Hello I'm new here

[Icemouse]

Hamy was a busy wee dude today. Between the cuddles he was the "wild man" today.
I made some dolls for him as he was wee. We call them ragdolls where I'm from. They're made of cotton material. He didn't play with them for ages. Today they were top notch for him again. He tossed them about, hid one under my hubbies knees, half way destroying a cardboard roll by tossing it about and biting it, tossed the cardboard roll to my hubbie, he tossed it back and Hamy caught it to finish it off 😂 priceless🤣😂 then he decided to crawl under the blanket and inspect how far he can go under it, always checking back if my hand was still under the blanket where he left it. Then got hungry and needed to eat half a rodentblock on my hubbies knees. Always checking in to collect cuddles and foot massages, then fighting with a string of twigs, fighting with one of my hairbands but the big finale was that he fell asleep in my hubbies hoody pouch and didn't bother getting carried back to the room where his cage is.
He smelled the goodies in his cage, jumped in, munched them and went straight to bed. I'd say that was an adventurous evening for a wee dude.

[Charley Chuckles]

That played out in my head like a movie 🎥
What a cutie pie 😍

[Icemouse]

That played out in my head like a movie 🎥
What a cutie pie 😍

Hamy slept in this morning. Teenagers...😂

[Icemouse]

Hiya guys long time no see... it got really busy workwise beginning of the year. After we had survived puberty things went along great with Hamy. It took a bit time to build up the trust we had with each other but we both worked on it. Everything seemed to go well till beginning of June.... that's when the catastrophe happened. Hamy developed MBD. Now I don't mean to scare people but unfortunately Hamy and I had to live through the worst nightmare imaginable. To all new parents of squirrels: STICK TO THE FOOD PYRAMID!!!!
Like you all know Hamy is my first squirrel. I rescued wild animals before but nothing can compare to my beloved Hamy. Since I had no clue I unfortunately trusted the wrong so called expert till I found this forum. But by the time I finally learned about the food pyramid and Henry's blocks I fed Hamy an almost deadly diet. Way to many nuts, seed, corn etc. I started the food pyramid as soon as I learned about it but the damage was already done.
Hamy seemed lively and fine. He was playful and bouncing off the walls. One evening as we came home from work I realised that Hamy must have had an accident. He had a small "naked" spot on his head and he kept closing one eye when I got near it. I first thought he was clumbsy. Off course I watched him closely as he was out and about. Things seemed to be ok. After about one week after this accident Hamy was behaving completely different. As we came home from work he was still sleeping. I had to wake him up for his freetime. This never ever happened before. I found that very strange especially since he was playful and jumping about as we left in the morning. As Hamy was out he did not walk at all. He just wanted to sleep in my hands. Hamy slept the whole time he was out.... 3 hours... he was lethargic as can be. He was not himself. No interest in nothing but cuddle up on me and sleep. I thought maybe he overdid it during day.... the next day we stayed home from work. He slept all day. He didn't even come out to eat or drink. That's when I panicked. I got in touch with TomahawkFlyers. He told me to urgently get in touch with CritterMom. I will be thankful to both of them till I take my last breath. They realised instantly that Hamy has MBD. They told me to start emergency treatment immediately till I can get calcium citrate in. I did. By that time I couldn't stop crying and I realised that the life of my beloved baby is hanging on a extremely thin thread. After numerous worrying days and nights Hamy came around. My wee dude is defo a fighter. With the great help and patience of TomahawkFlyers and CritterMom we managed to safe Hamy.
Please stick to the food pyramid if you care for your little fury friend. I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy. Hamy was suffering tremendously because before I found this forum I fed him a horrible almost deadly diet. Now in hindsight I didn't see the early signs. Hamy got clumbsy because his muscles and bones were giving way. It had nothing to do with growth, puberty or anything else. My only luck was that Hamy trusted me enough to show me how poorly he was.... and off course the fast action of TomahawkFlyers and CritterMom.
