to post my personal experiences with SFS's if anyone is interested in getting one as a pet but before I discuss that, please keep these things in mind...
1. Make sure they're legal where you live. Unfortunately, SFS's can be illegal to own in some places.
2. Make sure you have access to exotic pet veterinary care. Luckily, I have never needed veterinary care for Mojo but there are a few exotic vets in the area that I can take him to. Unfortunately, exotic veterinary care can be hard to find and it can be very expensive. You might want to keep that in mind when acquiring any exotic pet.
With that said, if you are interested in a SFS, they need to be kept in large cage. The bigger the better. Taller is more preferable than wider. Since SFS's are about the size of a gerbil, you have to keep the wire space width in mind. 1/2 inch or smaller is better. I keep Mojo is a finch flight cage. I have newspaper on the wall and on the floor. This is because Mojo, being a male, likes to spray and potty outside of his cage. Not only do I have newspaper on the floor, I also have a plastic runner under the newspaper. If you have a male squirrel, or a messy female, it may be best to put newspaper on the walls and floor to catch messes. I clean Mojo's cage once a week. It's also important to scrub down the cage once in a while.
In addition to the cage, you'll also need branches, toys and a nest box. I have bendable perches and manzanita branches for Mojo and he uses a covered finch nest as a nesting box. He lined it with paper towels and he stashes his pecans in it.
When it comes to diet, I feed Mojo a mixture of Parrot feed, Cheerios and various nuts. He also gets fresh fruit and veggies. One thing SFS's love is PECANS! It's their favorite food! Mojo will dig out all the pecans in his food and he'll hide them in his nest. Unfortunately, the oils from the pecans makes his coat greasy but he doesn't seem to mind as long as he has his stash. One important thing to keep in mind is that SFS's are prone to calcium deficiencies. It's extremely important to add a calcium supplement to their food. I use Pet Cal. I crush it up and sprinkle some on his food. It's important to add this at least twice a week. Based on what I've heard, a lot of pet SFS's end up sickly or they die at a young age due to calcium deficiencies. This is something that can easily be prevented so please make sure you give them calcium so they'll live a longer healthier life!
That's the basics of SFS care. As far as temperment goes, Mojo LOVES to be handled. In fact, if I get close to his cage, he'll actually reach his paw out because he wants to come out of his cage. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that he was a captive bred, hand raised baby. He was used to being handled and I make a point to handle him a lot. I have heard a lot of horror stories regarding ill tempered SFS's. A lot of them were not hand raised and sadly, a lot of them come from wild caught parents. I think it's very important to get an SFS from captive bred parents. There's no point in getting an SFS if it doesn't like to be handled or it bites(and they can bite very hard to the point where they can draw blood). Most definitely get one from a good breeder who owns captive bred squirrels and either hand raises the babies or handles them quite frequently at a young age. Although, I've never seen them in pet stores I would steer away from them. I don't advocate purchasing animals from a pet store and I most definitely would not advocate buying an exotic pet from one.
Exotic pets require special care and I have found that pet stores are not capable of providing the proper care for them and they often give out misinformation regarding exotic pets. If you have any questions regarding SFS's, please feel free to email me. I'll be more than happy to help you out. Here's a website to check out...
National Flying Squirrel Association
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Mr. Mojo Risin is on Petster! Click here to check him out!
