Knothead

[virgo062]

When I went to clean Knotheads cage I found that he is NOT eating his healthy blocks AT ALL They are hid all over the cage. Also last night he had a nightmare. I heard him in his cage around 10:00 when I went in there he was all crazy looking and jumping all over his cage. I reached in for him and he jumped on me and just went WILD. It took me several minutes to calm him. Scared the bezeeves out of me I though he was having a seizure. His head was all extended and stiff like he use to do when he was younger

[Jackie in Tampa]

how is the rest of his diet/eating habits?
I would get some calcium into him now...
one of the tell tale signs of onset MBD is paranoid actions...
I call it 'fragile minded'...
i know from my experiences that anything can bring them to seizure mode...a light switched on , a loud noise...be very careful and if he does start to seize, have molasses or log cabin on hand for rubbing on his gums...also a calcium paste will work wonders if he is low...anything with calcium, just get some calcium into him asap!
sorry your monster isn't eating his blocks...time to remove his nut stash and get him on track!
4skwerls or i will be happy to help with anything we can ...

KNOTHEAD...straighten up buddy! start eating your blocks!

[Nancy in New York]

When I went to clean Knotheads cage I found that he is NOT eating his healthy blocks AT ALL They are hid all over the cage. Also last night he had a nightmare. I heard him in his cage around 10:00 when I went in there he was all crazy looking and jumping all over his cage. I reached in for him and he jumped on me and just went WILD. It took me several minutes to calm him. Scared the bezeeves out of me I though he was having a seizure. His head was all extended and stiff like he use to do when he was younger

I wonder if he heard something outside? Poor baby, I bet that did scare you. I think it's CritterMom that makes a slurry out of the block crumbs that Mr. P eats. I will look in her thread later to see what it consists of...I know that it's the blocks all ground up and formula, but I'm not sure if that's the only thing.
Kiss little KH for me

[virgo062]

[QUOTE=Jackie in Tampa]how is the rest of his diet/eating habits?

[SIZE=4]

He gets a variety of veggies twice a day..Mushrooms, cucumbers, squash, radishes, kale, broccoli, cauliflower but truth be told he just nibbles at all of them. he sort of a scrawny squirrel so I really don't think he eats much. He does get tums almost daily and pecans and walnuts. How long do these HB last in the fridge? I've had them for about a month. Once I got him calmed with the pinchy cheekums he went right back to sleep

[keetz1205]

Virgo,

My chicklet had what I figured was a nightmare one night while sleeping on my lap while I was reading a book. There were no sudden movements, loud noises or anything. All of sudden she just "screamed", got up and starting running around me like she was Mr. Hyde! I grabbed her and just held her tight to my chest (she likes my heart beat for some reason), and petted her cheeks and she fell right back to sleep and was fine. Wonder what they dream about? Hawks swooping at them?

She was VERY hard-headed when it came to getting her started on HHBs because before I got "smartened" up by this board - she could basically eat whatever she chose. 4Skwerlz states that it's usually 5 days before the most pickiest squirrels will start to eat the HHBs. Of course my little knucklhead went 8 whole days without eating anything! I had her cage completely cleaned out and only fed her the HHBs. She wouldn't even touch them. She threw them out of the cage at the dogs! She would scour the floor, me, and the dogs for anything to eat but never found anything. Everytime the fridge door would open she'd be climbing in it trying to steal a grape. It took 8 LONNNNNG days of me not giving in (hardest thing I ever had to do) until she finally started eating the HHBs. After she ate them for a whole week - only then did I add veggies (which she's still not thrilled about and I've tried them all). Nuts and fruits as treats came after two full weeks of her eating HHBs. It was hard starving her for those 8 days but at least I know she will never suffer nutritional defects!

Good luck and I promise you - this is HARD!!! Darn little fuzzbutts - who would think that they could be so pig-headed!

[JLM27]

That Knothead! Nothing but HHB's and water for him! Oh yeah, and hugs and kisses. oxoxoxoxo What a brat!

[JLM27]

Try smearing a little molasses and almond butter on them.

[virgo062]

The problem here is that I am a enabler wish Jackie lived closer so I could drop my problem off at her doorstep and she could get Knothead all adjusted and send him back to me...Water and HHB'S since my blocks are over 30 days old should I order fresh ones? Water and HHB's sounds like Prison food

[Jackie in Tampa]

Virgo,

My chicklet had what I figured was a nightmare one night while sleeping on my lap while I was reading a book. There were no sudden movements, loud noises or anything. All of sudden she just "screamed", got up and starting running around me like she was Mr. Hyde! I grabbed her and just held her tight to my chest (she likes my heart beat for some reason), and petted her cheeks and she fell right back to sleep and was fine. Wonder what they dream about? Hawks swooping at them?

