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Post by mjohn143 on Apr 15, 2010 11:36:05 GMT -5
Beatrice eats just about any soup mix. I can't even get Badger to eat baby food, fish oil, or try ferret treats... but she is licking the soup. Just a little though. I'll continue with this and let you know in a few days.
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Post by cristina on Apr 17, 2010 11:55:20 GMT -5
thats good that she eats the soup, even if its a little....theres raw in the soup right?
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Post by mjohn143 on Apr 19, 2010 12:55:11 GMT -5
Yea I use probably equal (maybe a little more raw than kibble) amounts of kibble and ground chicken. I soak the kibble in in hot water and mush it up and then mix it with ground chicken, a little duk soup mix, and salmon oil.
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Post by cristina on Apr 20, 2010 8:34:35 GMT -5
And everyone eats it exept for Badger right? Well try to feed this to her from your hand, and if she eats it then thats good, it means she WILL eat it but on her own terms, which is ok for now
If you want to move forward with your new little one go ahead, but stick with this hand feeding for Badger for now and let me know how it goes
When you hand feed, slowly move your hand own closer to the dish and put some on the edge of the dish to see if she will eat from that while your holding/ or around her....if she wont then just keep hand feeding
Let me know how it goes
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Post by mjohn143 on Apr 25, 2010 22:20:38 GMT -5
ok...just wanna let you know i prolly wont be on for about a week bc i have finals and im way behind, but ill update you when they are done
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Post by cristina on Apr 26, 2010 9:13:13 GMT -5
thats fine....I have finals too so I totally understand! good luck!
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Post by cristina on May 5, 2010 7:03:54 GMT -5
How did your finals go? I hope well!
How are your fuzzies doing? Any progress with Badger?
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Post by mjohn143 on May 9, 2010 19:06:11 GMT -5
I think everything went alright!! I was going to do a Maymester, which would begin tomorrow, but I am so busy coaching since the season just beggan and it costs a lot for one class...so I dropped it! Anyways, I haven't had too much time to work with them, but I actually think Badger has improved. It may seem like a minuscule improvement, but considering how slow she is I am pleased. Instead of eating it off my finger, she eats it off a spoon!! Haha I know its not much, but you have no idea what a big deal that it. She will even eat a little off a plate, but that's it. I am making the mush with more ground chicken and I am not really mixing it up so there are obvious chunks of raw in there and she eats those too. Megaweasel eats the mush and chicken wings. Beatrice is not doing great health-wise and will be 7 nx month, so I am not going to go further with her switching to raw. Her back legs seem to really be giving out and it absolutely breaks my heart. She will eat ground chicken with duk soup mix and water, but I don't want to push her. She actually prefers this to kibble, so at least that is an improvement. I think since she is old and sick that the kibble is too hard for her to chew, so I just don't think (and I could be wrong) introducing chicken wings or anything else in would work. And not to sound like a pessimist, but I mean as far as she goes the damage is definitely done... I am sure raw would still help, but she seems pretty far along and I just don't think it will do more than her mush and soups are doing. I am sure I have asked this, but I just wanna be sure... How long can meat mush stay out? I have always kept a little kibble in the cage for Beatrice...but I think I am going to take it out since I'll be home more now that school is out and replace it with mush. I am hoping this will help Badger make a lot more progress!
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Post by cristina on May 10, 2010 12:55:28 GMT -5
Im sooo sorry to hear about Beatrice, that breaks my heart! Dont worry about getting her to eat anything new....its great that she likes the mush but like you said I wouldnt go past that....plus usually when ferts get up to that age they start to eat mushy kibble anyways because its better for their mouth since it can be hard to chomp down on kibble I totally agree with you, so keep doing what you do with her YES that is a GREAT improvement!!!! Hey that took a while so its a huge accomplishment! Im so proud!!! haha Ok then just keep up with her, now that she will tolerate it on the spoon, things should hopefully get going a bit faster plain meat can stay out 24 hrs meat mushed with kibble-I wouldnt keep it out past 8 hrs (since its wet and all) But I mean if you feed twice a day you can leave out the "morning mix" until the "evening mix" and overnight until the next morning mix....etc... just change it twice a day (this is what I do) and if they eat it all and want more, then by all means you can add a third meal like a "lunch mix" this is what I did when I was switching since my guys are pigs!
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Post by mjohn143 on May 10, 2010 14:23:27 GMT -5
Ok, sounds great! I will keep just the meat mush in their cage and still work with Badger one-on-one.
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Post by mjohn143 on May 15, 2010 11:39:55 GMT -5
I have put a small bowl of kibble back in the cage, bc Badger seems to have lost a little weight. The bowl of mush I put in however, is empty every morning so that's good. I have made the soup with more raw and left it chunkier and MegaWeasel and Beatrice still love it, and Badger still eats it from a spoon.
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Post by cristina on May 16, 2010 9:43:26 GMT -5
thats ok, I understand your worried about her losing weight (honestly I did the same with my Penny, she would go on stike and get really skinny during our switch, it just takes time and ALOT of patience! lol) Like I said it took me over 6 months to switch 2 ferrets (who were young), then when I brought Mimi in she would eat their raw and not like her kibble so she was a miracle! I didnt need to introduce raw to her, she just started eating it and loving it on her own! Just watch though, like I mentioned about my Mimi, she would do the same thing and eat all of the other 2's switching food and I would think they were all eating it but they werent it was just Mimi the garbage disposal (what we call her lol, she will eat anything!) So your new little guy may be doing the same thing, so just make sure to pay special attention to badger still and make sure she eats at least a little everyday
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Post by mjohn143 on May 23, 2010 21:18:00 GMT -5
Ok so I have taken the kibble out of the meat mush and they are all still eating it the same as before. MegaWeasel and Beatrice are devouring it and Badger is taking tiny licks from a spoon. Is there anything else I should put in the much to compensate for lost nutrients? It is currently ground chicken, some water, and duk soup mix.
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Post by cristina on May 24, 2010 18:43:18 GMT -5
if you want to add in some oil you can ( I use vivify or salmon oil)....maybe try a raw egg to see if it helps the flavor, plus they are very good for them (limit it to one egg a week though b/c they are very rich).....its really up to you, anything you think they will like then try....if you want to add in calcium, grind up some egg shells fine and add in a bit
I also give one capsule of taurine once a week (for healthy hearts) I make my own "fish and liver" supplement which consists of freeze dried minnows, freeze dried liver and freeze dried lung all ground up very fine.....if your at all interested in this I can send you a sample baggie through the mail if you want to try it before going out and buying all that...just let me know (Im into making my own supplements b/c I have horses and I do the same for them lol....Im use to it)
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Post by mjohn143 on May 24, 2010 22:07:10 GMT -5
I can seriously not find taurine... I fig GNC would have it, but I suppose I could just order it. I didn't think of that, how many mgs or what size capsules should I look for? Idk if I am getting the egg shells ground up enough or not. Should they be like dust? Or sand? I give Beatrice salmon oil as a treat and to help her EXTREME itchiness, but I will just start mixing it in the mush. What is vivify? And yea that freeze dried stuff would be neat to try! How do you make it?? Where do you get the ingredients?
Also I know this has nothing to do with their diet, but I fig I can get your opinion on it. It is getting SSSOOO hot out here but I know MegaWeasel loves to go outside. The other day it was 96*F! I know that is way to hot, but would it be okay to take him out and put him in a baby pool full of water to play?
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