phosphorus calcium ratio

[Kristal]

I would like to know what is up with this. I did ask a few people/times, but no one responded. Apparently I need to watch out for that in concocting food for them, but watch out for what? :dono What is a good ratio? How much of either is too much?

[CritterMom]

2:1 calcium to phosphorus (twice as much calcium as phosphorus) is the ratio you are shooting for. If you go to the nutrition room (which is where you are) there is a "sticky" post at the top of the page that has a couple downloadable .pdf charts that will help you.

[Kristal]

Ah, and so there is ;p It's funny how I never look at stickies at first :) Do they really need half the amount of phosphorus that they get of calcium, or is this a far outside figure - as in never exceed this amount?

[CritterMom]

More a guideline - you don't want to habitually exceed it. You also don't want to be dumping calcium into everything they eat to compensate. I use it as a guideline to decide what to feed - in other words, NONE of the nuts fall into the 2 to 1 category, but if you are going to feed them, you want to feed hazelnuts and almonds instead of pine nuts and brazil nuts...

[PDXErik]

I got lucky with an Eastern Grey. They eat almost anything and survive on almost nothing.

In the wild, what do you think they eat? Pinecones (loaded with sugar), nuts (mass protein and fat), I'm sure they eat some greens, dandelions and whatnot. Is it bad for them? Evolution says it isn't. They have gone 1000+ years without having a formulated product fed to them.

If this is a releasable sq you should be thinking about what's on the outside. If it's not, then totally treat them like a pet and HHB them all up

[island rehabber]

In my area (suburban/urban NYC) there are very very few 'mast' trees -- trees that yield nuts of any kind. Therefore, from what I've been able to find in books and studies, squirrels in my area of the northeast subsist largely on plant matter: buds, bark, leaves, shoots, and other parts of trees and plants, along with bones and other calcium-yielding matter. Guess that's how they keep that calcium/phosphorous ratio balanced.....it's when a squirrel is in your house and can't get all that stuff on his own that we run into problems.

[Kristal]

I got lucky with an Eastern Grey. They eat almost anything and survive on almost nothing.

In the wild, what do you think they eat? Pinecones (loaded with sugar), nuts (mass protein and fat), I'm sure they eat some greens, dandelions and whatnot. Is it bad for them? Evolution says it isn't. They have gone 1000+ years without having a formulated product fed to them.

If this is a releasable sq you should be thinking about what's on the outside. If it's not, then totally treat them like a pet and HHB them all up

Well, they are spending the winter with me, and they weaned a bit too early with a few eating and dietary problems along the way, so I am wanting to beef them up on formula cookies, is the thing. I just want them to be big and strong for the world. They will have enough disadvantages in trying to be wild as it is.

My Rifa loves pinecones, too. I gave them to her for teething but I have seen her munch them down to nothing and then chew on the husk like corn on the cob. They all have this great pine smell to them as she brings them to bed for midnight chewing. They love their tasty wood and tree bark. So funny :)