bald knuckles

[Ravenwing]

I have a 10 month old blind squirrel (Rockie) that chews the fur off of his knuckles. He has done it 4 times now, he lets the fur grow back, then before I know it bald knuckles again. I am guessing it is to nervousness from all the noise when hes in his outside run or boredom when hes in his cage inside when I'm not around. He is my first squirrel (also blind) so i don't really know what to do to help stop this?

[Floppysquirrel04]

Could you give him more time to interact out of his cage? Something to play with and chew on inside of the cage? My flyer has barbering, where he picks off his own fur. It's usually from boredom and stress, which can be fixed with distractions.
What is his diet? Can you tell us exactly?

[Ravenwing]

I give him a lot of almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, apples, carrots, mango and avocado. I have some squirrel friendly cat toys in his cage, but i cant let him run around freely unless im there because i have cats and don't trust them that much. even though they think his alright.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Hi Ravenwing
Welcome to TheSquirrelBoard

I know what the problem is. The diet is the problem.
Nuts are super unhealthy for captive squirrels. Nuts are high phosphorus foods. This causes calcium to leached from the bones. The body will attempt to balance out the high phosphorus in the diet by pulling calcium from the bones. It is called Metabolic Bone Disease. It is imperative that the diet be changed immediately.

Here is a link to the healthy diet.
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44440-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels

You will need to get a rodent block. I would buy the Henrys Healthy Pets Pickie eater block. It is a supplement block. The base is pecans so Rockie might willingly eat it. It is packed with vitamins and minerals.

I would also treat Rockie for Metabolic Bone Disease.
Here is a link to the MBD treatment protocol..
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?32122-MBD-Treatment

Untreated, MDB will progress to seizures, hind end paralysis and death.

Luckily you have caught this before those devastating symptoms developed but I would treat for low calcium anyway and I would change the diet starting now. NO more nuts. This will be very difficult because they love nuts and will hold out for them but it must be done. Tough love... to save Rockie.

[HRT4SQRLS]

You're probably wondering what the diet has to do with chewing the hair off the knuckles. It is definitely related. MBD can cause tingling nerve pains that will cause them to chew body parts.

[Floppysquirrel04]

Also, I have heard cashews are way worse than the other nuts. Sometimes squirrels will eat their own fur for calcium. Immedient treatment is needed to save his life. Don't wait!