My babies won't eat their protein foods...

[lizharrell1]

My two flyers, Jack and Tippy, almost 9 weeks old, wont eat the foods that provide them with protein.....mealworms, nope. Chicken, nope (I have even tried baby food chicken). They also won't touch avocado or their FV formula offered in a dish (they make a big mess with the formula but won't drink it). I have been sprinkling FV powder on their yogurt. Now yogurt, they LOVE. Pecans or walnuts, but I really limit those. Veggies, not sure how much they are eating or hiding. They like some fruits such as apple, peeled grapes, banana, kiwi and they were both just given a blueberry (Tippy is eating hers, Jack is creating a crime scene with his:shakehead ) Any suggestions? I offer them a wide variety of fruits and veggies and blocks (which they REALLY don't like) but how do I get more protein in these babies?

[rygel1hardt]

Try wax worms for protein, my flyers all loved them and so do my greys, and foxers. I got mine from petco or some bait shops also have them. Have you tried mushrooms on your flyers yet? Stacey

[lizharrell1]

Yeah, mushrooms are a no go for them too:shakehead I have tried the mealworms so maybe I will get the waxworms next.

[Legomom]

Are they eating blocks at all? Take away the sweet stuff, mom. Give them ONLY the stuff that's good for them. They won't let themselves starve. Tough love. :thumbsup

Keep in mind, flyers don't eat anywhere near as much as grays do. Teddy's bowl is probably 1/4 (if not less than) of what I give Christine.

[pappy1264]

WAXWORMS! (You MAY need to cut the head off one first to get them started, but they WILL love them, trust me!!!) Jett devours them, although when I first offered it, she didn't seem to know what to do with it...lol So I cut the head off with scissors and that was all it took! Only had to do that once! Now, you walk by her cage and she is up, a little arm will reach out and grab you 'got any bugs?' lol Jett will not eat mealies, fyi.

[lizharrell1]

Okay, tried the mealworms tonight AGAIN. This time, Jack grabbed one then looked at me like "where have THESE been all my life":shakehead He happily crunched away. Tippy, grabbed one then promptly hid it in her "stash". Of course, it crawled away, and when she went back to check, it was gone. She searched for it, grabbed it, put it BACK in her stash, where it crawled away again. This is going to be a LONG night!:shakehead Lego, I offer them VERY limited sweets (fruits) and plenty of veggies and blocks. Looks like they are just shredding the blocks, not sure it they are actually eating them. They love their yogurt though. How much yogurt is TOO much? They like sugar snap peas, and I cut up small pieces and one pea seems to last a couple of days. I put VERY small amounts of food in their cage (compared to greys). They seem to pick and choose. I am just worried about them not getting the proper nutrition. Can't believe they don't like avocado. And can't believe they are so anti-fox valley.

[lizharrell1]

WAXWORMS! (You MAY need to cut the head off one first to get them started, but they WILL love them, trust me!!!) Jett devours them, although when I first offered it, she didn't seem to know what to do with it...lol So I cut the head off with scissors and that was all it took! Only had to do that once! Now, you walk by her cage and she is up, a little arm will reach out and grab you 'got any bugs?' lol Jett will not eat mealies, fyi.
What is the difference between wax worms and mealworms? Are the wax worms the really FAT worms

[mugzeezma]

What is the difference between wax worms and mealworms? Are the wax worms the really FAT worms
Yes they are actually very fatty too. They are half an inch long or more, thicker, softer and whitish. Superworms might be good too. They are bigger and plump and soft.

[LittleFootsMama]

Yes they are actually very fatty too. They are half an inch long or more, thicker, softer and whitish. Superworms might be good too. They are bigger and plump and soft.

Ugh, super worms give me the super willies ./shiver

[gs1]

omg.. tippy and her wondering worm... i shouldn't laugh...worms have feelings too....

one of the worms i can't remember ... you have to cut off the heads ... i'm thinking it's because they can bite....

the flyer forum would have more info on this ....

but protien for flyers is 100% essential .... they need it more than greys...

(ok .. sorry ...probably preaching to the converted... but it's as important to them as water is to us.... they can die without enough protien...)

:Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

[Kristal]

Hmm, I keep a compost full of red wriggler worms.... but those are useful!

[muffinsquirrel]

Have you tried them on the freeze dried chicken? It's a dog treat, 100% white meat chicken, and mine love it. I finally bought an enormous can of freezr dried chicken from one of the camping type stores online, It wasn't cheap, but in the long run is a lot cheaper than paying those big prices for those tiny bags at Petsmart. Oh, and don't forget chicken leg bones - mine go crazy over them, too.

muffinsquirrel

[Kristal]

Can I just try giving them some chicken or cheese :dono?

[gs1]

Can I just try giving them some chicken or cheese :dono?

kristal...do you have flyers????

i thought you had greys... if so ... they also love meal worms etc ... and maybe you do need to cut off the heads of the worms or not... i don't know...

if you have flyers then they really, really need protein/meat ...much more than greys....

and yes... chicken breast if boiled/roasted plain etc.. cut in tiny pieces should be fine... and read muffinsquirrels posts... she's the 'grand dame' of the flyer world...:D

cheese .. i'm not so sure about ..are they lactose tolerant etc... not as natural to them as eating baby birds or worms are...

your red wigglers are indoor compost worms???? you compost inside??? i'm so enthralled with this idea.... as in 'the worms ate my garbage' .

