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Thread: Best food for the releases and wilds

  1. #1
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    Default Best food for the releases and wilds

    Hi all.
    Looking for opinions on the best brands to feed the releases and wilds.
    I had been buying chuckanut wildlife blend and adding stuff to it like almonds, walnuts, oats, peanuts and Zupreem but not only is that costing me about 300 a month I'm noticing that the chuckanut quality is going down hill fast not only are they packing more corn and lots of empty shells but the bags are arriving infested with bugs and moths .
    What are some other brands you all use for your bulk mix ?

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    CritterLover (08-07-2022)

  3. #2
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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    Hi! If you're looking for something squirrel-specific, you probably want one of the rat blocks that are made as sole diet for lab rats. Harlan Teklad (not sure of the exact name) is used by some people here. You have to order it online.

    I use Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet. It's probably cheapest and easiest to buy if you have a feed store anywhere near you. It's gone up to $23.00 a 25# bag for me now and probably going higher. My crew has had very little during these times of plenty. Most of them aren't looking for anything from me, so I just put a handful out for the few who still do. I feed much more in winter, when many more come looking for it.

    What is your situation? $300 a month?! How many little pigs are you feeding? Do you feed every day? Are you feeding with other critters in mind, or just squirrels?

    If you do find and switch to one of the rodent blocks, your crew may not be very appreciative at first, but especially come winter they will see the benefit of easy, quickly obtained nutrition. Mine do anyway.
    "I hope everyone got or gets their Baby Love today"~Shewhosweptforest

    https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

  4. 2 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to Chirps:

    SamtheSquirrel2018 (08-07-2022), Winnie77 (08-07-2022)

  5. #3
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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    Quote Originally Posted by Chirps View Post
    Hi! If you're looking for something squirrel-specific, you probably want one of the rat blocks that are made as sole diet for lab rats. Harlan Teklad (not sure of the exact name) is used by some people here. You have to order it online.

    I use Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet. It's probably cheapest and easiest to buy if you have a feed store anywhere near you. It's gone up to $23.00 a 25# bag for me now and probably going higher. My crew has had very little during these times of plenty. Most of them aren't looking for anything from me, so I just put a handful out for the few who still do. I feed much more in winter, when many more come looking for it.

    What is your situation? $300 a month?! How many little pigs are you feeding? Do you feed every day? Are you feeding with other critters in mind, or just squirrels?

    If you do find and switch to one of the rodent blocks, your crew may not be very appreciative at first, but especially come winter they will see the benefit of easy, quickly obtained nutrition. Mine do anyway.

    Oh I feed about 100 wilds daily lol ,
    When I'm rehabbing squirrels they have a completely different diet then once released . It's all the wilds that's costing me a fortune.
    While being rehabbed they start with fv2050 (4 weeks and older 3240 or gme prior to 4 weeks)
    Henrys, veggies, little fruit and either science selective or Zupreem. No nuts or seeds until after release.

    I have a giant tote I fill weekly with a mix for the wilds and the base mix has been chuckanut wildlife blend but the quality is getting very poor and they are adding more corn then ever before I always add to the mix with out of shell almonds and walnuts and I toss in a few pounds of peanuts and a canister of oats and 1/3 box of cherrios that's just the mix for the outside wilds but the base of it is not only expensive it's getting crappy,
    I wasn't sure if there is another brand that may be a better option and maybe cheaper
    In the winter I also add nuts in shell from Anuts. Com (almonds, hazelnut, walnuts and Pecans I buy about 60 pounds a month of them .
    They are very fat and spoiled but it's costing so much and I am just looking for something more cost effective but also healthy
    I've tried adding the rodent block and it just sits there untouched I've tried teklad,oxbow,mazuri they will eat a little Zupreem but they pretty much leave the rodent food.
    The birds also come and eat with them and I have 6 different feeding stations set up but winter they get more,
    And the clean up crew (raccoons)at night finishes when they don't eat during the day
    I also only put food out in the morning so once they pick over what they want they are forced to eat the natural greens and such from the wild.
    It's just so many of them now another reason I'm taking a break rehabbing for a few years we have a huge property but all the littles seem to stick around here mostly grays but a few reds as well and some chipmunks and lots and lots of birds lol

  6. #4
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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    Quote Originally Posted by Chirps View Post
    Hi! If you're looking for something squirrel-specific, you probably want one of the rat blocks that are made as sole diet for lab rats. Harlan Teklad (not sure of the exact name) is used by some people here. You have to order it online.

