Are there any fruits or vegetables that maybe toxic or not good for pet squirrels?
Are there any fruits or vegetables that maybe toxic or not good for pet squirrels?
I am not sure about specific fruits or vegetables, but I do know that FRUIT SEEDS are toxic to small mammals - to many and they can get cyanide poisoning.
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Chocolate isn't a problem for every animal. It's not a problem for rats, so I can't see how it could be a problem for squirrels. My pet rats get a chocolate chip or two (or three) pretty regularly. Rachel (my squirrel) will occasionally take a chocolate chip while I'm giving them to the rats -- she'll also share a little chocolate with me every now and then. The following are two articles about chocolate that appeared in Rat & Mouse Gazette back in 1996.
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/ratchoc.htm
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/chocolate.htm
Rachel's favorite fruit is cherries. I do not pit them for her prior to giving them to her. She eats the seed of some of them (not all) and is a very healthy squirrel. Yes, cherry pits contain cyanide. I don't believe it's enough to harm a squirrel. (Unless that was their entire diet.)
If there is chocolate candy on my kitchen counter and Roxy finds it first, she will fight me for it. So far it hasn't hurt her, but I worry every time she gets into it.
I know with dogs...the darker the chocolate the more poisonous it is to them.
The darker the chocolate the more theobromine it contains. It's definitely a danger for dogs, but not for rats. It hasn't hurt my squirrel.
The above articles are very good. (I didn't write them.)
seeds can be bad. i think blueberries are also bad. long ago my mother tried to give some to some babies- they had dark blue diarrhea for the next week. it was awful. not sure if it's just a baby thing or an all-squirrel thing.
we also had a boy that we gave some banana, and he was dead the next day. we were told banana was ok, but after that we never risked it again.
then there's the worry about pesticides on fruits and veggies. always wash all the produce thoroughly, or buy organic.
that's all i can think of right now....
:bounce2thundersquirrel:bounce2