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Post by suds on Jun 24, 2009 20:27:57 GMT -5
wow she took the mouse on the first try that is awesome !! she chewed on it is a great sign . she just needs to learn its food her instinks are helping her already. I would have put the mouse in her cage to see if she finishes it BTW mine always eats the head first and rarely eats the stomach contents. It mite not seem it but she realy is doing great so far its awesome . the beef has very strong taste compared to the chicken you will have to use very tiney amounts at first with it . turkey also is stronger in taste but not as bad as beef . pork is also a good starter meat not as strong or smelly as beef . when I was switching Hershy would not eat the chicken but went crazy over the beef and veal 2 very strong tasting meats she can be such a weirdo lol
in the spring and summer ferrets do slim down some another thing you see at first to is they start looseing fat then will gain good muscle tone and start getting heaver from the extra muscle. Hershy my small little girl eats about 1.5 to 2 ounces a day JD will eat 2 to 3 ounces a day this time of year basical I feed about a palm sise portion per meal per ferret and adjust it daily if they have alot left over I feed less the next day if they have none left and act starving i feed more the next day. just keep track of her wieghts and her energy levels . and yes you will see less poop because her body can absorb more of the food and moister then with kibble. so far all seems normal
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 25, 2009 14:48:33 GMT -5
she's definitely not too keen on lamb. She only ate a few nibbles today. Will try some beef tonight again. Can leave another fuzzy mouse tonight for her to play/eat. See how that goes tomorrow.
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 25, 2009 15:22:35 GMT -5
OMG! I fed her some ground chicken, a portion of sardine and a fuzzy mouse to see what she wanted. I heard all this rustling in her box. Went to go check and she had eaten half the mouse!! Even shook out the little milk bean! I am so happy!! Debating now if I should pick up other small prey items and see how she likes it. What would you suggest? I can also order quail eggs if it's something she'll like. Of course I haven't tried egg yet. May try that at some point. I'm just thrilled she ate the mouse!! How often should I offer her that? I don't want to overdo it.
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Post by suds on Jun 25, 2009 17:37:40 GMT -5
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 26, 2009 1:24:42 GMT -5
Well, just got home. Ate the mouse, stashed some sardines. I am only offering her ground kibble with the meat now. No regular kibble and she seems to be doing fine with it. Going to try egg in the morning(I get fresh eggs from a friend who has chickens so I never buy them from the store, I love it!!). We'll see how that goes.
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Post by suds on Jun 26, 2009 5:43:31 GMT -5
Well you have a whole prey eater congrats!!! You got lucky she took to it naturely and knows what the best food is for her . this time a year Hershy will eat 1- 2 adult mice a day JD will eat will eat 2 -3 mice a day in the fall and winter they will a little more . they both share a adult rat and I normaly put a few day old chicks out for a snack for them .they also will split a small rabbit the same as a rat . the larger rabbits I cut in quarters . quail is a differnt story Hershy loves them and fights JD for it all the time she will eat a whole one herself weather hungry or not such a weirdo at times so I have to seperate them when I feed quail, games hens , gerbils just about and rodent sised prey the can eat if you want to do whole prey which is the perfect balanced diet for them as long as you keep a variety of game as well as differnt ages for diffent nutrients . but whole prey also gets expensive why I feed a combo or raw and whole. keep with the coated chicken every couple of days put less kible in it .once she is eating only ground then we will work on eating bigger peaces of meat once she is eating and tareing peaces the sise of your palm then it will be time to work on meat and bones starting out with tiney chicken wings the sise they use for hot wings congrats on your good success so far continue they good work of trying new things even though she dont eat or take them at first she is being exposed to the differnt things and all will help in the long run
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 26, 2009 16:28:30 GMT -5
No luck mixing raw egg in it today. Tried offering some lamb shoulder on the bone and she ignored it. Leaving it in her cage tonight to see if she plays with it. Picked up some ground pork, turkey and bison. Left some bison and pork in the cage for the night. No real interest yet. We'll see what she picks at during the night. Going to see if next week can order some feeder chicks and maybe some baby bunnies. I can mice and rats easily enough.
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 26, 2009 18:55:28 GMT -5
well getting the wee one ready for bed and Geisha is going to town on the lamb shoulder bone over the ground meat and kibble! I am soo happy!!
