When Do Baby Squirrels Leave the Nest? Week by Week
Kits first come out at six or seven weeks and are independent by three months. The timeline, and how to tell an orphan from one that is fine.
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On this page
Six to seven weeks for the first trip out, three to four months to independence. And the single most useful thing on this page: a furred squirrel with open eyes on the ground is usually fine.
The timeline
| Age | Stage |
|---|---|
| Birth | Blind, deaf, hairless, ~1 in, pink |
| 1–2 weeks | Fine fur coming in, still helpless |
| 3–4 weeks | Ear canals open, fur thickening, lower teeth in |
| 4 weeks | Eyes open |
| 5 weeks | Fully furred, climbing inside the nest |
| 6–7 weeks | First trips outside — short, close, supervised |
| 8–9 weeks | Exploring further, starting solid food |
| 10–12 weeks | Weaned |
| 3–4 months | Independent, dispersing |
By season: a winter-bred litter (born late February to March) is out exploring in April or May. A summer litter (born July to August) is out in September or October.
Before any of that
Gestation is about 44 days in grey and fox squirrels — 38 or so in reds, around 40 in flying squirrels. Two to four kits is the usual litter, occasionally more.
The mother raises them alone. The male leaves after mating and contributes nothing, which is why every decision about a disturbed nest is hers to make.
She will also move a litter — carrying kits one at a time by the scruff — if the nest is disturbed, flea-ridden or found by a predator. Most people who see this assume something is wrong. Usually it is her fixing something.
Found one on the ground
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Hairless or eyes closed | Too young. Needs help |
| Cold, limp, weak | Needs help |
| Bleeding, fly eggs, caught by a cat | Needs help — urgently |
| Obvious injury, dragging a limb | Needs help |
| Furred, eyes open, alert, moving | Probably fine. Watch from a distance |
| Following you, climbing your leg | Hungry — mother may be gone. Watch, then call |
A fledgling squirrel on the ground is a normal stage, in the same way a fledgling bird is. It is learning, it is clumsy, and the mother is generally closer than you think.
Watch before acting, for a full two hours
Go inside, keep cats and dogs in, keep children away, and watch from a window. Mothers do not approach while people stand nearby.
Most “orphans” are collected within the hour by a mother who was waiting for you to leave.
Reuniting
The myth that handling makes a mother reject her young is not true for squirrels. Reuniting is almost always the best outcome, because she is a far better carer than anyone reading this.
- Warm the kit first. She will not collect a cold one. A bottle of warm water wrapped in a cloth, or a rice sock, under a soft towel in a box
- Place the box at the base of the tree, open, in sight of where it fell
- Withdraw completely. Inside, out of view
- Keep cats and dogs in
- Watch for two hours. Longer if it is warm and the kit is safe
- If the nest tree came down, fix the box to the trunk a few feet up, or to a neighbouring tree, so she can retrieve them
- If nobody comes, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator
Do not feed a baby squirrel
Cow’s milk, formula, water from a dropper and kitten milk all cause serious harm — aspiration pneumonia, fatal diarrhoea, metabolic bone disease. A cold kit cannot digest anything at all.
Warmth, dark, quiet, and a phone call to a rehabilitator. That is the whole of the correct first aid.
Raising one yourself is also illegal in most US states without a permit, and a hand-raised squirrel released later usually does badly — it has no fear of dogs, cats or people.
Nests in your roof
The same calendar explains the noise in the ceiling.
- Scratching in late February or March — a winter litter
- Again in July or August — a summer one
- By six to seven weeks you will hear them moving around the whole space
Do not seal an entry hole while kits are inside. They die in the cavity, and the mother chews new holes trying to get back to them.
The workable sequence: wait until the young are mobile at seven or eight weeks, use a one-way exclusion door so the family leaves and cannot return, then seal properly with half-inch hardware cloth. Better still, do the proofing in autumn, between the two seasons, when no litter is in residence.
After they leave
Kits disperse at three to four months, but “leaving” is looser than it sounds. Females often settle close to where they were born, sometimes in a neighbouring tree; young males travel further. Siblings frequently share a drey through their first winter for warmth.
The gap between the arithmetic and reality is mortality: more than half do not survive their first year. A squirrel that gets past it can live six or more, and that is the number the two breeding seasons are compensating for.
Our picks
| # | Pick | Best for | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puppy or kitten milk replacer (powdered) | What a found nestling actually needs first | Check price for Puppy or kitten milk replacer (powdered) → |
| 2 | Feeding syringe set, 1 ml and 3 ml | For the first hours before help arrives | Check price for Feeding syringe set, 1 ml and 3 ml → |
| 3 | Heat pad with no auto shut-off | The thing a cold nestling needs before food | Check price for Heat pad with no auto shut-off → |
What a found nestling actually needs first
Puppy or kitten milk replacer (powdered)
Keep it unopened if you have squirrels nesting nearby. The time you need it, the shops are shut and cow's milk will kill the animal.
- Use
- Only on advice of a rehabilitator
- Never
- Cow's milk, which causes fatal diarrhoea
- Mix
- Powdered keeps; liquid spoils fast
What we liked
- The only widely sold formula close to what a rehabilitator will advise
- Powdered form stores until needed, which matters for an emergency
- Cheap enough to keep unopened as a precaution
Worth knowing
- Wrong dilution causes bloat, and the ratio depends on age
- No substitute for calling a licensed rehabilitator first
For the first hours before help arrives
Feeding syringe set, 1 ml and 3 ml
Cheap, and the difference between feeding a nestling and drowning it. Go slower than feels right.
- Size
- 1 ml for under 4 weeks, 3 ml after
- Tip
- Slip tip, no needle
What we liked
- Controls the flow, which is what prevents aspiration
- Graduated, so an amount can be reported to a rehabilitator accurately
Worth knowing
- Too fast a push puts formula into the lungs; this is the commonest way a rescue goes wrong
The thing a cold nestling needs before food
Heat pad with no auto shut-off
Warm before fed, every time. A nestling fed cold usually dies of it, and that is the single most common mistake in an amateur rescue.
- Critical
- Must not auto-shut-off
- Placement
- Under half the box only
- Why
- A chilled squirrel cannot digest
What we liked
- Half-under placement lets the animal move off the heat
- Without warmth, formula ferments in the gut rather than being digested
Worth knowing
- Household pads that shut off after two hours are actively dangerous here
- Direct contact burns; it goes under the box, never in it
Common questions
When do baby squirrels leave the nest?
How long are squirrels pregnant?
When do baby squirrels open their eyes?
I found a baby squirrel on the ground — what should I do?
Will a mother squirrel take a baby back after a human touches it?
How long do baby squirrels stay with their mother?
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