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Thread: Opinion on this recipe

  1. #1
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    Default Opinion on this recipe

    Nut Balls/Squares Recipe
    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **(makes 100)

    *
    A word on "meddling": This is a balanced recipe. Do NOT omit, add to, or substitute for anything in this recipe (unless the ingredient is earmarked s "optional") because counter-action, blocking, or destruction of key ingredients can result, throwing the whole balance of vitamins and minerals out of kilter.

    *Omitting the dolomite in the Nutball recipe completely defeats its purpose.

    *Most of these ingredients can he found in health food, grocery, and discount retail stores such as Wal-Mart, some in tablet form which you'll need to crush up into powders, using the same amounts as the recipe calls for. (Do not buy liquid cod liver oil from Wal-Mart! That stuff is yucky! The lemon or orange flavors taste awful and the squirrels don't like it.)

    If you have difficulty locating dolomite or any other of the ingredients, they may be ordered from almost any vitamin supply house on the Internet. Or you can do a Google search on KAL Dolomite Powder and compare prices at the different health food sites. Watch those outrageous shipping fees, though!

    As l ‘ve: mentioned near the beginning of this web page, those "hokey" or copycat so-called "Nutball recipes" on other (malicious) web pages with rodent blocks or other junk in them will NOT work because of their calcium/magnesium-blocking attributes. I ‘ve been taking all the vitamins and minerals in the Nutballs plus a few more for decades and am NEVER sick!

    • l cup rice flakes (Heinz or Gerbers‘ baby rice cereal- do not use any substitute here, such as whole grain cereals since they all block calcium absorption)

    • 1/2 cup ground-up pecans

    • 2/3 cup sesame seeds

    •**l Tablespoon Brewers Yeast powder. (Brewers yeast tablets may be used. Grind up enough to make a full tablespoon of powder per IOO Nutballs). Do NOT use Bakers yeast from the grocery store since it is used for making bread rise and is not suitable for eating in this raw form Brewer’s Yeast is not the same thing and can be found in powder format the health food store or in tablet form (cheaper) at Wal-Mart. (Tablets need to be mashed into a powder.)

    • 1 Tablespoon Lecithin granules or 1 teaspoon liquid Lecithin -- (Lecithin capsules, also available at Wal-Mart, may be used since they are more readily available, cheaper, and are not sold in such large quantities as the jars. Cut the end off of 3 or 4 capsules and squish the goosh into the liquid ingredients. Salad oil will remove this from fingers easily, since it is an oil-emulsifier.)

    • 1% to 2 heaping teaspoons KAL brand dolomite powder (about 1560-2000 mg. calcium) - (Do NOT accept any substitute such as bone meal, oyster shell or egg shell calcium, or any other kind of*commercial calcium tablets, no matter what the health food store people tell you. They are NOT the same. Substituting or omitting this key ingredient will only defeat the purpose of the nutballs which is to supply calcium and magnesium in the proper balance and proportions. Dolomite tablets may also be used as long as you crush them up to make l to 2 heaping teaspoonful’s of powder.)

    • Vitamin C -- 1000 mg. (mashed tablets) - (Do not use powder which is too concentrated)

    • 6 - 10 alfalfa tablets, mashed

    • l/4 teaspoon iodized salt

    • Cod liver oil (enough for 6000 I.U's Vitamin A and 600 I.U.'s Vitamin D) (Use liquid from bottle. Do NOT, do NOT, do NOT use capsules!) Liquid Norwegian Cod Liver oil IS a recommended kind to use. This should amount to approximately 1 % teaspoons cod liver oil per 100 Nut Balls. The cod liver oil is where the Vitamin D is that combines with the dolomite powder and other vitamins and minerals so calcium and magnesium can be assimilated.

    • Vitamin E 600 l.U.'s. (Use liquid Vitamin E ·-NQI capsules.)- This amounts to 2 c.c.s (or ml) of Vitamin E

    • l to 2 teaspoons salad oil, vegetable oil, or olive oil — (NO salad dressing or lard, please.)

