Please Help with MBD

[rocky hannah]

Rocky is about 10 months old and has slowly began to not want to come out of his house and has a hard time walking around. I believe he has MBD and need to know how to correct it.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

What has his diet been?

He needs food high in calcium.
Kale, broccoli, for starters
He needs a full spectrum light for his body to be able to absorb the calcium.
Does he have a light? Theres is a discussion in another forum Big lots has them for 30$.
Do you have a vet that will treat? He should go there if you do.

[rocky hannah]

We feed him apples, Sweet Potatos and pecans (2 a day). I need to know what to feed him. He won't eat broccoli. I am going to go tomorrow and get him a light. Is there anything I need to do Immediatley? There is no vet around.

[darrakm]

Here is a link on NFSA concerning MBD in flyers and ways to treat it. I don't know why it wouldn' work the same for other squirrels
http://www.nfsa.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1662&highlight=mbd

[GhosTS]

Apples, sweet potatoe and pecans doesnt have nearly enough calcium in it.He must get leafy greens.And he needs full spectrum light ASAP.

Are you keeping him indoors as a pet.

If he have a fall while having MBD his bones will break.SO keep him in a single level enclosure.

[island rehabber]

First, if you suspect the squirrel has MBD you must protect him from falling. If his cage is large you'll want to put him in a smaller one, temporarily, where he can't fall and injure himself. Then he must be put on a high calcium diet which will include either calcium supplements (like Prime -- they sell it in the bird section of pet supply stores) or a cuttlebone (also in the bird section). His diet is much too limited....IF he were out in the wild he would be chewing on branches, leaves, buds, bark and twigs in order to get all the nutrients he requires. At the very least, he should be getting vegetables besides the sweet potato: green leafy vegetables and also things like squash or green beans, etc. Other nuts, especially almonds... pumpkin seeds....If you stop giving him apples and pecans he will eat the foods that are richer in calcium -- just keep offering them to him. The Prime drops can be added to his water; the cuttlebone can be scraped onto something he likes -- such as a piece of sweet potato. MBD can be reversed, but you must be dedicated to curing him and not let him lapse back into just eating those three foods you mentioned, PLEASE go to the Search function at the top of the page and put in "MBD" and "nutrition"...you will see many threads where we have discussed this issue in great detail.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Ok just talked to our Squirlgirl Rehabber:
Ensure Vanilla for woman with extra calcium
heat it up, give by syringe or water bottle or dish however he will drink his water.
Take away water, (to get him to drink ensure)sweet potato & apple. Too much sugar. Take away pecans.
Feed dark greens, rodent block.
Keep up with the ensure untill the squirrel is better.

[island rehabber]

Yes - I agree that the Ensure is a good idea for rapid infusion of calcium into this squirrel's system. Thanks Rippie & Squirlgirl.

[GhosTS]

You can get "PRIME".Its a calcium suppliment for birds.Slightly dust it over his favourite food..


Giving D3 suppliments straight as that link suggests can be risky..too much d3 will cause side effects.First you have to fix the calcium issue.The full spectrum light will fix the d3 issue.

Dont try to move him or force him to do anything.At this stage he is too fragile.Dont take him out to direct sunlight at this stage.

[rocky hannah]

Thank You to everyone that has replied and I am going to get a light for his cage, change his diet and give him some ensure to help him. THANKS AGAIN

[Mars]

A good source of protein and calcium is yorgurt. I have found they like both vanilla and banana. Crumble up a good quality rodent block (sold as mice and rat food) in to it. Pumpkin seeds are also a good source of protein. Vary your babies diet. You find lots of ideas for feeding on the other threads.

[Somebody's Mother]

thanks darra!! i am going to look into getting some calcivet. and how is the sciatica coming?:D

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

rocky turn on your pm's please for the rehabbers

[Apple Corps]

Also - it would help for her to know how long the full spectrum light should be used each day. I think I read 45 minutes a day or something close to that.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

The same amount of time that they would naturaly have sunlight occuring. It doesnt need to be right on top of them either. Rocky needs to take one suggestion and go with it, there is such a thing as calcium overload.

[squirrelfriend]

everybody has pretty much covered all the bases here but thre were a couple of ideas that I would like to add. Mine like Dandilion greens from the grocery store and I also use a liquid calcium suplement. You can but it at a drug store. Just make sure that there are no other vitamins in it. Just calcium. Prime is an excellent source. I have one squirrel that won't eat it so the liquid calcium is a good back up plan.