dosage of calcium for chipmunk

[parva]

How much does a squirrel weight? I need to count a dose of calcium for chipmunk with mbd :)

Greetings from Poland ;)

[farrelli]

I assume that you've seen the MBD thread:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17680

That's for an adult squirrel which usually weighs 1.5 - 2 pounds (680 - 907 grams). So, you should be able to adjust that dosing for a chipmunk, which I would GUESS is maybe 1/5 that size?

Btw, can you tell us more about this case?

[parva]

Thank you :) I'm a student of veterinary medine and i calculate a dose only theoretically ;)

[farrelli]

Oh, OK. You should also be aware that a calcium deprived chippy is also probably deprived of vitamin D and magnesium as well, so those may be needed to address the MBD. HOWEVER, vitamin D is used for the eradication of rodents, so an overdose must be stringently avoided. I can point you to some work regarding toxic levels of D in rodents later if you like, but I have to run for now.

[parva]

I can point you to some work regarding toxic levels of D in rodents later if you like, but I have to run for now.
I would be very grateful :) Thank you for your time and assistance :thankyou

[farrelli]

OK, it turns out that a number of pest control companies are using a common vitamin D variant called Cholecalciferol as a rodenticide. I Have found essentially the same information on a few of these company sites indicating that you apparently need 1 mg per pound of body weight of cholecalciferol to start to see symptoms, with deaths occurring in rodents with 4 mg per pound of body weight.

Most victim D3 supplements here are sold as being measured in IU, with the usual dose being 500-1000IU.Given that one IU of vitamin D3 is equivalent to 0.025 mcg of cholecalciferol, and given what I wrote above, that would be a fair bit of D3 that you'd have to give to cause death. In general, an adult squirrel should be able to withstand an entire human supplement, but obviously quite a bit less would be recommended. Unfortunately, it's hard to find the recommended daily intake of vitamin D for squirrels, but at least we know how much would cause illness and death. Most squirrels and chipmunks get their D from the sun, but one kept indoors needs a D supplement which is usually gotten through his diet of rodent blocks. Unfortunately, many of them receive poor nutrition and develop MBD due to a lack of calcium. When this happens, it would be safe to assume that they have also been deprived of D given that D is generally more scarce in virtually any diet than calcium.