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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 3, 2009 22:54:49 GMT -5
Haha they're training you. "I will eat when I want to!" ! I'm glad they eventually ate it though! I say if Saphy is not eating the chicken in 1-2 days to give her the soup, but keep Rainbow going with the chicken. Ferrets move at different paces, so this is normal. I'm sorry about your loss!! Whenever you can post, but I understand if you'll be really busy!
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 7, 2009 19:24:09 GMT -5
Okay, I'm back~
Well hello and nice to meet you! Haha~ It's crazy how ferrets find their way into our hearts. And that once you fall in love with one, you can fall in love with them all! X3 It's really cool that you've started taking such excellent care of your fuzzies right away - you are definitely a worthy pet owner. So many people don't do any research or honestly take the animal's health into consideration, especially if the idea is inconvenient. I must say that raw is definitely less convenient, but I've already seen Rainbow be so much happier and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Rainbow has been fantastic and now eats pretty decent sized chicken chunks, and even gnaws the leg bone clean. Also, she usually looks at me after she eats as if she's begging for more! So, I suppose the next step with her would be other meats and liver, heart, etc.
But Saphy still gives me nothing but trouble. I made fresh duk soup with what I had (chicken, a little kibble, chicken broth, egg shell) and she hates it so much! u___u I'll put ferretone on it, put some on her nose or on her tongue, feed her the best I can through a syringe (the chicken doesn't work so well with it lol), a spoon, and today she at least licked a bit off a plate. But she is not eating anywhere near enough and it worries me, especially because she is the smaller one. She still only wants kibble... and especially not kibble that has touched the soupie. I keep working with her though, so only time will tell.
Even though Saphy is not doing so well, I'm more than pleased with Rainbow so I'm not too discouraged. Anything else I can try with her?
Also, is it okay to use my little pet carrier as an eating place? It hardly is used otherwise, and my girl wants to start hiding her food.
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 8, 2009 11:22:50 GMT -5
Hello again!! Haha! Aww thank you!! Raw is definenly less convenient then throwing kibble into their cage. In the long run though it can be more conevenient in that you don't have to got to the vet as often and they are way healthier! Rainbow is doing awesome!! Is she eating some of the bone? If not I would try getting some chicken wings to start her on some bones in her diet. The bones in chicken wings are smaller and teaches them how to eat bones. Once she is eating bones trying liver or kidney would be the next step. Then we'll try to get her started on different kinds of meat as ferrets should have at least three kinds. But I'm getting ahead of myself ! For now just see if you can find some chicken wings and get her to eat bones! Alright *tsk, tsk* Saphy! Well if she is not eating the soup we may have to take one step back. Try soaking her kibble in warm water for a while or you could try soaking the kibble in blood/meat juice. So you'll probably have to start feeding them seperate if you're not already, so that Rainbow doesn't get Saphy's kibble. I'm sure she'll come along eventually, we just might have to try a little bit harder with her ! The pet carrier is great! I use a little dinky cage to feed them in and have to lock it, so a pet carrier would be fine !
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 10, 2009 16:46:58 GMT -5
Any updates?
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 12, 2009 18:28:47 GMT -5
Sorry! This week has been crazy and it's still not letting up soon. Ugh.
Anyway,
I'm having a really hard time with Rainbow. She won't eat if I put her in an enclosed place, but if I just let her eat anywhere else she drags/hides the meat all over.. It's just not good at all! I might try the bathtub tonight, because that's very easy to clean. Of course I will rinse it off well so that there isn't too much chemical residue and whatnot. Does this sound okay? Her hiding instincts are driving me mad. Plus, she's also been having an attitude problem, but I notice that my girls get a bit sassy every once in a while. We all have those times.
Saphy has been good. Every night I've been mushing up her melatonin pill on a saucer, adding kibble, and then just filling the whole saucer with water. I also put chicken blood on it from when I thaw out the legs, and she doesn't complain. She's eaten a few really tiny chicken chunks hidden among the kibble, so I'm thinking that I'll have to go very slow with her and add a bit more little by little.
Chicken wings will most likely be purchased this weekend.
The thing I really noticed this week was smell. Since I had been serving mostly chicken, I've been sensitive to kibble. Man, no WONDER fuzzies smell worse when on kibble! IT REEKS. I cannot stand the smell of even the kibble itself. I've always been really grossed out by meat, but it smells significantly less than kibble and I'm becoming more and more used to handling it. So yay, mommy is doing fine too haha.