[muffinsquirrel]

You can try them on bites of cooked chicken - some will eat it - some won't. Same with cheese. I will sprinkle some shredded cheese over my flyer's dinner sometimes, but they don't seem too impressed. Pick up a small bag of freeze dried chicken next time you're in PetSmart and see if they like it. I have to buy the 'industrial size' containers because I feed so many flyers, but normal, sane people should do fine getting the dog treat ones. :D And catch those babies some bugs - moths, grasshoppers, June bugs, etc. Mine like grub worms, too, but they don't get them unless someone else feeds them - I won't touch the ugly things....they look like they would love nothing more than to jump up and sink their teeth into your throat!!!

muffinsquirrel

[wildlife ma]

I'm reading with interest that flyers will eat chicken and chicken bones! I will try this the next time I get some flyers to rehab. I "grow" mealworms for my bluebirds and also give them to the flyers. Most of them love them.

[lizharrell1]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Just got back from Petsmart (which is an hour away from me). Picked up the freeze dried chicken (breast meat) and also the chicken chips that was suggested in another thread. Getting ready to try them out now!

[Kristal]

kristal...do you have flyers????

i thought you had greys... if so ... they also love meal worms etc ... and maybe you do need to cut off the heads of the worms or not... i don't know...

if you have flyers then they really, really need protein/meat ...much more than greys....

and yes... chicken breast if boiled/roasted plain etc.. cut in tiny pieces should be fine... and read muffinsquirrels posts... she's the 'grand dame' of the flyer world...:D

cheese .. i'm not so sure about ..are they lactose tolerant etc... not as natural to them as eating baby birds or worms are...

your red wigglers are indoor compost worms???? you compost inside??? i'm so enthralled with this idea.... as in 'the worms ate my garbage' .

Oh, yes, I have greys. I just want them to grow up big and strong, and they always seem too small to me ;p I might just be a typical, worrying squamma on that, though. They weaned a bit too early, and I just did not press the issue as trying to nurse them became very chaotic and time consuming when they would no longer do it in an organised way.... Try to get a squirrel to do anything s/he does not want, right? Yea... right....

So I want to get more protein into them. When do they stop growing, anyway?

As for the worms eating my garbage, yes they do :) I have been keeping an indoor compost for about a decade, now. I only produce perhaps one can of throw-away garbage every 6 weeks or two months, and most of that is dog poop. I try to live a fairly low impact lifestyle, earth-wise. Vermicomposting is cool because it is the only way to prevent food trash from producing methane as it decomposes, methane being a nasty greenhouse gas. It doesn't stink if you do it right, but it has an earthy kind of smell. One can keep it in a cupboard, garage, basement, whatever if the smell bothers them.

It does not take a lot of work except to set it up and change bins (maybe every few months), and the worms do not escape or anything. They like it in there. :) Red wrigglers eat half their weight every day, so they are very efficient, and they eat absolutely anything organic. I buried Rifas sister in there, sadly, and a month later the body was completely absorbed into the compost, for example :( It's good to give them a little bit of meat from time to time, even. I am sorry if that sounds morbid. It was a very sad occasion. Even though I only had her a few hours, it still broke my heart a little. I only wish I knew then what I know now because perhaps I could have kept her as an NR, but I guess it is useless to think like that. She was horribly injured, yet had so much fight in her. And I tried to forcefeed her in my ignorance :shakehead. I guess I will never know if she could have been saved, but at least I could save her sister...

The compost is excellent quality for any kind of plant and does not "burn" the way that chemical fertilisers do. If anyone wants info on how to vermicompost, please feel free to PM me.

[pappy1264]

Would the freeze dried chicken be in the dog isle? Is it the chicken breast filets or is it something else? Have to try these for my flyers.

[Kristal]

Oh yes, and it does not take up much space. They can process massive amounts of vegetable matter into a really small amount of compost. I tell you, the worms are useful :)

[lizharrell1]

Would the freeze dried chicken be in the dog isle? Is it the chicken breast filets or is it something else? Have to try these for my flyers.
Found it in the dog treat aisle at Petsmart. They are called Prime Taste Treats Freeze Dried Dog Treats. Real Chicken. Only One Ingredient. Chicken Breast (I am copying all of this off of the bag:D ) They are a little pricey, $13.99 for a 6.2 oz bag. They are light as a feather and crumble into powder when you break them. My flyers are too busy checking out their new cage and accessories to try their's right now. Will let you know later if they like them!!!

[AmeliasMommy]

Hmm, I will have to try this too. This has been an ongoing struggle for me. Amelia will not touch mealworms... the closest she came was to drop some of her food in the bowl the worms were in (when i tried live ones) and watch them for a day. Then I tried dried ones, etc and no luck. I've tried regular cooked chicken, bone marrow, yogurt. no interest. The only thing she even played with was a piece of hard boiled egg yolk. I think she was more curious and wanted to rip it apart than actually eating it. though...

[rygel1hardt]

Try wax worms, mine were crazy about them.