Flying Squirrel Care Guide

The southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) is a 2 oz (about 60 g) gliding squirrel native to forests across the eastern half of the United States (Animal Diversity Web). The fact that it is native wildlife, not a domesticated or imported pet species, shapes everything about keeping one: several states ban it as a pet or require a wildlife permit with inspected caging. Where it is legal, it suits only someone who is awake and available at night and who will keep more than one.

A note on sources: authoritative pet-husbandry sources for flying squirrels are thin, and there is no veterinary care sheet comparable to those for ferrets or rabbits. Biology on this page comes from Animal Diversity Web. The only housing specification found is Indiana’s permit rule. Hobbyist feeding plans and supplement doses are not repeated here because no authoritative source supports them.

Care requirements

Need	What to provide
Enclosure	No published veterinary minimum. Indiana permit rules require climbing perches, nest boxes with shavings, and mesh no larger than ¾ in (1.9 cm) or 1 × ½ in (2.5 × 1.3 cm) (Indiana Department of Natural Resources)
Temperature	No published pet range. Wild squirrels huddle in shared nests in winter and go into torpor in severe cold (Animal Diversity Web)
Lighting	Normal day/night cycle. Strictly nocturnal and active all night, emerging at sunset (Animal Diversity Web)
Diet	Omnivore and one of the most carnivorous squirrels: insects, nuts, seeds, berries, bird eggs and carrion in the wild. No authoritative captive proportions (Animal Diversity Web)
Lifespan	About 10 years in captivity, up to 19; 3–5 years in the wild (Animal Diversity Web)
Social needs	Extremely sociable: about 5 per nest in summer and up to 20 in winter (Animal Diversity Web)
Legal notes	Banned as pets in Georgia; permit required in Indiana; Delaware prohibits keeping native species as pets. Rules vary widely by state (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division; Indiana Department of Natural Resources; Delaware Department of Agriculture)

Check the law first

Because southern flying squirrels are native across the eastern US, state wildlife law usually applies. Three examples from state agencies:

• Georgia lists the flying squirrel among native species that “may not be held as a pet regardless of its origin or morphology”. Captive-bred animals are covered too (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division).
• Indiana lists Glaucomys volans as a Class I wild animal that needs a wild animal possession permit. The rules set cage standards, and a conservation officer can inspect the cage (Indiana Department of Natural Resources).
• Delaware says species native to the state are regulated by its natural resources department and “prohibited from being owned as a pet” (Delaware Department of Agriculture).

Other states take different approaches, so read your own state wildlife agency’s rules. Taking a squirrel from the wild, including a “rescued” baby, is a separate legal question from buying a captive-bred animal. Check both.

What the biology says about housing

Flying squirrels nest in tree cavities, old woodpecker holes, leaf nests and nest boxes (Animal Diversity Web). Captive housing therefore centres on enclosed nest boxes placed high up. Indiana’s permit rules require nest boxes with wood shavings or another approved material. They glide by spreading a furred membrane between their front and hind legs. Typical glides are 20–30 ft (6–9 m) and the longest about 92 ft (28 m) (Animal Diversity Web). No cage lets them do that, so they need height, branches to climb and jump between, and safe, supervised out-of-cage time.

Mesh matters for an animal this small. Indiana’s maximum for flying squirrels, ¾ in or 1 × ½ in, is tighter than its 1 in limit for gray and fox squirrels (Indiana Department of Natural Resources). In autumn, wild squirrels cache nuts in crevices around the nest (Animal Diversity Web), so expect yours to hoard food in the nest box and check it for spoiled food.

Feeding an unusually carnivorous squirrel

Animal Diversity Web describes southern flying squirrels as among the most carnivorous members of the squirrel family. Their main foods are insects (including wood-boring beetles), nuts, bird eggs, berries, carrion and seeds, and they also take nestlings, blossoms, buds, fungi, lichen and bark. A nut-and-seed-only diet, which many people assume suits a squirrel, leaves out the animal protein this species eats in the wild.

Hobbyist guides commonly stress calcium for captive flying squirrels. No veterinary source supports a specific supplement plan or ratio, so set the diet and any supplements with an exotics vet who treats squirrels.

Gotchas

• Assuming it’s legal because a breeder sells them. In Georgia even captive-bred flying squirrels can’t be kept as pets (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division).
• Buying just one. Wild southern flying squirrels share nests with five to 20 others (Animal Diversity Web). A lone animal depends entirely on you, and only at night.
• Expecting daytime company. They are strictly nocturnal (Animal Diversity Web).
• Ignoring disease risk. Southern flying squirrels are the only known animal carriers of Rickettsia prowazekii, the cause of epidemic typhus, apart from lice and humans. About a third of 39 US cases with no lice exposure had contact with these squirrels or their nests (Animal Diversity Web). Clean nest boxes with gloves and wash your hands.
• Cage mesh that’s too wide. A 2 oz squirrel can squeeze through mesh sized for larger squirrels (Indiana Department of Natural Resources).

Avoid

• Keeping one where state law prohibits it, or without the required permit (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division; Indiana Department of Natural Resources)
• Taking squirrels or babies from the wild
• Cage mesh wider than ¾ in (1.9 cm) (Indiana Department of Natural Resources)
• Housing a single squirrel long-term (Animal Diversity Web)
• Handling nests and bedding without gloves and handwashing (Animal Diversity Web)
• Unsupervised time loose in the house: an animal that glides and squeezes through small gaps is easily lost or injured