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Post by suds on Sept 19, 2008 16:50:28 GMT -5
this morning I took out the moistened beef I broke it in half it was just moisted on the top the middle was still dry (the towel was notthat wet) I put half back in the baggy and put in warm water to get a little above body temp put that in 1 bowl and put the other half in the other bowl Hershy checked them both out but didn not eat while I was there when I came home both bowls where empty i put some A1 in the bowls and Hershy did not rush to eat so she must have eaten it during the day I will do the same tomorrow if I see her eating it well I will also start to moisten the A1 next . oh I put some chicken lives and giblets(?) in icecube trays and been turning them for a few weeks ( My Mom realy thinks I lost it now to funny) I am going to give them a couple at snck time tonight to see if they will eat them Probly will have to put a little olive oil on them like I did the pogo's . 1 way or another she is going to eat raw foods even if she dont know it at the time lol..
in 2 weeks I wil have the house to myself for the weekend I am going to get a couple of hopper's or fuzzy and see if it will trigger Hershy even if not I really think JD will go for them mite not eat them but I can give them to the cat or freese them and use them another time ..
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 19, 2008 23:37:46 GMT -5
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Post by suds on Sept 20, 2008 6:48:26 GMT -5
GUESS WHAT !!! Hershy ate the giblet peaces !! I put them in ther treat bin so when I grab it both run as fast as they can to the top of the cage to pick out a treat but I confused them instead of letting them pick themselves I gave them 2 peaces of the liver and giblets Hershy went crazy over the giblets even yelled at JD when he went near it lol JD ate both he is usch a little pig . but the liver still seemed much more moist then the giblets maybe in a few more weeks it wil be more freese dried and she wil eat it  I was so happy I think I did a war dance hahaha . I now know I can make homade freese dried treats they will eat (thanks Kim for explaining how do it) so today is soupy day I made it the way you said earler this time I will try it every other day I also made a batch with fatty beef cubes instead of chicken so I will switch back and forth so she gets at least 2 differnt taste when force feeding her . |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 21, 2008 0:07:55 GMT -5
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Post by suds on Sept 21, 2008 14:10:55 GMT -5
i try the gizzars a few time befor I put put raw chicken in it ,I dont want to push my luck hehe I am still amaised she ate them I giveher them again on tuesday hopfuly it was not a 1 time thing sometimes I think they do things just to drive you nuts to see how far they can push you to the edge lol
BTW Hershy is gaining lots of wieght ( I think for the winter) But JD lost a little he is starting to shed but Hershy is not . should I be concerned about JD ? I know he is eating ( he ate lots of soup today to) but he always running around like a madman . he so very toned now all I feel is muscle when I play with him , but I have noticed he is little more smelly now to could that be from shedding ?
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 21, 2008 14:35:13 GMT -5
Sometimes ferrets lose a bit of weight when they shed. And sometimes they smell a little bit more. I suspect some kind of hormone shift takes place. JD's pretty darned young to be having adrenal issues. Another thing about stink...ferrets are the only animals whose heads smell worse than their butts  . Two things here: they have lots of oily stink glands around the neck area. And, their ears can get really stinky if the need cleaning and/or have ear mites. Ear mites tend to result in lots of really dark, stinky ear wax and your ferrets wil be scratching their ears excessively. You can see the little "b..turds" crawling around in the wax on piece of paper if you have good eye site or a magnifying glass. So, clean the ears and look for mites. Let me know if you don't know how to clean ears. Keep an eye on JD's weight - leave additional freeze-dried raw out for them if JD seems too thin. As they both go through the shedding process, you may want to give some hairball remedy to both of them (since they bite and lick eachother's fur!!!) to help prevent hairballs, which can result in obstructions. I don't think you have any reason to worry about JD other than he IS a ferret, and I think ferrets are designed to make us nuts!!!! - All ferrets are different, but speak up if he continues to lose weight. Keep up the good work... Hershy is tarting to how signs of giving in  -jennifer |
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Post by suds on Sept 23, 2008 19:47:46 GMT -5