Don't worry Hamy is on the way of recovery. He's jumping about, playful, loving and caring yeah and off course mischievous as can be again. But it took months to get there. Believe me nobody wants to live in this fear. If you can't afford Henry's blocks the the recipe is on their website. Follow the recipe. You can get the vitamins needed from Henry's. Don't fuff about or take short cuts. Make sure your wee friend eats only veg and fruit with high calcium low phosphate. You can find this information here on the forum. Just think about it... you wouldn't feed your child, niece, nephew etc chocolate, icecream and pizza all day every day. Same with squirrels... they depend on you feeding them according to the pyramid, healthy Henry's blocks which contain everything your friend needs. Don't overfeed nuts, seeds, corn etc.... if you don't want to risk the life of your friend stick to the feeding guides given here on the forum. Hamy was in major pain and almost lost his life due to the mistakes I made before I found this forum. But feeding garbage for months did the damage. Hamy had to pay a high price for my ignorance. I don't mean to scare people but please please pretty please think about this.
Now to the better part of my post.
Hamy got better. It took time. I fed him only Henry's blocks, teklad and veg and fruit from the good list and off course calcium citrate mixed with almondbutter. I now mix hazelnutbutter and almondbutter with 2.50g of calcium citrate . Hamy gets it as treat every day. He got better slowly but his coat got very thin. Even his tail looked naked. He lost almost all hair on it. It looked like a hairy rat tail. Hamy had also lost quite some weight. I spent whole entire nights on the internet trying to find studies... and I found one which said bee pollen would be the right thing. So I asked a friend at the university if that would be suitable. After she gave her ok I started Hamy on 150mg bee pollen once a day. Hamy loves it. After only a few days I could watch his coat getting thicker, his tailfeathers grew in again and his appetite improved tremendously. Hamy is a happy camper again.
All those worrying nights got us even closer together. Hamy comes up with the wildest ideas. He is not going in to his cage to drink. He now just walks up to my water bottle and bites the cap lightly. I open the bottle with Hamys help, fill it up spilling quite a lot and Hamy holds the cap with me to drink out of it. Off course his feet get wet when I spill some water. Hamy still hates to get mucky hands and feet. Off course he wipes everything on my trousers. He also loves eating his calcium treats on my head. Once he's done he wipes his face and hands on my hair. Did I mention that Hamy is a messy eater? You can imagine how my hair looks decorated with almond-hazelnut butter.... Hamy still arranges my hair. He also started to caress my nose, ears and neck. It tickles like mad but Hamy insists.
I finally got Hamy to stop eating the painted wooden window frames. He found my birkenstock house shoes instead. He bit gigantic holes in the cork. He doesn't eat it he just takes chunks out and spits it back out..... and man is he fast. He also went for my handmade wooden clogs. Don't worry the wood is treated with animal friendly stuff. He bit in the wood while I was wearing the clogs. He sure ain't shy. Too bad y'all can't see the innocent look he has on his face when he does stuff like that. But the funniest thing was a few days ago. We had bought some hanging flower baskets for Hamy so he has something cosy when he's out of his cage. He filled one of the baskets with napkins. He shoved each napkin in his mouth and distributed a whole bunch of napkins in his basket. The other day I was making the beds. Hamy grabbed one of the pillow protectors pulled it along the whole bedroom and tried to shuff it in his mouth to carry it up in his basket. Off course I picked up the pillow protector, Hamy jumped on it and I put both in the basket. Hamy got really busy trying to spread it out the way needed. Now I have to say that basket is full to the max. Hamy hardly fits in it with all the "cushions" he fitted in. It's most hillarious to watch him when he squeezes himself in his basket and how annoyed he gets when napkins keep fallen out of it....He's busy for ages running up and down to keep everything in his basket. He got the patience of a saint at times...
Now guys I hope I didn't scare you with my post. It took me quite some time to be able to speak about our nightmare. I'm so very grateful for the help I received and the forum in general. Hamy and I can enjoy each others company hopefully for many years to come. We were able to celebrate Hamys first birthday beginning of August. And yes he is a bit spoiled but he deserves it all the way. I try to attach a few images so y'all can see my little dude

[Charley Chuckles]

