Homemade Hi-protein HHB for Flying Squirrels

[bratann617]

Hello everyone!
I have a question about the homemade HHB for Flying Squirrels that I made. My Southern Flying Squirrel does eat her blocks, although not as much of them as I would like her to yet. But she is still on formula, so I'm not too concerned about it at the moment. My question, is it ok for her to eat it raw? It does have eggs in it, but from what I've read Southern Flying Squirrels do eat bird eggs in the wild. I ask this because when I made the blocks and before I cooked them, she popped her head out of my shirt and was very interested in it. I gave her a small taste and she went absolutely WILD over it! She loved it! She doesn't seem to be as crazy over the cooked blocks. Like I said, she eats them, and as she gets older I'm sure she will eat more, but if for some reason she stops eating them or doesn't eat as much as she should, I wanted to know if she could eat it uncooked. I could freeze it and give her the same amount as the cooked blocks and when it thaws, I'm sure she would love it. Shoot, maybe she would like it frozen too. LoL But I don't want to feed her the raw batter if it is not safe.

[SammysMom]

Maybe post your recipe here so we know what the ingredients are and can better answer your question. I don't think that raw egg is a good idea, but let's see if others weigh in.

[bratann617]

I don't have the exact amounts of everything I used on hand at the moment, but I know what ingredients I used and they are as follows-
-Henry's protein powder
-Henry's Vita-Mins
-Baking Soda
-Wheat Flour
-Eggs
-Vanilla
-Assorted Nuts
-Water

[Anne]

As long as you keep the blocks in the freeze and only take out the two you will be feeding that day, I see no problem with her eating the dough raw. In the wild she would be eating bird eggs if she could get them. Wild bird eggs aren't necessarily fresh! Molding of hoarded block could be a problem and I would be extra vigilant about checking her stash.

[bratann617]

Thank you! That's what I thought with the bird eggs. I'd definitely keep it frozen. Also she is just 10 weeks old and she hasn't learned to stash anything yet. I will be vigilant about continuing to check and see if she is stashing. So far she still eats at her dishes.

[CritterMom]

If you aren't baking them, there is no reason you couldn't leave the egg out completely and replace it with another "wet" ingredient - a bit of applesauce, perhaps. The eggs "bind" the ingredients when they are baked but don't do anything when raw. The applesauce would do the same thing without the fear of salmonella. Just add it by the spoonful until the texture is good for making little balls with.

[bratann617]

That is a very good idea. Thank you! I won't be making anymore until she finishes the ones I baked, so that will be a while. I noticed that when I take them out of the freezer to thaw, after a few mins they are soft for just a little bit like a cookie, and that is when she likes to eat them. Or shred them LoL. But I'd say that within an hour or two they are hard. They were hard when I took them out of the oven after baking them (after they cooled down). I don't know if they are really supposed to be hard. I never ordered the actual Henry's blocks, I just looked up a couple of different recipes on here. That is what they said to do when I emailed the people at Henry's Healthy Pets. So I just kind of improvised from a couple of different recipes. She does kind of nibble them when they are hard, but it was just last night that I discovered they were soft a few mins after coming out of the freezer. I think she ate most of it, but there were a lot of crumbs in the dish, so that's why I mentioned she shredded it. She seemed to pay more attention to it when it was soft rather than hard. It's just that she seemed to like it raw way better, and I think she would get more nutrients if she ate it that way. I think she would eat all of the "blocks" if it were raw.

[bratann617]

Also she doesn't seem to like the meal worms. I figured if I can get her to eat the blocks raw, then she would get more of the protein she needs.

[Anne]

The blocks don't really give her much protein. For that she will need worms, chicken, or eggs. My flyers don't like mealworms either so I by mine wax worms, they go nuts for them! It may take a time or two before she'll really reach to grab a worm, but mine all line up and beg! I can't stress enough the need these guys have for protein in their diet. The blocks are just mainly a vehicle for vitamins and minerals that may be lacking in her regular diet of greens and veggies.

[bratann617]

I haven't given up on giving her worms. So even though I put 1 and 3/4 cup or 150grams weight wise of protein powder because I did the Hi-protien blocks, that still wouldn't be enough protein if she eats it raw? I know she is not getting all of the protein with them cooked, but I know she will eat every last bit raw. I'll try chicken too. I hope that wasn't a stupid question. LoL

[Jim8923]

I have tried one homemade block which my little flyer will not eat. I also have tried the Henry picky block he won't eat them either. If anyone has another recipe please post it here so I can try something different or you can email me. jafepf@aol.com I would prefer an email that way I am sure to see it. But anyway you cut it, thank you for your time

[Charley Chuckles]

I have tried one homemade block which my little flyer will not eat. I also have tried the Henry picky block he won't eat them either. If anyone has another recipe please post it here so I can try something different or you can email me. jafepf@aol.com I would prefer an email that way I am sure to see it. But anyway you cut it, thank you for your time

Jim can you start your own thread as this is someone's old thread.
You will get more help if you do 👍