    • Choose from any of a combination of the following optional ingredients to nuke 1/2 cup liquid:

    *
    * * * * * * * * ***° Mashed banana

    ******************* ° *Applesauce

    ******************* ° Frozen strawberries with syrup or natural juices

    ******************* ° Apple juice concentrate (no water added)

    ******************* ° *Fruit cocktail (in heavy syrup — or natural juices) with maraschino cherries removed

    ******************* ° Canned pears or peaches in heavy syrup or natural juices

    ******************* ° Pure juice (100%) nectar

    ******************* ° Frozen blueberries (or fresh if available)

    • (kind pecans in nut chopper or blender. Put in a large mixing bowl and add rice flakes and sesame seem. Stir well to blend. In a small bowl mix well all dry vitamins! minerals (Powdered Brewers Yeast, Lecithin, Dolomite powder, smashed Vitamin C tablets, smashed alfalfa tablets) and salt.

    • Put chosen liquid ingredients in blender and blend. Add Cod liver oil, Vitamin Liquid, and salad oil, and blend again. Add dry vitamins/minerals to liquid and blend well. Add this mixture to dry ingredients (rice cereal, nuts, sesame seeds) and mix thoroughly with large spoon until a thick dough has formed.

    • Form dough into one large ball, mash down, roll flat, shape into a large flat square. Cut 10 across and 10 down. (This is the quickest and easiest way to form them.) Put in sun to dry for 2 days.

    • To make balls (an alternate method), divide the large dough ball into 4 sections (Each section should yield about 25 Nut Balls - to help you count). Roll into longish strand and cut into sections about the size of a moth hall. Roll up each ball tightly to press out air

    • Put on aluminum foil on cookie sheet and let dry in sun for 2 days. (Usually 2 full days of sun is sufficient.) Oven drying does not work because centers do not dry out and vitamins can even be destroyed by low oven heat. Besides, I think the sun puts something delightfully intangible and vital in them that in-house drying cannot accomplish!

    • During inclement or yucky weather, nutballs maybe dried in the house under a goose-neck lamp or a swing-arm lamp with an ordinary light bulb or just in the open air. You may feed them the first day when they are still in the doughy stage, and occasionally I will intentionally freeze mine when they are still moist and chewy rather than completely dried, since they like them that way, too. When dried under a lamp, nutballs may give off an odor of the cod liver oil drying. This*eventually dissipates. `

    • Store in freezer in air-tight plastic freezer bag to prevent possible rancidity. Serve one daily, preferably before their evening meal of fruits and nuts. These should be made up fresh occasionally, are not intended to be stored indefinitely since no preservatives are used, although they will keep in the freezer as long as 6 months. They do not travel well and are intended to be taken straight from the drying place to the freezer

    Here is the link where the recipe came from...
    https://www.clarissasquirrels.com/?f...LUSWW8OuUO9VDo

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    I personally use Hhb but have been told these are good if I don't want to make my own....
    Zupreem fruit blend for large birds, teklad 2018, oxbow essential rat food, and mazuri rat food.
    Besides the recipe above I also have one that was emailed from Henry's and I've gotten a couple from here but I'm very interested to know about the recipe above and the premade food I listed

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Honestly, I’d send this recipe to Leigh at Henrys Pets and get her input. There’s a couple of items I’m hesitant about like the sesame seeds and the alfalfa. I know my vet says that squirrels can have alfalfa and Timothy hay, I guess to substitute for the lack of natural greens.

    A quick search of sesame seeds nutrition shows that 1 T has 8% calcium, about the same percentage for potassium, magnesium and B vitamins. No mention of the phosphorous content.

    There isn’t anything that looks alarmingly wrong, I just don’t know what the nutritional aspect is of them.

  4. 3 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to Mel1959:

    bednarkim77 (04-26-2021), Diggie's Friend (08-02-2021), stepnstone (04-26-2021)

  5. #4
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Quote Originally Posted by Mel1959 View Post
    Honestly, I’d send this recipe to Leigh at Henrys Pets and get her input. There’s a couple of items I’m hesitant about like the sesame seeds and the alfalfa. I know my vet says that squirrels can have alfalfa and Timothy hay, I guess to substitute for the lack of natural greens.

    A quick search of sesame seeds nutrition shows that 1 T has 8% calcium, about the same percentage for potassium, magnesium and B vitamins. No mention of the phosphorous content.

    There isn’t anything that looks alarmingly wrong, I just don’t know what the nutritional aspect is of them.
    Thank you.

