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Post by tss on Nov 28, 2008 10:27:19 GMT -5
Don't worry if you cannot keep it updated weekly. The switch to raw food is very crutial and important. You can keep this thread without worrying that it will be deleated due to an untimely response.
Do you have any updates at this time??
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Dec 19, 2008 12:59:19 GMT -5
Sorry for the slow posting. Things have been going on here and it's been driving me crazy!
So anyway, I've been thinking, and thinking, and thinking, and i've decided that i would go n head and try feeding "live" I know i would have to start out with babys and such, so i'm planning on getting two adult mice, let them breed, and than try out a smaller baby on the ferrets.
I was wondering though...What would i feed the mice? They would be in a tank, but what about bedding, and more natural area? Wood branch to climb?!?!?!?!
Anyway, The ferrets would prouble be better out live because they like to pounce on wiggling toys and i just recently lost a realy fuzzy like toy when i let go of it...xD
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Post by tss on Dec 19, 2008 13:41:06 GMT -5
These are posts I've made before. I just copied them.
For a food mix I used kitten food, a small 1.5lb bag of Chicken soup for the kitten lovers soul is $2 or $3. A bag of puffed wheat or puffed rice cereal is $.50-$1.00, 1 box whole grain pasta $2-$4 (elbow, rigatoni, Riccioli, Stelline, Sedani Rigati, Penne Rigate, etc. Don't use slender ones like Spaghetti) and wild bird seed without corn $3-$4.
If you use top soil or potting soil from wal-mart, lowes ect for $1-2 a bag (NOT the kind with anything added like the styro beads). Bake it for about 30 minutes of 300, let it cool then put it in the tank. Some people put 6" of the stuff in but I used about 3", just shovle the top layer off every 2 weeks. You can still scoop the corners every couple days. The fun thing about the potting soil is you can bury tunnels (PVC pipes), just make something out of straight PVC and elbows. The ends of the elbows should stick out above the dirt. With the soil the mice won't smell at all, just keep their wheels and stuff clean. Some people prefer microwaving the dirt, a few people have had issues with the oven when baking it.
You should also suppliment their diets with veggies, nuts and non-acidic fruits.. Plus a very slightly meaty chicken bone maybe once a month. And it is good to keep a cuddle bone in the cage too, it wears their teeth down and is very high in calcium. You can give them brances too but you need to bake them as well... Just watch them very closely, they probably take more like 10 minutes in the oven.
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Dec 19, 2008 20:34:39 GMT -5
Thank you! Do you think doing the live is a good idea?
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Post by tss on Dec 19, 2008 22:40:14 GMT -5
Yes, I do think it's a good idea as long as you're comfortable with it. You will still need more variety in their diets, whole prey is a good base but they will need to be fed other stuff too.
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Dec 20, 2008 10:09:44 GMT -5
oh i know that. I'm hoping whole prey would get them to eat meat and bones better.
What other things would be good for there diet with the whole prey? I give them oil and such.
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Post by tss on Dec 20, 2008 15:54:13 GMT -5
All you'd need is a minimum of 2 other meat varieties (the more the better) and maybe a bit of other organ too.. Dependant upon how many days a week you feed whole prey, do you have any idea how often you'll feed mice?
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Dec 21, 2008 10:49:57 GMT -5
well if when they breed i would have to wait for them to get bigger, but than i might feed one mouse ling a day, plus there yum yum baby food, and if i can get them eating other meats i would. Can ferrets eat worms? I was thinking of seeing if the critters would eat crickets and meal worms as well.
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Post by tss on Dec 21, 2008 10:54:31 GMT -5
Yes, ferrets can eat meal worms and crickets. If you get some they are also very good for the mice too.
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Mar 5, 2009 11:33:06 GMT -5
I'm back to the Attack!  Sorry i didn't post here for the longest time. I got a little carried away with the thread on my breeding mice. As an update, Jack killed two baby pinkies yesterday, and also gnawed the head off of one. Yiippie! Lelloo killed a full grown mouse but ofcourse never ate it.  not even the head. how do i get them to eat their kill? I don't feed them before hand so they are hungry. |
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Post by tss on Mar 6, 2009 14:12:05 GMT -5
Sorry I wasn't able to reply quickly.
What methods have you tried? Putting oil on them?? Chopping them up and mixing them into soup?? Anything?
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Mar 6, 2009 17:41:33 GMT -5
I've put their oil, soup, etc on the acual dead body but they only licked it off. Gah. I've tried enticing them into a chase. Doesn't work. I don't want to quit, but i can't stand waisting the bodys. I don't think i can freeze mice bodys. |
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Post by tss on Mar 6, 2009 22:04:46 GMT -5
Do you have a blender or food processor for your ferrets?? How about making some soup with pureed pinkies.. They will smell the pinkies and eat them, as time goes along you can increase the size of the pinky pieces. That is the method used for most switches to a raw diet.
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on Mar 6, 2009 23:19:00 GMT -5
I had a blender but i kind of chopped the blade on it with a forgotten spoon. My parents know i'm feeding whole prey, and don't realy care as long as it isn't exsperensive, and doesn't get in the way with daily life, but i'm sure mom would have a cow with dead mice in the freeze. I'm hoping to get an old freezer to possible use to freeze the dead mice off of freecycle, etc.
I neeed to get a job soon, but mom won't let me drive much, so i can't get my license, and without a license I can't get a job...and than without a job i can't get a car which I need to GO to the job. On top of that, I have school 8:30-3:15 but don't get home till 4:00.
anyway, so I have pinkies, and fuzzies without their eyes open. Should i let jack or lelloo dispatch a baby? Should i use the same method of raw meat with them too? Cut it up in tiny peices for them to try in a bit of soupie?
PS- dad was playing with the kids today over the board/gate. He was asking me why they were licking him and why they liked his arm. He than held jack and was just like "He likes to be held doesn't he?" ofcourse the kids rolled over and dad was petting their bellys and he was asking about that as well. :giggle: Than he said that they were pretty cool animals. He use to have one when he was a kid, and when his g/f came over, he would turn off the lights and throw it on her to freak her out because she didn't like them. XD He would never do it now, but it was a funny thought.
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Post by tss on Mar 9, 2009 8:37:53 GMT -5
I KNOW I replied to this!!! My posts have been eaten a lot lately.
I have 2 freezers in the basement with pet food in them. I have kept mice in the freezer upstairs, what I did was wrapped the mice in a new coffee filter them put them in a baggy and put them behind something I knew wasn't going to be eaten soon.. It worked, they were there for a few weeks and nobody said anything about them.
You can let Lelloo dispatch a baby, if it isn't eaten then you can chop it up into tiny pieces and put it in their soupie.
My father is the same way with my ferrets.. And he asked once of I let Ravi eat rocks because he is sooo heavy compared to everyone else.
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