6 Week Old nutrition

[rayann]

My little guy just turned 6 weeks old and I've been putting the Henry's block in his cage breaking it up and offering a couple of pieces daily. He doesn't seem to eat them much unless I put a piece in front of him but he loses interest fast. When should I try wild food and veggies next? Should I only keep doing the blocks for awhile? How long? Also, in the morning I go in and give him his Henry's formula. Should I be offering block instead and then formula after?

[Mel1959]

No, don’t offer formula instead of block. The formula will be his primary source of nutrition, and more importantly calcium, for many more weeks. We don’t recommend that you wean your squirrel. Continue offering formula for as long as he’ll take it. They tend to choose to wean around 12 weeks old, but there have been many that will drink formula from a dish once they are put in the release cage at an older age than that. Formula is what builds his bones strong and insures he doesn’t develop Metabolic Bone Disease.

It takes a while for them to get the hang of the fact that food comes in a solid form, like block. You can offer a portion of the block and put a few drops of formula on it and see if he has more interest. You don’t want to offer veggies or wild food until he’s eating the block very well and not shredding it. The block provides the calcium he’s going to need whenever he slows down on his formula consumption.