mbd treatment

[marcm1]

Ok last week our 6month old squirrel started acting funny and sleeping all the time, I ordered the mbd emergency pack from henrys cleaned out cage and have been give calcium and the blocks, couple of questions. We have been at this acouple of days and I know it says to give 1 block in morning, veggies mid day and another block at afternoon, we work so when I give her the block she eats a bit then hides it in corner and after awhile it gets hard. Does this matter? should I give her 1/2 blocks or anything. also the kit came with a vita mix and a protein what do I need to do with them? I am using the calcium powder with yogart and have gotten to the point of whites in pee so going to cut back alittle on calcium.

Just had these questions and then I have to go over to another forum to find out how to get rid of the really sharp toenails!!! LOL

Thanks

[Annabelle's papa]

Hi marcm1, can You post some photos of Your Lil' One, what kind of Squirrel do You have. Oh yeah, :Welcome To The Squirrel Board.:thumbsup

[marcm1]

I can she is in her bed right now so once we get her up I will take a couple, she is a flyer. We had been feeding her everything I tought she need every fruit and veg she liked any nut she wanted but after seeing her acting funny I started to do some reading and found out that we needed to change everything about what we were doing so time for a change, I was just worried the blocks were drying out before she ate all of it.

[CritterMom]

How much total calcium per day are you giving - including what is in the blocks? By the way, the Henry's that are in the MBD kit are "Picky Bites" I believe, and the "2 per day" is for an approx 1 pound gray squirrel. Your flyer will eat less because she is a fraction the size. And their normal behavior once they become adults is to mostly sleep during the day and come out to play at night.

The other thing they need is more protein than other squirrels. Are you feeding her any insects? If not, you need to buy some live mealworms or waxworms for her. Dust them in the calcium powder from your kit. I bet she will LOVE them. They need a few of those at least every day. You can also try bits of chicken cooked without oil and seasonings, and even bits of the chicken bone, but live insects are really closer to the natural diet.

At the end of the "day" (or night as the case may be), collect the hard pieces of uneaten blocks and place them in a lidded plastic container with a little piece of apple in it, and put it in the fridge. The block will be soft again by morning.

[nchls_school]

We had the same problem with the block drying out and Peanut not eating them. One of the things we tried are called boo balsl (block is an ingredient). They stay moist much longer. The recipes can be found in a number of the forums. Our Peanut still would not eat them, but maybe yours will. Good luck.

[Annabelle's papa]

Great that You found the Board, I don't think anyone knows about the Additional Calcium a Squirrel needs. I certainly know I didn't, and if I hadn't found the information put together here by these Great Folks, our Lil' Annabelle wouldn't be alive. :thumbsup She is also a 6 month old Southern Flyer. The blocks are very good for them, and they don't go bad in a 24 hour period. However they contain no preservatives and do go bad. But Your Lil' (insert name here, ha,) only needs one a day, so yes cut each block in half, and feed one half in the morning and one half in the afternoon or evening.

Keep the entire bag in the freezer, and take a few out at a time and have them in the fridge, inside a ziplock bag. Are You still offering formula, Flyers can have formula the rest of their life. and what kind of formula did You use in the beginning.

Keep Posting and Ask everything You can think of.:tilt

[farrelli]

Have you seen the healthy diet thread? How close are you to it?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?37700-HEALTHY-DIET-for-PET-Flying-Squirrels

[marcm1]

Hi guys,
Her name is pip we had another for 8 months but a bad thing happened and she passed away we all cried for two days straight I don't think I have ever had an animal touch me as much as she did and I have always had al kinds of pets but flyers are different!! We have had her off formula for 2 months we had her on that fmr stuff from tractor supply which I also found out that was bad too. We have been feed meal worms for the last 2 months she eats at least 3 a day sometime 6 whatever she wanted. the henrys people had me giving her 300mg of tums mixed with yogurt broken into 4 doses due to work schedule of us, I started noticing this morning whitish in her pee so I'm going to cut back to around 50 mg into each serving and see how that goes. The one thing that really scared us was not only not wanting to really come out any more but diet had changed and really nervous and I starting reading and found even though I was feeding everything I could that was nuts, fruits, veggies I was still not being a good parent so time to change was now!!!

I have the block in freezer and the other bags that came with it in the fridge but what am I suppose to do with the vitamins and the protein stuff??

[Annabelle's papa]

Hi guys,
Her name is pip we had another for 8 months but a bad thing happened and she passed away we all cried for two days straight I don't think I have ever had an animal touch me as much as she did and I have always had al kinds of pets but flyers are different!! We have had her off formula for 2 months we had her on that fmr stuff from tractor supply which I also found out that was bad too. We have been feed meal worms for the last 2 months she eats at least 3 a day sometime 6 whatever she wanted. the henrys people had me giving her 300mg of tums mixed with yogurt broken into 4 doses due to work schedule of us, I started noticing this morning whitish in her pee so I'm going to cut back to around 50 mg into each serving and see how that goes. The one thing that really scared us was not only not wanting to really come out any more but diet had changed and really nervous and I starting reading and found even though I was feeding everything I could that was nuts, fruits, veggies I was still not being a good parent so time to change was now!!!

I have the block in freezer and the other bags that came with it in the fridge but what am I suppose to do with the vitamins and the protein stuff??

:Love_Icon So Very Sorry For The One You Had Pass From You, What Was That Lil' Ones Name. With some aggressive MBD treatment Pip could have a very good life. The vitamins and protein might be ingredients for Your own block to make at home, however I do not know for certain. I'm sure someone will give You the exact information, keep checking, or tomorrow You could send Henry's an email, or give them a call:thumbsup

[marcm1]

Sophie was her name in the short period of time we had her she went to the beach twice, tenn. once, north ga. mnts. once, she was caught by out outside cat but we saved her just in time, her final night we were al in the kitchen and she was on my back and I was shutting the built in trash can door in the lower cabs and when I went to close it she jumped on top of the door and got caught in between the cab and door and broke her back and I had to hold her while she took her last breaths it almost killed me!!!!

We missed her SOOO much and when I had a friend who was tearing out an deck they ended up tearing down it and there was a nest inside they didn't know about so I got pip. She does have a different personality than Sophie did but so do we.

The first 3 are Sophie the other 4 are Pip

[Annabelle's papa]

:Love_Icon Your Photographs of Sophie are Beautiful.:Love_Icon I'm sure Ya'll's Hearts are Broken from Her Loss.:Love_Icon And Pip is very Sweet, although She may be too young to need a full on MBD treatment, however maybe some of the other Members can give a better opinion.:thumbsup She doesn't look old enough to have contracted MBD, as of yet. Maybe Hearts4Squirrels or Pixiepoo could give an opinion, about how old do You think She is?

[marcm1]

the ones of pip are alittle old here is one from dec 10th

[HRT4SQRLS]

Hi marcm1, Pip is precious. :grin2 I have a question about the sleeping. You said she wants to sleep all the time. Are we talking day and night? Flyer do sleep a lot. You mentioned that you feed her in the morning, midday and afternoon. The reason I ask is because at midday and afternoon they are always asleep. They are nocturnal. Is Pip awake at night? I feed my boys when they wake up around 7-8 PM. In the morning, before I go to work (5:45AM) I give them their treat which is a half of a nut or a whole almond. They are asleep by 7AM and sleep a good 12 hours.

I would stop all nuts for Pip until the MBD issue is addressed. I would limit the fruit also. Changing the diet of a flyer that has had a lot of nuts will be difficult. They are stubborn little critters but continuing on with the same unhealthy diet is not an option. You will need to be tough. I would give her the block in the evening when she wakes up. I would give her the block alone until she eats it. Later in the evening she can have the healthy veggies, mealworms, egg, cooked chicken,yogurt etc.

It won't be easy but it is necessary.
Yes, if her pee is white I would back off of the calcium some. Follow the instruction from Henry's.
If it was me, I would try to get her back on formula. FoxValley 32/40. Some adults will drink it out of a bowl.

