Possible MBD?

[Asteria]

Hello everyone recently my squirrel seems to be very tired lately. Usually I try to let her have out 5 hours or more of out of cage time to let her run around and play. In the mornings she used to be ready to come and was playful and during the day she was playful as well and at nights she was still a bit playful but became tired and would go find somewhere to rest either her cage or her box above her cage she likes. Recently though maybe around the start of october I would say she seemed to be more tired in the mornings and didn’t want to get up. I would try and get her out of her cage and if she did she would come and sleep on me. During the day she seemed to perk up a bit more but the last few weeks she has been even more tired. At night she tends to be more awake and wants to play and be out of her cage but a couple nights she didn’t want to play and instead went on top of her cage and laid down. This morning she did not want to get up as usual but normally she is awake but at least 1 and she got out of her cage but went to sleep in her box. Tonight she wants to be out of her cage but is not doing so much as just sitting there. She lets me pet her but is not playful since usually once it’s dark she is more awake. I know a sign of MBD is them being tired a lot and with how much she been sleeping is this a possible sign? Her appetite is normal and she seems fine in other aspects except being tired. Is it possibly because it’s winter so they sleep more? I’m worried too that she is unable to be released if she’s not on a normal squirrel schedule. Please help me as I’m worried about her!

[Grinderhead]

How old?
What is her diet?
What dose she eat and not eat?
Dose she get any kind of block?

[Asteria]

She is 6 months, she gets the healthy Henry’s block and sometimes she get the mixed too. She eats snap peas, sweet potato, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, blackberry, teklad, strawberry, lettuce, cabbage, most of the things on the pyramid sheet that are good for her she eats. I did relook over the sheet and I think she may have had too many sweet potatoes and snap peas so I decided to cut those down to once a day but I decided this yesterday. I had cut down her teklad supply a lot because she was storing them like crazy and became very aggressive but I try to give them to her at least every day. She loves them a lot and are usually the first things she eats.

[Asteria]

She gets about 3-4 healthy blocks a day

[island rehabber]

Her diet has all the good stuff in it -- good job! -- but, IMHO, in the wrong proportions. First off, 3-4 Henry blocks are too many. Henry's Pets recommends 1-2 per day for Eastern Grey Squirrels. They are highly supplemented -- like multivitamins for people -- so you don't want to give too many.

If she loves her Teklad blocks, GIVE THEM TO HER. Cut back on the Henry's and let the Teklads be 60-70% of her diet which is truly what "the experts" recommend. (Usually hard to do as squirrels may not love them that much. Yours does, so go for it!)

Can she crack a hard shelled nut, like a hazelnut? You want to be sure she doesn't have any tooth issues giving her pain. How is her urine? Pale yellow to clear is how it should be.

Do you see any problems with her coordination (jumping from one place to another, hanging upside down, etc.)?

Try tweaking her diet this way and see if she improves. If not, she needs to be seen by a good squirrel vet in order to rule out any heart-related issues. I'm in southeastern NY state and if you're anywhere near me I have two excellent ones.

[Asteria]

Thank you! I will cut down the Henry’s and give more teklad. She hasn’t had a nut in a while because she was storing them and also got aggressive but last I remember she could get them open. If need be I can give her a nut tonight and see how she does. Her urine seems to be maybe a little dark but it’s hard to tell I will add a photo of it. It was taken in like an eggshell white surface for reference. Her coordination seems to be fine she loves to hand upside down and jumps fine.

[Asteria]

She also doesn’t really get any natural sunlight. She is very white but I was thinking that it’s because winter is coming?

[DanniCristina]

She also doesn’t really get any natural sunlight. She is very white but I was thinking that it’s because winter is coming?

Hi all, this post is from my daughter with the baby we have been taking care of since she was 3.5 months. She also gets grapes, apple slices (not big), pumpkin, (raw pumpkin is something we just introduced), blackberries… We give her a piece of fruit once a day. We haven’t given her any nuts lately because she was storing and becoming very aggressive. If we gave her one she eat it that day that would be fine but she hasn’t had any in about two weeks because of the aggression- should we give her one at least once a week? She has huge branches and twigs to chew on. She is very playful more so at night, not during the day like before but she’s never had any natural sunlight. So, we give her 3-4 Henry’s a day on top of the teklad, but I was going to cut the Henry’s to 3 a day. With no natural sun, I wanted to make sure she’s supplemented enough. She has white behind her ears, and her coat has turned white-ish as well. Do they sleep more in the winter, even though the room is heated?

[DanniCristina]

I meant to say 3.5 weeks old, not months.