RobinTN
09-14-2014, 10:45 PM
Hi all :grin3
I have a couple questions...
1. Nutrition
First off, Cash is coming along nicely, eating, pooping, & peeing well. She's about 7 weeks now, her tail's getting bushier every day! I've had her since Tuesday 9-9, and until yesterday had been on Esbilac only, doing OK, but I could tell she just wasn't satisfied... I'm expecting the Henry's Blocks to come Monday or Tuesday, but my mail usually runs about 4PM, so... Anyway, yesterday morning I got her a bag of the Zupreem monkey biscuits to hold her over until the HHBs get here. Oh My Gosh she loves them! I'm giving her one in the morning, before her milk, & she eats the whole thing. Then about an hour and a half later her milk and it's nice to see her not nearly as frantic! Poor thing finally getting her belly full lol. After her 2nd feed I give her the 2nd monkey biscuit, which she stashes then nibbles on throughout the afternoon. I felt so bad for her with just the Esbilac, but I didn't want to ruin her future eating habits.
My question regarding the monkey biscuits is once the Henry's Blocks get here, do I stop the MBs all together, or can I give her the 2 Henrys in the morning & then a MB in the afternoon? As well as she likes the MBs, I don't think I'll have much problem getting her to eat HHBs, and so then once shes regularly eating the HHBs I can start adding her healthy veggies, right?
2. Play
As a singleton, I'm concerned with giving the Cashster enough stimulation and playful interaction. Because of our 2 housecats, I've been keeping her in a smallish cage in our laundry room. Hubby & I both spend out-of-cage time with her in the laundry room and during the day on our screened balcony, but because of safety concerns she's only out-of-cage when supervised. Between the 2 of us, shes been getting at least six 30 minute to one hour play sessions every day. Our larger cage and squirrel proofed basement room will be ready late tomorrow, so we'll be able to spend more time with her. She will still be caged when not supervised, but our laundry room is tiny, so it's hard on us being in there, not to mention the fact that no one is allowed to do laundry when she's in there... (MOMMA SED!) When we're able to hang out with her downstairs, we'll be able to stay much longer, and I'm also gonna have toys & climbing attractions outside her cage as well as inside.
Of course she has her stuffees to play with, and ropes, hammocks, and branches are coming soon (downstairs), but since I've never interacted with a baby squirrel, what I'm concerned about is how do WE play with her? I play with her with a stuffee some, hopping it around and making it wrestle with her, and she has a lot of fun with that, but sometimes she wants to play directly with my hand. I'm not afraid of teeth or claws by any means, lol, but I do need to figure out just how rough or gentle I need to be with her. I'm afraid if I'm too rough now that she may become overly aggressive with us as she gets older, and around here it will be April at the very earliest before I can start soft release. On the same turn, I'm worried that if I'm too gentle she may not be tough enough and end up being bullied later on. Her personality seems to lean toward the pushy side, LOL, but from what I've read here that seems to be the norm...
Any suggestions for our one on one playtime would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you all for the excellent help you're giving, day in & day out! :grouphug
Robin
I have a couple questions...
1. Nutrition
First off, Cash is coming along nicely, eating, pooping, & peeing well. She's about 7 weeks now, her tail's getting bushier every day! I've had her since Tuesday 9-9, and until yesterday had been on Esbilac only, doing OK, but I could tell she just wasn't satisfied... I'm expecting the Henry's Blocks to come Monday or Tuesday, but my mail usually runs about 4PM, so... Anyway, yesterday morning I got her a bag of the Zupreem monkey biscuits to hold her over until the HHBs get here. Oh My Gosh she loves them! I'm giving her one in the morning, before her milk, & she eats the whole thing. Then about an hour and a half later her milk and it's nice to see her not nearly as frantic! Poor thing finally getting her belly full lol. After her 2nd feed I give her the 2nd monkey biscuit, which she stashes then nibbles on throughout the afternoon. I felt so bad for her with just the Esbilac, but I didn't want to ruin her future eating habits.
My question regarding the monkey biscuits is once the Henry's Blocks get here, do I stop the MBs all together, or can I give her the 2 Henrys in the morning & then a MB in the afternoon? As well as she likes the MBs, I don't think I'll have much problem getting her to eat HHBs, and so then once shes regularly eating the HHBs I can start adding her healthy veggies, right?
2. Play
As a singleton, I'm concerned with giving the Cashster enough stimulation and playful interaction. Because of our 2 housecats, I've been keeping her in a smallish cage in our laundry room. Hubby & I both spend out-of-cage time with her in the laundry room and during the day on our screened balcony, but because of safety concerns she's only out-of-cage when supervised. Between the 2 of us, shes been getting at least six 30 minute to one hour play sessions every day. Our larger cage and squirrel proofed basement room will be ready late tomorrow, so we'll be able to spend more time with her. She will still be caged when not supervised, but our laundry room is tiny, so it's hard on us being in there, not to mention the fact that no one is allowed to do laundry when she's in there... (MOMMA SED!) When we're able to hang out with her downstairs, we'll be able to stay much longer, and I'm also gonna have toys & climbing attractions outside her cage as well as inside.
Of course she has her stuffees to play with, and ropes, hammocks, and branches are coming soon (downstairs), but since I've never interacted with a baby squirrel, what I'm concerned about is how do WE play with her? I play with her with a stuffee some, hopping it around and making it wrestle with her, and she has a lot of fun with that, but sometimes she wants to play directly with my hand. I'm not afraid of teeth or claws by any means, lol, but I do need to figure out just how rough or gentle I need to be with her. I'm afraid if I'm too rough now that she may become overly aggressive with us as she gets older, and around here it will be April at the very earliest before I can start soft release. On the same turn, I'm worried that if I'm too gentle she may not be tough enough and end up being bullied later on. Her personality seems to lean toward the pushy side, LOL, but from what I've read here that seems to be the norm...
Any suggestions for our one on one playtime would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you all for the excellent help you're giving, day in & day out! :grouphug
Robin