Walnut quantity per day limit for Red Squirrel

[gunpackingrandma]

My husband and I continue to debate what is a safe limit of walnuts Ben can have per twenty four hours. I have always followed the boards advice, therefore, whatever the answer is we will follow to a tee...

Ben eats two Henry's Blocks (picky) plus 20/50 formula per day. Yes, Ben is still on formula and is over a year old! He loves his formula and shows no signs of weaning himself. Ben also eats a wide range of organic fresh veggies off the approved food list. Also a variety of wild foods from our property. Limited amount of fruit. Typically half a grape or a small piece of apple, banana, peach or melon twice a day. Also, a tiny piece of Henry's Peanut stick once a day.

Ben weighs 269 grams....

Thank you for your input! We just want to be sure we are doing the best we possibly can for Ben's health, especially after reading so many cases of MBD recently.

[HRT4SQRLS]

My husband and I continue to debate what is a safe limit of walnuts Ben can have per twenty four hours. I have always followed the boards advice, therefore, whatever the answer is we will follow to a tee...

Ben eats two Henry's Blocks (picky) plus 20/50 formula per day. Yes, Ben is still on formula and is over a year old! He loves his formula and shows no signs of weaning himself. Ben also eats a wide range of organic fresh veggies off the approved food list. Also a variety of wild foods from our property. Limited amount of fruit. Typically half a grape or a small piece of apple, banana, peach or melon twice a day. Also, a tiny piece of Henry's Peanut stick once a day.

Ben weighs 269 grams....

Thank you for your input! We just want to be sure we are doing the best we possibly can for Ben's health, especially after reading so many cases of MBD recently.

292276

I think this chart will help you understand the issues with nuts. This is the calcium : phosphorus ratio chart of the different nuts. The problem with nuts is that they have higher phosphorus than calcium. An ideal food has a Ca: P ratio of 2:1. The nuts are opposite that. High phosphorus foods (in excess) will cause calcium to be leeched from the bones. This is why we limit nuts to treats.

IMO, walnuts are not one of the better nuts with a ratio of 1:3.5.
Pecans are a little bit worse are 1:4
The better nuts are almonds and hazel nuts. Almonds are 1:1.8 (unroasted) and hazelnuts are 1:1.7.

This is the order of healthy nuts... Hazelnut, Almond (unroasted), Walnut, Pecan.

My preferred nuts are almonds but I occasionally will give the others as a special treat.

With this information, I would not let a tiny red have an entire walnut per day. Reds are so small and walnuts are so large in comparison. :)
I'm sure other have different opinions but I would only allow 1/4 of a walnut and that, not every day. I think it would much safer to give one almond per day. You can give walnuts as a special treat but that wouldn't be my preferred nut.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I just wanted to point out something else from the chart.
Look at pine nuts :eek I never feed pine nuts, ever.

[gunpackingrandma]

Thank you SO MUCH for the nut chart and all the information!!! Myself, husband and Ben thank you for taking the time to read and answer our question in such precise detail. Well, Maybe not Ben.... He's going to be ticked off when he realizes the walnuts are history...LOL!!!

Seriously, we would have been devastated if Ben died from our ignorance... So grateful the board exists to answer questions! Keep up the great work!!!

[gunpackingrandma]

Forgot to mention, Ben has never had a Pine nut. So glad I don't like them, never had them in the house.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Well, Maybe not Ben.... He's going to be ticked off when he realizes the walnuts are history...LOL!!!

:laugh2 Oh come on mom. He can have a little piece occasionally. :grin2

[Gypsy Love]

I'm wondering if coating nuts with a bit of powdered calcium would help? Just a little bit on a piece of a nut every other day or so? I have reptiles that require their food to be dusted with calcium so I have it at my disposal. Has anyone else tried or looked into this? Would calcium with or without d3 be best?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, you are correct. A light dusting of calcium carbonate powder does counter some of the negative effects of a high phosphorus food. It's a very common practice with reptiles.

Of course, we don't make a habit of dusting unhealthy foods. :tilt Vitamin D3 is good for the absorption of calcium but you have to be careful with that. Vitamin D is used as a rodenticide in some rat poisons so you have to be careful to not give too much.
It sorta scares me.

[island rehabber]

I'm wondering if coating nuts with a bit of powdered calcium would help? Just a little bit on a piece of a nut every other day or so? I have reptiles that require their food to be dusted with calcium so I have it at my disposal. Has anyone else tried or looked into this? Would calcium with or without d3 be best?

My Owena, a non-releasable seizure-prone squirrel, gets four almonds in the morning which are lightly dusted with calcium powder. The magnesium in the almonds has greatly helped her seizure problems, and the calcium powder counteracts the risk of MBD from her having almonds. This has been working well now for over a year and a half.

[Diggie's Friend]

Agreeably, the European pine nut, aka (Pignolie), has the highest (worst) (P:Ca) ratio, and highest (worst) (Ox:Ca) of any seed or nut that is marketed.

When compared with the Pinyon Pine nut from the western US at (4.37:1) (P:Ca) , the European Pine nut at (35.9 :1) it is clear these pinenuts have little in common save they are both pinenuts.

The Pecan, though is contains higher amounts of both calcium and phosphorus than the Pinyon pinenut, has a similar close ratio to the Pinyon Pine nut.

Pine nut, European - (Calcium: 16 mg.) (Phosphorus: 575 mg.) (P: Ca) highly negative Ca ratio: (35.9 :1)

(Total Soluble Oxalates: (198 mg.) (Ox:Ca) highly negative Ca ratio: (12.37 : 1)


Pinyon Pine Nut, dried - (western US) (Calcium: 8 mg) (Phosphorus: 35 mg) (P:Ca) negative Ca ratio: (4.37: 1)

(Total Soluble Oxalates: NA) (Ox : Ca) ratio: NA


Pecan, raw - (Calcium: 70 mg) (Phosphorus: 277 mg) (P:Ca) negative Ca ratio: (3.95 :1)

(Total Soluble Oxalate 64 mg. ) (Ca:Ox) positive Ca ratio: (1.09 :1)


English Walnut, raw - (Calcium: 98 mg) (Phosphorus: 346 mg) (P: Ca) negative Ca ratio: (3.53 :1)

(Total Soluble Oxalates: 74 mg) (Ca:Ox ) positive Ca ratio: (1.32 : 1)

With a litter of N.A. Red squirrels that were raised to release, once Pinyon pinenuts were added to the English Walnuts, and the other whole foods in their diet, all save one squirrel, that was found to have a rare genetic condition which shortened its life, survived and were released back to the woods fit and ready to do their thing.

Penny's Pine Nuts carries this nut source. They carry two US Pinyon pinenut varieties; be sure to ask for the soft shelled Pinyon pine nut Edulis, which is higher in fat than the hard shelled variety, and has better Ca:P ratio. If any N.A. tree squirrel needs this surrogate source of pine seeds, the pine squirrel species do! For these little spit-fires. which come with their own set of racing stripes, have a significantly higher metabolism than the mid-sized and larger N.A. tree squirrels. For this reasons they require higher proportions of fat and protein in their diet, than the larger N.A. species do.