Flying Squirrel with diarrhea?

[TheCaitCat]

Hello all!

I'm new here (came from the National Flying Squirrel Association boards) and am having some issues with my Southern Flyer, Skittles. We just moved from California to Utah and ever since we got here - about 1 1/2 months ago - Skittles has had diarrhea on and off. He gets it for a day or two, then goes back to having fairly normal poop for a week or so, then gets diarrhea again. He has been very active since we got to Utah; Awake more often, jumping around on the floor and bed, and even seems to be more receptive to my husband than usual. He is, however, acting a little more food aggressive than normal and I'm not sure if that is related to the diarrhea or not. When I go to put seeds or nuts in his cage he will grab them then bounce around his cage acting agitated and pouncing on my hand (not biting). He doesn't seem to care when I put his fruit in. He also seems to be eating a lot more than normal. Back in California, he would usually have some fruit and veggies left over when we fed him the next day, but now his bowl is clean every single night. His diet consists of this: pumpkin/sunflower seeds 3 days a week, 1 random nut (pecan, walnut, almond, etc.) twice a week, a little granola and a piece of dried banana twice a week; every day he also gets fruits and vegetables with calcium sprinkled on top that can be any mix of kale, carrots, apple, watermelon, cherry tomato, and sometimes raspberries or blueberries. He also gets the occasional yogurt drop as a treat. The only change in his diet is that we haven't been giving him his once-a-week bowl of squirrel food from Exotic Nutrition. I'm not against taking him to a vet for exotics, but when I have in the past they haven't known much about flyers so I figured I would check here first. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Cait :)

P.S. Skittles is about to turn 7 years old in February.

[SammysMom]

Welcome to TSB Cait! I would try offering a bit of full fat yogurt with no sugar substitutes. More importantly he needs a good quality rodent block. Many of us use those from Henryspets.com with great success. He also needs a source of protein such as cooked chicken breast.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Skittles needs some protein. He needs some Waxworms or mealworms. They LOVE waxworms.

Isn't the Exotic Nutrition food composed of a lot of seeds and nuts?

[TheCaitCat]

Hey, thanks for all the suggestions! The Exotic Nutrition squirrel diet has seeds, shelled nuts, little pellet food, and some dried fruit. We used to give him meal worms when we would give him granola, but he didn't seem too interested - maybe we will try wax worms? I will get him some yogurt today to try and possibly some chicken. In the past he has shown no interest whatsoever in meat, but that could be because we never gave it to him much when he was young so he isn't used to it. He really likes to chew on different blocks so we will definitely buy some of the Henry's Pets protein blocks to try.

Thanks for your help!
Cait :)

[Anne]

There is a healthy flying squirrel diet in the flying squirrel section under breed specific. The bulk of his diet should be vegetables and a small amount of fruit. Nuts as treats only. Yogurt may help his problem by furnishing his GI tract with digestive enzymes. I have seen some flyers who had a difficult water after a move, especially if you've gone from city water to well water.

[TheCaitCat]

Hello all,

Just giving a quick update on Skittles. I've stopped giving him nuts for now, since he has so many hidden away anyways. I also gave him some hard-boiled egg whites to get some protein in him and he really seems to like that. We also have cut a lot of the fruit out of his diet and have been giving him more greens/veggie options. He doesn't seem as thrilled about that, but he will get over it. Haha! We just got in his new treats and diet blocks today and the blocks seem very large for such a small squirrel. It says to give 1-2 blocks per day for an adult flying squirrel, but it also says to keep them refrigerated. Does anyone know if he doesn't eat it all in one sitting and hides it away, will it get weird and moldy? Do I need to be cleaning his nest boxes and bags out really regularly now that he has perishables to hide?

Thanks everyone!
Cait

[Anne]

Those blocks really should be frozen, that's were I keep mine. There are not preservatives and they will mold even in the refrig. I cut my blocks in half when they are large. 1 in AM the second half in PM. And yes on cleaning out his stashes, once a week is best. He'll pout for a day but soon forgive you.