She was VERY hard-headed when it came to getting her started on HHBs because before I got "smartened" up by this board - she could basically eat whatever she chose. 4Skwerlz states that it's usually 5 days before the most pickiest squirrels will start to eat the HHBs. Of course my little knucklhead went 8 whole days without eating anything! I had her cage completely cleaned out and only fed her the HHBs. She wouldn't even touch them. She threw them out of the cage at the dogs! She would scour the floor, me, and the dogs for anything to eat but never found anything. Everytime the fridge door would open she'd be climbing in it trying to steal a grape. It took 8 LONNNNNG days of me not giving in (hardest thing I ever had to do) until she finally started eating the HHBs. After she ate them for a whole week - only then did I add veggies (which she's still not thrilled about and I've tried them all). Nuts and fruits as treats came after two full weeks of her eating HHBs. It was hard starving her for those 8 days but at least I know she will never suffer nutritional defects!

Good luck and I promise you - this is HARD!!! Darn little fuzzbutts - who would think that they could be so pig-headed!

[Jackie in Tampa]

OhLord...I am not a whisperer...just a big walnut on legs...skinney legs at that!
It may have BEEN just a nightmare/dream, or like NIN stated, he may have heard something prowling outside, hope so...but he must have his calcium! and pushing it will be a forever thing...they will die without it and a painful death at that!
I know you know all this already, from reading all the sad threads where sqs succumb to MBD...and Knothead ain't going there!!!!!
so You are the momma and must make him eat well...just like we do our kids, and we ll know junk food sucks! no McJunk food for our sq kids!
IMO...tums should not be given daily as a calcium source, nothing wrong with having it available, but the D vitamins are needed to metabolize the elemental calcium and that is not found in tums...and sugar is...
yes...order some fresh new blocks and keep them in the freezer...they last longer staying fresh and soft!
Leigh also has a vitamin mix that I sprinkle on veggies for my problem sqs...the bad eaters! the toothless wonders and MBD sqs in recovery!
hey Knothead...get with the program buddy!

[CritterMom]

Lots of foot tickles if you don't knock this off, Knothead!

I would definitely get some straight calcium into him now. And there is likely no way he is going to eat the HHBs if you keep also giving him nuts. He knows he can hold out for the junk food, and that you will oblige.

Do you have any FV or Esbilac? Grind up the HHBs - a coffee grinder works great. Mix up some formula. Start adding the HHB "powder" to the formula until it is a sort of sloppy slurry, but with plenty of solids (the HHBs). I add a little dollop of almond butter to it for taste, and then heat it as I would formula over warm water. Once warmed, the almond butter will melt into the mixture. If he doesn't like, add some molasses to sweeten it. This is a pretty turbocharged mix of chow - fortified HHBs plus fortified formula, and should give him a pretty good jump start.

When you are pretty sure there is nothing in the way of siezures, etc., you are going to have to be a hard*ss with the little monster. I would cut the HHBs into slightly smaller pieces and use the almond butter again. Don't just smear it on the outside; use a finger and mash and push it into the pores of the HHB so he has to do some chewing to get all the yummies. And...

NO NUTS. NONE. He needs to start eating this stuff or you are going to have a real sad story here. Tough love, Mom. Once he starts to actually EAT the HHBs, you still have to be tough and not let him have any nuts until he has finished them each day.

I am really lucky with Mister P, but it is because I was pretty tough on him as a baby. He never even got cheerios - his first introduction to solid food was the Zupreem primate biscuits, followed soon by HHBs. Now he plows through his HHBs and also loves the Harlan Teklad blocks. It is hard work getting them to eat healthy once they have discovered junk food!

[virgo062]

I do have Esbilic...At lunch I will try and find a coffe grinder. This will start tonight. The other night he did shred one HB to pieces. I can't believe this little fool has been hiding these for days.

[CritterMom]

I do have Esbilic...At lunch I will try and find a coffe grinder. This will start tonight. The other night he did shred one HB to pieces. I can't believe this little fool has been hiding these for days.

You could probably use a blender, and a food processer would certainly work. Someone gave me a little tiny coffee grinder once - I think it is a Braun - and I have been using it to grind stuff for critters ever since - never have used it for coffee! If you are good with a chopping knife you can mill through them that way but it takes a bit and if you aren't good with a knife, well, lets not go there! Pick up some molasses, too. Read the labels - all molasses has calcium in it (yay!) but I think the darker the molasses the more calcium. That way it isn't just sweet - it is actually bringing something to the table that he needs.

Here is a hint for staying strong:

DON'T LOOK DIRECTLY INTO HIS EYES!!!

[keetz1205]

I can't believe this little fool has been hiding these for days.



Stay strong Sister!!!

[mugzeezma]

They All hide them, You kidding?
That or Pee on them and throw them to the dogs.
I have been chopping Mugzi's into quarters.
Read our thread about the bald back sq
I am posting our trials daily
I guess I am a Cream Puff too
I cut them into quarters and smear them with honey.
He is FRANTICALLY hungry right now
I will try the molasses too

HEY what about Hershey's Syrup! Mugzi is a chocoholic

[virgo062]

Here is a hint for staying strong:

DON'T LOOK DIRECTLY INTO HIS EYES!!!

I know I know...I will turn to stone

[tomcics]

Poor Knothead, no more pizza before bed. If someone could come up with a way to put those healthy blocks into a shell, maybe they would like them more.

[Secret Squirrel]

....also don't let the pouty lip trip you into submission either.....