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Post by josiesmom on Aug 13, 2008 10:01:27 GMT -5
Ferrets on natural diets will have a rainbow of poops and the more moisture in the food going in, the more moisture will be in the deposit coming out. Which is another reason why bone is good for the ferret, it adds a little bit of form to the deposits. The color of the deposit will be more closely related to the color of what was eaten.
Lighter meats = lighter deposits, high fat contents can equal light tan to almost white deposits, sometimes dark red meats going in, come out red or maroon, liver generally comes out black and very gooey, meaty bones often is brown with white bits. Occasionally you'll see a fairly bright orange deposit, I think this is just a changing of the guard in the gut flora.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Kim
Hope this helps!
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Post by razzlette on Aug 13, 2008 14:39:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the info! I still have so many questions  His last two deposits were quite runnie so I guess I need to do something. So I need to try winglets for the bone? Is there something else I can put in the NV? Should I give him a bit of the kibble (Evo) during the day if he won't eat the bones? I read that pumpkin is good for thickening up the stool should I get some? ORShould I just give it time for him to get use to all his new food? Also Is the NV, chicken breast and if I can get him to eat the winglets a good enough diet? Should I feed hearts, liver and other innards? So much to take in! |
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 13, 2008 16:25:55 GMT -5
His last two deposits were quite runnie so I guess I need to do something. So I need to try winglets for the bone? Is there something else I can put in the NV? Should I give him a bit of the kibble (Evo) during the day if he won't eat the bones? I read that pumpkin is good for thickening up the stool should I get some? ORShould I just give it time for him to get use to all his new food? Also Is the NV, chicken breast and if I can get him to eat the winglets a good enough diet? Should I feed hearts, liver and other innards? So much to take in! I would give him time to get used to his food. Its runnier than normal because its a new food. Canned pumpkin - no spices - works good to push weird things out, so I don't think it applies here. If you look at your package of NV, it includes organ meats of whatever animal, venison, chicken, lamb, rabbit, whatever that main meat is. So it is a good full meal. The chicken wingettes are good for the bone and teeth cleaning. You shouldn't need to feed extra organs since they are already in the NV. Also the NV contains raw ground bone, so he is already getting his calcium that way. But of course it is not cleaning his teeth since it is ground up. And he still might not be getting enough calcium so adding chicken wings won't hurt. Adding other types of raw, including bone, is just good for the diet. |
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Post by razzlette on Aug 13, 2008 17:24:28 GMT -5
Ok I will wait to do anything. I just got back from Kroger's and picked up 2 cornish games hens for 4.99. They also had cow livers 1.50 for a lb I think. I went up to the meat counter and asked if they sold chicken parts. The lady looked at me funny so I told her things like livers, hearts, and necks... her replay HO no we don't sell things like that. So I guess I will have to look some place else lol.
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 13, 2008 18:48:42 GMT -5
Ok I will wait to do anything. I just got back from Kroger's and picked up 2 cornish games hens for 4.99. They also had cow livers 1.50 for a lb I think. I went up to the meat counter and asked if they sold chicken parts. The lady looked at me funny so I told her things like livers, hearts, and necks... her replay HO no we don't sell things like that. So I guess I will have to look some place else lol. Wow. Your Kroger sells cornish game hens? Lucky. Cow livers?! And she looks at you like you're crazy when you ask for other parts of the chicken?? LOL I don't know where to get the necks and stuff though. No clue. I guess a specialty grocer might have those and then other raw meats. |
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Post by razzlette on Aug 13, 2008 21:10:53 GMT -5
Yea they were in the frozen food section tucked back on the bottom shelf. I was looking for fresh so it would be easer to separate but I just went at one with a sharp knife. I cut it all into palm size chunks. I didn't but they Cow livers, I will save that for my next trip.
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Post by razzlette on Aug 14, 2008 9:16:13 GMT -5
So this morning I gave Zuko a leg off of the cornish game hen. At first he didn't know what to do with it so I broke the top off and cut off some of the meat. After that he went to town. He cleaned off all of the meat and chewed a bit on the top but that was about it.
I put him in a large tote box that I had so that I could keep the mess in a easy to clean place. My question is how do you clean up the ferret after a meal like this? He had the leg every where. I just washed his paws off but I didn't know about his belly. I gave him a bath yesterday after he some how got under my dishwasher. I don't want to dry out his skin/fur by to many baths.