FIRST thank you TF and CM
I was literally hanging onto each word wishing I was a speed reader 😬
What a relief 😃
I'm so happy Hamy is being his self again
👏🙏

You know Hamys thread could save many 🙌
Love Hamy pics 🥰

[Icemouse]

FIRST thank you TF and CM
I was literally hanging onto each word wishing I was a speed reader 😬
What a relief 😃
I'm so happy Hamy is being his self again
👏🙏

You know Hamys thread could save many 🙌
Love Hamy pics 🥰

Thank you for your kind words. I can't imagine a life without Hamy. I really want to tell people how very important it is to follow the pyramid and to get Henry's blocks. I'm still shaken and riddled with guilt from this experience. I found the forum too late. Without TomahawkFlyers and CritterMom I would have lost my precious beloved friend. I will never ever be able to make that up to them. All I can do is warn others not to waist any time. Once they've learned about the feeding guides here on the forum they HAVE to get in gear immediately. The life of their wee dudes depends on them.
We were lucky that Hamy trusted me and that I could get advice right away. I will never ever forget their kindness.
I just realised that the top image is turned around. It's actually Hamy relaxing on his highway looking down to us.

[Icemouse]

I guess I should have read my text before I posted it.... I ment waste not waist ��*♀️

[CritterMom]

If that is your only spelling error it is likely a record here!

I am so glad he is doing well! I must say that you are the biggest reason he is getting better. You didn't quibble about his diet for 5 seconds once you found the right info and literally dove into treatment. And the info about the bee pollen is certainly interesting!

You must keep us up to date on him!

[TomahawkFlyers]

So, Icemouse, I think that when the instructions say "Keep refrigerated after opening," they mean the bee pollen and not Hamy. Just sayin'!

