Will a Squirrel Make a Good Pet?

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Squirrels are a lot of things. They are fun to watch, cute, fast, but the one thing they are not, is a good pet. As youngsters, these animals might seem like everything you could possibly want from a pet. As long as you provide food, water, and shelter, the squirrel will be deceivingly cute. When they get a little older, about six to eight months or so, the baby squirrel will start to display aggressive tendencies, although, this will not be a deliberate and angry act. Squirrels have very sharp teeth and claws, and just part of their training as a youngster is to learn how to use them. If the mother isn’t around to teach them these things, they will figure it out slowly on their own, but they will use their tools on your – you will get bitten or scratched. This is much the same as a puppy – puppies are well-known to chew and gnaw through various things as they are growing up, usually as part of the teething process.



Sadly, with squirrels, the outcome of a little bite or nip is usually very painful, and there have been reports of squirrels biting both children and adults, in some cases, quite severely, with the injury requiring stitches and treatment for minor infections.

That’s the thing about wild animals – they are WILD animals. Even if you were to get these animals from a very early age, they will still display some, if not all, wild traits, including biting, scratching, chasing, hunting, and more. It has taken a great deal of time for cats and dogs to become domesticated pets. We haven’t even started trying to ‘tame’ or domesticate squirrels yet, which means that they do not make great pets.

Mating seasons are a time when you will see aggressive behaviour displayed even when the animal hasn’t been aggressive towards you before. Males are very territorial, and will also become angry over mating rights. Females can be equally as aggressive, especially as far as nurturing young are concerned, and both sexes can be quite feisty when food is regularly given and then taken away.

At first glance, these adorable and cute animals might look like they could make a really great pet, especially if you come across a seemingly orphaned squirrel that needs taking care of. Sadly, the older that squirrel gets, the more it will resort to native, wild behaviour, and with the chances of a bite or nip increasing alongside various disease threats, it is probably for the best that you do not introduce a wild animal into your home as a pet, particularly squirrels.

Go back to the Squirrel Removal page, or learn tips to do it yourself with my How to Get Rid of Squirrels guide.

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