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Post by blaire on May 9, 2009 0:57:24 GMT -5
Ok, so Solo is totally switched!! He's eating his whole portions as soon as we put them in the cage. I'm just wondering if we're giving him enough....I'm not good with figuring out ounces, but the portions are about 1.5 tablespoons, plus the milk. Should I do 3 per day, or just 2 portions? Keeping in mind that he is a VERY big kit... Jabba and Izzy are still not very interested in the meat, but we are making progress. Sasha is totally ready to convert already! She licked the bowl of meat and milk clean last night, and still wanted more, so I gave her plain meat, and she devoured that too!! The only problem is that she shares a cage with Izzy and Jabba, so I can't remove the kibble from her diet until they are ready. I went to the store today and bought chicken hearts, chicken backs, ground chicken, and ground pork. The turkey was too expensive, but I'll watch for a sale. The hearts and backs were only $2.50 per package (over 1lb of backs, and almost a pound of hearts). They were already frozen, so I will have to get my bf to use some muscle and divide them into portions. So now I have a good supply of meat, but I will keep adding to my freezer stash. Next time, I'll get some ground beef, and maybe some other organ meats.
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Post by suds on May 9, 2009 11:00:47 GMT -5
great for Solo I knew he be easy , I am very impressed with Sasha for being the oldest she seems as eager as Solo to get rid of the nasty kibbles .Izzy and Jabba will come around its not uncommon to have 1 or 2 in a busness to hold back and be stuborn. You mite not make much progress with Izzy untill you remove the kibble compleetly but you never know she mite surprise us I would try and put a few tiny peaces of the meat in with there kibble they mite learn its food quicker . 1 of the successfull switching methods some use is to slowly add hamburger or finely chopped up meat to there kibble adding less and less kibble and more meat over time. so we can try that aswell along with the milk soupy if you want. Just remember time is on our side and paitents is a must . You can feed Solo 3 xs a day what ever is best for you, as to the amount you will have to feel for it I feed about a palm sise portion per ferret per feeding which is twice a day. if the food seems to disapear quickly then I feed a little more next feeding if the food seems to stay untill the next feeding then I add less the next feeding . It always a adjustment on the amounts with raw feeding some days and times they cant get enough and other days they will eat very little .I also kinda fast my guys every sunday I dont feed them any fresh meat or prey and they only have there freese dried treats availble to them and thats normaly the day I see what has been stashed over the week lol. Yes sales are a great way to buy meats you need also look for meats that are about to expire they tend to be good priced too. Can I ask why Solo is haveing such a hard time intergreating with the group? Would be easer if you could feed him and Sasha the same times with the same foods. hope you have a great weekend Frank
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Post by blaire on May 9, 2009 21:19:23 GMT -5
Hello Frank, my name is Scott, Blaire's boyfriend. Today, at work I had a client that is also the veterinary assistant at our vet and of course our brats came up in conversation.... In passing the idea of salmonella in their dander and stools in relation to the raw diet came up and I was wondering if that is something that has been addressed on this forum and what is your take one the risks....
PS . Nice to meet you and thanks for your input.
Scott
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Post by blaire on May 9, 2009 23:18:09 GMT -5
I think they're having a hard time with Solo because Sid was put down right after we got him. They might feel like he had something to do with Sid disappearing...? That's the only thing I can think of, since we've never had this problem before, and we got all the kids at different times. Sasha and Solo are fine together when they're getting a treat, but as soon as the food is gone, Sasha attacks. It's funny, too, because Sasha is so small and Solo is so big! He's got a really submissive personality, so he's not very good at defending himself.
Jabba can't even have supervised play time with Solo. Even after a month of living in the same house, Jabba tries to kill him every time he gets the chance. I'm hoping that once we get Sasha to accept him, it will get easier with Jabba. Izzy is good with him, so we let them out together sometimes. But even she only tolerates him, and doesn't really like to play with him.
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Post by suds on May 10, 2009 9:36:12 GMT -5
Hi Scott. Yes salmonella is always a concern why its important to practice good sanitary pratices, wash hands frequently and such. As for the risk kibble verses raw its seems about the same as far as I can tell. Kibble can have salmonella in it too. Probly more so becuase of how its handle and stored. There are a few threads on the site about the subject you can research it .When I get time I try and find them and link them here . you can also start a thead with the same question in the RAW feeders thread to get more input from others.