I haven't thrown away the bone yet because I didn't know if I could save it for later or do something else with it? It is in a baggie in the fridge.
Alos when I was at Kroger they had small pig skin chew bones. And I bought some pig ears for the dog. Can he have these to play with and chew on?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 14, 2008 19:54:44 GMT -5
Your babies poopies will start to firm when: 1. He begins to regularly ingest bone 2. His body adjusts to the new food There are many ways to feed a ferret to keep the mess down. NO need to bathe your ferret after each meal. If he gets messy just wipe him off with a wet cloth. Check out this thread: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=enrich&action=display&thread=230&page=1Avoid pig chews, they arent very digestable. Stick with raw meaty bones and if you can find them at your local petshop 100% meat jerkey treats (Dogswell/Catswell and Vitalife make good products) Leave the bones out until they start to dry out or for no more then 24 hours (if they dry out before the 24 hour mark, remove them). Your little one should get on bones fairly quickly, since he is so young. But he will need a few tries to figure out how to eat it. Id avoid feeding the kibble. Just get him used to the chicken and work him up to the game hen and bone. From there add organ meat 1x per week, but wait until he's regularly eating meat AND bone and his poopies firm. Congrats!  |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 18, 2008 1:57:08 GMT -5
How are things going? What is Zuko currently eating? Just checking in |
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Post by razzlette on Aug 18, 2008 11:41:00 GMT -5
Sorry I have not updated in a bit! My kids just started school today so things have been crazy. Zuko is eating great! He had some ground burger yesterday and did well. He is still not eating any of the bone from the chicken but I'm sure he will as he gets older. He still gets the NV once or twice a day. Some days he eats like a pig but others he doesn't eat much at all. But he does eat 3 meals a day unless when he gets in the cage and is looking for food.
Today I picked up some unseasoned meatloaf & meatball mix. All it has in it is a mix of beef, pork & veal. Is this ok to feed him?
I am saving my egg shells to put in his food. I noticed that when he eats the NV he spits out the chunks of bone. I'm not sure if he getting enough or not.
His poo is a bit thicker now so I'm not as worried. It does still have a some what of a strong smell still (not as bad as before). I use Yesterdays news for the litter box but I didn't know if something else would be better.
I also have a question on his coloring. Is it to early to tell what he is? He has ruby/burgundy eyes so he not a DEW right? So many options and I know they can change color so I'm just not sure lol.
Thanks!
~Stacy
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 18, 2008 12:06:06 GMT -5
I don't know about the meat mix, but if its unseasoned/unspiced, I would think its ok.
If he spits out the bone in the NV then you should def save your egg shells, crush them, and sprinkle this on his food. He may not be getting enough calcium if he often spits it out. Nothing wrong with adding more!
My Kiwi is a DEW, she has darkish burgundy eyes and a buttery tail. Check out the rest of his coat, any colors there? Is he deaf? I'm not sure how early is too early for knowing colors. Mine are both over 1yr and I didn't know them as kits. But they do change through the seasons and as they age, so who knows!
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Post by razzlette on Aug 18, 2008 13:32:51 GMT -5
I just weighed Zuko and he is 1lb 1oz (8/18/08)! On 8/5/08 he was 12 1/2 Oz. Seems hes coming along great. Check out the rest of his coat, any colors there? Yea he has Grey/silver on his back that goes down to his tail. Is he deaf? I'm not sure. It's always noisy here so I can't tell. Top pic is him today Bottom pick is the day I picked him up at the beginning of Aug. You can tell he is getting darker.   |
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 18, 2008 14:06:33 GMT -5
Well he's not a DEW. Maybe a silver? I've never actually seen a silver, but he has more color than my Kiwi has, a lot more color! I'm leaning towards silver for now. Someone else will pipe up!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 18, 2008 19:56:43 GMT -5
Either silver or a marked Dark Eyed White. Regardless he will probably turn pure white as he ages  |
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Post by razzlette on Aug 19, 2008 19:30:05 GMT -5
Zuko is still doing good. I gave him some of that meatball mix with his NV and the little bugger ate all the meatball mix and left the NV. But at 2.50 a Lb thats 16 1 oz servings thats 5.00 for 32 servings thats cheaper than the NV.
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