Boo Balls Recipe help (picky eater) Boo Boo's

[Ghostie]

I have been making the normal Boo Ball recipe exactly as said, but with some added peanut butter, because Boo Boo's REFUSES to eat normal rat block, or Henry's Healthy Blocks. Now he refuses the Boo Balls with peanut butter.

He refuses to eat anything besides almonds, dried apples (which he stores in the end), and he steals chocolate candies and freaks out if I try to take them away (chocolate candy, or any candy at all is safely stored where he can't get them anymore)

My question, because he's obsessed with Almonds and chocolate, is if I can make the Boo Ball Recipe with Dark Chocolate Almond Butter, instead of peanut butter. I'm just not so sure if Chocolate or Dark Chocolate is okay for Squirrels... considering how bad it is for cats and dogs.

Thanks so much for the help!

[Ghostie]

Honest to god. Every animal I've ever had has been extremely picky, to the point of starving themselves. It's so frustrating.

LUCKILY for me, I just got three baby rats who aren't picky at ALL and eat their rat block likes its a treasure. LOL.

[Ghostie]

Also, when I bought all my Rats, a normal white (feeder rat, too young and sick), my fancy rat, and my Dumbo, ALL of them had the sniffles and sneezed and coughed. Then I gave each a tiny bit of dark chocolate and they're all cleared up :) I guess Rats have a good reaction to Dark Chocolate. (I did do research before just giving them chocolate, don't worry!)

So, random. I am just keeping myself entertained until I get a response. :D

[Ghostie]

Also, another random response.

Boo Boo's thinks EVERYTHING I eat or drink is HIS. And if I'm EATING anywhere NEAR him he tries to attack me for it. No matter WHAT it is. He isn't TOO aggressive, he just makes that terrifying noise and than goes at it. -__-'''

[CritterMom]

They don't seem to have the same issues as dogs with chocolate.

Since he likes almonds, try using almond butter - if you can find it, RAW almond butter (they like the taste a lot better). It is SO MUCH BETTER tha peanut butter for them. too...

[Ghostie]

They don't seem to have the same issues as dogs with chocolate.

Since he likes almonds, try using almond butter - if you can find it, RAW almond butter (they like the taste a lot better). It is SO MUCH BETTER tha peanut butter for them. too...



Okay, thanks so much! I'll do that!

[Kristal]

I think it would be a good idea to heavily load those up on formula considering that your guy is on a really nutrient poor diet with just eating dried apples, almonds and chocolate. Seriously, that's awful for them! You are going to be very lucky if you can keep him from getting sick (or much worse) with MBD like that.

Please don't take offense, but since, as you say, this happens a lot with your critters, you are probably inadvertently training bad behaviours in them. If you give in too soon and give the treat or reward with treats too often, then they learn that they just have to hold out to get the treat for a little while longer. You're teaching them to self starve or do attention getting tricks to get the treats that they want. Then the treats become boring and just normal food for them, and they even get picky about the treats - starting again with the same cycle of behaviour that rewarded them before. Finally, you wind up with an animal who is literally subsisting on complete junk food - like yours is, almost. This probably applies to kids, too.

Mine went through a picky phase as probably all of them do. Babies and juveniles especially crave sweets, from my experience, but they are supposed to grow out of that. Mine did. I just kept giving them the healthy stuff. They would pig out on the fruit (not enough to fill them up), but when it was gone all that was left was veg... and I would not give them anything else until they ate it or it went totally stale... In which case they would get the same meal with not enough fruit for them to fill up on again. Eventually they ate their veg. Actually it did not even take long. I think maybe a day or something. You are going to have to start doing some of that or probably wind up back here with a very sick squirrel in a few months to a year. I am sorry to be a bit rough with you :( You have to get some real food into that guy. Almonds are fine, but only as healthy treats - say 10% of the total daily diet.

[island rehabber]

:goodpost

[UDoWhat]

I think it would be a good idea to heavily load those up on formula considering that your guy is on a really nutrient poor diet with just eating dried apples, almonds and chocolate. Seriously, that's awful for them! You are going to be very lucky if you can keep him from getting sick (or much worse) with MBD like that.

