Are Squirrels Good Pets?

How often have you looked up into the trees, and watched an adorable little furry critter bouncing about from branch-to-branch? Squirrels are naturally curious, equipped with bushy tails, tiny squeaks, and a velvety, silky coat that seems perfect for petting and snuggling up with. So many people have looked at the squirrels scavenging through the yard and thought to themselves “I would love to have a squirrel as a pet!”

Now, don’t get me wrong, squirrels are so sweet. They’re cute and charming, and playful, everything you might want in a unique pet. I’ve met several people who hope to find a baby squirrel that they can raise into a pet. Speaking as someone who has helped to foster baby squirrels in the past, and is currently raising two sweet baby squirrely boys that fell from the nest and were abandoned, allow me to answer the question:

Should you get a squirrel as a pet?

In short, no. If you enjoy being away from the house for longer than two hours, going on vacation, having intact furniture, wires, and plastic items, or having new people over to your house, a squirrel is not the pet that you want. Squirrels are high maintenance, and when you consider just how much energy they have while scampering about in nature, think about how that will transfer over in the small space of the home (when compared to nature especially.) They’re also very high stress animals; if you leave them in a cage all the time, they’re going to become stressed, sometimes to the point of causing themselves harm. Depending on the breed of squirrel, you can even find yourself or company in your home under attack if the squirrel feels that you’ve abandoned them for too long, or if they’re unfamiliar with new people that you’re bringing around.

Squirrels may be adorable, but they’re still wild animals. Think about other wild animals, like coyotes, lynx, foxes, etc. Even if you raise it from early on, they still have natural, wild instincts that don’t simply go away because they were hand-reared by a human in an enclosed space. A squirrel will follow their natural impulse to chew on anything they can, get into the little nooks, spaces, and holes so that they can burrow, and dig into any houseplants that may be around so that they can follow their natural impulse to bury their food. They can be territorial of their space and their humans, making it difficult to be anything but a stay-at-home squirrel parent. While it’s possible to litter train them up to a degree, they’re still going to be inclined to empty their bowels and bladders with abandon as they run about.

Is it legal to own a squirrel?

In the majority of places, it’s illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet. Some areas will allow you a special license that makes it legal to keep a pet squirrel, but in general, unless the squirrel is injured or deformed in a way that makes it impossible for them to survive in the wild, it’s best to let them be.

In Canada, it is provincially and federally illegal to own a squirrel as a pet. In incredibly rare situations, you may be issued a permit that allows you to keep your squirrel as a pet, but this is given to a very select few, typically those who are in wildlife professions.

In the United States, there are a few states that will allow for you to have a pet squirrel legally, although certain states have particular requirements that must be met in order to house a legal pet squirrel.

States That Have No Permit Requirements:

Arkansas

Delaware

Florida (This may be debatable, as exotic pets are named as legal, but squirrels are not specifically mentioned.)

Idaho

Massachusetts

Michigan

New Jersey

New Mexico

Oklahoma

South Carolina

Utah

West Virginia

Wyoming

States That Require Permits and Licenses:

Indiana

Maine

Wisconsin

States With Special Conditions For Keeping Squirrels:

Montana: The only squirrels that can be kept as pets are flying squirrels. Tree and ground squirrels may not be kept in captivity.

Nebraska: A squirrel may only be kept as a pet if it was bred and raised in captivity.

Tennessee: Requires a special TWRA permit that allows for you to legally keep a pet squirrel, but it must be purchased from a reputable breeder from a state that legally allows for squirrels to be kept and bred as pets. Squirrels from the wild are not permitted as pets.

In the remainder of the United States and the District of Columbia, owning a pet as a squirrel is illegal.

Final Thoughts…

As someone who fosters squirrels to be wilded and released once they are self-sustainable, I can understand why you might want to keep a squirrel in your home as a pet, especially if you’ve put in the work to raise and protect them. It can feel like sending them out to a death sentence: In the wild, the life expectancy of squirrels can be around 2–5 years. In captivity, they live as long as cats, living for 15–20 years. It’s easy to become attached to them, wanting to give them long and fruitful lives away from the realities of nature.

What we need to keep in mind is the quality of life. Squirrels have very particular needs; you can’t raise them like you would a hamster or a cat. While they may live a long life while in captivity, this doesn’t guarantee that it’s necessarily a happy life. In nature, they’ll be susceptible to predators and traffic; in the home, they’ll be susceptible to getting into poisons and cleaners, trapped in walls, or electrocuted when they reach the wrong wire and choose to chew. We want to give wild animals the life they deserve to live: free, wild, and following their natural instincts. Nature isn’t always kind or pretty, but we can at the very least give these precious animals the best chance at survival as we can, and allow nature to take it’s course.