Lump on my Squirrel

Question
QUESTION: Hi there, I was given an abandoned squirrel when he was about one month old.  I've had him for about 4 months now.  He is very friendly and lovable and loves to play around the house.
Yesterday I noticed a hard lump under his chin.  It's not where any food would be store, it's further back.  The outside is red.  I touched it, he didn't seem to mind.  It's weird because it seemed to literally appear over night.

He would never be able to live alone or with other squirrels.  He is very domesticated and very attache to humans; I would be afraid a vet might take him from me.

I hope you can help.  I love my little guy.

Thank you, Shannyn

ANSWER: Your squirrel is cute at 5 months old but pretty soon he will be getting wild enough that you won't be able to keep him as a pet. Squirrels are wild animals and you cannot tame that out of them.
I have raised squirrels for over 20 years- from two weeks old pink, blind and naked to ones given to me by people that meant well but wouldn't relinquish them only to have them die from the garbage food they were feeding them. I have successfully released hundreds of them into the wild.

He probably has an abscess under his chin. He might have a bone deformity from a bad diet. Squirrels that are human raised tend to get metabolic bone disease which is very serious. None of the ones I raised ever got it but I have had people write into me about it all over the country.

Sunflower seeds, lack of calcium in the diet, bad cal/phos ratio, these all can cause it. But squirrels do get the same type of abscesses that rabbits get, which are pasturella bacterium abscesses.

You need to have a vet familiar with wildlife or at least rabbits look at him.
You are worried for a good reason, keeping wildlife is a felony and you can be fined up to 10,000 for it. But most vets will be more concerned about taking care of him then turning you in.

If I sound weird about it it is because I am- I got really tired of people refusing to let the experts care for these little darlings only to have them throw them at us and run when they were so sick they had no chance of surviving. So yes, it makes me a bit angry.

Get the vet to look him over. He will need it drained and then antibiotics. Another thing, squirrels don't "store" food in cheek pouches. That is what hamsters do.

Squirrels are not hamsters.I suggest you do some research on them.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your response.  I know squirrels do not store food in their cheeks, but when I tell someone about Tippy's (that's his name) problem, their first repsonse is "it's food", so I just wanted to clairify it's not food.
I contacted a vet when I first got him, they did give me a list of food and I stick to that list religiously (also I add a vit suppliment that they told me to).
I've done tons of research on them, internet, library...the works.  I will do what is best for him, but he will not go outside without me standing their with him, so I'm not sure what would happen.  I will never turn him loose outdoors by himself, do you happen to know a rescue in the San Gabriel Valley, Ca.

An abcess was my first thought, but it doesn't seem to hurt and it literally appeared within a 6 hour period.  I went to sleep at mid-night and when Tippy woke up, boom there it was.
Can they happen that fast?

I understand and appreciate your concern for "kept" squirrels, but I'm only trying to keep him from danger.  He loves my dog and all people, I'm afraid he wouldn't make it in the wild.  He's not kept in a cage, he has his own room with an "outside" environment.

Would it help to send a picture?

Thank you, Shannyn

Answer
I had one squirrel that lived in my house the same way- but by the time they are 16-18 weeks old they become very wild and will need to be released.When she was older I let her go and she hung around my house for a while then went off and had babies that she would bring back now and then. So they do transition just fine.

There are plenty of rescue and rehab sites in your area- just look in the phone book or online for rehabbers in the San Gabriel valley.

At 5 months he is still a juvenile. He can do fine if he is introduced to the wild the way he should be.
And yes, an abscess can crop up overnight. They tend to be rather firm, so I would venture to say that is most likely what it is. Ask the vet you first saw to see him.