Probiotic for boo balls: Brand Specific or no? Help please!

[Jbow87]

Hello all! I am wanting to try boo balls for Nutter Butter. She eats her veggies well most of the time but I’m noticing some days she’s a bit pickier than others. She is still taking a small amount of formula in the mornings and evenings but less and less everyday. And of course she loves her Henry’s blocks that isn’t a problem.

My question! What specific brand of probiotic do I need? I have searched over the squirrel board and found a few different brands mentioned but not specified for boo balls. Should I get the Pet flora brand or the Benebac? I also noticed some posts saying they just went with a store brand. Again, I’m wanting to make sure I pick the right brand for my purpose. I have OCD myself so I am overly particular about things so that doesn’t help my decision making. The price obviously is very different between the two and some of the ingredients.

Any guidance would be much appreciated, thank you all!!

ALSO EDITING TO ADD: She does have Teklad available to her everyday all day but she does not eat it anymore. She actually prefers the Kaytee food. So I do have the base 2018 block for the boo balls. Just needed to know about probiotic there.

[Mel1959]

I make boo balls for all my wild squirrels and have never added probiotic to the mix. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to add it so long as you don’t bake the boo balls as the heat May neutralize the probiotic. I think for your purposes any brand of probiotic will be fine. I think I’d go with the cheapest that has active cultures. If Henry’s sells a probiotic on their website you probably can’t go wrong with it.

When I make boo balls I use Teklad as the base and add ground nuts along with dry FV 20/50 and FV Ultraboost powder. I’m not sure if it has a probiotic in it or not, but it has a yummy taste and provides additional nutrients.

[CritterMom]

Yes, heating them above about 115 F will kill all of the active cultures anyway.

Your wilds probably don't need this unless they are being medicated with an antibiotic of some kind. The extremely varied diet they have, including the food YOU provide, supports healthy gut flora already.

[Jbow87]

I was going to add a probiotic after baking per the recipe. Then as I have researched old threads and everything I have found on the internet, should I be using a pre/probiotic instead specifically. I also do not have any ultra-boost as of yet, I do have fox valley and teklad. Henry’s does have probiotics on their website as well but again I wanted to make sure I was getting the right kind and brand before I ordered. Anything I get I have to get online, we are a small town so it’s an hour-hour and a half drive to even find a pet store and there it’s all limited. So while looking at the Walmark yesterday even there the probiotic choices suck unless you are a woman over 50 then you have a ton of choices, I have a probiotic that I take in a chewable version, again I don’t want to give her that either. I was trying my best to stick to the original recipe as much as I could.

With that being said, if I ordered the soil based pre/probiotic would that be a good thing to give her regularly even though she has no issues. She will be four months old this month, we plan to try to release her in the spring but I want her as healthy as I can get her until then.

Thank you all again! I’m still learning the board as well so don’t let me leave that out, I appreciate everyone’s advice!

[CritterMom]

I use the womens over 50 ones. I usually have a bottle hanging around for me, and if need be, I steal a capsule. The powder inside is bland and slightly sweet so it doesn't bring much as far as flavor, which is a GOOD thing...

[Jbow87]

Thank you much!!