Nine weeker won't take formula anymore

[Liza]

Hi all.. My Murphy baby is growing like a weed..She is so beautiful!!! She has the bushiest, fluffiest tail of any baby I've ever raised, shiny coat, bean-bag butt,bright eyes..just a healthy healthy girl. I think it must be the FV formula. Awesome stuff.. Now for my question, though- I got her exactly 4 weeks ago.. She was a big (think baby huey) baby, but still had eyes closed... I am assuming she would have been 5/6 weeks old then, so that makes her 9 or 10 weeks now. She eats a varied diet..Henry's blocks, Kaytee Fortidiet blocks, greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes, grapes, wild food like maple helicopters (thats what my grandson calls them anyway), dandelions, etc..(oh and boo balls too..one about the size of a shooter marble everyday) But for several days now she has been taking less and less formula each day. She drinks water from a dish with no problem. Tonight she wouldn't take more than 3 ccs no matter what I tried. She ended up hiding in my neck with her face smooshed up against me so i couldnt get to her little mouth! LOL I gave up, put her back in her cage and she went to her dish and took a nice long drink, then went and "dug" up the remains of a HHB from under her blanket for a midnight snack. Do I keep pushing formula on her, or accept that she has weaned herself and just try to keep her diet as healthy as possible...??? She is just doing SO well, I hate to change anything... but I don't see how I can force her to take it..she gets pretty animated trying NOt to eat it.. ;-)

[Rhapsody]

First off it sounds like she is eating a lot of other stuff that is filling her up, therefore, she is not wanting to drink her FV........ I would offer her the FV first thing in the morning when she is at her hungriest (at least 15 cc) and at her next feeding give her 1 HHB followed by some fresh vegetables, but I would lay off the boo balls since she is getting the healthy HHB blocks. Keep up the natural plants and only offer fruit & nuts when she has finished all her other foods.

........ and if all else fails try adding a small amount of vanilla yogurt to the FV.

[Liza]

She really isn't getting a huge quantity of those things, just listed them to show she is eating a varied diet.. but you are right..it might be too much "junk food" so she just doesn't have the appetite for the FV. We will cut back on her goodies. I feel kind of bad, because she is a singleton, and you can tell she is bored in her cage alone.. She gets some "out" time each day but i have kids and dogs and a lot going on, so she can't be out as much as I'd like. I think I've fallen into the "bad mommy" habit of feeding her foods to give her something to do.. (she loves to bury her snackies in piles and layers of blankie and then search and find them like she's never seen them before.. its adorable).


Ok. Back on track. More FV, less food. And when is the usual age for them to begin to wean themselves?

:thankyou

[Rhapsody]

And when is the usual age for them to begin to weanSome wheres around 12-14 weeks old is the average age that you will see a squirrel start to naturally wean its self off formula....... but I have had some drink FV up until they were released at 5 and 6 months old. Just keep giving it to them for as long as they will drink it --thats where the sweet tasting vanilla yogurt can help, add a tsp or two to the mix and they drink it right up.

[LeilaNami]

My squirrel was 9-10 weeks and she absolutely hated FV formula. She wouldn't touch it no matter when or how I fed it to her lol. I know some others on here have had their squirrels naturally wean at that age, too.

[Liza]

Well this morning before I gave her anything solid she took 10 ccs.. so I'm pretty sure she was just filling up on junk (although it IS healthy junk, but she needs the FV more). She ate her HHB, some greens, and spent an hour playing tornado... now she is happily sleeping in her pile of fleecies.

Thanks for the good advice!!

[Rhapsody]

Well this morning before I gave her anything solid she took 10 ccs.. so
I'm pretty sure she was just filling up on junk (although it IS healthy junk, but she needs the FV more).
She ate her HHB, some greens, and spent an hour playing tornado... now she is happily sleeping in her pile of fleecies.

Thanks for the good advice!!Sounds Wonderful --keep the FV coming for as long as she will take it...... Its the GOOD STUFF!! :thumbsup

[Liza]

She's back up to 12-14 ccs 3 times a day. Less block, less fruit, no more boo balls, and we started using the 3 cc syringes rather than the 1cc.. she can suck down 1 cc faster than heck, and I think all the switching was breaking her concentration! Now that its just a few, she is doing MUCH better!!

:multi :multi :multi

[Unclesteve]

She's back up to 12-14 ccs 3 times a day. Less block, less fruit, no more boo balls, and we started using the 3 cc syringes rather than the 1cc.. she can suck down 1 cc faster than heck, and I think all the switching was breaking her concentration! Now that its just a few, she is doing MUCH better!!

:multi :multi :multi



I Just Gave Rocky an Apple

Nice Wedge

I Just peel the Skin

I also gave him 1/2 a Carrot

He has a Slice of a Orange, Too



Steve

[island rehabber]

I have also found that some baby squirrels "zone out" after awhile with too many refills going on when I use the 1cc syringes. Switching to a 3cc really does get them to take more. Squirrels are the original ADDHD creatures, so of course watching mamma refill syringes bores them silly and --- off they go! (I can relate. :D)

[Monipenny]

My Phillip is about 13 weeks old, I serve his FV in a bowl now twice a day, love the noise he makes drinking it. He eats 2 HH blocks each day and almost always eats all his veggies and one piece of fruit. He eats more food than I have ever seen a squirrel eat and growing like a weed. He finally for the first time last night cracked open an almond, later I found the empty shell buried under the felt. I have a feeling that he likes his FV too much to ever give it up.:crazy

[island rehabber]

I have a feeling that he likes his FV too much to ever give it up.:crazy

FV is your best insurance against MBD. Let's hope he takes it until he's 20 :D

[Monipenny]

FV is your best insurance against MBD. Let's hope he takes it until he's 20 :D
LOL, no weaning huh? I can see him coming home every day for his bowl of milk, my luck he would bring the whole neighborhood home for daily pot-luck meals.

[MJS]

:wave123 AT 11 WEEKS MY GIRLS ARE STILL TAKING 24-30CC PER FEEDING THREE TIMES PER DAY. I USE 3CC SYRINGES. THEY EACH GET 2 GROWTH BLOCKS PER DAY. JUST INTRODUCED VEGGIES LAST WEEK. NO NUTS YET... ONE BLUEBERRY AND ONE HALF CHERRY IN LAST TWO DAYS. (NOM NOM NOM :D ) BUT MAKE THEM EAT THE GOOD STUFF FIRST!!! I HOPE THEY DRINK THE FV FOREVER!!!