Please I need help I think Jojo has MBD

[1956CHEVYGIRL]

Hi my name is Colette Please help I am new to this site. I have a squirrel that I have had since it was a baby his name is Jojo and he is almost 2 years old. A couple of days ago he started to get a little aggressive so I looked online to see if I could find out anything about the aggressiveness. I ran across this site and started reading about MBD & how bad all of the nuts are for him. When I first got him and read about what foods to feed him it said that nuts where good for them. I am sick to say that is basically his diet is nuts, fruits and very little veggies. Please help me and my Jojo there is one sign that I can see he has and that is his nails have been getting caught on his blanket and that has been happening for the last couple of weeks I thought maybe he had a snag on one of his nails but since last night I have been noticing he is kind of lethargic. I do not know what to do. I am not even sure if this is where I post. PLEASE HELP!!

[1956CHEVYGIRL]

Jojo

[stepnstone]

Hi my name is Colette Please help I am new to this site. I have a squirrel that I have had since it was a baby his name is Jojo and he is almost 2 years old. A couple of days ago he started to get a little aggressive so I looked online to see if I could find out anything about the aggressiveness. I ran across this site and started reading about MBD & how bad all of the nuts are for him. When I first got him and read about what foods to feed him it said that nuts where good for them. I am sick to say that is basically his diet is nuts, fruits and very little veggies. Please help me and my Jojo there is one sign that I can see he has and that is his nails have been getting caught on his blanket and that has been happening for the last couple of weeks I thought maybe he had a snag on one of his nails but since last night I have been noticing he is kind of lethargic. I do not know what to do. I am not even sure if this is where I post. PLEASE HELP!!

Squirrels that get a lot of nuts will tend to be a bit more aggressive IMO. Squirrels that get a lot of nuts also tend to hoard and
stash a nut here and there and they are very protective over their territory, that can also account for sudden aggressive behavior.
That said... A diet of nuts will eventually lead to mbd as calcium is being leeched from the bones.
Mbd is painful, that could possibly be why he is acting out in an aggressive manor. Nail snagging can be an indicator.
I'm going to attach the link to the MBD protocol below. You need to follow it! If this is not mbd it won't hurt him.
If it is, it could save his life! Mbd is Life threatening ,with advancing mbd paralysis and/or seizures usually follow.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?17680-Emergency-Treatment-for-MBD-(Updated-3-31-09)


Edit: Moving forum to Life threatening

[1956CHEVYGIRL]

Good morning Stepnstone, I did what you said I cleaned out Jojos cage removed all of the nuts he had stashed all around his cage. Although I am still working on all of the nuts he has buried around the house. Everyday when he comes out for his play time he gathers up several of them and of coarse likes to stash them in back of my neck or my armpit or anywhere else he can find on my body which is great this way I just take them and stash them in my hiding place.:grin2
I did order calcium carbonate powder that was delivered to me yesterday As far as the Henry's healthy blocks those should be delivered tomorrow. I went to the grocery store and filled my cart up with most of the vegetable's, Lettuces from your healthy diet page also went to home depot and bought a few different flowers and plants on your list. The problem I am having is he will not even touch most of what I bought from the store. The one thing I notice is he loves broccoli. :broccoli As for the flowers and plants he likes them. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to get him to eat these things that he needs. Thank god I have not seen any other signs of the MBD besides his nails snagging on his hammock. I am just praying I caught it in time that he will be ok. I have been giving him tums while I was waiting for the calcium but now that I have the right calcium I will not give him anymore. If there is any suggestions you can give me on his diet or a way for him to enjoy eating the foods he will not eat right now it would be awesome. I will do whatever I have to do to make my lil Jojo happy and healthy! I want you to know how much I appreciate all of your help!! :Love_Icon

[1956CHEVYGIRL]

Good news I looked on my porch to see if maybe his Henry blocks came early and sure enough they did. I am so happy I immediately came straight inside and gave one to Jojo and he loved it. :grin2 I am so happy since he seems to only like broccoli so far of coarse he loves his hazelnuts and blueberries the best but now that I know he can only have them as treats I was getting worried so yes this is a good thing! Can you tell me should he have 1 or 2 a day of the Henrys blocks? I am still very worried about MBD since he has not gotten calcium since he was a baby. He seems to be doing real good and doesn't act like he is in any pain. He is always hanging upside down from his back feet from a wood perch that I had bought for my parrot and decided to put in his cage. He also sits on this perch all of the time he even goes down to the bottom of his cage takes food out of his dish and brings it up to his perch where he likes to eat. I am thinking he cant be in too much pain if he is just hanging like that but I could be wrong but I just do not think he is in pain since he seems very happy. When can I start giving Jojo a hazelnut since those are his favorite, I realize he will only be able to have 1 a day maybe 2 a day but since his calcium was probably at 0 I would think I should wait awhile before allowing him to have one. Again thank you so much for all of your help I appreciate all of the info you can give me. I just love this lil guy and want him to live a healthy happy long life!

[stepnstone]

Be careful of the plants/flowers that you buy, many are grown in hot houses
that use fertilizers and pesticides that could be poisonous to an animal.

Henry's block is recommended to be fed two per day.

Nuts are given as a treat, not recommended to be fed everyday.

[1956CHEVYGIRL]

Thank you!!