How to make them eat things they don't want

[Floppysquirrel04]

Ace is the most picky eater, even with all the squirrels on TSB I've heard of. Because he was raised on nuts and seeds, he never ate healthy veggies. Every night is a struggle because he doesn't like very many veggies at all, and he'll mostly only eat his block, fruit, and meat. Out of all veggies, the only ones he won't so much as touch are leafy greens, and we always have so many of those. (He won't eat tree leaves much either) I have tried so many things, including giving him only lettuce and nothing else for a few days, still didn't eat much, and I even soaked them warm in freaking orange juice. How do you guys get your squirrels to eat healthy?

[cava]

Since the block is the base of his diet and we supplement with veggies for variety and enrichment I'm not sure I would worry too much. Does he have a good appetite otherwise and is he maintaining weight?

[Floppysquirrel04]

Yeah he is. I've always fed him half a block because they're so expensive and then given him a variety of veggies. Should I start feeding him a whole one?

[cava]

Not sure for flyers. Grays are two a day plus veggies but some also offer commercial rodent blocks all of the time.

[SophieSquirrel]

Not sure for flyers. Grays are two a day plus veggies but some also offer commercial rodent blocks all of the time.:thumbsup

I don't know anything about flyers either, but with picky Grays & Fox's PPL make "Boo Balls" out of quality rodent blocks to make them more palatable. I assume Ace is a flyer? Perhaps someone can advise a Boo Ball recipe for a flyer's special needs?

Here is a link with a Boo Ball recipe.

Link: https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?52232-Healthy-recipies-for-our-picky-squirrels-(aka-Squirrel-Friendly-Cook-Book)&highlight=boo+balls+recipe

[Diggie's Friend]

The main source of greens in the wild that flyers consume are specific species of edible non-toxic lichens that are moveover available for most of the year. Tender greens are only available for a very short time in theh spring that can provide free calcium, yet once they mature the calcium becomes locked up in the insoluble form of Calcium oxalate, making the calcium no longer available to the body. Try feeding organic baby leafy chicory, lettuces, arugula, Kale; blanching the leaves for 1 to 2 minutes lowers their bitter taste, and makes these sources more easy to digest, and less gassy to the GI tract.

Specific tree buds, pine tree candles, are also good sources for these squirrels.

Add organic raised chicken egg yolk, it has an amazing array of vitamins and nutrients, protein and fats that these squirrel need in place of bird eggs in their diets.

As for lichens, which have a far dense nutrient profile compared to leafy greens, I have a file that identifies these sources, should you be interested just send me a PM and I will send you the link. There are detailed visual online tutorials on how to identify these sources, and even test them to confirm their identity also. Likely you would need to blanch them also to kill insects, and other bad bacteria that they may carry.

Camilles Vita Mealies is a super source of organic ranched mealworms, and other feeder insects without the intestinal parasites that wild sources contain.

[Diggie's Friend]

http://animals.mom.me/flying-squirrel-diet-1794.html


Flying squirrel owners should mimic as closely as possible the types of food the flying squirrel would have available to it in the wild.

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Glaucomys_volans/

I really like this webpage too! I learned that there is a link from the wild diet of So. Flying squirrel's to controling the parasites this species of squirrel has been found to commonly carry on or in their body. The food I refer to here is hardwood tree bark that contains a high content of tannins that are a natural parasiticide. Acorns also contain higher levels of these compounds, which are vital to preventing these body invaders from overwhelming their immune system, of which 80 % is located in their gut.

There is no doubt there are numerous wild sources of non-toxic live twigs that these squirrels would relish chewing on. It would be a good project to undertake to determine which are the most common, and safest sources to offer flying squirrels in support of their health.

"Oregon Mushroom" is an online source for wild sourced edible berries, and mushrooms, that could lend further support to the diet of flying squirrels in captivity.

https://www.oregonmushrooms.com/c-1-dried-mushrooms.aspx

Oregon Mushroom company is one that is a source for my tree squirrel diet carries numeous wild edible berries and mushrooms from the Pacific NW, far more safe than from Europe the land of glow in the dark, as berries and mushrooms are known to pull up(chelate) radiation from the soil. I looked into the regions in the US that are the lowest in both synthetic and natural radiation levels; this one in southern Oregon is lower than those north, south, or east of this pristine region located on the southern coast of Oregon. A lady runs the business, and her husband is an expert in wild mushrooms and berries along with helpers harvests them. . I've eaten some of their products, and use others in my tree squirrel diet. PM me for specific recommendations.

