What kind of food blocks?

[Squirrelskeeper]

What kind of food blocks can you get for squirrels at a pet store? Ones that are good for them?

[CritterMom]

What kind of food blocks can you get for squirrels at a pet store? Ones that are good for them?

You will really only get ones that are "meh" for them at a pet store. Some of the Oxbow rat foods are okay though many don't like them much; Kaytee Forti-diet is of lowish quality. You need to order the better foods online. I strongly suggest the Henry's food at www.henryspets.com.

[TheSquirrelGirl]

I feed Zupreem primate block. Should I be feeding Henrys? I always thought Zupreem was the gold standard.

[island rehabber]

I feed Zupreem primate block. Should I be feeding Henrys? I always thought Zupreem was the gold standard.

Zupreem is ok for squirrels in rehab to release situations, as a staple of their diet every day. Oxbow and Teklad are better quality with less corn and other junk ingredients. The Henry's are a true SUPPLEMENT to the healthy diet, made for squirrels in long-term captivity or overwintering. 2 Henry's per day ensure that the squirrels are getting the vitamins and calcium they need, regardless of what else they are eating. Squirrels who are about to be released at 4-5 months old will be getting wild foods soon enough and don't require the supplementation. Hope this makes sense.

[Javarat]

My opinion of pet stores is the same as fishing stores.
Most of the stuff is packaged for you (to sell it)... not the animal.
For instance... a $7 can of 'elk stew' may actually be bad for my dog.

The best blocks are really Henry's.. about $25 per bag including shipping on Amazon.
There are about 54 per bag.. so that comes out to $.45 per squirrel per day.

[TheSquirrelGirl]

Zupreem is ok for squirrels in rehab to release situations, as a staple of their diet every day. Oxbow and Teklad are better quality with less corn and other junk ingredients. The Henry's are a true SUPPLEMENT to the healthy diet, made for squirrels in long-term captivity or overwintering. 2 Henry's per day ensure that the squirrels are getting the vitamins and calcium they need, regardless of what else they are eating. Squirrels who are about to be released at 4-5 months old will be getting wild foods soon enough and don't require the supplementation. Hope this makes sense.

I give my 1 yr old gray a mix of Zupreem and Oxbow essentials freely and vegetables in the evening. So is she okay with that or should I do something else? I just want to make sure shes getting the best nutrition possible.

[Diggie's Friend]

Since you asked. :grin3

https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Flora-caps-Probiotic-Gastrointestinal/dp/B005PJN2HO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538243462&sr=8-3&keywords=pet+flora

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Goodpet-Probiotics-prebiotics-High-Potency/dp/B007AK0FRQ

These sources support digestion of foods, degrading of oxalates that otherwise reduce calcium bioavailability to the body, and keep bad bacterial growth in the intestines to a minimum.

These sources of Pre/probiotics both different forms. The one from Dr. Goodpet it your typical lactobacillus forms, but the one Pet Flora from Vitality Science supplies soil based organism (good gut bacteria) that tree squirrels consume in the wild, without including bad bacteria, worms, and other parasitical forms that natural soils are known to carry.

The other sources I recommend are for reason that the ratios of block diets don't often support what has more recently been found to be a slightly higher ratio of Calcium to Phosphorus ratio in the bones of adult rats. In the past 2:1 was the catch all ratio for Ca:P in the diet of rodents; yet in two recent studies that tested a different ratio, (2:1) and (3.3:1) respectively were found to provide well support for bone density, bone compression strength, and calcium retention in the bones of the rats vs. a ratio a (Ca:P) of (1:1) that was not found to sufficiently support bone health in the rats. Like any other advances in medicine and diet that have come with this, this one now has also.

You can easily determine the Ca:P ratio in the source you have by dividing the percent, or the amounts given for calcium by that noted for the phosphorus content if offered. For example: Envigo HT 2016 Rodent diet is noted to supply (1.0 %) per Kg of calcium, and (0.7 %) per kg. of phosphorus provides by itself an approx. (1.42 :1 ratio) of (Ca:P) ; this is from dividing the greater percentage noted for calcium with that noted for phosphorus.

https://oicf.bsd.uchicago.edu/docs/Low%20Autofluorescence%20Rodent%20Chow%20-%20Teklad%202916.pdf

Though this ratio is an excellent one to support the growth and development of the bones of juveniles, if nothing in addition is included with this diet, as it only formulated to stand as a whole diet alone. Most block sources that are so formulated are higher in ratio than that noted for the adult diet from HHB, that allows for whole foods to be added to the HHB block, that is presently the best one on the market. For juveniles the HHB adult block allows more whole foods that aren't the same ratio as the block itself to be added. For this reason I really like this source for juveniles. For adults, since the ratio falls below that found to offer maximum support in rat research, you could add Henry's vitamin mineral mix in a measured amount to bring up the ratio to at least (2:1) up to (3.3:1).

My preference having seen the benefits of citrates in my research diet for tree squirrels, the squirrel now (9 1/2) years of age, is to add specific measures of Calcium citrate and Magnesium citrate (Frontier Naturals), as these two sources have been found to better support calcium levels in the blood, and inhibit the formation of kidney stones in rats, and required for bone formation in mammals. Citrates are found in many foods not just in citrus fruits, but have been found in mammals milk. Noted on stone formation in rodents, a deficiency in Citrates, and magnesium support the development of kidney stones in rats and mice. (recently confirmed to do the same in tree squirrels):shakehead

https://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Magnesium-Citrate-Powder/dp/B000UYC3MY

https://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Calcium-Citrate-Powder/dp/B000UYA1T6

[Diggie's Friend]

Grammar text correction:

https://oicf.bsd.uchicago.edu/docs/Low%20Autofluorescence%20Rodent%20Chow%20-%20Teklad%202916.pdf

"Though the ratio (1.42 :1) is optimal to support the growth and development of the bones of juveniles, it was formulated to stand as a whole diet by itself, not include whole foods to add to it to complete it, which when added lower the ratio. HHB squirrel block diet to my understanding, is the only one on the market presently that has a higher (Ca:P) ratio at approx. (1.7 :1), which allows for a complement of whole foods to be added to complete the diet. For this reason, and for reason HHB notes it contains no soy, or cornmeal, it is presently the best diet for tree squirrels available on the market."