Please don't take offense, but since, as you say, this happens a lot with your critters, you are probably inadvertently training bad behaviours in them. If you give in too soon and give the treat or reward with treats too often, then they learn that they just have to hold out to get the treat for a little while longer. You're teaching them to self starve or do attention getting tricks to get the treats that they want. Then the treats become boring and just normal food for them, and they even get picky about the treats - starting again with the same cycle of behaviour that rewarded them before. Finally, you wind up with an animal who is literally subsisting on complete junk food - like yours is, almost. This probably applies to kids, too.

Mine went through a picky phase as probably all of them do. Babies and juveniles especially crave sweets, from my experience, but they are supposed to grow out of that. Mine did. I just kept giving them the healthy stuff. They would pig out on the fruit (not enough to fill them up), but when it was gone all that was left was veg... and I would not give them anything else until they ate it or it went totally stale... In which case they would get the same meal with not enough fruit for them to fill up on again. Eventually they ate their veg. Actually it did not even take long. I think maybe a day or something. You are going to have to start doing some of that or probably wind up back here with a very sick squirrel in a few months to a year. I am sorry to be a bit rough with you :( You have to get some real food into that guy. Almonds are fine, but only as healthy treats - say 10% of the total daily diet.
:goodpost :goodpost
Ghostie as one who has been there... this is the advice you must follow to have a healthy squirrel. I take many MBD squirrels because most rehabbers do not have time to deal with them. You will need to adjust this diet. We will help you. Just ask all the questions you need to. This can be turned around... that is the good news.

[Ghostie]

I think it would be a good idea to heavily load those up on formula considering that your guy is on a really nutrient poor diet with just eating dried apples, almonds and chocolate. Seriously, that's awful for them! You are going to be very lucky if you can keep him from getting sick (or much worse) with MBD like that.

Please don't take offense, but since, as you say, this happens a lot with your critters, you are probably inadvertently training bad behaviours in them. If you give in too soon and give the treat or reward with treats too often, then they learn that they just have to hold out to get the treat for a little while longer. You're teaching them to self starve or do attention getting tricks to get the treats that they want. Then the treats become boring and just normal food for them, and they even get picky about the treats - starting again with the same cycle of behaviour that rewarded them before. Finally, you wind up with an animal who is literally subsisting on complete junk food - like yours is, almost. This probably applies to kids, too.

Mine went through a picky phase as probably all of them do. Babies and juveniles especially crave sweets, from my experience, but they are supposed to grow out of that. Mine did. I just kept giving them the healthy stuff. They would pig out on the fruit (not enough to fill them up), but when it was gone all that was left was veg... and I would not give them anything else until they ate it or it went totally stale... In which case they would get the same meal with not enough fruit for them to fill up on again. Eventually they ate their veg. Actually it did not even take long. I think maybe a day or something. You are going to have to start doing some of that or probably wind up back here with a very sick squirrel in a few months to a year. I am sorry to be a bit rough with you :( You have to get some real food into that guy. Almonds are fine, but only as healthy treats - say 10% of the total daily diet.

When I was cleaning out his cage I noticed something. NO Boo Balls. No Henry's Healthy Blocks. Just a ton of Almonds and chocolate (Two recees, very old, I'd taken them out of the house weeks ago>_>) that he stashed. This leads me to believe that he DID eat the healthy stuff, he just stored it first and waited to eat it, which was never around me. He was crazy over the treats, but they were what lingered in the cage in his stash.

Anyways, I did a lot of cleaning, my closet, everywhere, found every chocolate he stole (all my christmas chocolate), took out ALL the candy, trashed it, almonds are no longer. Now he gets his Henry's Healthy Blocks Picky Eaters and eats them IN FRONT of me, rather than hiding them and eating them later. And he gets veggies. Carrots and green pepper. I'm picking up some more veggies soon. Also, he stole a piece of orange the other day, I hope that's ok >_<

I mean, I clean his cage every two weeks and I NEVER found any of the healthy foods...I never thought that he ATE them, I just figured they... disintegrated or something. But, that doesn't make sense if the other foods were still stashed. I think I was panicking for no reason.

AND, the hair loss was due to him rubbing. Same with a bit on his nose. The hair is ALL grown in. I'm so pleased. Actually, now that his stashes are gone, he's been more calm lately. I like that.