    I use Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet. It's probably cheapest and easiest to buy if you have a feed store anywhere near you. It's gone up to $23.00 a 25# bag for me now and probably going higher. My crew has had very little during these times of plenty. Most of them aren't looking for anything from me, so I just put a handful out for the few who still do. I feed much more in winter, when many more come looking for it.

    What is your situation? $300 a month?! How many little pigs are you feeding? Do you feed every day? Are you feeding with other critters in mind, or just squirrels?

    If you do find and switch to one of the rodent blocks, your crew may not be very appreciative at first, but especially come winter they will see the benefit of easy, quickly obtained nutrition. Mine do anyway.
    Ps thank you and I think this winter I will try adding some of the block again , I wish they would eat that only lol it's so much healthier for them but they have wasted every kind I've tried . Maybe they are just picky and I should remove everything else and offer just that for a fee weeks this winter . 😊

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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    Quote Originally Posted by Winnie77 View Post
    Ps thank you and I think this winter I will try adding some of the block again , I wish they would eat that only lol it's so much healthier for them but they have wasted every kind I've tried . Maybe they are just picky and I should remove everything else and offer just that for a fee weeks this winter . 😊
    Bingo! If I did what you do mine wouldn't eat the block either. They'd just pick out the "candy". I didn't start off trying to feed squirrels. I was always looking for a way to diminish their vacuuming up the food for my poor birds. But as we know that's just an exercise in frustration so I gave in and accepted the squirrels as part of who gets fed. Then I raised my baby and the focus shifted to healthy foods for the squirrels.

    A hundred wilds a day! (They were the "little pigs" I was speaking of. I call my wild crew my little pigs.) With that many, even dirt cheap food would get pricey.

    As of now mine only get Mazuri (easily obtainable for me) and at this time of year not so much since there's so much wild food. My special spoiled bolder ones get unshelled raw almonds. In winter, if it's super cold with snow or one of those nasty heavy rain days, they get a peanut party. The peanuts won't melt in the wet, and I think the boost of fat and protein is good for them in extreme cold. But I don't do it enough for them to expect it and go off the Mazuri.
    "I hope everyone got or gets their Baby Love today"~Shewhosweptforest

    https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

  8. Serious fuzzy thank you's to Chirps from:

    Winnie77 (08-07-2022)

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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    In a controlled field study, compared to all other nuts, seeds and grains tested, including soy and corn; English Walnuts,

    Pecans, as a supplemental foods, were found to best supports calorie intake, from fat and protein content, of the squirrels over winter.

    Shagbark Hickory nuts also should be considered if a supply is available to lend additional support to squirrels over the colder winter months!

    Abstract
    Gray and fox squirrels show similar preferences for various types of natural foods. Their preferences are based on a combination of two factors; the speed with which they can ingest food energy and the digestibility of the food eaten. The two species of squirrels have essentially the same ability to digest their natural foods. However, five species of nuts differ in their digestibility, ranging in percentage of energy assimilated from about 78% for white oak to 95% in shagbark hickory.

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

    Winnie77 (08-07-2022)

  11. #7
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    Default Re: Best food for the releases and wilds

    Quote Originally Posted by Diggie's Friend View Post
    In a controlled field study, compared to all other nuts, seeds and grains tested, including soy and corn; English Walnuts,

    Pecans, as a supplemental foods, were found to best supports calorie intake, from fat and protein content, of the squirrels over winter.

    Shagbark Hickory nuts also should be considered if a supply is available to lend additional support to squirrels over the colder winter months!

    Awesome information thank you 😊

  12. 2 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to Winnie77:

    CritterLover (08-07-2022), Diggie's Friend (08-08-2022)

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