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 13, 2009 11:21:27 GMT -5
Hi! No worries ! Rainbow's wild instincts are kicking in, lol! I would try the bath tub and then maybe have a little hideout in the bath tub too. Oliver was like that for a while and still sort of is, not as bad as he used to be though. So yes I think that should be fine! Just make sure there is no chemical residue left over. Do you perhaps have some natural cleaning sprays? Pet safe? If you do I would use that to be extra safe. Haha yes even my boy ferrets get sassy ! Way to go Saphy! Yes I say just keep trying that then slowly start adding chicken chunks and reducing the kibble. Or try again with the soup. Let me know how the chicken wings go! Yes! Smell seems to be one of the first things to go! Meat has barley any smell and the you open a bag of kibble....Geez!! It's like a stink bomb! And I know what it feels like to be grossed out by the raw meat. It took me a while, but soon it seems as gross as a dog eating out of his food dish! Which I guess can be gross, but lets just pretend it doesn't get gross ! Now the liver... Well we'll wait until we get there ! You, Saphy, and Rainbow are doing awesome!! Keep up the good work!
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 13, 2009 18:33:01 GMT -5
The bathtub didn't go so well. She just got uncomfortable and escaped. :/ But her favorite place to hide her food seems to be in their crinkle tunnel, so maybe I will try putting that in the bathtub. Her temperament has gotten better today, and she completely cleaned up the leg I gave her and also broke it to get to the marrow by herself! I was really excited actually~ Rainbow might just be a night eater.. She doesn't seem to want to eat during the day, but in the morning her food is all gone. I guess as long as she keeps it in her crinkle tunnel that should be easy enough to wash and won't make me upset. :b Saphy is still working on it. She eats the really tiny chicken pieces I hide in her kibble, so like I already said, I'll be putting more chicken and less kibble in. I'm not so inclined to try the soupie again; she just really hates it for some reason. I might give it a shot again if she's giving me trouble with the small chicken bits, but so far she's doing okay. I can't remember what we had gotten before, but we have had liver or hearts before and used to use it in emergency duk soup. But I don't remember if I ever actually looked at it or not...
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 14, 2009 14:55:21 GMT -5
Hmmm :/ sounds like we have a trouble maker!! I'm glad she's starting to eat the bone, though! That's great! Oliver seems to be a night eater also. It might just make them feel more wild perhaps ! Hopefully the crinkle tunnel works! I can understand not wanting to try the soup again. As long as she continues to do well you shouldn't have to do the soup.
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 16, 2009 22:39:33 GMT -5
I am the happiest mommy ever right now! This morning I gave Saphy just her medicine first so she'd be sure to eat it all, and then I was cutting up chicken while she ate. She finished it up quick since she was really hungry, and since I had my hands full of chicken I gave her tiny pieces before going to get her kibble. And she ate it! She also did tonight too! As long as she keeps this up, I'm not giving her more of that icky stuff! She still makes grotesque faces but I think she's just in denial. ;3 Rainbow is great as ever. My mom picked her up tonight and proclaimed, "Wow, she doesn't smell!" I took Rainbow and put my nose against her coat too, and sure enough, the "typical" musky smell was virtually zero. And soft, soft fur~ I'm happy that my mom noticed this, because it was her number one complaint about the girls. Now she has no right to complain about that! Sadly, we didn't get wings... The price of wings was significantly more expensive than legs/breasts (which neither of us could comprehend..). I know this is really important so I'm going to have to shop around. My mom (the grocery getter lol) was even surprised by the price, so maybe it was just more expensive this weekend for some reason. So I'm disappointed about that but... at least Saphy is cooperating now. :3 Oh, and this picture was taken today of Rainbow: img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/tk7/Ferrets/P1120085-1.jpg (kind of big so just the link) PS - Rainbow's poos have been super runny. Should I be concerned?
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 18, 2009 9:32:52 GMT -5
Yay Saphy! Yep I would just keep giving her pieces of chicken until she seems totally confident with the size you're feeding her now and try bigger pieces. Chewie still scrunches his face when he eats, but he eats almost twice as much as Oliver, so it can't be that bad ! Rainbow's doing awesome! It's great she doesn't smell anymore! I know that was one thing that my mom didn't like. Chewie was especially stinky when we got him! Is there any where that you can check for sales of the chicken wings? That is strange that they were a lot more expensive. Here they're only about $1-2 more than legs. Well let me know when you get them and how Rainbow does! And I love the picture!! Go Rainbow!! Her poops will probably be a little weird for a while, because her body's trying to get used to the diet change. Is she eating most of the bone now? It could also be she is not getting enough bone.
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 18, 2009 18:08:43 GMT -5
Well yesterday my dad ruined it for Saphy... He fed the girls kibble in the morning because "they looked hungry." Well yeah! It was time for their breakfast! And now Saphy won't eat chicken again.. back to square one.. He's always the first one up and ready so I was still asleep when he fed them.. He got in trouble from both mom and I though. Should Rainbow be able to eat the leg bone? It's pretty big I don't know if she's comfortable enough to eat the bone itself yet, but she makes it spotless and breaks it herself to get at the marrow or I do for her. I'll have to watch more closely next time to see if she's eating any of the bone itself. The watery poos don't seem to be slowing her down at all, so they must not be painful. I still have some egg shell powder left and I'll roll her chicken in it when she's hungry again. I let them have an early supper/after school snack today but they didn't eat too much. Rainbow tried to hide her leg bone with lots of meat still on it, so I ended up playing tug of war with her and putting it back in the fridge haha. I still don't know what was up with the wing prices. Friday or Saturday I have time and will check out the other grocery stores and local butchers (also for scraps).