  6. #5
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    I sent it to Leigh and she said ...
    "Name:  Screenshot_20210426-152715_Messages.jpg
Views: 328
Size:  63.2 KB

  7. Serious fuzzy thank you's to bednarkim77 from:

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  8. #6
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Quote Originally Posted by bednarkim77 View Post
    I sent it to Leigh and she said ...
    "Name:  Screenshot_20210426-152715_Messages.jpg
Views: 328
Size:  63.2 KB
    ... Leigh!
    I had the same opinion...
    Step-N-Stone
    State Licensed
    Wildlife Master Rehabilitator


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  10. #7
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Dolomite is a natural occurring of Calcium and magnesium; and though that Calcium to Magnesium ratio is good, this form may contain lead. For this reason most pass on this source being used. I have to agree also about cod liver oil as a source of D3, as this is a liver source (the organ of the body that filters out toxins, which may for this reason contain contaminants. Concentrated smell and taste of this oil can put off squirrels from accepting it.

    D3 powder from Pure Encapsulations is available on Amazon.com in 400 IU. that can be used in a recipe in an eight day recipe supplying for one day well within the range that other rodent block includes.

    There is also a new source of D3 from Lichen; though not species of lichen that produces vitamin D3.

    Suntrex by, "Global Healing" produces an organic source of Vitamin D3, that can be reduced to one non needle drop from a 1 cc 1 ml syringe to provide 62.5 IU of Vitamin D3. This can be reduced further by using a needle syringe and lowering 4 needle drops equal to one non needle drop to 3 needle drops or two, or one, which is lowest amount at 15.5 IU D3.

    https://globalhealing.com/suntrex-vi...SABEgKHkfD_BwE
    Last edited by TubeDriver; 04-27-2021 at 07:29 AM.

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  12. #8
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Please be aware that a daily dose of Pro-vitamin D3 at 50 to 63 IU that a homemade recipe if correctly measured to provide no more than this per day, when it is the ONLY SOURCE OF D3 in the diet daily fed, is safe to do. Yet a homemade diet that contains D3 when paired with a rodent block diet that also contains D3, should not be fed, as this would provide a duplication of D3 daily dosage, that promotes kidney stone formation and leads to premature mortality.

    The same goes for pairing a rodent block diet that contains the daily dose of D3, with another rodent block diet that also contains D3; for this would also duplicate the daily dose, that causes kidney calcification, and leads to kidney damage and mortality.

  13. Serious fuzzy thank you's to Diggie's Friend from:

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  14. #9
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    What's your opinions on zupreem fruit blend for ones that are ready for release? Zupreem instead of Henry's. Along with veggies

  15. #10
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    I would say “no” to the fruit blend if it’s the stuff that has the colored tidbits and other assorted items in it. Zupreem makes a hard extruded rodent block or monkey biscuit, Mazuri makes a hard extruded rodent block, Oxbow Regal Rat is a hard extruded block and Harlan Teklad is a hard extruded block. Any of these are superior to the foods that contain tidbit morsels which are not recommended. Between the seeds and artificial colors they contain they just aren’t very nutritional. Henrys wild bites or their bags of Mixed blocks are better nutritionally and the mixed blocks, when available, are a very good price.

    You can also make boo balls from any of these hard extruded blocks.

  16. 2 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to Mel1959:

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  17. #11
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    Default Re: Opinion on this recipe

    Quote Originally Posted by Mel1959 View Post
    I would say “no” to the fruit blend if it’s the stuff that has the colored tidbits and other assorted items in it. Zupreem makes a hard extruded rodent block or monkey biscuit, Mazuri makes a hard extruded rodent block, Oxbow Regal Rat is a hard extruded block and Harlan Teklad is a hard extruded block. Any of these are superior to the foods that contain tidbit morsels which are not recommended. Between the seeds and artificial colors they contain they just aren’t very nutritional. Henrys wild bites or their bags of Mixed blocks are better nutritionally and the mixed blocks, when available, are a very good price.

    You can also make boo balls from any of these hard extruded blocks.


    Thank you. I have made no balls in the past using teklad 2018 but they were not crazy about it , I also have a recipe that was emailed to me from someone at Henry's it uses their protiene and vitamins but again they are not crazy about it. They love HHB picky but its costing me lots to feed all of them.
    I was also told that when I make boo balls that the other ingredients take away from the vitamins in the block .

    I'm scared of them not getting enough vitamins or getting too many .

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