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Post by ciel on Jul 22, 2009 16:34:28 GMT -5
up to 2 pounds of muscle meat (1/2 is chicken hearts, 1/2 can be pork, turkey, or something else) Water to desired texture (unseasoned stock can be used) 1 teaspoon eggshell powder for every 1/2 pound of meat 2-3 teaspoons olive oil liver (should max out at 2 ounces a week for a kit. Ferretone can be used as a temporary replacement if liver is taken out of the diet)
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 22, 2009 16:50:02 GMT -5
I just took a look at your thread and to stop my ferret from stashing I gave her a place to stash. I use a feeding den made out of a small rubber maid container with a hole cut for the door but I also get free cradboard boxes at work and i cut a hole in them and put them in her play area so she can stash in it and then I just toss it out later on.
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Post by cristina on Jul 23, 2009 15:01:17 GMT -5
Yea the roomate feeding only kibble is why he wont be too keen on raw since he thinks of his kibble as gourmet (even though we know it isnt ) Just put the littlest bit in with his everyday kibble and you can add more once he warms up to it, dont worry you can start out slow (I had to!) The duk soup recipe sounds great (personally I would use water instead of broth since broth contains a ton of sodium....but if you made your own chicken broth/stock you can just boil chicken in a pot with water and use that, just make sure not to season it! ) By the way- to make egg shell powder I gather egg shells every couple weeks then grind them up very fine and feed in soup about once or twice a week for added calcium
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Post by ciel on Jul 25, 2009 12:17:35 GMT -5
so i think we've made a huge breakthough. for the past two days wally has been eating only meat. its pork and chicken hearts with some olive oil all ground up and he's diggin it. YAY wally is a flesh eating ferret! we havent finished yet. is this the point where i introduce prey? also we have a new addition to the family. Gizgig the bunny lion gizgig will be on a raw diet too just fyi so whats the next step with wally? so far he hasnt had any bones. we give him little bits of cooked chicken as a treat. yesterday when we bought gizgig we took wally to play with the other ferrets at the pet store... those ferrets were much stockier than wally. they were thick. i want wally to be sexy too (lol) how do i beef him up? do their body types vary that much?
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Post by cristina on Jul 25, 2009 12:35:54 GMT -5
What a cute new guy! make sure to watch wally around him though (we have a bunny too, and my little girl tried to eat him one time!) Before we move to bone we need to make him eat a variety of meats (ferrets diet of meats should be at least 3 different types, not including organs) So I would give him some beef and chicken and get him to eat/like those too. after that we can introduce bone and maybe some mice if your interested! One thing I want to warn you about pet stores....there is a chance of disease among the little ones at the pet stores since they have only had one batch of shots in their lives (until they are bought then brought to the vet again for a checkup and a second round of shots/vaccinations) and especially this year pet stores have had some cases of breakouts with various diseases in adition to a very new and semi-fatal flu virus. So its up to you whether or not you want to bring him around them, but do be careful. Another suggestion is maybe getting another ferret as a companion for wally, ferrets do very well in couples or groups...sometimes ferrets are known to get lonely very easily, even with much human interaction (just a thought) Size does vary among individual ferrets, ones at the pet stores are obviously on a kibble diet so that "heafty" look isnt muscle, its fat stored from kibble (which isnt good because it bogs down the pancreas and liver and can bring on early cancers and such because kibble isnt broken down completely so its stored) BUT.... when wally has a variety of meats and bone in his diet he will gain muscle tone and be more muscular (you just have to give it time, this is a gradual process through the switch) If hes looking a little skinny then we can give him a soup that helps build up the body which consists of KMR stage 2 powder (for kittens), duk soup (from any pet store) and then a mix of water, maybe egg if he likes it, some oil (vivify is best).....and this should beef him up a little in the meantime....if you want to try this let me know and I can explain how to make it a little better
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Post by ciel on Jul 25, 2009 13:16:13 GMT -5
ok lets try that to beef him up. well we just ran out of the pork mixture today so i've got to make a new batch. we'll try chicken this time. is there any particular order i should use with the meat introduction?
