The transition to solid foods!

[hammyhobby]

My baby girl is 5 1/2 to 6 weeks old. I put a HHB (the picky formula) in her cage with her, but she seems disinterested and has not nibbled on it yet. I also have some HHB Growth Formula on hand as well. I'm continuing to feed her 6% of her body weight every 4 hours (FV Formula). Is she just not ready for solid food yet? Maybe the block is too hard for her? Should I try cutting the block into smaller pieces? Also are cheerios okay to put in the cage with her? I just want to make sure I don't get her hooked on "treats" before she eats the healthy stuff!

[Milo's Mom]

If her eyes are open putting an HHB or other healthy block in her cage is a very good idea. I would not start out with the Picky eaters though. I'd start with the growth formula. I just started my 4 little ones on them yesterday. I opened a fresh bag, cut 1 block into quarters (4 pieces - sort of worked out nice cause there are 4 of them). The block pieces remain in the cage with them until the following mornings feeding. I also placed the block on the part of the cage that has the heating pad...sort of keeping it warm and smelling yummy. Each morning I remove the old block pieces and replace with new fresh pieces for the day. Throughout the day if I see that they are gone or crumbled to nothing but dust, I add a few more. But every morning any remaining from the prior day get tossed.
Your little one may not show interest right away...maybe she does not have the urge to chew yet...she will...trust me!! :D I also placed the mini blocks in the cage for the first time right after they had breakfast...they were awake and running around a little...then the formula coma hit and they all passed out!
Cheerios are not all that great for them...they are not horrible...I prefer to start them on the stuff that is good for them so they learn to love it, then after they have some good habits offer some treats.
This past spring I raised and have now released 5 siblings. I followed what I just spelled out above to a "T" and to this day (even though they are released) when I place food out for them, I include 5 blocks and I've seen them choose the block over a hazelnut. I was shocked, but they know what they need and that day they needed a block.

[island rehabber]

Besides the HHB's, which I swear by, you'll want to pick up a quality basic rodent block to leave in the cage at all times. TSB'ers typically recommend:
* Harlan Teklad 2018
*Mazuri rodent block
*Zupreem Monkey Biscuit
*KayTee Forti Diet for Rats & Mice (blue bag)

These should be the staple food for your baby as she grows. One or two HHB's a day are supplementary to this diet and ensure that she is getting all the calcium & nutrients required. She won't eat many blocks now, since she is still on formula, but eventually you'll want 75% of her diet to be rodent block. DON'T give her nuts out of the shell to "start off" -- you will end up with a picky nut eater who won't ever touch good foods. No nuts until she's eating blocks and loving them. :nono

[Milo's Mom]

There is a $2.00 off coupon on the Zupreem website...good till 12/31/2011 on the purchase of ANY Zupreem product 2lbs or larger.

Here is the link: http://www.zupreem.com/special-features/coupons