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Post by otterwoman on Nov 21, 2010 22:23:34 GMT -5
Can I try marrowbones, or a pork femur? Or a pork chop? I see these in the store. What about beef?
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 21, 2010 22:41:47 GMT -5
Basically anything you can name as meat, they can try . As long as it's not altered at all(smoked, salted, spiced, etc) they can handle it
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 23, 2010 19:27:53 GMT -5
Tomorrow I'm going shopping and I'll get some bones to try. One of my ferrets (Dipsy) I felt was getting a little skinnier, so I've been giving him Evo ferret kibble on the sly. This is one that I was feeding the spoonfuls to, he wouldn't eat as much as I wanted. I don't know if that's causing him to take longer to switch, but I can't be letting him lose weight. If I'm only giving him kibble twice a day, and he's not eating much raw, doesn't he need to eat more often? I feed the raw twice a day, and I think it lasts about 6 hours until it's all gone. They don't eat it right away, but then when I get up or come back from work, it's gone. I've been leaving them a lot, too, more than two tablespoons per ferret. I guess they are eating a lot, like you said. Except for Dipsy, he's not eating enough.
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 23, 2010 20:09:54 GMT -5
Some just take longer to switch than others. For one of mine, I took the kibble out during the daytime, and put it back in all night. You are right in that you don't want him to lose a lot of weight, and you would be the best one to judge how much is too much. But just to let you know, they will lose some when they are no longer getting the carbs in their diets, and then start to put on the muscle. Approx. how much is he eating of the raw soup now(including what you hand feed him)?
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 23, 2010 22:34:46 GMT -5
I never did the soup since everyone took right to the raw via spoon feeding. The last couple (two) days since I let him have the kibble sometimes, when I spoon feed him, he does the cookie monster thing where he chews it up and it goes all over his face (the cookie monster appears to eat but never swallows). I do the 'scruff-n-stuff' to get him to swallow any of it. I think if he thinks he can get any kibble, he won't eat any raw. He's the smartest of my ferrets, and now the stubbornest too. Everyone else is eating raw.
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 24, 2010 0:38:41 GMT -5
That sounds about par for the course Try leaving it out for the day time then. He already knows the raw is food, he's just being a stubborn little sod! And by having it back in there at night, he'll still get enough nutrition if he doesn't eat enough of the raw during the daytime. Hopefully, the others will "rub off" on him. They really do learn by "monkey see, monkey do"!
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 25, 2010 6:50:21 GMT -5
Last night before bed (after they'd eaten a whole bowl of of meat in the last 12 hours) I filled the bowl with chopped hearts, gizzards, and cornish hen. This morning it was ALL gone. Mostly I only see three of them eating, though I know all four are (all except Dipsy). Is it possible that only two of them ate that whole bowl? I'm talking those common clamp-on bowls (I put a pic of the bowl here.) holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ferretpic&thread=4038&page=10#62196
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 25, 2010 9:56:35 GMT -5
It's also possible that little growing tummy ate most of it When mine were kits, they ate a LOT more than the adults It sounds like they are starting to take to this new stuff, though!
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 27, 2010 7:48:08 GMT -5
I see I've been upgraded to "gnawing on bones." I actually didn't get any bones yet because I ran out of room in my freezer, also I didn't do the pumpkin yet for the same reason. I have five narrow shelves in my freezer: one for mice (snakes), one for the ferrets, one for my frozen meals, one for bread, and one for ice cream/the icemaker. I'll have to get rid of something so I can devote more room to them. Also I loaded up on the Bravo a little too much and it took up their whole shelf. Once they eat it all down a little, I'll get bones and freeze the pumpkin. I actually had to buy ice cube trays, with the icemaker I got rid of the ones I had years ago!
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 27, 2010 10:06:24 GMT -5
That "gnawing on bones" is just about the number of posts you've made Has nothing to do with diet, unfortunately And I do know what you mean about freezer space. I wound up getting an upright freezer for the basement mainly so I could buy in bulk for mine. They have 3 shelves in it, one for bone in/muscle meats, one for whole prey and organ meats, and one for commercial raw People food is limited to the small top two shelves, and above the fridge
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 28, 2010 8:43:22 GMT -5
I'm out shopping with my boyfriend and I mention I want to look at small freezers. In two minutes we had a deal to trade a small freezer he has for a treadmill I have, and we've been dating 9 years, and neither of us knew the other had this extra unused thing! he's bringing it over later. I'll be able to get them lots of frozen food in bulk! Well, sort small freezer bulk, but it'll be devoted just to animal food!
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 28, 2010 13:49:22 GMT -5
That is fantastic It's amazing the way some things work out!
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 29, 2010 21:11:31 GMT -5
So now I've set up my freezer and opened up the pumpkin. I just mix about an ice cube's worth with their food once a week? I also want to start a schedule for regular feeding now that I have all this freezer space to be organized. Chicken bravo half the time and other meat bravo the other half (they also have ostrich, rabbit, turkey, and some other flavors), some chicken giblets and hearts once a week, some beef heart once a week, some salmon oil once a week, pumpkin once a week, or how should I adjust that plan? Next time I go shopping I'll get them some marrowbones or some other bone. What do you think of this tentative schedule?
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 29, 2010 23:41:52 GMT -5
Since they are going to be getting commercial raw daily(if I understood you correctly?), the main concern will be bone in(for dental benefits), and maybe the extra taurine heart will give. Right now, my menu is as follows: Monday: commercial raw/turkey heart Tues: " /chicken wings Wed: " /rabbit(whole) Thurs: " /pork chunks Fri: " /beef chunks Sat: " /soup Sun: " /whole prey(mice, quail, chicks) Wings, rabbit, whole prey are all bone in meals, not only for the dental benefits, but for their own satisfaction for chewing something. I add about 1 tbsp of pumpkin daily for 9 ferrets. Mainly because a couple of mine show a tendency toward IBD. Without that, weekly is fine. During shedding season, I'd give it twice a week. Up to you entirely, but I give fish oil every three days, but then again, I've got 3 adrenal ferrets, who have extra itchies, due to the adrenal. It certainly doesn't hurt the others. Can you give me a detailed daily menu for a week? Sort of like I'd listed earlier? For the commercial raw, I unfortunately have to give at least half turkey mixed with another meat daily, or the little beggars won't even look at it Once you list a weekly menu, then we can tweak it as needed.
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Post by otterwoman on Nov 30, 2010 17:45:26 GMT -5
Does turkey count as a different protein from chicken?
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