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Post by whimsy on Jan 26, 2009 15:43:06 GMT -5
We had one absolutely AWESOME oriental market that just recently closed. *sigh* I haven't looked for any other ones of that quality, though I think I should now.
Beef kidney. I'll have to look for that.
Been mixing some chicken bones back into the organ/muscle mix...wow, talk about a total difference now! I got a chicken neck in one of the whole birds I bought, and cut up the wings like you said to. Both Stitch and RJ have been chowing down on the chicken like no tomorrow. Imma give them some chopped chicken organs today, we'll see if they're received warmly at all. I might try mixing them into ground turkey...that might make a good difference.
Stitch finally accepted the feeding cage, I think. I leave it open when we have them out, and instead of taking the meat out to hide it somewhere he eats it in the cage. I added a blanket over the top to give them privacy; that might be the difference.
Question: Our local pet stores sell frozen pinkies. Is now a good time to try letting them eat one or two?
edit: Question #2: Is it safe to feed them the spine/ribcage/other bone sections from the chicken?
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Post by tss on Jan 26, 2009 19:17:28 GMT -5
Thats sad that the orential market shut down, we had one that sold a LOT of meat but it ended up closing.
It would be a good time to try pinkies now, and every part in a chicken is edible for the ferrets so yes, the spine, rib cage and other parts are fine to feed.
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Post by whimsy on Feb 9, 2009 12:52:02 GMT -5
They're being kinda picky about the bones, but from what I've read from the other raw feeders that's pretty normal. They're eating turkey, pork, chicken, and beef pretty easily. I've got a whole chicken in the fridge that I'm going to try cutting up into smaller pieces to see if they'll eat the bones (or at least chew on them) instead of just stashing them with occasional nibbles. Their appetites have improved, and I've increased how much I put down in the morning/evening. Haven't gone to the store yet for the frozen pinkies, but I'm really looking forward to it.
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Post by tss on Feb 9, 2009 22:08:48 GMT -5
You can try smashing the bones slightly so your ferrets can smell the marrow inside, that should help intise them..
Have you tried organ meat yet??
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Post by whimsy on Feb 19, 2009 13:14:01 GMT -5
Agh! I forgot to tell you >< They like liver, and they like gizzards. They also eat all of the innards from chickens. When I do cut/smash up the bones they are eaten. I'm noticing that anything in a largish chunk isn't eaten nearly as rapidly as the finely chopped stuff. -_- And too the big chunks are taken and stashed, and it becomes a not so fun game of hide the meat in places it shouldn't be. Kay, what sort of feeding schedule should they have? I have some cod liver oil fo r them too, and I figured once a week is good? How many times should I feed organs? RMB? Muscle? I have all of it in little baggies in my freezer, separated so I can mix and match hahaha. Thank yo ufor being patient!!
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Post by tss on Feb 19, 2009 15:35:21 GMT -5
Yay to the liver!! Gizzard isn't organ but it is a good source of cheap boneless meat.
It will take time for them to take larger chunks, it is slow progress but as long as they are currently eating and keeping their weight up they are fine.
You should aim for a minimum of 3 species of animal protein, it is also good to incorporate young meats in the diet if possible (veal, lamb, Cornish game hens, etc). 4 days of RMB's, 2 days of boneless and 1 day of organ meat is what is recommended.
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Post by whimsy on Feb 23, 2009 16:21:02 GMT -5
Right now we're feeding pork, chicken, and beef with occasional duck and turkey. I'm personally a fan of lamb, so I think I can cut off a hunk of the next roast I buy and start mixing it into their normal muscle meat.
So I bought some pinkies, and they were gobbled down! Both boys ate three, and after that they lost interest. I had to put some oil on them to get the idea that they were food across, but after they started licking they just chowed down. At 2 bucks for 3 pinkies I think I'm going to have to order online for mice. >< Eeks.
Next I'll try some frozen fuzzies/hoppers.
If I'm incorporating whole prey into the mix, how many days a week should I feed them? Or is it more up to my discretion?
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Post by tss on Feb 23, 2009 16:32:16 GMT -5
That is great!!
