Can squirrels have Brazil and Macadamia nuts?

[JLM27]

Recently I saw someone give her squirrel on FB a Brazil nut. Are these OK?

[Grinderhead]

Found this.
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?53047-Brazil-nuts-can-kill&highlight=brazil+nuts
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?14046-oats-and-macadamian-nuts&highlight=Macadamia

[island rehabber]

Not good -- waaay too much selenium. Humans are advised never to have more than 4-5 per week, so imagine a tiny squirrel.

[King Squirrel]

Necromancer Warning: I’m sorry to post on an old thread but its important to update our collective knowledge and not leave stories half told laying around on the internet.



Not good -- waaay too much selenium. Humans are advised never to have more than 4-5 per week, so imagine a tiny squirrel.

The advice for humans is to limit them to 4-5 a week on an ongoing basis. If you eat 10 on a holiday you will be completely unharmed. Continue for months and you can poison yourself. The same is true of squirrels for the most part. They can handle selenium(the dangerous element in Brazil nuts, and also the active ingredient in Head and Shoulders shampoo!) occasionally.

My squirrels each get one small brazil nut twice a year. I do it around Christmas/New Year and again in the summer when I celebrate a mass birthday/anniversary for all of my visitors and patients.

In addition to the danger of over-indulgence on Brazil nuts, they are at risk from OLD brazil nuts. When they go bad they get extremely toxic. To prevent this from happening, I use a nut cracker to break the shell in a couple of places before giving it to them. That forces them to eat it right away instead of burying it, where I can’t protect them from eating a spoiled one a year or two later.

If you can’t ensure that you are only giving one to each squirrel and only rarely…then please don’t give them out at all. Better safe than sorry. Btw, I have not witnessed the drunk behavior from Brazil nuts. The only times I have seen a squirrel high was when they eat fermented cherries(they make their own) or when I saw them eating a neighbor’s pot plants. That was pretty funny but concerning.

In case you are wondering, I worked with the neighbor to protect his plants from wildlife and vice-versa. And yes, that is legal here.

[island rehabber]

Good info. Thanks for the clarification!:great

[Spanky]

I apologize in advance, but I am compelled to jump into this conversation...

A 5 lb squirrel (which is quite large) eating one Brazil is like a 100lb person eating 20 Brazil nuts... not good in either case, IMO.

I personally see zero compelling reasons to feed a Brazil nut to a squirrel...

This morning my wife found a great deal on in shell nuts on sale at a K-Roger. They were in a bin and some of the bags had tears and the nuts were spilling out. They offered she could buy them all (in shell almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and mixed nuts) $1.99 for 2 lb bags. I told her to leave the mixed nuts behind because they had Brazil nut but get all the others... let's juts say I should have asked exactly how many bags they had for sale... When she got home she said she was glad she took the pick up truck. :facepalm

[CritterMom]

A five pound squirrel? WTH are you feeding your squirrels, Spanky? LOL!

I have a rule of thumb regarding my critters. If it is even ever so slightly toxic in ANY amount to ANY living creature, I don't feed it. There are just too many other options to choose from! It is too bad though - I love brazil nuts!

[Spanky]

A five pound squirrel? WTH are you feeding your squirrels, Spanky? LOL!


:laugh2
For now... and while to come... the wilds are getting premium, in the shell Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds and Hazelnuts!

I was thinking about "Hank the Tank" back in 2016 when I was visiting Michigan... I would have sworn that Foxer was every bit of 5lbs compared to my GA greys...

There are no 5 pounders around here, but I figured that was about as big as any squirrel should ever be... but you make a good point that a squirrel eating a Brazil nut is like a person eating a couple dozen or more.

[Diggie's Friend]

There are a about five subspecies of the Eastern Fox squirrel which inhabit eastern seaboard and gulf coast regions which are known to reach up to 3 lbs. The Mid-west Fox Squirrels subspecies, midsized by comparison, as adults range from (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 lbs.) Yet if a squirrel gets too much food, as a male fox squirrel who briefly visited our yard had; then they can exceed the top of the range of their weight. We called this squirrel, "Fat Albert" for his uncanny resemblance to the cartoon character of the same name. Never had we seen a fox squirrel before nor since with such bulbous arms and legs as this male had; not even in photos.