[Toddy]

Diggie's Friend - I've tried replying to your PM's but I keep getting the message:
"Diggie's Friend has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space."

[Floppysquirrel04]

Thanks a million diggiesfriend!! I will check these out right now, they sound very interesting. Tonight ace will (hopefully) feast! I really want to get him lichen but I have to wait until I go to the redwood forests on a day trip and they can be a treat. Thank you soooo much! Ill pm you for the lichen stuff.
Edit: i had the same problem as Toddy, please clear some space diggie :)

[Diggie's Friend]

There are only a few that you can be sure of to not be toxic. Best to research this before you had for the woods to pick some. For example a toxic source is often found on the same braches as the non toxic. So know your stuff before considering giving any lichen to your squirrel. With mushrooms there is this same issue.

I'm presently reviewing them again, and can let you know when I know which ones would be good choices to get from "Oregon Mushroom" No refridgeration is needed for the dried mushrooms; they even have groudn mushroom powders, making it easy to incorporate into yogurt, giving it a shroomy flavor!. Dried is safer also for fresh can harbor parasite eggs; yet rinsed and dried that shouldn't be an issue. I like the dried for this reason also. Not all created equal. I will try to remember to post a list of those I would recommend offered by OR. Mushroom

Check out their frozen 'Coastal Huckleberries' and other wild berries also. You can put these in plain yogurt, but also feed them a la carte.

Have you seen this? Sooo cool!

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/flying-squirrel-new-species-north-america/

[Diggie's Friend]

Like I wrote, before you go grabbing lichens, you need to leran to identify the species for some of them are edible, others are very toxic. This tutorial is a good beginning; it also shows how the species can be identified in the lab. If you aren't sure what kind it is, or whether it is toxic or edible don't feed it. This is much the same issue we see in mushooms. Then there are truffles, not chocolate, but found at the base of teh roots of Douglas Fir trees in the soil. The Northern Flyers I know go diging on the ground for these, an important protein source for this species, and for Vitamin D2 also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oozdok-yLxs

Bryoria is not toxic, Northern flying squirrels make their nests otu of it.

Do not get 'Usnea'; for though this has been marketed it was found to contain a compound that is toxic, that causes liver failure. Don't know why they can still offer it on the market.

This file contains info on which species Northern flying squirrels have been found in the wild to consume. Be careful though to look each up, for at times these squirrel have onsumed toxic shrooms. For it is one thing for that to happen, another to feed them regularly.

https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/journals/pnw_1997_thysell001.pdf

[Diggie's Friend]

Pg 38, of "The Natural History of Squirrels", by John Gurnell, notes Scott's Pine Buds as having a positive Calcium to Phosphorus ratio. If you have these trees in your area this would be a good seasonal addition to the diet.

[cava]

I just bought this book based on DF's advice for $6 used and $3 shipping on Amazon. In case you wanna pick it up.

[Diggie's Friend]

You'll have some fun with it; just sift through it and you'll find what your interested in, and what you can use.
There will be allot of knowledge that has little to no rehabbing application that is interesting, and other things that are about habitat spacial perameters and the like that unless you do field work won't matter to you. Altogether it is a good source of knowledge.

[Floppysquirrel04]

thanks a lot guys :)

[Diggie's Friend]

Just wanted to check, do you have Southern flyers from a breeder, or Northerns you have rescued?

[BCChins]

Diggies Friend I am wondering if you can post the information on the mushrooms to order on here and also the safe Lichens to feed. It would be helpful to all to have this information.

Thank You

[Diggie's Friend]

LIke I sent you by PM "Bryoria fremontii", dark brown, look like a man's beard. Its the only one I found so far that has had sufficient data on for both ID, and non-toxicity, that is known to be a food and nest material for N. Flying squirrels in the PNW region.

I would concentrate on this one, and see the Youtube video I posted on how to chemical ID this particular lichen also. Its a beginning.

For mushrooms the list from "Oregon Mushroom" is a place to star, as these are all non toxic. Even so they vary consideravly, with some very alkaline, and some acidic.

So far in the diet only one has been used; I will send you that name by PM.