Jamie

Hiya guys long time no see... it got really busy workwise beginning of the year. After we had survived puberty things went along great with Hamy. It took a bit time to build up the trust we had with each other but we both worked on it. Everything seemed to go well till beginning of June.... that's when the catastrophe happened. Hamy developed MBD. Now I don't mean to scare people but unfortunately Hamy and I had to live through the worst nightmare imaginable. To all new parents of squirrels: STICK TO THE FOOD PYRAMID!!!!
Like you all know Hamy is my first squirrel. I rescued wild animals before but nothing can compare to my beloved Hamy. Since I had no clue I unfortunately trusted the wrong so called expert till I found this forum. But by the time I finally learned about the food pyramid and Henry's blocks I fed Hamy an almost deadly diet. Way to many nuts, seed, corn etc. I started the food pyramid as soon as I learned about it but the damage was already done.
Hamy seemed lively and fine. He was playful and bouncing off the walls. One evening as we came home from work I realised that Hamy must have had an accident. He had a small "naked" spot on his head and he kept closing one eye when I got near it. I first thought he was clumbsy. Off course I watched him closely as he was out and about. Things seemed to be ok. After about one week after this accident Hamy was behaving completely different. As we came home from work he was still sleeping. I had to wake him up for his freetime. This never ever happened before. I found that very strange especially since he was playful and jumping about as we left in the morning. As Hamy was out he did not walk at all. He just wanted to sleep in my hands. Hamy slept the whole time he was out.... 3 hours... he was lethargic as can be. He was not himself. No interest in nothing but cuddle up on me and sleep. I thought maybe he overdid it during day.... the next day we stayed home from work. He slept all day. He didn't even come out to eat or drink. That's when I panicked. I got in touch with TomahawkFlyers. He told me to urgently get in touch with CritterMom. I will be thankful to both of them till I take my last breath. They realised instantly that Hamy has MBD. They told me to start emergency treatment immediately till I can get calcium citrate in. I did. By that time I couldn't stop crying and I realised that the life of my beloved baby is hanging on a extremely thin thread. After numerous worrying days and nights Hamy came around. My wee dude is defo a fighter. With the great help and patience of TomahawkFlyers and CritterMom we managed to safe Hamy.
Please stick to the food pyramid if you care for your little fury friend. I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy. Hamy was suffering tremendously because before I found this forum I fed him a horrible almost deadly diet. Now in hindsight I didn't see the early signs. Hamy got clumbsy because his muscles and bones were giving way. It had nothing to do with growth, puberty or anything else. My only luck was that Hamy trusted me enough to show me how poorly he was.... and off course the fast action of TomahawkFlyers and CritterMom.
Don't worry Hamy is on the way of recovery. He's jumping about, playful, loving and caring yeah and off course mischievous as can be again. But it took months to get there. Believe me nobody wants to live in this fear. If you can't afford Henry's blocks the the recipe is on their website. Follow the recipe. You can get the vitamins needed from Henry's. Don't fuff about or take short cuts. Make sure your wee friend eats only veg and fruit with high calcium low phosphate. You can find this information here on the forum. Just think about it... you wouldn't feed your child, niece, nephew etc chocolate, icecream and pizza all day every day. Same with squirrels... they depend on you feeding them according to the pyramid, healthy Henry's blocks which contain everything your friend needs. Don't overfeed nuts, seeds, corn etc.... if you don't want to risk the life of your friend stick to the feeding guides given here on the forum. Hamy was in major pain and almost lost his life due to the mistakes I made before I found this forum. But feeding garbage for months did the damage. Hamy had to pay a high price for my ignorance. I don't mean to scare people but please please pretty please think about this.
Now to the better part of my post.
Hamy got better. It took time. I fed him only Henry's blocks, teklad and veg and fruit from the good list and off course calcium citrate mixed with almondbutter. I now mix hazelnutbutter and almondbutter with 2.50g of calcium citrate . Hamy gets it as treat every day. He got better slowly but his coat got very thin. Even his tail looked naked. He lost almost all hair on it. It looked like a hairy rat tail. Hamy had also lost quite some weight. I spent whole entire nights on the internet trying to find studies... and I found one which said bee pollen would be the right thing. So I asked a friend at the university if that would be suitable. After she gave her ok I started Hamy on 150mg bee pollen once a day. Hamy loves it. After only a few days I could watch his coat getting thicker, his tailfeathers grew in again and his appetite improved tremendously. Hamy is a happy camper again.
All those worrying nights got us even closer together. Hamy comes up with the wildest ideas. He is not going in to his cage to drink. He now just walks up to my water bottle and bites the cap lightly. I open the bottle with Hamys help, fill it up spilling quite a lot and Hamy holds the cap with me to drink out of it. Off course his feet get wet when I spill some water. Hamy still hates to get mucky hands and feet. Off course he wipes everything on my trousers. He also loves eating his calcium treats on my head. Once he's done he wipes his face and hands on my hair. Did I mention that Hamy is a messy eater? You can imagine how my hair looks decorated with almond-hazelnut butter.... Hamy still arranges my hair. He also started to caress my nose, ears and neck. It tickles like mad but Hamy insists.
I finally got Hamy to stop eating the painted wooden window frames. He found my birkenstock house shoes instead. He bit gigantic holes in the cork. He doesn't eat it he just takes chunks out and spits it back out..... and man is he fast. He also went for my handmade wooden clogs. Don't worry the wood is treated with animal friendly stuff. He bit in the wood while I was wearing the clogs. He sure ain't shy. Too bad y'all can't see the innocent look he has on his face when he does stuff like that. But the funniest thing was a few days ago. We had bought some hanging flower baskets for Hamy so he has something cosy when he's out of his cage. He filled one of the baskets with napkins. He shoved each napkin in his mouth and distributed a whole bunch of napkins in his basket. The other day I was making the beds. Hamy grabbed one of the pillow protectors pulled it along the whole bedroom and tried to shuff it in his mouth to carry it up in his basket. Off course I picked up the pillow protector, Hamy jumped on it and I put both in the basket. Hamy got really busy trying to spread it out the way needed. Now I have to say that basket is full to the max. Hamy hardly fits in it with all the "cushions" he fitted in. It's most hillarious to watch him when he squeezes himself in his basket and how annoyed he gets when napkins keep fallen out of it....He's busy for ages running up and down to keep everything in his basket. He got the patience of a saint at times...
Now guys I hope I didn't scare you with my post. It took me quite some time to be able to speak about our nightmare. I'm so very grateful for the help I received and the forum in general. Hamy and I can enjoy each others company hopefully for many years to come. We were able to celebrate Hamys first birthday beginning of August. And yes he is a bit spoiled but he deserves it all the way. I try to attach a few images so y'all can see my little dude

