|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 16, 2008 15:08:50 GMT -5
That's REALLY COOL with the your boyfrriend and the "meeces"! My husband won't let me feed whole prey - so I know how huge this is - and he's a "carnivore"! One time, my husband was supposed to travel, and I was baby sitting my Tonto's mate and kits for 2 weeks. Well, the little girl and the kits were rat eaters - the rats were "clean" (no chemicals) but they came from a psychology lab. Most of the rats came as bodies with separate heads. Well, the hubby ended up NOT traveling, and I had a HUGE bag of headless rats hidden in the freezer. I had to sneak a body and head into the ferret room without getting caught. all the ferts were stressed and would not eat the rat!!!!after several hours, I could start smelling rat....I had left the ferts in the cage hoping they'd eat the rat. when I opened the cage door, one of the kits grabbed the head and ran off with it  . She stashed it somwhere it the room, but I didn't see where. I had to sneak the rat body outside and flipped it over the fence into the field behind us for the foxes. Next, I had to hunt down the head. I was on my way to the back yard when my husband started approaching, so I darted into the bathroom to hide. Since he was hanging out waiting for me so we could run an errand, I flushed the head down the toilet He never did find the rats in the freezer - thank God...but the ferts never eat the whole prey at my house...just raw meaty bones and soup. One thing we did learn is that my husband is that the addition od more ferrets into the house make his asthma a lot worse, so now I can't even baby sit Tonto's babies  I'm glad things are going well!!!! -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 16, 2008 19:00:58 GMT -5
Hahaha! I love your story! The toilet is a perfectly respectable place to keep rat heads!
Ernie is home from his adventure at the doctor. Everyone told me he is a sweet heart which -duh- I already knew. He is still pretty out of it but they said he should be normal withing 24 hours. I only got a glimpse of his teeth and they looked NICE! Right now he is sleeping and locked in the top half of the FN 142. I took away the hammock and just gave him blankets. I was afraid he would hurt himself falling out. He almost jumped from the second level when I was feeding him this afternoon, so apparently with the anestesia after affects he is now invinsible!
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 17, 2008 22:48:51 GMT -5
How goes it?  |
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 18, 2008 0:54:06 GMT -5
I'm glad the teeth cleaning went well! Now I need to post the info. on the teeth cleaning treats I've found. I may just post it on your thread and them copy/paste it to the general health section. Ferrets can be amazingly stout when it comes to surgeries. The day after one of my first ferrets had adrenal surgery, he climbed the inside of the cage to get the top shelf, which was 4 feet off the ground. The ramps went back into the cage immediately Hugs and kisses to Ernie for being such a trooper  -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 20, 2008 15:28:06 GMT -5
I'm sorry, I have been bad... well really busy. Everything is going well. Last night I decided to chop up Ernies lamb medallion dinner instead of mushing it... He ate most of it! What he didn't eat was in the litter box and the side of the cage. He had real issues about "chunks" so this was really great progress! I am going to keep doing this and slipping tiny bits of meat into his meals!
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 20, 2008 15:29:05 GMT -5
Good! This sounds like a good plan. |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 20, 2008 23:53:03 GMT -5
OKAY.... something CRAZY just happened! I'm so confused!
I walked into the ferret room while the kids were loose. Their food was locked in the top half of the cage so they wouldn't bring meat out the the cage. Didj and Ramona were giving my the look so I put them in the top half of their FN to eat the rest of their lunch (a cornish game hen wing and 2 chunks of chicken neck). Didjer goes to town on the wing and Ram grabs a piece of neck. Ernie comes up to me with sad eyes so I put him in the cage with the others, knowing he won't eat anything but at least he will be with his buddies. Ernie sniffed around... THEN HE GRABBED A CHUNK OF CHICKEN NECK AND CARRIED IT ACROSS THE CAGE!!!!!! HE STARTED EATING IT! I had no part in this, he did it all on his own. He has never eaten meat larger than my pinkie nail on his own, and this chunk was about the size of half my thumb! He ate about 1/2 of it including meat and BONE! He hasn't ever eaten bone before! WHAT THE HECK, WHO DRUGGED MY FERRET?! I made Tony come in a watch... I thought I was going crazy... !!!!!!