S Blaire . it sounds like it could be a dominence thing is there Blood and poop with Jabba's encounters? Have you been exchanging bedding between them to get used to each others smells? When someone from a busness leaves the busness then goes through morning and then they go through reranking the group , Same happens when you add a newbie to the group to. sometimes its best to just put them together and let them fight it out and let them work it out on there own as long as there is no poop or blood. The noises and watching them fight can be very disturbing I know but if there is no poop or blood its best to let them at it and work out the domince order , Then again there some that just no matter what will never get along just like us Humans .Shasha will be the one to teach him manners and will probly bond with him because she eats with him . or otherwise she wouldnt even let him eat around her.
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Post by blaire on May 11, 2009 19:05:04 GMT -5
At first, there was a lot of scared pooping when he was fighting with Sasha, but he is getting tougher as time goes on. He's slowly learning to defend himself against Sasha, and we're thinking that it will give him good practice for dealing with monster Jabba! When we first got him, we tried him with Jabba, but there was blood and poop both times, and Solo almost lost an eye to Jabba's fangs. We have to be extra careful around Jabba because he's so big and has such a strong bite. Solo is very sweet and gentle, so he can't handle the aggression very well...
I will try switching the beds around. That's an excellent idea! We also have Solo's cage on the floor in the living room, so the others come up and sniff and dig at the bars all the time.
I made a new meat mix yesterday. Half and Half chicken and pork, with a handful of chicken hearts thrown in. We're not making much progress with Izzy or Jabba, though. The only way they will eat it is off the finger, and even then, they're mostly after the milk.
Last night they just licked all the milk out of the meat, so when they went to bed expecting their usual night-time ferretone treat, I drenched the meat in tone, and gave them that. They ate almost all of it that way. I'm still just doing it once per day, because it's too time-consuming and messy to make them eat it in the morning.
I am a little concerned about Solo's poops. I know that you said they might be funky, but is it normal for them to be totally liquid and "seedy"? My understanding is that "seedy" poops are from excess fat, which could be caused by the milk, but what about all the liquid?? The colour is yellowish-brown, and it's almost clear...
Other than that, Solo is doing fine with the meat. I'm doing 3 times per day, and he finishes it almost every time.
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Post by suds on May 11, 2009 20:53:42 GMT -5
Ok if there is scared poop then the best is to watch and slowly get them used to each other as you are . there poop can get very runny in the beginning there body it not used to absorbing much moister from the food it will take a little time to get regulated , I would also start adding some eggshell powder to help firm it up. you can also try and put a chicken wing (small or half ) score the meat and skin a little with a knife to help him grip and tear the meat . hopfuly he will naturaly go for it a start nibling on the bones that is the best way to firm up on the poo's . The seedy poo's could be from the diet . could also be signs of IBD just keep an eye on him and see if it firms up with the eggshell and start adding less milk . 2 hold outs not too surpriseing just keep trying each day for the rest of the week if they dont improve then we will need to go to plan B .
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Post by blaire on May 11, 2009 23:47:46 GMT -5
So we just tried Solo and Jabba again, and it was a bit better this time. There was a lot of screaming, but no blood or poop. We knew Solo had had enough when he ran to his cage and jumped in the hammock! ;-)
If seedy poops mean IBD, then Sasha definitely has it. She has had seedy poops on and off for most of her life, but she has otherwise not been affected since her surgery 2 years ago.
We will start on the egg shells and bones now, if you think that's best. I bought chicken backs when they were on sale, so would that be ok instead of the wings? I could cut off some small pieces with bones and put them whole in his soupie so that he knows they're food...
