Hello I'm new here

[Icemouse]

Well, actually...

The Teklad are also lab blocks. While they don't have what would pass for a good life but they do get good food. The lab diet is designed to provide all nutrition providing nothing but that diet plus water is provided to the animal. Any other food fed will throw that off. It is part of why the Henry's are more heavily supplemented - they are not supposed to be free fed and they are meant to be fed with a reasonable diet of healthy veggies and fruit.

In other words, this would likely be fine to feed in addition to the Henry's blocks.

In a past life one of my jobs had me working with Jackson Labs, which is one of the biggest producers and suppliers of mice for lab work. I know. My business had nothing to do with the mice. They created the covid 19 mice. They want them to be in tip top condition except for whatever they are testing them on so that they aren't wasting time chasing down existing mouse ailments when they are trying to work on one specific bacteria or virus.

Thanks CritterMom. I didn't waste any time trying to find a replacement for the teklads. Unfortunately the rat food on the market here is mostly some kind of dried grains and flaky looking veg... containing plenty of dried corn and peas....looks more like cereal. Not suitable for Hamys diet. Hamy doesn't get seeds or grains or stuff like corn or peas. I'm really strict with the food he gets. Never ever do I want Hamy to get ill again. It won't kill Hamy not to get avocados, corn, seeds etc. But if I do feed it he'd be dead in a few weeks. I have seen MBD first hand. I'm still shaken like a leaf just thinking back how very poorly my lovely wee friend was. I'm so lucky that Hamy survived thanks to you and Jamie.
Thanks for your answer CritterMom. I'll have Hamy try his new blocks today. Hopefully he likes it. Well in the worst case scenario I have to eat one so Hamy wants to try it as well... whatever I have Hamy wants to try... every time I drink something Hamy needs to put his nose in to check if he would like it as well 😂

[Icemouse]

Who knew?! I defer to CM!

Pure curiosity - why a prohibition on Teklad branded and an OK on the non-branded? Especially since (do I have this right?) the two are the same product from the same company?

Jamie

The teklads are branded food for lab rats. Which makes it commercial food. But Henry's blocks are branded as pet food. No specification for what kind of pets. I think that's the only reason why we can still import it here.
We did get an extra bill before the Henry's got delivered. We had to pay an additional $75 to customs to get the blocks delivered. So we ended up paying $295 to get 10 bags of Henry's blocks.
To be honest as we got the letter from FedEx my heart stopped. I first thought customs confiscated my shipment. I had to sit down before I could open the letter....but lucky us they just wanted more money.
That's why I want to order 10 more bags of vitamins. Just to play it safe. There are new brexit laws coming in to force in January. That brexit is a "gift" it won't stopping "giving".

[Icemouse]

I do have a funny story about Hamys newest shenanigans as well...
Hamy comes up with new games every few days. Did you see the image I posted yeaterday with Hamy holding on to the ear of his yellow ball? Yes he has a baby toy which is a yellow soft ball with ears...
So far we just had playfights with the ball and off course my hands. But now Hamy found a new use for the ball. He holds the ball with his teeth and hops along the bed like a goat towards the edge of the bed. He then throws himself and the ball off the edge doing various combat rolls. I'm supposed to catch him mid-air and lift him back up on the bed. He then readjusts holding his ball and starts legging it to the edge off the bed again. His combat rolls get more adventurous every time he jumps. Off course he needs cuddles and kisses when he gets lifted back up on the bed. You all have no idea how fast Hamy is. We play that game for at least 30 mins every day. I'm completely out off breath by the time Hamy had enough.... he sure is enjoying every jump...
Beginning of the summer Hamy started to use only white 2-ply napkins for his bed. As we came home from work one evening Hamy had kicked out all his eves wool bedding. His house was completely empty... you should have seen the state of his cage... eves wool everywhere. Our routine is when we come home we change clothes and get Hamys dinner ready. We then open his cage and Hamy has his freetime. As soon as he came out this day we had our cuddles as usual but instead of starting to play Hamy grabbed 2 napkins went back in his cage with it and shoved it in his house. After that he started playing and enjoying his freetime as always. Hamy walks in to his cage on his own when he had enough. The big finale every day is getting cuddled and caressed. It's a routine he started after puberty. But this day he didn't go to sleep he only went in his house and looked out the front hole of his bed. I thought he might need more napkins. So I rolled one more up and shoved it through the wiremash towards his wee nose. Hamy happily grabbed it and shoved it in his house. He then looked out on one of the side holes of his house. I shoved another rolled up napkin towards him. He took 14 more napkins till he thought it was comfy enough for the night. He closed up all holes of his bed and went to sleep.
From that day on he cleaned out some of the napkins every day to just replace them every evening with me handing in as many napkins as he likes.
Now the other day as Hamy came out for his freetime he was all sticky on one side of his body. That's highly unusual for Hamy. He hates having sticky or dirty hands and feet... not speaking of his coat..... I had given Hamy some bits of oranges that day. Unfortunately he must have decided to take one bit of orange in to his bed but instead of eating it he fell asleep on it. I had to clean out his hole bed because the orange juice was on all of his bedding. Usually when I replace his bedding I always keep one sheet to put back in so the bed still has his scent. But that wasn't possible this time. So freetime went as every day. We had great fun. As he went back in his cage he realised instantly that his bedding was changed. He was not happy. He was very suspicious. I think he thought he got robbed. He sure acted that way. He ran through his cage like a mad man. He looked in his house pushed out every bit of bedding. He would not settle down till I turned his light off. He started to calm down a bit. He was really angry about it..... then he tried to lay on different boards in his cage but found every board uncomfortable to sleep on....I felt so very bad... after a wee while and trying the different boards again he ran 3 times through various openings of his house. Since nothing bad happened to him he decided to make the best of it. He walked in to his house looking out one opening for me to hand him napkins. He took 34 napkins till he had restored the comfort of his bed again.
Good thing I wore gloves as I cleaned out his bed. At least Hamy had no proof/scent that I was the culprit who emtied out his cosy bed.... for 3 days Hamy went back in to his cage to check if everything was still where he left it during his freetime... by the way he washed off the sticky orange juice on his coat with my camomile tea... he splashed around like mad. My hole entire nightstand was flooded. He dried up his hands and face on my sleeves... as you can see life with Hamy never gets boring

