Refusing vegetables... is our diet ok?

[skarabrae]

I've been putting broccoli, peas, butternut squash, tomatos, mushrooms, etc. in their meals, but I'm starting to feel like I'm just wasting my money because they will. not. eat them!

They do eat all the wild foods I give them.

Their diet is at the moment,

Morning: Big bowl of Kaytee Fortidiet, large branches full of leaves, wild rhubarb, dandelion greens and flowers, and other flowers and plants from the garden. They pretty much strip the wild foods clean and I fill up their big bowl of fortidiet daily and they eat it all the time.

Lunch: vegetables from in the house (kale, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, peas, etc), pieces of watermelon. They only eat the watermelon. If I only put vegetables out, they eat nothing.

4pm: 30cc+ of FV each.

7pm: small plate of mixed fruit: bananas, apples, blueberries, grapes etc. and two almonds each.

So my question, clearly they have absolutely no interest in the "human" vegetables, but have no problem eating the wild foods... would it be alright to feed them lots of wild foods at lunch time instead of spending money on groceries they won't eat?

My gut says yes, but there has to be some reason everyone here spends so much money on veggies for their little guys instead of going and picking wild foods :dono

[CritterMom]

Honestly, it is mostly convenience. Lots of people don't have the wild foods available to theim, either. As long as you make sure that what you are gathering is edible, they are likely better off with this diet, especially since you are taking care of the basics with the Forti Diet. Are these guys being released? If so, you are starting them out right. :thumbsup

[skarabrae]

Yeah, they are 13.5 weeks (maybe 14.5 weeks now, depends on how old they were when I brought them in) and I'm planning on releasing them mid-July.

I don't know that there are any poisonous or inedible plants in this area? At least nothing on the toxic list in the "Healthy diet for pet squirrels" chart. :dono

I give them branches off our apple tree, lots of lilac flowers & seeds with the branches, maple branches and leaves, purslane, dandelions, and a few unknown flowers.

I was just looking up some of the "unknown" plants I had been giving them... ummm.... I think one of the unknowns is catnip!! :eek: I hope fresh catnip is safe!

[fire-eyez]

If I were you i would stop giving them the ones that are unknown to you.....you don't want to make a mistake that cost them their lives...at least until you know what they are and truly know there safe

[CritterMom]

Well, to do this safely, you either need to get a book or find a good website to help you properly identify plants (you really need to be able to identify them by their Latin names because there are so many similar "popular" names for plants it is impossible to know what you are getting. Once you have the latin name, just google "whatever the latin name is toxicity" and see what comes up. The other thing is to of course watch what the wilds eat and gather the same stuff.