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Post by suds on Jun 27, 2009 6:41:25 GMT -5
wow that is great news . tearing at the shoulder is great teath cleaning to . I have to say I am very impressed how fast she is moveing along. I got a feeling she is like Hershy hates soups and watery foods (she wont eat raw eggs but will scambled eggsafter weeks of trying) . But loves prey and meat on bones the drier the better for her taste. I think you could probly stop using the kibble coating and just put the ground with a little egg shell and start adding a few peaces of kibble sized meats in with it . What i did in the beginning was use what ever I was haveing for dinner before I seasoned and cooked it I cut off a few peaces to give tto my guys this way if they didnt eat it at first I wasnt wasteing to much food keep up the good work give geisha a hug for me she is doing fantastic have a great weekend Frank
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Post by suds on Jun 27, 2009 6:46:24 GMT -5
Oh I forgot to add you mite see some funny things in her poop from eating mice , the fur acts as a lets say pipe cleaner the first few times mine ate mice and rats I paniced at the poo's they where so very strange
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 27, 2009 18:05:40 GMT -5
She is doing very well. In fact right now she is happily attacking the leg off a chick. My friend heard I was trying to switch her diet and gave me about 15 chicks! She loves it!! She will not touch the ground meat at all now. I will just start offering her the meat chunks and go from there. I am so happy she is taking to this easily. I thought it was going to be more of a battle. I also have one incredibly jealous cat right now staring at her while she eats her chick. LOL
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 28, 2009 5:41:40 GMT -5
Woke up this morning and the whole chick is gone!! Offered some chopped up chicken gizzards, heart and liver with a little ground pork and mixed some eggshell and raw egg that she happily ran to and is eating as we speak. Tonight I may just offer her a chicken thigh with bone and see how she likes it.
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Post by suds on Jun 28, 2009 6:28:30 GMT -5
chicks are very yummy snacks here You are very lucky to have easy access to such goodie's. I am happy you are haveing good results so fast for her age it is very impressive I would try a wing befor a thigh the bones are easer to crunch.score the meat to make it easer for her to get a grip and tare it off the bone. knecks and backs are also good for learning to eat rmb's. the next thing that needs to be adressed is offal (organ meat)Chicken liver, gizzards and heart Beef kidney, lung, and pancreas she is moveing so fast I cant keep up lol .I m goeing to crosspost RAW feeding goals . soon you need to decide what kind of diet you want to use RAW, whole prey, or RAW/wholeprey combo then we need to start working on a daily schedule its helps to write it out for the week in the beginning so we know weather or not any important ingriedients are missing in her diet Strive to feed the following each week: Raw meaty bones (atleast) 4 days a week (NOTE: It only counts as an RMB if they EAT the bone) Examples: Chicken wings, legs, thighs, necks, and backs Rabbit legs, ribs, etc Turkey necks (cut into segments) Oxtails (cut into segments) Cornish game hen Bone-in chicken breast Whole RAW (not canned) anchovies, sardines, and smelt Boneless Muscle Meat 2 days per week: Boneless chunks of: Beef Pork Turkey Rabbit Bison Emu etc Organ meat 1 day a week (plus one of the following: a raw chicken neck, chicken wingette, or whole egg---shell and all) Organs: Chicken liver, gizzards and heart Beef kidney, lung, and pancreas Strive to feed atleast 3 types of meat per week, and also vary the part of the meat you feed. For example feed chicken thighs AND breast. Feed pork butt AND pork tenderloins. Nutrient composition varies in the different parts of the animal. Lastly, feed young and old meats: Veal/Beef Piglet/Pork Cornish Game Hen/ Chicken Poult/Turkey Lamb/Mutton Animals vary in nutrient composition as they age.
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techgirl
Gnawing on bones
"my dog is not food aggressive, he just doesn't like it if you go near his food when he's eating"
Posts: 54
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Post by techgirl on Jun 28, 2009 18:35:48 GMT -5
Looks like she ate some of the egg mix today. Tonight I am offering some chicken thigh meat cut up with some kidney and liver. I was a little worried when I got home from work because she was just laying there not happy to see me. temp was 102.2 and BG was normal and then it occurred to me that it's 80 degrees inside today. Going to put a fan in my daughter's room to cool it down. If that doesn't work, I'll put in the AC early then. I may do a combo of RAW/whole prey for her diet because I like the variety. Of course right now I have a ton of ground meat that I need to use up before I buy anymore for her or the boyfriend will kill me . I am so glad she is doing well. I am taking her to work with me tomorrow to just do some basic bloodwork and make sure she is doing ok all over. Hopefully all will go well.
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Post by suds on Jun 29, 2009 5:44:12 GMT -5
you can freeze some water in a large soda bottle and wrap them in a towel and put it in her cage to help cool her they dont do well in heat above 75 .
hope all goes well with the blood work
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