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Post by suds on May 12, 2009 6:02:23 GMT -5
Thats good news with Solo and Jabba there is hope yes you can try the backs cut them small . wings are used by most because they are good to use for teaching how to tear meat m the bones and bones are easer to for them to manage . But need to get bones in him to help firm up the stools . BTW your doing a great job so far Have a great day
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Post by blaire on May 14, 2009 0:43:46 GMT -5
Thanks Frank! :-) We have had some setbacks due to time constraints, but we are still feeding meat at least once per day. Izzy is finally making progress and eating the meat mix straight from the bowl (instead of the finger). Jabba is still resisting, so I think we may have to try just cutting down the kibble and forcing him to eat the meat when he gets hungry.
With Solo, is there any chance of a choking hazard when we feed him really small pieces of bone? How big should the chunks of chicken back be? Scott is breaking it up into portions right now, and then we will cut them smaller as they thaw...
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Post by blaire on May 14, 2009 0:45:02 GMT -5
I will also buy some wings as soon as I get the chance.
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Post by suds on May 14, 2009 5:57:19 GMT -5
Hi Blaire Unfortunetly anything you feed can be a chocking hazard kibble , meat , bones and so on.I always try and keep the sizes from kibble to about a dime size which is small enough for them to swallow. or for bigger peaces at least a size of a quarter or top of thumbe this way they have to chew off smaller peaces to eat . if Solo eats the smaller peaces easily then slowly increase the size . good news about Izzy Jabba will come around when he see's the others enjoying the meats Solo been eating meat for a few days has his energy increased ? is he starting to look for the bowl in your hand and getting excited ? I think you will be surprised how fast some good changes will be from the switch . I dont know what your schedule is . Could you try and remove to the kibble over the weekend and feed them just the meat mix 3 xs a day and see how jabba n Izzy handle it ?
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Post by blaire on May 14, 2009 20:58:22 GMT -5
I haven't noticed too much difference in Solo yet. He eats most of his meat twice per day, so we haven't moved up to 3 times per day. I gave him bones for the first time tonight, along with some solid pieces of meat, but he just took them out of the bowl and dropped them on the floor. We're working on cutting down his milk intake as well.
Scott and I both have to work all weekend, but I have next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off, so maybe that would be a good time to take away the kibble?
Sasha is totally ready to switch. I didn't fill up their food before work today, and when I came home, I gave them a bowl of meat and milk. Sasha dove right in and ate quite a bit, but Izzy only took about 2 mouthfuls, and I had to finger feed Jabba. He took it off my finger and then stashed it in his crinkle tube - he might have been swallowing it while he was in there, though. I'll have to check. Jabba really likes to steal things that are made of rubber or soft plastic, so I'm wondering if the texture of whole meat pieces might appeal to him more than mush. I'll give him some of Solo's food and see how that goes.
I'm getting very frustrated with this process. I don't understand why it's so hard for them to make the switch! At the same time, I'm still a bit concerned about taking away the kibble and having them go hungry for too long.
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Post by blaire on May 14, 2009 21:19:44 GMT -5
OMG!!!! I just got IZZY to eat 3 PIECES OF CHICKEN WITH BONE!!!! She's one of the 2 that's been causing the most problems with the ground meat, so I didn't expect her to go for it, but I sat down on the kitchen floor with Solo's dinner and offered it to anyone who came over. I held it out to Izzy, and she licked it for a few seconds, then she just grabbed it and crunched away!! After that, she kept coming back to the bowl for more. After eating 3 pieces, she started just stashing it, but I am so impressed with her right now.
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Post by suds on May 15, 2009 18:20:05 GMT -5
wow it seems like they are wanting to switch but not sure about it. try feeding Izzy whole meat instead of the ground , if Jabba is stashing it . that means he is interested in it just not sure about it . your lucky no one thinks it poison it took me 2 months to get Hershy to pick up any meat on her own with out haveing to scruff her , she swore it all was poison. I know your frustration about them all being on differnt levels i held JD back because of Hershy . but its not a uncommon problem. The other thing to is texture like Izzy she mite take to meat and bone but not like the ground or likes it warm not cold so its a proccess of trying dffent things tll you find what works for each ferret and take it from there .
try the 3 days with out kibble aand see how it goes with Jabba and Izzy if you dont see them eating in 24 hours time them give them a little kibble again for a few hours then take it away and try again. I would try and Feed Solo and sasha together since she is ready it seems to move on with out the kibble and hopefuly it will help in the bonding.
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