just a quick update Hershy seems to be eating the moisted beef pattie's . She ate another giblet tonight . I tried a fresh raw giblet to She smelled then wanted nothing to with it . wortha try though lol. I will continue to make the patties more moist evry few days, She still fights me with the soupy but I make sure she gets at lleast 3 good mouth fulls each time.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 24, 2008 23:59:13 GMT -5
Hey, Dude, You're on a roll!!!! Look at Hershy go!!!! Also, Have fun with the dog mentoring --- I know your're sucker for getting involved with animal things....just look at how your little ferrets have you so well trained after a very short period of time !!! Frank, you have a big heart...the world would be a better place if there were more people like you running around Keep up the great work with you brats! -jennifer |
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Post by suds on Sept 26, 2008 18:37:15 GMT -5
Wow!! thanks for all the kind words Jen . nothing much has changed on the food front . slowly moistening there food . Hershy is getting very plump I think I love fall even more now seeing how fat Hershy is getting for winter and her caot so soft and getting thicker ech day very shiny too. JD is not putting on wait yet and his fur has thinned out from shedding why I thought he looked smaller lol so soon I guess he will stat to fatten up and fur will get thicker to My schedule is starting to get busy heatting season is starting ,and I am putting in 3 to 4 hours a night in dog training so dont panic if I dont write as much as I have in the past ohh I got a fuzzy today , he is in a box in my Moms room waiting for her to open it and go nuts hahaha (she is so deathly afraid of mice ) should be fun lol .. any way tomorrow I will put them both in the tub and see what they do . should be intersting hope you have a great weekend . |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 26, 2008 21:32:39 GMT -5
You're welcome- you can tell a LOT about a person by how much they respect and how well they treat their animals!!!! Holy Cow - 3-4 hours per night with dog training is a second job -part time, but between the fire dept, and the air condition/heating stuff, when the heck do you find time to sleep?  I'd be dead, and the brats woulb be biting my toes trying to bring me back to life!!!! My little albino girl is so fat right now that she's starting to look like a snowball!!!! As long as Hershy is eating the moistened food, we're making progress. you can also try mashing some freeze-dried crumbs (her favorite type, of course!) into a small amount of fresh meat. I'll be curious to see how Hershy reacts to the mouse....sometimes bugs are difficult for ferrets to see - ferrets have rotten eyesight, so a mouse is more likely to be of interest No worries if you post less often...I know you'll let me know what's happening. Plus, it can take time to increase the moisture content in those dried foods. You'll want to be working your way up to the amount where it's like a ground meat mixture. and then you can start adding a small amount of finely cut up/ground meats a little at a time. When you fed the gizzard, was it whole? If so, you can try putting out a chunk of meat about the size and shape of the gizzard - she may prefer a larger chunk. You can always feed it o JD if Hershy's not interested. Have a great weekend!!! -jennifer |
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Post by suds on Sept 27, 2008 12:06:49 GMT -5
The puppy is 10 months old the handler is 18 years old so its important to get both on the rite track in the very beginning , so the more time I spend with them now in learning discipline and obedience the better chance they will both succeed when we get into the rescue training Plus its the perfect time to figure out what her reward drives are , food, toy's , belly rubs and so on . My first dog would do anything for a belly rub where as the other 2 worked for a toy . besides sleep is always underated hehehe. Ok the mouse lol. I put hershy in the tub she had no clue what the mouse was lol she sniffed it chased it a couple of times then just wanted out of the tub , I put JD in ther with them He was funny just stared the mouse down then chased him for a minute or 2 then grabbed the poor mouse by the back of the neck and it was all over . He was so proud carry it up and down thetube for a few minutes . Then Hershy wanted it and they played tug a war !!!! a foot was bitten off by hershy after she realised it she spit ot with a crazy look lol. I put the mouse in there cage with the tummmy cut open but so far no eating .. but even so JD shown he cand take care of busness and Hershy showed signs of interest so for me its a success!! I wil try it again next month with 2 and see if Hershy will go after her own to show JD up And the gizzards was cut to about a 1/4 inch in sise and freese dried in my freezer I will try meat chucnks again . I try to at least a couple times a week to give them a plate of raw meats at differnt sises plain and with A1 crumbs smashed in and with olive oil on some JD does eat some Hershy still just s,ells and licks tyhe olive oil ones. Like you said one day I will be surprised and she will just start eating when I find the rite meat and texture so I keep trying new things even if just for enrichment. |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 28, 2008 11:41:27 GMT -5
