Maybe an emergency...maybe not. Just need to know ASAP

[April13]

MY CO WORKER also has a squirrel about 1 month older than mine. I am very picking about diet and regulate everything he has. ( per pyramid ). On the long days I am at work he has a large cage in doctors office infront of the window...not sure why that info is revelant..lol. Anyway, he gos to work with me. I found out she gave mine dried meal worms .( about 10 ). She gives hers the same. I was very upset due to her not checking with me. Please please tell me he is going to be ok. Luckily I am a vet tech with exotic and 20 years experience. I have place many catheters in guinea pigs ferrets and rabbits even a chicken. So I can do and have access to anything he might need. Please let me know if it is a bad thing. What i need to look for . :hyper

[April13]

MY CO WORKER also has a squirrel about 1 month older than mine. I am very picking about diet and regulate everything he has. ( per pyramid ). On the long days I am at work he has a large cage in doctors office infront of the window...not sure why that info is revelant..lol. Anyway, he gos to work with me. I found out she gave mine dried meal worms .( about 10 ). She gives hers the same. I was very upset due to her not checking with me. Please please tell me he is going to be ok. Luckily I am a vet tech with exotic and 20 years experience. I have place many catheters in guinea pigs ferrets and rabbits even a chicken. So I can do and have access to anything he might need. Please let me know if it is a bad thing. What i need to look for .

[Meirby]

I'm not 100% but. I strongly doubt that it would have any negative effect.... other than possible horrible smelling poop (that's a guess because they make my ducks reek). Squirrels are a type of scavenger.. so their stomachs are pretty hardy. Maybe not something to add to the diet, but really doubt there's a danger.

[Meirby]

I just looked through another thread here... actually good for squirrels. I have no idea how to post a thread link but if you google squirrels and mealworms, theres a link back to the thread on this forum

[Nancy in New York]

I just looked through another thread here... actually good for squirrels. I have no idea how to post a thread link but if you google squirrels and mealworms, theres a link back to the thread on this forum

From my understanding they are NOT good for
grey squirrrels because of the calcium phosphorus ratio.
You want a ratio of 2:1
I found this Ca:P ratios for mealworms range from .07:1 to .33:1.
The 10 that were given to your squirrel is not going to hurt him, though
I would not feed him more.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Hi April, The mealworms are certainly not a problem. My flying squirrels eat meal worms or WaxWorms routinely as a protein source. In the wild, grey squirrels eat bugs or worms also. They do have a bad calcium: phosphorus ratio so I would feed them in limited amounts or not at all to grey squirrels. Many roll the worms in calcium carbonate powder to offset the negative calcium aspect.

I did want to mention that taking your squirrel to work could be a problem. I looked up your state and found that it is illegal to own wildlife in your state as it is in most states. Squirrels are not on the list of wildlife that can be held captive. SO, 'take your squirrel to work day' could be a problem. :tilt If you do I would definitely not allow the squirrel in a location where it can be seen by the public. 99% of the time it wouldn't be a problem but all it takes is one JERK and you have serious problems. I'm not just saying this to scare you. Some of the things I have seen and read on this board regarding this BLOW MY MIND. People can be very nasty and the animal always pays the price. They can be confiscated and euthanized. SO, be very careful.

[Anne]

Sorry you didn't get a reply before now. The meal-worms will not harm your squirrel in any way, but should not be a part of his diet. Now they'd be perfectly fine if he was a flying squirrel, they do require worms, etc. in their diet for extra protein. Worms are not necessary for grey squirrels. Hopefully your friend will not feed anything to your squirrel without checking with you first.

[Diggie's Friend]

That is very true, they are a healthy source, especially if the source is raised organically. “Camillies Vita-Mealies” carries organically raise mealies, they are located in Florida.

Though for those animals to be released a count of 10 may be fine, in captivity this is too high an amount due to the acidity they promote in the diet, save that amount isn't fed daily perhaps. Half may be ok, depending upon their size, but best to make sure by checking the urine pH lies within the healthy range for squirrels.

Veterinarians state that the healthy mean for urine pH 6.5 (or values close to it), is needful to aim at supporting in the diet of pets. This towards the prevention of metabolic imbalances that are known to result in serious health disorders, that can be indicated by too high or too low pH.

The mean value for those that may not be familiar with that here, isn't the average of the pH range for these species, 7.0, but that pH urine value that is most in common with all the readings taken during the day. The mean can be determined by taking a number or readings during the day (one important reading before meals first urination in the day, plus three more sometime after meals).

If the mean urine pH falls within (6.4-6.6) then the amount of mealies, and other acidic sourced foods in the diet, that promote acididity in the urine, would be acceptable. IF not, then reduce the amount of the mealieis down by half down to 2 1/2. Should that not result in the urine mean rising into the healthy range in a couple of days, then reduce another acidic sources like the nuts, and/or increase alkaline sources, that include most healthy tree fruits, not just the greens that have the highest pH (alkaline) value, but the lowest energy value.

[April13]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I just wanted to make sure.
I also looked up the laws regarding squirrels. I thought I read that they were unregulated here so not illegal. Getting a permit was recommended. I will surely look it up again just to be sure. I have had him since he was 2 weeks. So I would take him to work out of necessity. Being I worked 10 + hours .

[Diggie's Friend]

Always good to make sure, to ask questions when there is a concern with diet. No doubt you understood that this source is high in phosphorus, and could result in a metabolic imbalance of calcium to phosphorus. Too much fat isn't so good either. Other than those issue, this good choice to include daily in a smaller amount, as it provides some key nutrients not found commonly in plant food sources.