wild older male squirrel

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I have an older wild male squirrel that has been coming by for food for the last few weeks. He is a little slow and seems to not see very well. The other day he was sitting on top of one of my squirrel houses for a long time and then he went inside when it got dark. I haven't seen him for 2 days since he went inside the house. The house isn't easy to get to in order to look inside. Does anyone know if the wilds will use the houses when they are sick or dying ? I can't figure out what happened to him.

[Diggie's Friend]

Thank you for your concern for your yard buddy. With the higher temperatures it may be his choice of a cool place to hang out.

Squirrels will retreat to a their nest, or nest-box when they get sick. Perhaps you can get a ladder to check on him when it cools off this evening.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Thanks so much for the info and about adding the calcium citrate powder. I will order the calcium powder. I feed the wilds hazelnuts and almonds in the shell. I also put some shelled almonds out for them in the morning along with avocado and kale at times.

[Diggie's Friend]

Here is the link to the calcium citrate we use daily to sprinkle on the E.Walnuts (Trader Joes organic English walnuts) we feed to the squirrels that visit our yard.

According to findings in wild strain rats, organic produced whole foods vs. those conventional produced, and those conventional with some pesticides, lent greater support to immune health and longevity in the rats.

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

1 lb. of this fine milled Calcium citrate powder will last a very long time; it's well worth the price for this amount and quality of the product. After opening the bag, store the powder in a plastic container in a cool dry place like a pantry.

For your ailing yard buddy, I recommend including this set of (1/8 Tsp. + 1/32 Tsp. + 1/64 Tsp.) of the Calcium citrate powder to sprinkle on (2 Tbsp.) equal to (1/8 cup) of shelled chopped organic certified E. walnuts daily. This equates to approximately (2.56:1) Calcium to Phosphorus ratio with this set of measures for calcium citrate. This higher ratio of Ca:P works better for squirrels of 5 years of age and older.

If there is any evidence of progressive kidney disease (see ratguide.com link for potential signs of this condition), where kidney function lowers significantly in older age, then raising the measure of Calcium citrate to (1/8 Tsp. + 1/16 Tsp.) to sprinkle on the (1/8 cup) measure of organic chopped E. walnuts, to lend better support to kidneys with decreased function, be advised.

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/chronic_progressive_nephropathy.php

The beauty of Calcium citrate is that it works to support more of the calcium in meals to remain available for utilization by the body in the bones and cells, while inhibiting the developing of (Calcium oxalate) kidney stone in tree squirrels.

You may also want to consider getting this source of Soil Based Bacteria (SBO) to add onto the nuts, as it will help to support better digestion, as well as to support the degrading of oxalate contained in nuts. Add (1/64 Tsp.) measure of this powder also to the nuts.

https://safermedicalmt.com/product/pet-flora/

This is the kind of min measuring spoons you will need to provide these tiny measures to support the use of calcium with the nuts, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stainless-Measuring-Spoons-smidgen/dp/B0009X1P9S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=miniature+spoons+norpro&qid=1564556155&s=gateway&sr=8-1

[Diggie's Friend]

Let me know by PM if you need any help with the diet or measures for it in the future.

DF