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Post by kelseyjosine on Jul 28, 2010 19:29:19 GMT -5
Well I tried taking away their freeze dried food for the night, hoping they'd then eat the chicken wings. But they ate as much off of it as before. And of course I don't know if all of them ate off it or just Punk, who seems to be the most willing to eat meat chunks.
On a positive note, I tricked them into eating a pinkie mouse! I covered the mouse in their soup so they'd just think it was another meat chunk and I left the bowl in their cage because they don't eat all the chunks right away. Well when I went to take the bowl tonight, there was nothing left! I checked their stash spot and it was empty, so I think they ate it! It was probably Punk, but who cares!
So next I think I'll just make the soup chunkier since the girls aren't wanting to eat the chunks as much, and segment the chicken wings to try and persuade them to eat all of it.
We started off really well but now we're slowing to a crawl. I guess it couldn't all be easy right haha. Plus they're all gaining weight and have so much more energy already. Punk's coat is sooo soft. Since he's probably about 3 or 4 now I started worrying about insulinoma but he's definitely good for now, he has tons more energy!
Now I just hope I can keep this up! It's normal that they're eating a ton more right now, right? It seems like they eat 4 Stella and Chewy's patties and a big bowl of soup/chunks in one day! It's crazy!
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 28, 2010 20:28:58 GMT -5
Yes, that's perfectly normal During and right after transition, their appetites will go through the roof! They'll settle after a while to a more normal amount. At least until winter kicks in. Not uncommon for them to plateau either. Keep thickening the soup every two or three days til they are willingly eating ground meat with very little moisture added. Keep up with the chunks also for Punk. Frequently they go by a case of "monkey see, monkey do". So if they watch Punk eating the chunks often enough and long enough, they'll also pick it up. How big are his pieces now? Oh, and if they aren't eating chunks yet, don't bother with the wings too often just yet. They'll have to build up jaw strength to tackle bone. They'll do that by chewing through actual meat chunks. Although it's not a bad idea to keep introducing it from time to time to get them used to the idea.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Jul 30, 2010 19:40:53 GMT -5
Well now Fergie is for sure eating chunks because I saw it myself! Now just have to persuade Shiza to do it haha.
One of them has started doing something really weird though. I have a 3 level FN cage and use the middle level for feeding. I also have a cage cover on it to keep it dark so it seems more "cave like" in the hopes they won't stash their food as much. I'll be moving to my new condo in like 2 months so a better feeding setup will happen then. Anyway, since I use the middle level for feeding I don't put any type of bedding or anything on that shelf. For the past 4 days one of the ferrets goes to the bathroom on that level in one of the corners. Of course since there's no bedding or anything, the pee just spreads everywhere. There's a bowl of freeze dried on that level and I always leave their bowl of raw in their overnight, and someone goes to the bathroom right by it! I tried putting the soup bowl in that corner, and they did it anyway! I don't get it haha. I also tried putting a towel on that level so at least I could swap it out for a new towel easily. The towel didn't stop them, they still went to the bathroom on it. But it's only one poop, so I don't get it at all.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 30, 2010 23:47:36 GMT -5
MY FOOD!!!! STAY AWAY!!!! Someone's being a bit selfish with the food I had one who used to eat what she wanted, then she'd actually poop on whatever meat she could grab and stash from the others Try putting the meat in a couple areas on that level, see if it helps any. Then again- whoever's doing it may simply move it all into one pile and mark anyway. Not quite sure how you'd get them to stop doing that if they'll go on the towel. Let me ask a couple of the other mentors, see if they have any ideas.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Jul 31, 2010 10:24:04 GMT -5
Well last night no one pooped on that level haha yay. Of course who knows how long it'll last. I've only been feeding them at supper time so this morning decided to try something else. I thawed a chicken breast and cut it up and put it in the cage this morning. Amazingly, all three started chowing down on the chunks! I didn't make them really small either, like they couldn't eat a chunk in one bite, they had to rip it apart a little and chew it. So that makes me happy that they'll all eat the chunks! I guess I'll gradually make the chunks bigger and see how that goes.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 31, 2010 12:37:23 GMT -5
Oh, most excellent ! Since they are now eating the chunks, yes, keep making them a bit larger, but I'd still give some soup a couple times a week, so they stay accustomed to having it. That way, if one of them become ill, you've already got an easy meal they are willing to eat. As for the pooping/peeing near the food, it does seem to be more of a possession thing. It should go away on it's own.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Jul 31, 2010 18:07:50 GMT -5
I definitely spoke too soon about the poop haha. There were two poops on the middle level this time, I suppose to make up for not pooping there last night. And all of a sudden, all three of them have yellow diarrhea. I know the meat wasn't bad, it was only out from 10 this morning to 5:30 pm.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 31, 2010 18:52:11 GMT -5
Has anything changed to make them a bit stressed? Someone who's there normally, and now isn't, or a change in routine, anything?