[TomahawkFlyers]

Ice, I think you probably qualify for an award for "Most Indulgent and Most Loving Mom." You guys are so lucky to have found each other.

Jamie

[Icemouse]

Ice, I think you probably qualify for an award for "Most Indulgent and Most Loving Mom." You guys are so lucky to have found each other.

Jamie

Oh Jamie our life with Hamy is most beautiful. Every day I'm looking forward to my time with Hamy. He's really adventurous as can be. We know each other well. Hamy knows that I would never ever hurt him. He's so very relaxed around me and really gentle. We are really lucky that we found each other. Hamy has the heart of a lion

[island rehabber]

I enjoyed that whole scene so much, it was like watching a movie in my head of your adorable squirrel!

[olorin19]

As for the hands….some members have purchased special hand gloves that cover the back of the hands and extend up the arms, but allow the fingers to be free.

I just buy cheap cotton gloves (typically in 3 packs) then cut off the fingertips. These work great, as they can easily perch on back of hand or palm, while you get far fewer scratches.

[Icemouse]

I enjoyed that whole scene so much, it was like watching a movie in my head of your adorable squirrel!

Oh I could write endlessly about my wee pal and our adventures. Hamy amazes me every day. He's such a happy camper. I really love him to bits.

[Charley Chuckles]

LOVES THAT HAMY 😁❤️
Ya know I have gloves with the cutout fingers which if I actually remembered to use them my hands wouldn't look like I've been trimming rose bushes all day 🙄😹
Thanks for reminding me 😂

[olorin19]

LOVES THAT HAMY 😁❤️
Ya know I have gloves with the cutout fingers which if I actually remembered to use them my hands wouldn't look like I've been trimming rose bushes all day 🙄😹
Thanks for reminding me 😂

When I overwinter, once they get to about 5 months I make sure to wear a long sleeve t-shirt under my hoodie and either long johns or extra sweatpants under my sweatpants, as otherwise I end up covered in micro punctures from their claws when they fly around on me.

I usually wear a beanie, since they often perch on top of my head. And depending on the squirrel, I often drape a towel across the back of my neck and sometimes even wear safety glasses, as I have been inadvertently scratched quite close to the eyes.

[Jenna]

I'm just catching up on this, and Hamy sounds like a delight! And quite entertaining. XD

I'm in the US, but in a similar situation as yours re: legality of squirrels and them being killed because they're an invasive species.

Our Rocky (Almost 4 months) also only bites when he gets playing too hard, and also tries to grab our hands with his mouth and fling them during play, or hang on them as you describe! Never breaking skin. I've been blowing on his face when he gets too rough (which has worked well without scaring him), but I've wondered if squeaking would work, too. Yelping works with young puppies when they start to play too rough, after all!

I'm glad to meet another squirrel parent! I could tell stories and listen to stories all day. <3

J & R

[olorin19]

In my experience raising young squirrels, they adapt quickly to the feedback we give them.

While most scratches are inadvertent and largely preventable by us with proper gear, when a youngster is a bit too rough with their teeth, I tell them so quite literally “Ow! That was too hard.”

Most squirrels will quickly learn to be more gentle. Some will even respond with a gentle test bite to show they understood.

They are very clever and quick learners.