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 19, 2009 8:42:50 GMT -5
Oh no !! Well hopefully Saphy will start to remember how good chicken is... Rainbow should be eating at least some of the bone. It doesn't have to be the whole bone (that would be awesome though), but I'd say by now she should probably start eating at least 1/4 of it. As long as she doesn't seem sick, then I wouldn't worry about the watery poos for now. If it continues after she starts eating more bone and is eating other meats, then we might have to worry. She should be fine though . Haha Oliver loves tug of war except when he and Chewie play they hiss and "squeak" at each other . Let me know what the wing prices are like! You and the girls are doing a great job !
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 21, 2009 11:07:43 GMT -5
Well, Thursday night, Saphy randomly decided to start eating chicken again. I put the leg bone in the cage first since Saphy's food takes longer to prepare, and she started eating with Rainbow! So now she's eating chicken like a big girl too. :3 But I have a couple of problems. 1. Hunger. I feed the girls twice a day and as much as they want. But they always seem to be absolutely ravaged by the next meal time, especially in the morning. I don't want them to be starving... They look so hungry in the morning that it's sad to see. Should I add a third meal or just leave some chicken in the cage at night? 2. Food aggression. Now the girls are eating together, but Rainbow is becoming more and more protective of "her" food. At first it was just taking some pieces and stashing them. No big deal. Then it was all the pieces when Saphy was busy eating one. Then this morning they were having a tug of war over the leg bone; Saphy was just trying to eat but Rainbow wouldn't let her. I separated them: Saphy got meat chunks and Rainbow got the bone. Help? I want them to be nice, happy little girls with full tummies and the ability to share.
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Post by bigsis7 on Feb 21, 2009 12:17:46 GMT -5
Good girl Saphy!! Ok now about the problems.... 1. It might not be that they're hungry, but that they are more excited to eat. My big boy Chewie acts hungry all the time except right after meals. He ways 1.5 pounds more than my Oliver, but they are the same length and build. So there is basically no way he could be hungry. Chewie just likes to eat! If they seem to have lost weight though, then I would try leaving food in over night or feed them a bit more. How much are they eating a day? Between my two boys they eat about two chicken legs total a day (or close to that amount of meat). After meals if there is some meat left I just leave it in over night. 2. Ok this is a HUGE problem with my ferrets. Chewie wants what Oliver's eating and Oliver wants what Chewie's eating . So what I do is either cut the meat in half and usually they decide after a few minutes not to fight. If not I feed them seperatly, but they have meat in their mouth, so there's no way they could cause any damage to the other ferret. Unless one of them has aggression issues...The worst that has happened to my ferrets when they fight, is they lose some self esteem for a few seconds ! Also did Rainbow just get the bone? She'll need some meat with the bone too. Try giving them two legs, so both of them can have their own. Hope this helps!
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Post by lithaewyn on Feb 23, 2009 22:48:00 GMT -5
Okay, when I said "bone" I definitely meant with meat on it. :3 Not gonna starve my girlie of course. She likes eating meat off the bone more than just eating chunks of it. Thank you for your input. It eased both my mind and my mother's. Today went tons better. I left them a leg bone (with meat )over night, and when it was breakfast time they weren't acting like they were starving, but they were still very happy to get food. They also didn't fight at meal times. I really didn't do much different except make sure there was a lot for both of them, so maybe over night is just too long for them. I know they wake up during the night because sometimes they bang around and play, so maybe they just need to have a snack. They're currently eating about 1 1/2 legs per day. I bought wings this afternoon, but they still had a good amount of cut up chicken leg and I wanted them to finish that before opening a new package. Plus, they ate a decent amount of bone so I was not too worried and figured they could last one more day. I'll give them a wing tomorrow morning and hopefully when I come home after classes it will be mostly gone. :3 I know Rainbow definitely likes cartilage so a wing should be no problem. Hopefully soon her poopies will be more solid. Rainbow is definitely getting bored of plain old chicken every day, so I hope she takes to wings quickly so I can give her other things. :3 Saphy is well on her way too, but I'm not going to pressure her to try other things if she's not ready yet. However, they did have some raw ground beef yesterday! And both of them liked it very much. It's probably all over the forums and I will take a look, but can you give me the outline for a balanced weekly diet? I'd like to start planning so I can be prepared. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y!
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