Camo is on a bad diet

[Lark]

Alright, so I figured I should get some tips on feeding Camo. We are going to release her. I really hope we do not though. She's the sweetest little thing.

Anyway, she mainly eats grapes, acorns, bananas, the occasional peanut and lots and LOTS of junk food.

To give you an idea...

She drinks cold coffee when she finds our coffee cup, candy bars that she tries to steal from our hands, bread with peanut butter, dog food...lots and lots of dog food that she steals from my dog's food bowl, cat food, and more. Basically if she sees us eating something yummy and she is out the cage she gets a little taste of it.

I try to give her carrots. She rolls them around, takes a nibble, then ditches it and begs for something sweeter. She has the ultimate sweet tooth. I've attempted a couple other veggies we had lying around in the fridge, but she prefers fruits and lets the veggies sit and go bad.

[TexanSquirrel]

I'm glad to see you taking the initiative to protect your precious baby's health! I'm sure Gamma will be on before too long and will post a list of healthy foods for you to offer little Camo.:thumbsup

[foxsquirrels]

You need to take a look at our Forum on Squirrel Nutrition. Go to the Forum Jump,click on it and to to Squirrel Nutrition. Camo is NOT on a good diet!!! Metabolic Bone Disease can be deadly to squirrels. MBD is a disease caused from not having enough calcium absorbed into the system. I would really encourage you to try to get her good nutritious food to eat. There are a couple of recipes for squirrel food, from members here that are great. I will try to find and post them for you.

[foxsquirrels]

I'm sorry, I see that you posted under squirrel nutrition. Go to Baby Squirrel ABC's and go down to 'raising infant tree squirrels', there is a list of good nutritious food for your squirrel.

[4skwerlz]

:Welcome to TSB.

Whatever you're eating or drinking, your squirrel will want some. And it's all VERY unhealthy for them. The worst thing about this habit is that, like you said, they develop a taste for all the wrong things and won't eat their healthy foods. Your squirrel must eat mostly rodent block or squirrel blocks. Those should be 70% of his diet, with veggies and natural foods from outdoors making up the rest. That is the ONLY way they can get the nutrition they need. Junk food should only be a tiny bit every once in a while as a special treat. I don't leave any food on the counters. And usually when I eat, I put Henry in his room.

People come to TSB with pet squirrels dying from MBD every week; the danger is very real. So please go to the squirrel nutrition forum and read up. If you have any questions, just ask.

[foxsquirrels]

Here is a little information on Metabolic Bone Disease, it is very serious!

METABOLIC BONE DISEASE

Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) is a deficiency of calcium in a squirrel's diet. It is caused by an improper diet wherein seeds, nuts, and corn are the major, or only, components of a diet. The condition will kill the squirrel. This is not a theory - it is common because some people ignore the warnings, do not follow the dietary instructions, give the animals a diet high in seeds, nuts, and corn, and low in calcium bearing foods. In addition to bone development, calcium is needed for all organic functions, including heart, respiration, blood circulation, muscle, and eyesight. Do not think you and your squirrel will be the exceptions if you feed a diet composed of seeds, nuts, and corn. This deadly diet is often sold in stores under the descriptor Squirrel Feed.

Seeds, nuts, and corn are high in phosphorous and contain low, or no, calcium (almonds and hazelnuts do have a small amount of calcium, but also contain phosphorous). The body needs phosphorous as well as calcium, but when phos ratios exceed calcium ratios, the phos blocks the absorption of calcium, making it unavailable to the body. If one feeds a low amount of high calcium foods, and a high amount of phos foods, it will cause mbd. Therefore, calcium foods must be the major component of the diet. Squirrels love nuts, seeds, and corn and will eat those foods exclusively if given the opportunity. When these foods are the major component of the diet, they are the nutritional equivalent of candy. When given as small portions of a diet, with high calcium foods being the major item on the menu, seeds, nuts, and corn become just one more nutritional element, in this case a positive element. Again: a diet of seeds, nuts, corn will cause metabolic bone disease if they are the major, or only, components of a diet.

Symptoms of MBD: general body soreness, activity levels decline, lethargy, sometimes a drop in appetite, sometimes labored breathing, increasing in severity to seizures and or paralysis, then death if not treated. The symptoms usually manifest around the age of 10 weeks; the caretaker may not see the symptoms, or recognize what he or she is seeing, until the symptoms become severe and the animal goes down. This is the point at which people usually call me crying,
"something is wrong with my baby, he is paralyzed (or having seizures).' Some babies are dying in the person's hands as we talk. This anguish is so preventable if one feeds a high calcium diet.

Treatment for MBD: Get calcium into the squirrel IMMEDIATELY, not later, not tomorrow, NOW. Failure to initiate treatment will kill the squirrel, or at the least, leave him paralyzed and unfit for release. MBD is treatable if identified at the onset of symptoms. The treatment is calcium. When seizures are present rather than paralysis, the symptoms will stop within a few hours once calcium is given, but paralysis will not correct that quickly, if at all. Even if the symptoms are stopped by the onset of teatment, the animal still is not healthy until his body has absorbed enough calcium to repair the damage and function normally.

[Lark]

Will I be able to find those mentioned foods here in my town? (The ones for making the rodent blocks that is) I live in a smallish area and pretty much am limited to what I can get at walmart. We have a Petco opening up (trying to get a job there too) but it won't open until probably November.

I have heard of the Kaytee brand because I feed some seed by that name to my Ringneck doves.

I am going to offer her some of the food I have for my hamsters. It's a hamster/gerbil/rodent food. It is not a veggie diet though. I'll try to find some stuff in the house listed under the veggies and try to find some native foods too. I wish I'd read this message before going to walmart today. *sigh*

And, I am surprised by the number of people getting on my case. 0_o I want a good diet for our little squirrel. You must think I don't care. I do care and that is why I asked on here. I had already read a little about the bone disease. I don't want that to happen! I'm a vet assistant at a local clinic...I love animals. And I definitely want the best for them!

[foxsquirrels]

Anyone who responds to you from TSB is doing so for the health and well-being of your squirrel, not to be on your case.:flash3 :flash3 We understand that alot of people have no idea what is and isn't good for squirrels, that is why we're here. Since they are a wild animal there has not been enough research completed to offer a squirrel diet specific. However, the recommendations listed here are tried and proven.:thumbsup :thumbsup Feel free to ask all the questions you want to, we'll try to help you with your squirrels needs. :poke Please don't feel like we are pressuring you, we do have many members and we all want to help our little squirrel friends lead a happy and healthy life.:) :) :)

[Lark]

Thank you! My mom and I both just went outside and gathered some wild things that we have seen/read on the list that squirrels will eat. She ate a few nibbles off a mushroom and started digging into some water oak acorns. Then she spat them out. I was confused then realized...she isn't being picky...they're just bad nuts! :tilt So, I will be making another trip to my grandmothers to get some fresh nuts from the white oak in her yard. Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood that used to be a loblolly pine tree stand. So, all of our trees are pines and the larger ones are all planted in a row. D: