Lighten-Up
12-21-2015, 04:12 PM
Gosh this is long, I am just so detail oriented and I care. If this is too much information, someone can tell me to make my new entries shorter.
My two girls are about 20-21 weeks old, guess that is about 5 months. Early on, I was made aware of the importance of squirrel nutrition, and so I started them out on Henrys Healthy Rodent Blocks, two a day each. And introduced first, only the vegetables in column one-broccoli etc. and column two-lettuces. Once they were really good about eating all those, I introduced them to the fun veggies in column three-sweet potato, sugar snap peas etc. And once they were eating all those, just in the last two weeks I started giving them fruit and nuts at the end of the day, basically I started this when they started fighting over their Rodent Block. I thought, now might be the time to give them nuts.
First off, I had no idea how passionate squirrels are about their nuts. It was a real awakening for me. I have never seen such passion and joy in all my life. At the same time, it caused quite a bit of bickering that had not been the case before.
Also, they still get Fox Valley formula morning and night. Up until last week they were consuming it all right away. Over the last week, they have changed, and are less excited about it, but if I leave it with them, they will finish the morning feeding over a few hours time, and eat about half of it in the evening feeding; so I will give them only about half in the evenings from now on.
They will both be released in the spring.
Here are my questions.
Q1. Since I have started giving them nuts and fruit and veggies from column three, they pretty much have no interest in the column one and two veggie items. I give column one and two items in the morning and column three items in the afternoon. They get fruit and nuts after that. They would rather eat their formula and wait for the fun stuff later on. The early veggies just sit in a pile, kind of wasteful. The pea pods, green beans, squash etc are consumed immediately in the afternoon. The fruit is eaten immediately. Wanting to do what is best for them, this bothers me, and so I am wondering if this is ok since they are on formula and block as well. Any thoughts are welcome.
Q2. One squirrel is just really good and quick about eating anything (her name is Laurel), the other one (her name is Sassafras) is rather slow and methodical about eating. Both are adorably cuties. With the nuts, this means that the fast one cracks open the nut (I pre-start a crack for now in the shell until they are older) and eats it before the second one figures out which branch would be the best branch to work on the nut with. :-) This then leads to, the first squirrel Laurel who is now done, chasing and capturing the second nut away from Sassafras. Not fair in my mind. I love them both. Is this okay? Any thoughts? Please note that Laurel has played a minor bully role, nothing too serious from what I see, just picking on her and letting her know who is in charge between them. However, just two weeks ago Sassafras went berserk, and fought back, she became so ornery against Laurel that she defended both formula dishes for an entire feeding, for hours she would not let Laurel near either of them. I was slightly amused, and actually glad for her fortitude. She only ate her portion, so eventually Laurel was able to get some, a long time later. After that, the playing field between them was a lot more level. But Laurel is still wanting to chase down the second nut. She doesn't get it every time, but it happens a lot. I am new to all of this, so I just want to make sure that I am doing my part as best as I can for them.
Q3. Since they are still on formula day and evening, I am only giving them one nut each per day. Should I be giving two nuts each per day?
Q4. Ever since I started with them, Laurel was the one who would finish up the extra formula left after Sassafras was done, that made her consistently the larger of the two. Sassafras was always a bit small in comparison. I'm not sure what happened, but about two weeks ago, Sassafras put on some weight and is a bit plump! I don't think she has rolls of fat or anything, and she is lightning fast if she hears a noise. But I just wanted to mention it, since many of us new-bies are always concerned that we are doing the right thing at all times, and this was a sudden change. Sassafras is now noticeably larger than Laurel. I'm just surprised that it happened so fast. We might have had just a little too much fun with the avocado a few weeks ago, but Laurel is not huge because of it. Needless to say, I have - because of common sense, cut back on the portions of avocado and sweet potato. But I don't think I was giving extreme amounts anyway, and not everyday. The only other note is that Sassafras is the one who would rather get a rub when I am with them, so she will sit and get a rub while Laurel runs around. But I am not in there all day, so she has plenty of other time to run around. But maybe this has something to do with it. Also, Laurel started eating less formula a few weeks ago, and Sassafras would finish hers, maybe that has something to do with it too. Any thoughts?
These two are really doing well. They play a lot with each other, and with me. They are waking up later with the days shorter, and they are tucking themselves in at about 5pm at night now. (North East US)
Any thoughts are welcome to keep me on track for giving these girls the best care as I can until spring. Thank you,
Lighten-Up
My two girls are about 20-21 weeks old, guess that is about 5 months. Early on, I was made aware of the importance of squirrel nutrition, and so I started them out on Henrys Healthy Rodent Blocks, two a day each. And introduced first, only the vegetables in column one-broccoli etc. and column two-lettuces. Once they were really good about eating all those, I introduced them to the fun veggies in column three-sweet potato, sugar snap peas etc. And once they were eating all those, just in the last two weeks I started giving them fruit and nuts at the end of the day, basically I started this when they started fighting over their Rodent Block. I thought, now might be the time to give them nuts.
First off, I had no idea how passionate squirrels are about their nuts. It was a real awakening for me. I have never seen such passion and joy in all my life. At the same time, it caused quite a bit of bickering that had not been the case before.
Also, they still get Fox Valley formula morning and night. Up until last week they were consuming it all right away. Over the last week, they have changed, and are less excited about it, but if I leave it with them, they will finish the morning feeding over a few hours time, and eat about half of it in the evening feeding; so I will give them only about half in the evenings from now on.
They will both be released in the spring.
Here are my questions.
Q1. Since I have started giving them nuts and fruit and veggies from column three, they pretty much have no interest in the column one and two veggie items. I give column one and two items in the morning and column three items in the afternoon. They get fruit and nuts after that. They would rather eat their formula and wait for the fun stuff later on. The early veggies just sit in a pile, kind of wasteful. The pea pods, green beans, squash etc are consumed immediately in the afternoon. The fruit is eaten immediately. Wanting to do what is best for them, this bothers me, and so I am wondering if this is ok since they are on formula and block as well. Any thoughts are welcome.
Q2. One squirrel is just really good and quick about eating anything (her name is Laurel), the other one (her name is Sassafras) is rather slow and methodical about eating. Both are adorably cuties. With the nuts, this means that the fast one cracks open the nut (I pre-start a crack for now in the shell until they are older) and eats it before the second one figures out which branch would be the best branch to work on the nut with. :-) This then leads to, the first squirrel Laurel who is now done, chasing and capturing the second nut away from Sassafras. Not fair in my mind. I love them both. Is this okay? Any thoughts? Please note that Laurel has played a minor bully role, nothing too serious from what I see, just picking on her and letting her know who is in charge between them. However, just two weeks ago Sassafras went berserk, and fought back, she became so ornery against Laurel that she defended both formula dishes for an entire feeding, for hours she would not let Laurel near either of them. I was slightly amused, and actually glad for her fortitude. She only ate her portion, so eventually Laurel was able to get some, a long time later. After that, the playing field between them was a lot more level. But Laurel is still wanting to chase down the second nut. She doesn't get it every time, but it happens a lot. I am new to all of this, so I just want to make sure that I am doing my part as best as I can for them.
Q3. Since they are still on formula day and evening, I am only giving them one nut each per day. Should I be giving two nuts each per day?
Q4. Ever since I started with them, Laurel was the one who would finish up the extra formula left after Sassafras was done, that made her consistently the larger of the two. Sassafras was always a bit small in comparison. I'm not sure what happened, but about two weeks ago, Sassafras put on some weight and is a bit plump! I don't think she has rolls of fat or anything, and she is lightning fast if she hears a noise. But I just wanted to mention it, since many of us new-bies are always concerned that we are doing the right thing at all times, and this was a sudden change. Sassafras is now noticeably larger than Laurel. I'm just surprised that it happened so fast. We might have had just a little too much fun with the avocado a few weeks ago, but Laurel is not huge because of it. Needless to say, I have - because of common sense, cut back on the portions of avocado and sweet potato. But I don't think I was giving extreme amounts anyway, and not everyday. The only other note is that Sassafras is the one who would rather get a rub when I am with them, so she will sit and get a rub while Laurel runs around. But I am not in there all day, so she has plenty of other time to run around. But maybe this has something to do with it. Also, Laurel started eating less formula a few weeks ago, and Sassafras would finish hers, maybe that has something to do with it too. Any thoughts?
These two are really doing well. They play a lot with each other, and with me. They are waking up later with the days shorter, and they are tucking themselves in at about 5pm at night now. (North East US)
Any thoughts are welcome to keep me on track for giving these girls the best care as I can until spring. Thank you,
Lighten-Up