Hahahah! What in the world guys? Has he been faking the who time or did he decide he is a big boy?
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 21, 2008 0:08:56 GMT -5
HOORAY! THAT IS AWESOME!  |
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 22, 2008 9:14:58 GMT -5
OK...this is cool - treat him like a big boy---feed as y always have for Ramona and Didj, and just put Ernie in with them. I can't remember if you're providing daytime kibble/freeze-dred or not, but you may want to withhold any non-chunky raw foods for a few days to make sure the kids are hungry when the chunky meats, bones, organs are fed. (Of course this is only done if all ferts are healthy and are at good, full weights! Ernie KNOWS he can eat this stuff - he's just sucking up the attention - Go for it with Ernie in with the other two, and please let us know how his is going...If you don't spoil Ernie too much now, he'll most likely join the others so they can all eaqt the same thing - hw convenient!!!! Good luck!!! -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 22, 2008 23:58:50 GMT -5
Since Ernie ate the chicken neck chunk the other night, I haven't given Ernie any more NV medallions. I fed him the same stuff as Ramo & Didj the past day and a half, which has been cornish game hen. Yesterday he only ate once chunk. I don't know how much he ate today since he has been eating with the other two, but tonight he ate a nice piece and really enjoyed chewing on a nice thick CGH bone, which I ended up taking away from him because I thought he was going to choke on it.
Is it okay to not give him his mush if he KNOWS how to eat chunks now? I have been pretty good about monitoring his food intake, I won't let him starve. He isn't eating much but he is at a healthy weight. Is this okay or should I offer mush in the morning at chunks at night?
|
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 24, 2008 0:46:07 GMT -5
Since Ernie is a good weight, and he's healthy, you can feed him with the others. Just watch his weight. If he starts to lose weight, you can give him a little NV. This is very exciting. Remember to feed some organ meats as well. It's thrilling to think all you kids seem to be on the road to eating the same thing!!! Keep up the good work and I'll keep my fingers crossed that Ernie fully integrates his eating habits Good luck! -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 24, 2008 15:19:58 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 24, 2008 19:57:23 GMT -5
Ferts are just like people- some of us can just look at food and it sticks like GLUE  (I know about this first had   Also, some days/meals ferrets eat more, some days hey eat less. I intentionally give my kids a "light feeding day" once a week. It keeps them interested in getting down to business with the wet raw rather than caching it. On the light food day, they get freeze-dried only. Just watch Ernie's weight and keep him eating with Ramona and Didj - he'll learn faster eating with his brother and sister. Have fun! -jenniifer |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 25, 2008 11:50:39 GMT -5
Thanks Jennifer! I'm going to stock up on meat this weekend because I am running low. I also need to make sure Ernie will eat other meats because so far in this GLORIOUS week that he has changed his mind about food, he has only tried chicken, Cornish game hen, beef liver and lamb kidney. I usually feed the others pork and beef chunks but I have been out this week. I have been trying to come up with a reasonable weekly feeding schedule for my ferrets that includes meat I can get at my grocery store, and then when I can I will throw in something new or a special treat... such as turkey in November, which they have never had! Also, once I start breeding mice, I will try to get Ernie eating those too As for now, how does this look? Raw Meaty Bone Chicken Neck Raw Meaty Bone Chicken Wings Organ Beef Liver and Lamb Kidney Boneless Meat Beef Chunks Raw Meaty Bone Cornish Game Hen / Adult Mice (for Didj and Mona) Raw Meaty Bone Cornish Game Hen Boneless Meat Pork Chunks & Chicken Heart |
|
|
|
Post by animalsgetrevenge on Oct 27, 2008 12:20:56 GMT -5
Things have been going alright. I picked up about 10 pounds of meat at New Seasons on Saturday... Cornish Game Hen, Chicken drumsticks, beef, and pork.
Ernie hasn't eaten much the past day and a half. Everyone has had kind of funky poop since yesterday. They ate kibble at our playgroup that someone brought... Could that have made their tummies upset? Also, I think it could be from not having bone for the past 3 meals... Hmm.
|
|