[Charley Chuckles]

I guess I should have read my text before I posted it.... I ment waste not waist ��*♀️

I don't POOF READ ANYTHING 🤣
Also my Charley Chuckles for his first 4 years, I never had a computer wouldn't know what or how to use one. My mom passed and I was given her's, ugg it was those old towers and it imidiatly became a doorstop till one day I needed help for CC .....fast forward I had a friend hook up my PC so I could get on TSB and boy was I outta my league 🤦
TSB patiently helped me, they even taught me how to load pics 😁
Well I soon realized my CC was eating HORRIBLY 😱 I had no clue.
So TSB showed me the proper diet and so much more 🙌

Don't beat yourself up, we are all learning 👍

[Icemouse]

If that is your only spelling error it is likely a record here!

I am so glad he is doing well! I must say that you are the biggest reason he is getting better. You didn't quibble about his diet for 5 seconds once you found the right info and literally dove into treatment. And the info about the bee pollen is certainly interesting!

You must keep us up to date on him!

Without you and TomahawkFlyers things would have been different. Thank you so much! I will defo keep you updated.
I'm still looking to find that study again.

[Icemouse]

So, Icemouse, I think that when the instructions say "Keep refrigerated after opening," they mean the bee pollen and not Hamy. Just sayin'!

Jamie

First of all thank you Jamie for all your help and patience with me. Without you and CritterMom Hamy would have not survived. I'll not forget that.
Yeah I had a chocolate cake in the fridge for my friends birthday. Unfortunately Hamy dived in the fridge as I opened it. He was so fast and all I could think off was "Darn the cake" ... so before I got Hamy out I got the cake. But that gave Hamy the time to dive in the jar. That jar contained the base for soup. It's mostly fat... yeah and as I called my lovely hubby he took pictures instead of helping me to get Hamy out of the fridge. Hamy had a ball. He was covered in grease. A pot of joghurt fell victim to Hamy as well. He never touched his veg in the shelf below....

[Charley Chuckles]

Ok what's with the bee pollen, I know honey is good for allergies if you get raw honey in your area. But trying to figure out the bee pollen?

[Icemouse]

Ok what's with the bee pollen, I know honey is good for allergies if you get raw honey in your area. But trying to figure out the bee pollen?

Bee pollen is a natrual bee product as well as natural honey, honeycomb, bee venom, or royal jelly.
Bee pollen is a mixture of flower pollen, nectar, and bee saliva. Bees carry it in wee yellow bags on the bees hind legs. I'm sure you have seen those wee bags when you watch bees flying from flower to flower.
It's benefits are reduced risk of heart disease, protect the liver, fight inflammation, boost immunity, aid wound healing, and prevent cancer formation, helps with hormone change, helps in the prevention of osteoporosis etc.
There are plenty of studies out about the benefits of all bee products.
I grew up with bee products. My granddads best pal was a bee keeper.
I'm a big fan of those products. I mostly use bee pollen, raw honey, propolis, royal jelly.
The benefits of bee products are very well known in Europe. Unfortunately not so much in the US. I realised that as I was going to send propolis to a friend in the US. I had to find US stock as it's illegal to send certain bee products from abroad. US customs does not allow bee products to get imported to the States without a licence for it.
I also use propolis a lot. It's a natrual antibiotic. It's also known as bee tar. It can be bought online or from heath shops. I use the bought version or for certain use I buy the raw product but it's a bit of a task to powderise it as its really sticky and stains tremendously. The raw bee tar needs to be heated up in water to seperate it from left over bees wax. Then it needs to be frozen. You'll need a steel mortar to powderise the frozen lumps. You gotta work quick as soon as it starts to get warm it starts to stick like cement. Once powderised I fill in in a dark glass jar. It doesn't like light and it needs to be stored in a dark dry cupboard.
It is really important that bee products are from your region or a region with similar botanic as yours. It might trigger allergies otherwise.
Especially products from China etc could contain antibiotics, fertilisers and other forbidden substances which are illegal to use in Europe or the US as they are not safe.
I stopped buying honey in grocery shops. It's usually watered down with corn syrup or sugar water. I'm in the lucky position to have a bee keeper just a few miles up the road. It's a bit more expensive but at least it's the real thing with all its benefits.

