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Post by kelseyjosine on Aug 12, 2008 22:01:03 GMT -5
Ok so I just bought a clear shallow tub at Walmart and just put some water in it because Shiza loves to dunk her head in. Well I thought it could be fun for them. So far they only really use it for a big water dish though lol. Anyway I'm waiting to switch now until my oldest one, Willy, has his surgery because life is pretty stressful right now. They won't eat raw meat, or frozen animals. Right now they're eating the evo cat food and soon the nature's variety rabbit one. And Willy gets duck soup numerous times a day. I was going to try and feed them a live mouse but I couldn't kill it if they didn't, and I don't have anything to keep a mouse in. So I was wondering if I could put a fish or two in this big water bowl of theirs. That would probably show me if they'll be willing to eat live food at least, and if they don't eat it, my friend has a fish tank where they can live out their life haha. Also, since Willy is older and adrenal and has insulinoma, he pretty much lives on the ground meat, usually I use turkey, I'm going to try rabbit too. I'm going to try chicken and see if he's allergic but is he getting enough taurine in just that? It worries me a little. I don't think he has the strength or muscles to eat bones but I don't want him to get deficient in anything. Any advice?
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Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 12, 2008 22:30:08 GMT -5
I don't know much about the fish and ferrets - fih can carry paraites, but I don't know ith they coul be the kind that might bother a ferret.
But - for taurine.... in poultry, DARK meat has more taurine than white meat heart meat is high in taurine lamb is high in taurine Plus, kibble has taurine added n supplement form.
so I'd add feed dark meat, heart meats and lamb. My kids love the chicken hearts which are small. beef heart is very high in tarine.
Even though the heart is anorgan, it's more of amuscle meat, so you don't need to worry about providing it once a week only.
Ground egg shells (finely ground ) can be added to food for calcium (see the post on bones - I think it's in the general feeding questions section???)
You may want to add a few drops of salmon oil each day as well since your ferret is not getting the bone marrow.
-jennifer
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Post by josiesmom on Aug 13, 2008 6:03:59 GMT -5
Yes, you can put a few fish in the pan, the ferrets will have fun snorkeling for it. Don't use a feeder fish ( although I have in the past) new info says that feeder fish often have high giardia bacteria. Instead offer a few bait fish. These are likely to be healthier than feeder fish as well as actually more appetizing. The ferrets may flip the fish out several times before actually killing them, or they may just leave the fish to gasp for air. You won't know until you try.
After our discussion on taurine in the other thread and discovering how taurine degrades when frozen, I have started offering my kids the equivalent of a chicken heart each per day. Right now I am using turkey hearts that I cut into pieces and hand feed as a treat. One small tub of turkey hearts has lasted almost 2 weeks feeding 6 ferrets and only cost 1.40!
I got the hearts at Publix.
Cheers, Kim
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