[marcm1]

here are some from tonight

[czarina]

Hi, can you tell me what het symptoms were, and did someone suggest the MBD treatment?
She looks very young. You said she has been off of formula for 2 months? I think I would buy some Esbliac with pre and pro-biotics and start her on that. You will add a small amount of heavy whipping cream. Not the stuff in the can, this will be found by the Half and Half.

You probably gad her on kitten formula, which didn't supply the nutrients that young squirrels need. That is why I would start her on it, in addition to her regular food. It has lots of calcium, and as annabellspapa said, flyers can eat formula for the rest of their lives. And this is a good way to know they are getting their calcium.


Your Sophie was BEAUTIFUL! I am so very sorry for your loss. I know how painful it is to lose one of these little guys. They leave a big hole in our hearts. Try and remembet the good times you shared with her. She would not like to know you were unhappy, and griebing her loss. They are such loving little creatures. It is almost like they bewitch us.

Your little Pip is a cutie, too! I will wait for you to tell us what is going on with her, so we have a better idea what the problem is. But, please, ask any and all questions.

[marcm1]

well we feed her in the morning and then in the evening around 7 to 8 I have been getting her up over this weekend as soon as I get home to give her the calcium dose, the sleeping part was she would here us get home but around 6 to 7 she would be up and want out with us but the last week to two she wouldn't do anything and if you tried to get her out of the hanging sock she would get mad, she would eat some but not as much as she had been seating so I think right now the main thing is just getting her switched over to the blocks with a couple of meal worms at night before we go to bed and I rolled them in the calcium powder. I did give her a very small piece of celery and the other half of her block tonight so do you think I should still go ahead and give her a small pecan she LOVES them but I haven't given any in 2 days?

[pixiepoo]

Hi there!! I adore the pics of your little Pip! Funny enough, I have a flyer named Pip (short for Pippin) too! I hope your little girl is feeling better.

I buy the high protein blocks from Henry's and my guys only get 1/2 block every morning so I don't think it is alarming that your Pip isn't eating it all, especially if they are large blocks! I would continue with the supplemental calcium but slighy less.

What exactly do you feed her on a daily basis...as in what would her normal daily diet consist of(for example 2 walnuts, slice of squash, kale, etc). The more you tell us about her diet the more we can help. :) sounds like you are on the right track and really getting her diet figured out. :)

So sorry about your beautiful little Sophie. I can't imagine how heartbreaking that must have been.

[pixiepoo]

I wouldn't give her any pecan tonight and no nuts at all until the calcium issue is solved. I prefer to be overly cautious when it comes to MBD. :/

[czarina]

I agree. Absolutely no nuts until her health is back to normal. I know it will be hard, BUT, I also know you love her, or you wouldn't be here, worried. I know it seems strange, not to be able to give her nuts, but squirrels in captivity can easily die from eating too many nuts. Out in the wild, squirrels can balance their own diets, and they know the proper things to eat. But, in captivity, we have to balance their diet for them. So please, for Pips sake, no nuts for awhile.

It will be very hard. We call it "tough love". But you are doing it to save their lives, and keep them healthy. So, if you break down, and give even one nut, that means that there is at least one healthy thing that she won't be eating. They are extremely stubborn and manipulative. She MUST learn to eat a healthy diet. No squirrel will starve itself to death. ( it will come close to giving you a nervous breakdown, though!) They are masters of making us feel guilty. So, hold out now, the sooner you stick yo your guns, the sooner things can get back to normal.

Most of our squirrels know that they get absolutely nothing, untill they eat their block. We have all been through it, and we know how tough it is. But proper diet is the most IMPORTANT thing to krrp your squirrel alive and healthy.

You are in excellent hands with pixiepoo and HRT4SQRLS. They both have flyers and will be able to give you the advice that will keep your precious little Pip both healthy and happy!

By the way: do you have your toilet ladders? This is extremely important that you do.

[Annabelle's papa]

:thumbsup Amen marcm1, You really have received some of the best advice, from some of the best Flyer members, and like czarina said, You have to put in Squirrel Toilet Ladders.:great They are very easy to make, www.thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?30728-Squirrel-Ladders-SAVE-LIVES-!!&highlight=toilet+ladders If You click here You can see instructions and pictures.:tilt