MBD-need immediate assistance please

[Dukie]

Hello all-we think our 4 month old baby is dealing with MBD right now. Is it safe to administer calcium in almond butter or peanut butter like some blog entries suggest. I thought peanuts were not good for squirrels. Thank you in advance.

[Spanky]

Hello all-we think our 4 month old baby is dealing with MBD right now. Is it safe to administer calcium in almond butter or peanut butter like some blog entries suggest. I thought peanuts were not good for squirrels. Thank you in advance.

I'd say it is not a great suggestion as nuts are a calcium robbing foods that actually are a huge contributor to MBD in captive squirrels. That makes it counter productive (counter indicated?). I'd use this method only as a last result and there are no other options.

Does he / would he take formula from a syringe?

Can you share his MBD symptoms, what his diet has been up until now?

Has he been eating a high-quality rodent block?

[Dukie]

Thank you for your help. He went from extremely active to sleeping most of the day and squeaking/grunting when he walks, babying his back legs. He takes 2 picky blocks per day, with greens and veggies sprinkled with calcium powder. We have a uvb light as well. Not sure if he will take formula at this stage as he had been off it for a while. His activity has dropped, his hind legs apparently hurt so he just hops instead of running, and grunts when he walks and interacts with us. He is still eating and drinking sufficiently thankfully. He has been urinating large amounts and his poop looks like this:

[Spanky]

The additional calcium will not do any harm, but back it off if his poos start appearing whitish (which would be undigested calcium).

Based on the diet... 2 healthy blocks and veggies with sprinkled calcium... this would seem more like an injury, maybe from a fall? Unless.... is he given any nuts, and if yes, how many and how often? Ditto seeds or dried corn.

[Dukie]

He was given a few nuts a day but we have stopped that to alter his diet. We give him greens but he only likes the sweet peas and fruit. Hard to tell if it’s an injury because he was so active banging around his environment. Seeds and dried corn came with a bag of squirrel mix but he only likes the pumpkin seeds. We are also concerned that he may have a UTI-he was displaying high body heat, a high volume of urine output, and achy hind legs. We just started giving 500mg of calcium per day mixed in peanut butter, as per the Henry’s website, and have started giving bits of avocado because he appears skinnier than previous days. He is playful but achy.

[Spanky]

Stop the seeds, nuts and dried corn... I'd stop the store bag of "squirrel food" completely. Seeds and dried corn are much like nuts in causing MBD.

Continue the calcium... I'd recommend no-sugar added peanut butter... the kin where the only ingredient is peanuts (or almonds).

Assuming this is a grey or foxer, fruit should not be more than maybe 15% of their entire diet (what they actually eat).