[Icemouse]

I forgot to mention in the beginning of my post that propolis is another bee product just like bee pollen, royal jelly etc.
They all have different benefits.
I attach some images so you can see the variety.
Unfortunately I have no royal jelly at the moment. Royal jelly is yellow of custard like consistency. Needs to be refrigerated at all times. The rest of the products don't need to be refrigerated but are shy of light.
The yellow beats are bee pollen.
The brown crumbs are frozen raw propolis. And the bottle is bought ready to use liquid propolis

[Icemouse]

I can't import teklad blocks anymore due to new customs rules..... grrrrhhhh.... but found something which is used for lab rats here.
I'm not sure if that product would be suitable for Hamy. Can you guys have a look at the ingredients on the image below? The blocks look similar to taklad from consistency and colour. They're round not rectangle. Hamy could shave off his teeth on them but I'm not sure if it's safe for Hamy to get them.
Hamy is doing really well now. I can't risk making another mistake. Please help guys

[TomahawkFlyers]

Hey, Ice. Bureaucracies here. Bureaucracies there. Bureaucracies EVERYWHERE. Small people, small minds, limited intelligence, some without opposable thumbs. Contempt for all.

I'd go with the homemade recipe, just to be safe. Lab rats are not bred or cared for with longevity in mind. Some might chance it, I would not. That's your Hamy you're talking about!

Jamie

[Icemouse]

Hey, Ice. Bureaucracies here. Bureaucracies there. Bureaucracies EVERYWHERE. Small people, small minds, limited intelligence, some without opposable thumbs. Contempt for all.

I'd go with the homemade recipe, just to be safe. Lab rats are not bred or cared for with longevity in mind. Some might chance it, I would not. That's your Hamy you're talking about!

Jamie

Howdy Jamie
I hate those pencil pushers. They do my nut in.... highly overpaid ignorant morons with an ego as big as Mount Everest....
Hamy will always get his Henry's blocks. They're vital for his well being. We just got 10 bags of Henry's blocks delivered. I'll order 10 more bags of vitamins tomorrow. Just to play it safe so I can at least make the blocks if necessary.
It's just the envigo teklads which don't get delivered due to new customs laws. We had them already ordered and paid for as we got an email from the company advising us of change in customs rules. They were really sorry and reimbursed us within 48 hours. We even tried to order them from a different company but they told us the same. New customs rules thanks to brexit...
I thought I could replace the teklads with the blocks they feed lab rats here. Hamy only eats very few teklads nowadays anyway. He gets 2 Henry's blocks in the morning and since he's a messy eater he gets another Henry's block in the evening to make sure he eats full 2 Henry's blocks a day. Hamy only eats about 1½ to 2 teklads throughout the day.
Finding a replacement for the teklads is a bit of a problem for me. I can't risk Hamy getting ill again. I hoped somebody on the forum can tell me if those replacement blocks I posted the ingredients earlier would be safe for Hamy.
I just can't make another mistake with Hamys food. I'm sticking to the pyramid and the calcium phosphorus ratio list. Hamy only gets fruit and veg from the "good" list. Yeah and off course his Henry's blocks.
I'm still horrified how very ill Hamy was. I will never ever forget how he looked at me as he was lying in my hands so very sleepy and lethargic. Without your quick help I would have lost my most precious friend. I'm still shaken to the core about this most horrible time.
My Hamy means the world to me. I love him with all my heart. I'd do anything for him.

[CritterMom]

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.

[TomahawkFlyers]

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