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Post by cristina on Jul 26, 2009 10:37:03 GMT -5
Im not sure what you mean by oder, do you mean meats? If so then it really doesnt matter as long as he's eating at least 3 different meats all together.....since he already likes pork then chicken wont be hard since its the most bland of all the meats, then after chicken introduce beef If he doesnt eat it or seem to like the new meats then thats perfectly normal, all you have to do is add just a bit of meat (ground) with some water then add it into the kibble and mix it all up (and you can use even the smallest amount of meat in the beginning just to get him use to it) Let me know how he does with the other meats The mixture I use for the soup to beef them up is one I got from my vet, its a teaspoon of KMR stage 2 (powder) with half a cup of warm water and 2 teaspoons of uncle jims duk soup, and a teaspoon of oil (like I said vivify works very well since its made with emu oil which is very good for them, although you can use a half a teaspoon of olive oil in replacement if you like) stir this all together and I put it in a saucer for them to eat (although you may need to syringe feed it or spoon feed it to him since it will be his first time) I also add in some more supplements (you can too if you like).....I usually put in a half capsule of taurine (you can get this at any health food store...this is good for a healthy heart) and I also make my own "fish supplement" (My guys arent too fond of fish so I order dehydrated fish online and I can give you the website, just let me know) I make a mix of these and dehydrated liver and grind it to a powder and use a teaspoon every soup feeding as well. Oh and also feel free to add in a teaspoon of ground egg shell powder (this is always good for them, it adds calcium which is essential to their diet) If you need me to elaborate on anything (especially the soup) let me know because I tend to ramble and sometimes in not quite clear in my typing
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Post by ciel on Jul 26, 2009 11:24:37 GMT -5
my iguana has a calcium powder that we use as a supplement. other meat eating reptiles do too. do you think that would be ok to use on wally's food instead of eggshells? the recipe was clear, i dont know what KMR is but I'm sure i can find it. today is grocery day so we'll get everything we need for all our guys (wally, grover and gizgig) and by the way, a little off subject... have you ever seen the movie <i/>the dark crystal<i/>? the main girl in the movie has a pet fuzzball (literally) named gizgig. can you believe that NOone has seen that movie? or if they have, can even remember gizgig? i guess it did come out in like... 1984 or something. anyway check it out if you havent seen it. its jim henson.
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Post by ciel on Jul 28, 2009 18:32:23 GMT -5
quick update rescued a female ferret. p-nut. neglected. baaaad fleas. unusually docile almost depressed. owners didnt even know it was female...
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Post by cristina on Jul 28, 2009 19:13:35 GMT -5
Wow good for you to rescue that poor girl! That kind of treatment to ferrets (or any animal) makes me so mad! Thats so amazing on your part though!!! About the calcium supplement, usually its not the same...bone meal powder is pretty much the same but shouldnt be used I was told....but tell me what the ingredients are and I can ask around. Egg shell is the best for them since they eat eggs in the wild, shell and all so its a very good source of calcium for them.....or you even could just give a whole egg each week to him, that would be good too And no, im sorry to say I havent seen that movie, but I am going to rent it soon....you got me interested!!
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Post by ciel on Jul 28, 2009 20:52:56 GMT -5
wally is VERY territorial with peanut (or p-nut whatever) everytime i attempted to put them in the same cage there was a skirmish(?) hissing and sqeaking. so peanut is in a rubber maid bin with a kibble turkey mixture and wally is stomping around his cage like " me KING, you FOOD "
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Post by cristina on Jul 29, 2009 16:47:17 GMT -5
thats somewhat normal at first, I wouldnt keep them in the same cage yet though...to gradually socialize them put them in a pen or a closed room (with your supervision of course) and provide them places to go if they have any more tiffs (like a couple boxes or tubes) and see how it goes when they have room to really get to know eachother, but if they are uneasy about it they have somewhere to go you know
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Post by cristina on Aug 9, 2009 12:41:56 GMT -5
How are things going with the switch, also with the new addition??? I havent heard from you in a while...
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Post by ciel on Aug 16, 2009 12:01:20 GMT -5
im sorry its been so long... i lost my laptop at one point and finally got it returned to me.
wally and peanut still dont really get along. we started separating their playtimes and have them in separate cages. the last few times they were out together they played before they fought. wally has sort of picked up the cues and has started being agro as well. he bit me the other day hard enough to draw blood for trying to take his toy away. it was sort of comical because he knew i was mad and immediatley screeched even before i scruffed him. (bitter apple spray seems to help).
i tried to gradually introduce meat to peanut the same way i did with wally but she just picked around it so i stopped trying.... is there a different approach used with older ferrets?
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Post by cristina on Aug 18, 2009 7:37:32 GMT -5
Yes there are alot of different approaches, and older ferrets can sometimes be especially hard to switch but it can be done. I would start off with making an almost gravy to pour onto her kibble....take about a handful of ground chicken or turkey (it should be a bland meat like these at first) then mix in some water (about half a cup) and add in some oil (vivify, olive, ferretone...whichever you have) about 2 tsps. Then mix it all in a blender and this mixture can be kept refrigerated and can be used during the week (mix in about 2 tablespoons with every bowl of her kibble and stir well) Tell me how this goes and if she takes to it at all (this way theres no chunks yet so she is just getting a feel for the taste very slowly)
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