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Post by kelseyjosine on Jul 31, 2010 19:08:22 GMT -5
No everything is normal. I think they've just been getting too much liver. Well I now know they've been getting too much liver but not sure what the poop would look like.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 1, 2010 1:24:59 GMT -5
Oh! That would definitely cause them some problems The stool will be very loose, and blackish and tarry looking from all the blood in the liver.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 1, 2010 10:38:16 GMT -5
Alright that explains the black tarry poop haha. They don't have yellow poop today so I'm not going to worry about that.
I left their raw overnight and they didn't get any freeze dried yesterday. They ate more of it so they were obviously hungry enough to eat it.
There were like 4 poops on the middle level this morning and a pool of pee. Ugh. I'm going to take all the shelves and stuff out and wash them all as well as change their bedding. I'm going to put their bedding back on that level and also put a towel there so I can switch that out. I hope that'll make a difference haha.
The grocery stores here always seem to be out of heart so I found a butcher in town that has beef heart and beef kidney yay! At least they'll have some variety.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 2, 2010 9:00:10 GMT -5
I'm willing to bet they are protesting the lack of their "normal" food Not that you should change the routine, but it likely has something to do with it. And yes- putting bedding, etc. there should help out a lot. Try using a pillow case on that shelf. That way you could also just change that, and the entire shelf is covered with "bedding" as well.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 3, 2010 14:07:05 GMT -5
Well last night no one pooped on the shelf but the night before someone did, even with bedding and a towel there haha. Both nights there was food out too so..not sure.
I talked to the meat department at the grocery store right by my house. The guy said he can order organs for me but only by the case. Beef Liver is $1.39 lb., Pork Liver (approx 10 lb case) 99 cents / lb., Beef Heart 99 cents / lb., Pork Heart 69 cents / lb., Beef Kidneys 79 cents / lb. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and order some. I can get chicken liver, so I don't think I'd need pork or beef liver, but definitely beef and pork heart, and the kidneys would add some variety. What do you think? I can get beef heart and kidney at the butcher, but not sure how much it costs there.
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Post by sherrylynne on Aug 3, 2010 18:09:05 GMT -5
Before you order a case(good prices, by the way!), try some out with them. I've got one who's intolerant to beef heart/kidney in the extreme. And none of mine, anyway, will touch beef liver because of the strong flavour. Some do love it though. Pork liver is a milder flavour, but I can't find any around here. Butcher's(the real deal) are few and far between in this city. If they tolerate it well, then by all means, buy a case, and defrost(assuming it comes all frozen together, and not separately packaged). As it's defrosting, separate and baggie til it's all done.
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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 4, 2010 19:15:59 GMT -5
I'll definitely buy the beef heart and kidney from the butcher first. But I have no other way of getting some of those other things so not sure what I'll do.
So tonight for supper I tried chicken wings again. My dad was nice enough to cut them in half to make it easier for them. Punk and Fergie dug right in trying their best to eat them. Shiza started eating them also but quickly got bored haha...or lazy. So once again I'm going to take their freeze dried away overnight and leave the chicken wings to try and get them to eat them haha. I hope it goes better this time. I don't want to starve them or anything, but I know Shiza won't eat them if she has her regular food.
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