I think I worried for no reason. Honestly, if he hadn't eaten healthy foods for months, which is what I first assumed, I'd have a paralyzed or dead squirrel, no question. But he's been the same old happy hyper squirrel. Always looking for love and jumping about, even now, with the new food which he LOVES more than anything. Same old Boo Boo's, no personality changes, energy changes, nothing. I think I overreacted. But I'm very thankful for all the help.

And my other picky eaters are my cats which refuse any type of treats or yummy wet food -__- Only their boring cat food.

[Mrs Skul]

:wave123 Hi Ghostie
You need to Put at least 4 Vegatables and a Green Salad consisting of 3 or 4 Letta's and Green Leafs. Do it Daily, He will eventually eat it. :thumbsup3
Have you tried the Endive,Red Endive, Belgian Endive? "Newton liked the one shaped like a spear and was Yellowish green.":D
Are you feeding any FoxVally Mixed with Yogurt?{1TBS Vanilla Yogurt and 1 tsp FoxVally Powder} You need to get some kind of good Nutrition in him. Does he like the FoxVally Formula? Try Heating the Henry's Block and the Formula to gather. Let the Block soak it up.
About 5 sec in the MicroWave. (Till soft) Hand it to him or put in his dish. He should love it. :Love_Icon
Be Very Very Careful! :shakehead I would be Watching for sines of MBD on this Baby. :eek:
Do you have a Cuddle Bone and a Calcium Mineral Chew in his Cage??? :dono
(Calcium Chew is shaped like Ice Cream Cone. You Find them at PetsMart or PetCo. In the Rodent{RAT},Rabbits,Hamsters area.)
We need to Keep a very Close eye on this Little Guy Health! :grouphug
GOOD LUCK.
PS
Furr Loss is Usually a sine of Poor Nutrition. :shakehead

[Ghostie]

:wave123 Hi Ghostie
You need to Put at least 4 Vegatables and a Green Salad consisting of 3 or 4 Letta's and Green Leafs. Do it Daily, He will eventually eat it. :thumbsup3
Have you tried the Endive,Red Endive, Belgian Endive? "Newton liked the one shaped like a spear and was Yellowish green.":D
Are you feeding any FoxVally Mixed with Yogurt?{1TBS Vanilla Yogurt and 1 tsp FoxVally Powder} You need to get some kind of good Nutrition in him. Does he like the FoxVally Formula? Try Heating the Henry's Block and the Formula to gather. Let the Block soak it up.
About 5 sec in the MicroWave. (Till soft) Hand it to him or put in his dish. He should love it. :Love_Icon
Be Very Very Careful! :shakehead I would be Watching for sines of MBD on this Baby. :eek:
Do you have a Cuddle Bone and a Calcium Mineral Chew in his Cage??? :dono
(Calcium Chew is shaped like Ice Cream Cone. You Find them at PetsMart or PetCo. In the Rodent{RAT},Rabbits,Hamsters area.)
We need to Keep a very Close eye on this Little Guy Health! :grouphug
GOOD LUCK.
PS
Furr Loss is Usually a sine of Poor Nutrition. :shakehead


He has cuddle bones in his cage, since day one ^__^ And mineral chew, cause I thought they were cute, and I knew he needed it.

And like I said, I think he HAS been eating his Henry's Healthy Blocks, he just didn't eat them in front of me. He's been just as happy and healthy since he was a baby, and SO full of energy. No signs of MBD.

Now that he has a DIFFERENT type of Henry's Healthy Blocks (Picky Eaters) He's actually a lot more excited to eat HEALTHY food than before, meaning, he eats them infront of me :)

I think I worried because he didn't eat in front of me. Or he did, I just happened to not be paying attention at the time, go figure.

[Ghostie]

And about the fur loss, that's what I thought at first, but, after I started paying more attention to his quirks, things he did in his cage, I realized he rubbed against things a lot in those areas. I put a cuddly blanket in his cage for him to sleep in, versus the box with bedding he had, and the hair grew back fine. Except the little spot on his nose, which is where he crams his nose in between the bars when he's acting spoiled and wants to come out. (He's out of his cage at least four-eight hours a day, unless I'm home all day, than so is he)