You can feed them as often as you want but young animals should not make up a whole lot of their diet since they aren't balanced as well as adults animals.
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Post by whimsy on Feb 24, 2009 15:52:04 GMT -5
mmk, I fed them the remaining pinkies (I'd bought four three packs under assumption they'd be rejected >>) so I'll try for some fuzzy mice next.
I'm having a hard time figuring out how much rmb is enough. I like there to be a chunk or two of meat leftover when I get home, because then I know they had enough to eat. . .but it seems like there is always more bone leftover on the days I feed bone and muscle meat is usually gone or almost gone. I've read on these forums that a lot of ferts are 'lazy' when it comes to chowing down the bones, but at the same time I'm worrying that they're not getting enough to eat. I'll try cutting the bones up into even smaller portions, but is there a point where I should worry they're not getting the proper amount of food?
edit: I realized I wasn't being very detailed in what I meant. I know for now that the bigger bones (like a chicken leg bone, even if I do cut it up) they probably won't be able to really chew up due to lack of jaw strength, but it seems like they don't even eat the meat off of the bones. So I wind up having to toss these finger-long portions of meat that is still attached to the bone.
I think I need to order those chicken shears so I can really cut it into bite sized portions ><
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Post by tss on Feb 24, 2009 19:37:10 GMT -5
Starting out a lot of people cut the majority of meat off of their raw meaty bones because a lot of ferrets fill up on meat before they can even get to the bone. As long as they aren't getting skinny then they are eating enough, they really don't need a whole lot of bone in their diet.. As time goes on they will better learn how to eat them. cutting them into smaller pieces will help.
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Post by whimsy on Feb 25, 2009 12:54:48 GMT -5
Ahh, maybe that's it and I'm just giving them wayyy too much food. Haha, I'll try cutting off excess meat and see if that's all it is.
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Post by tss on Mar 6, 2009 14:13:41 GMT -5
How have RJ and Stitch been?? Did you have any luck with stripping some of the meat off?
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Post by whimsy on Mar 9, 2009 18:07:44 GMT -5
Not really. I think they just aren't used to the bone yet. I bought a big thing of just wings (why haven't I done that before??) and they seem to be of the opinion that it's better to eat with carpet fuzzies 5 hours later rather than while it's fresh on the plate. I really don't want to start having to ration it out for them (lock them in a separate feeding cage), but I have looked at some of the feeding den ideas, and I might have to start putting a few discreetly around their stash places. Maybe that will solve the problem? Other than that they're still eating organs and muscle. . .anything in a decent size chunk will get stashed. Somehow a chicken wing wound up in the laundry the other day. Ahaha, I thought it was a big piece of material from one of their hammocks, and then when I pulled it out. . . we shake the blanket outside first, but I guess that wing really wanted to stay on the blanket. I'm going to try the den thing rather than continue to cut things smaller and smaller. One way or another, I'll figure out what they want. Stitch has been protest pooing and peeing, though if it's due to the food or something else I haven't figured out yet. He's so different from RJ, it's hard to figure him out. I think it's the food though, that's the only thing that keeps changing. Could also be that I keep taking his stashes away from him. He gives me the Look when I do that, haha.
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Post by tss on Mar 10, 2009 11:38:15 GMT -5
Trust me, ferrets think meat is better aged and dirty.
Feeding dens should help some, they will still stash stuff but having dens will help you find the stuff and you will be able to clean them out every day or two.
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Post by whimsy on Mar 17, 2009 12:11:12 GMT -5
K, den isn't helping a whole lot. I think it's because they prefer the underside of the couch, so we'll have to take the feet off of it. They have been eating meat off of the bones sporadically after I cut some of the meat off, but it seems like they're not quite willing to eat the bone itself. And then, Stitch keeps dragging the uneaten portions into the litter box! Why would he do that, and what can I do to make him not want to do that?? >< Other than that, they seem to be getting enough to eat. Right now I'm rotating turkey and chicken, so next will be more beef and pork. Think I might get one of those Cornish game hens as a treat for them. Or some duck, or lamb. Mmm.
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