Food for house-raised Squirrels - Part 1
As I previously promised you, I'm sharing this article with you, which I've excerpted from an article by Niroshi Jayathuga and Lilani Ramanayake.
Many people who have squirrels inside their homes worry a lot about what kind of food to provide the creatures. Actually, a lot of people frequently give them fruit bought from the supermarket. The people in the village have many kinds of food to give squirrels, but most of them have no idea about that.
The mother squirrel introduces her baby to the food when they are 3 to 4 weeks old and have opened their eyes. But we can’t do that, because we don’t know how to train like a mother. Therefore, there are several things we should be careful about when we feed house-raised squirrels.
Squirrels are very active animals. They must have strong bones in order to run and jump. We need to release a healthy squirrel into the environment rather than a fat one. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on how the squirrel's bones, nails, and hair are growing. In general, we must provide milk to a squirrel for up to 8 or 10 months after they open its eyes. Cow or goat milk should be mixed with yogurt. It gets the nutrition it requires; from the milk we gave him. When squirrels get used to consuming food, many of them avoid milk. Many people are used to providing the same pattern of food every day. When they provide in that way, it does not receive the proper nutrition. Therefore, it is essential to give milk till they grow healthily. Later, it is advisable to provide milk together with food.
The next question is how we introduced them to food. When a baby is old enough to eat, one meal should be given every other day. It is necessary to observe whether the food was properly digested, through their feces. Therefore, it is important to give it every other day for about a week before starting daily. Most of the time, it is preferable to provide vegetables or fruits that have a lower taste. Additionally, avoid giving any foods that help a stomach ache. Avoid giving such food, especially when they start to eat. (Continued……..another day.)
The next part of the article will be published another day.