Need input

[Zoes Mama]

Little miss Zoe LOVES black oild sunflower seeds you feed to birds. I have tried to feed her other things, greens, raw peanuts, etc. But I cant get her to eat much else besides those seeds. Any help would be great..Thanks

[SammysMom]

to the seeds and to peanuts. Here is a link to the healthy diet. There is nothing more important to the health of your squirrel than diet. Please read this like it's gospel and follow it to a tee.
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...-Pet-Squirrels

[farrelli]

Do pay attention to this. I as=ked about diet in the other thread, but we can have the conversation here too. Diet is absolutely key and a bad diet is the cause of probably most of the problems we see. Please follow the guide. Ask any and all questions, especially about rodent blocks. They are totally necessary and we can give you tips about how to get her to eat them if she doesn't like them right off.

[Zoes Mama]

YES PLZ give me input on how to get her to eat the blocks. I have tried the food chart, and she just picks at it barely. SHe turns her nose up to fennel corn. So im trying the right things, and I keep her cage clean so she has no goodies hiding.Shes a smart one!

[HappyLittleSquirrely]

I wanted to add, I'm in the same situation with one of mine. He used to eat them if i crushed them up with avocado. Now he refuses them in any form. I started soaking almonds in water then dusting them with Henry vitamins. Last 3 days I've been starving him in the mornings thru mid day except for only healthy block and veggies. He's not hip to that jive, but he can go hungry. I refuse to have to deal with another squirrel with MBD. It's really hard, because it seems that there's nothing more natural than a squirrel running around with a nut in his mouth. Going to take awhile to turn this ship around.

[SammysMom]

My Sammy is the King of Picky Eaters! I had to suffer through giving him NOTHING except HHBs and his water bottle for days in order to get him to agree to eat them. Every day is an uphill battle. I start him out with his 2 Picky formula HHBs and AFTER he eats those or at least most of them, he gets a salad made up of only good veggies. Late in the afternoon he can have other things as treats, but he isn't even really motivated by nuts except he likes to hide them around the house or open them and leave them on the living room rug

[HappyLittleSquirrely]

My Sammy is the King of Picky Eaters! I had to suffer through giving him NOTHING except HHBs and his water bottle for days in order to get him to agree to eat them. Every day is an uphill battle. I start him out with his 2 Picky formula HHBs and AFTER he eats those or at least most of them, he gets a salad made up of only good veggies. Late in the afternoon he can have other things as treats, but he isn't even really motivated by nuts except he likes to hide them around the house or open them and leave them on the living room rug

That's strange his indifference to nuts.Both of mine seem to thinks it's their job to carry nuts in their mouth all day. As soon as i give them a Nut of some sort,their personality changes,not in a good way either. I'm lucky LoLa likes her blocks somewhat and boo balls. Shes not that big a fan of veggies and water though. Everyone's different i guess.

[Otech Gma]

Have you tried the "boo ball" recipies on here. We found it more tolerable, freeze well ,can serve cold.

[Cesta]

Boo balls have been life savers for me. My Jasper is not a picky eater-- he likes almost all veggies and fruit, but he doesn't like HHB's. He does LOVE boo balls. Because they're made with both HHB's and Esbilac I don't worry about MBD. Today I made a batch with full fat vanilla yogurt instead of the baby food fruit and he loves them. More calcium!

Like others here, he starts his day with only HHB's in boo ball form. When he's eaten them, he can have other foods. In the late afternoon, I give a couple more boo balls. He is happy and healthy. I feed very few nuts (there are pecans in the HHB's and even more in the boo balls.) I stick closely to the squirrel nutrition chart to make sure he's getting what he needs and not 'junk food'. I have to watch my husband though, he likes to feed him peanuts when I'm not looking.

[Zoes Mama]

Im new to being a mama squirrel. You all keep mentioning MBD? What is that? Lord knows I dont want my little Zoe getting sick. She healthy now, but dont want to do something wrong to hurt her. I would feel aweful

[SammysMom]

MBD is metabolic bone disease. It is a condition caused by a lack of calcium that causes the calcium from their bones to be used by their bodies. It is a very painful condition that causes their bones to become very brittle. Almost hollow and easily broken. You MUST follow the healthy diet or you will almost certainly be dealing with this issue. I came to TSB because my Sammy had developed MBD because I did not know that nuts and seeds were the enemy and not real food for them. TSB saved him with their info and it was not easy, but it taught me a very valuable lesson. I was lucky enough to be able to turn it around. You are lucky enough to be able to avoid it entirely. It is the most important thing you will ever do for your squirrel!!!

[SammysMom]

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...sease-symptoms

[island rehabber]

[Zoes Mama]

Thank you Sammysmom for the information ......calcium, calcium, calcium

not sure why the other post was put on there. Im VERY aware of taking care of ALL my animals, and vet costs

[SammysMom]

No ZM! That is just Island Reahabber's signature. She was just saying that what I posted was good info. Nothing personal. We all know that you are here asking questions because you want information. We have all been in your shoes!
Calcium is needed, but remember that too much is also not a good thing. Follow the healthy diet and know that it works!

[farrelli]

Lots of people have had this fight. You just have to try all kinds of things until you find the winner. Some people put cherry juice on them, some blueberry juice, some a bit of olive oil, some serve them warm, some cold, some sliced, etc. Boo balls are also great, as mentioned.

[rottilvr79]

For what it's worth, my kids seem to like the Henry's Wild Bites better than baby and adult formulas, and wouldn't touch the Picky Eater formula. I asked them and they said all of their formulas have the same good balance of nutrients, minerals, ect. So, it may be worth it to try out the different formulas and see which ones each baby likes the best. My kids also love their Peanut Sticks, which have added calcium.

[farrelli]

I would contact Henry's and ask about the wild bites being OK as a steady diet for an indor sq. I don't know about their calcium-phosphorous balance.

[SammysMom]

They are just fine! I never knew it until leigh told me too. They are all the same nutritionally. So, whichever they like is fine! I give a variety to keep it intereesting. For babies the extra protein is best, but if they wont eat them, perhaps adding protein elsewhere in their diet is the answer.

[island rehabber]

Just to chime in here, yes all the blocks have equal nutrients and cal-phos ratio. It's just a matter of picking the most appropriate block that your particular squee will actually eat. Oddly enough, my adult NR will eat any block you put in front of her -- Adult, Picky, Wild Bite -- but my overwintering 3+ month-olds got bored of everything except the Wild Bites so far. Squirrels.

Note to Zoes Mama -- sorry my signature confused you!
Someone here years ago had the funny signature of "Everything in this post is misspelled", which of course appeared at the bottom of every one of his posts. Well, another member was feeling a bit sensitive one day and, when he replied to her for the first time, she "screamed" at him that she "DID NOT MISSPELL A SINGLE DAMN WORD, MISTER, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!" poor guy didn't know what hit him.