Good for JD !!!You're so lucky you have a good hunter since I know you'd hate a "slow kill" as much as I would....  IF Hershy takes interest in hunting, at Least you can put J in there there to finish the job if Hershy bails out with the job half finished. Since Hershy is a plump little girl thee days, I think we need to "encourage her" to eat. A little hunger would be a good thing.... When does Hershy seem to be most hungry - mornings or evenings? If she's most hungry in the morning, remove the dry food at night. Feed less dry food in the day - you want that bowl empty for the evening meal. If you try this approach for a while, hopefully hershey will start chowing into the wet raw food. try mixing some of the fresh, wet gizzard in with the other fresh food. since she seemed to like that. she may also enjoy some liver. Offer wing tips or smaller wing segments too. JD is ready for some good bone chewing. The wing tips are mostly cartilage, so you may want to off the section of the wing that has the 2 smaller bones in it - cut the wing section in half paralel tothe bones - this will provide two entire bones per half. This wll be easier for the ferrets to learn to handle. Get that picky little girl hungry...we need to put a bit of pressure on this sweet little princess!!!! Oh, yes - about the dog training....it certainly DOES need to be done correctly from the start - bad habits (like my friend's dog has) are really difficult to deal with once they get started! Have fun !!! -jennifer |
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Post by suds on Sept 28, 2008 18:58:15 GMT -5
Thank god for JD!!
yes I was so worried I would have to do the dispatching myself .In truth when I heard the little mouse scream my heart sank. I would never make a good hunter and would become a vegan if i had to kill my own food at least I cant hear plants cry or scream. lol.
someone ate the head and back of the mouse lastnight no clue who but more then likely it was JD.
so I was thinking maybe next weekend I will only put raw food instead of dried foods in the dishes Hershy knows its food just refuses to eat it but if only raw is availble for 24 hours she will get hungry enough to eat it ? she is become a little butterball so fasting for 24 hours wil not hurt her I think. maybe its time for tough love ?
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 30, 2008 8:45:41 GMT -5
I agree - I give a Hershy a small amount of gizzard after 12 hours (or a small freeze-dried snack). Sometimes getting too hungry can result in mild nausea - that used to happen to me as a kid... I'd play all day and get lower levels of blood sugar, which may me tired, cranky, and feeling kind of sick. Then I would not be interested in food, which is what I needed! I don't know if this can happen with ferrets, but the snack should not be big enough to spoil her appetite.
And yes, I 'm glad JD helped out. I figured he may need to step in and take over - I could not do the live prey thing since I'd be living in dire fear of a "slow kill". As long as JD is there, you have a safety valve.
-jennifer
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Post by suds on Oct 1, 2008 11:54:07 GMT -5
since I will be home all weekend for once I can monitor Hershy better then normal . Friday when I get home from work I will remove all food and replace it with raw cut up meat mixed with some raw shreaded meat and see what happens .
She still hates soup I tried many differnt temps from ice cold to very warm, beef and chicken based ,thick and very thin . with litle whip cream, olive oil, kibble, almost every combination I could think of and she still acts as if its poison, so I think I am going to give up on the soup . But I will try kingsford porage once I get it . at least she knows what the suringe is and I know I can suringe feed her if god forbid she gets sick I have had plenty of practice over the past few months lol.
on another note she is still eating the moistened beef pattie's they are almost totaly soaked through just the middle is dry . I stopped breaking them up in small peaces too been making them bigger and bigger over time hopefuly they are learning to handle bigger foods for when they start to eat raw. but they both still have not learned to use there paws to hold the food just chase it around with there mouths lol.
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