|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 23, 2009 16:43:04 GMT -5
first, how do you arrange the newspaper? do you mold it to the back because they loooove pooping midway in the corner of their high back litter box. I would love to not scoop litter, haha
and the pork necks I actually found at marsh! right there in the pork section!
idk where you find chicken necks haha i cant find those to save my life
oh wait.. i just remembered someone told me i can get them at kmart! haha!
and they are doing well, I think I need some help balancing their diet!
oh and I'm getting another fuzzy. She will be here this weekendish. Shes coming with another superpet cage and an attached rabbit hutch for feeding.
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 23, 2009 16:51:16 GMT -5
Congrats on your new edition!  Meat at kmart huh, I never thought to look there lol I have the square litter pans and I drape a piece over the top and put a folded section on the bottom, its basically just folding it to fit the box you have and to cover where their "spots" are...when some gets on the box and mises the paper, I just keep a box of baby wipes around to wipe up spills and such (VERY easy and much less time consuming, oh and of course MUCH cheaper! lol) Below is a list of things you can feed, what they are considered (catagory wise) and we will make up a sched. and hopefully your new little one will adapt into her new diet as well!  Here is the list Guiliana gave me during my switch, and it was very helpful to me: Strive to feed the following each week:Raw meaty bones (atleast) 4 days a week (NOTE: It only counts as an RMB if they EAT the bone) Examples: Chicken wings, legs, thighs, necks, and backs Rabbit legs, ribs, etc Turkey necks (cut into segments) Oxtails (cut into segments) Cornish game hen Bone-in chicken breast Whole RAW (not canned) anchovies, sardines, and smelt Boneless Muscle Meat 2 days per week:
Boneless chunks of:Beef Pork Turkey Rabbit Bison Emu etc Organ meat 1 day a week (plus one of the following: a raw chicken neck, chicken wingette, or whole egg---shell and all) Organs: Chicken liver, gizzards and heart Beef kidney, lung, and pancreas (these can be purchased on Hare Today, Gone Tommorow) Strive to feed atleast 3 types of meat per week, and also vary the part of the meat you feed. For example feed chicken thighs AND breast. Feed pork butt AND pork tenderloins. Nutrient composition varies in the different parts of the animal. Lastly, feed young and old meats:Veal/Beef Piglet/Pork Cornish Game Hen/ Chicken Poult/Turkey Lamb/Mutton |
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 23, 2009 19:29:37 GMT -5
the girl I'm picking up is right around the same age as my youngest, so it works out. She was born at the end of this past november.
hooray for newspaper! I'm going to give that a try!
I thought we had talked about gizzards and hearts and how they werent organs...I'm just trying to get my facts straight because I feed gizzards with chicken 2-3 days a week.
Gosh I feel like I'm all over the place with the food haha.
I'll tell you what I have in my freezer...everything is individually wrapped and frozen or seperated into little meals. So like, one baggie would be one meal for both.
large cut of boneless steak(I think its angus sirloin)
lots of chicken gizzards and hearts
chicken wings
chicken thigh
drumsticks
pork necks
skinless boneless dark meat chicken breast
i think thats it..
its not a lot but I'm working on it, its all dependant on what I can find.
Should I just feed one animal a day like, if i feed chicken in the morning, I should stay with chicken all day?
and they usually eat all of the bone, unless it ends up in the litter box, then I take it away.
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 23, 2009 20:33:59 GMT -5
I feed my ferrets gizzards probably twice a week, hearts I know are organs though I was not as sure about the gizzards. I will have to ask about gizzards since they are part of the stomach which is an organ, I just usually feed them when I feed necks and such. Plus its not like feeding them 2-3 days is bad for them its anything but; its just they dont need that much because its a small part of the prey in whole diet. I will do some studying on gizzards tonight for you though and I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow! Oh and another good thing is feeding cornish game hens....try to add these in, ferret usually love them, you can cut up the body into quarters. They are inexpensive (usually) and an easy meal to prepare for them. About the feeding the same types all day..thats fine, thats what I do....some mix it up, its up to you. Usually I will thaw out enough chicken for a day or 2 and then the next I will thaw beef, then another day pork, etc...so thats what I do, but thats totally up to you as long as they are going to have variety and not just chicken everyday you know. Now sometimes I will do chicken breast or thigh in the morning and then wings or legs at night so it switches up the bone content a bit. Dont worry if thats all you have for now, thats alot more than alot of people had or could even get their ferrets to eat in this short of time!!! My ferrets ate pretty much just chicken for a while because they were very picky and it took a while to get them to try something else! Im going to study the anatomy of the chicken right now lol, and Im going to get some answers about gizzards!  |
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 23, 2009 23:01:06 GMT -5
haha well I ould study up on some gizzards too I just know when we talked about it before it was considered a meat and not an organ. You know those big packs you can buy from Perdue(thats the brand of meat mine eat) and its mostly gizzards and maybe 3-4 hearts.
I think I'll make the schedule to look something like...
Monday:
Breakfast-Chicken thighs in the morning + some cut up breast meat
Lunch-since I'm at work, the bones should work, depending on the thigh I either put one or two. They usually only eat the cut up breast for breakfast and leave the thigh for lunch then they have the bone to gnaw on since they need to eat it
DinDin-chicken legs + a little gizzard meat/organ whatever
Tuesday-
steak all day and/or various other pieces of beef
Wednesday-
Breakfast- Chicken breast, bone in + some cut up chicken breast
Lunch-see bones and left over meat above =P
Dinner- Wings + Gizzards + a little cut up chicken breast
Thursday:
Breakfast-Pork neck
Lunch-Pork neck bone
Dinner-some other pork piece, like some tenderloin or some other piece with bone in it, I think they make pork chops with bone in it...idk, I need to go to the grocery.
Friday:
Breakfast: Thigh and chunks
Lunch: Bones from said thigh
Dinner: Legs and wings + some gizzards.
Saturday:
Cornish game hen day(i like it haha)
....do the cornish game hens have the organs inside? haha i have noooo idea but this will determine organ extras.
Sunday:
Breakfast-Eggies =)
Lunch- steak!
Dinner- More steak!
You can tell me how that looks.
I dont even plan out my meals like that haha.
I definately need to go to the grocery, I feel like I'm always buying meat!
and thanks for researching =)
darn those crazy gizzards! what are youuuuu
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 24, 2009 0:07:30 GMT -5
I guess I just always considered gizzards part of the neck but I guess I was wrong  part of the stomach huh lol....well I emailed guili and I'll let you know what she says. I dont usually plan out my meals like that either (i just label the bags before freezing and pull a new variety out each day) This sounds pretty good, cornish game hens sometimes come with organs and some without, it should say on the label what exactly it includes (usually tyson brand doesnt include them). For even more variety I try to find small whole turkey's on sale (like thanksgiving ones haha), they have sales on those often I've seen, Ohhhh and duck..they sell whole duck or pieces of duck which ferrets tend to love too! Maybe see if they carry ox tails. My kroger also sells (from time to time) pre-packaged rabbit cut up raw in the freezer section which is decently priced. Also I periodically find frozen quail at a local market, which is great for them as well. Oh lamb too lol (though I know it can be quite expensive at times) They key is variety! (I know your just starting out but I know what thats like and I leaned on chicken alot and I got stuck dealing with it haha!) But your little ones seem to be taking to everything just great! Here are some more examples of meat: (because I asked about everything to my mentor!) -duck -goat -frozen mice (ferrets take well to them too!) -quail -chicks -pheasant (mine love!) -venison (deer) -elk -smelt These are just some extra's that are great choices too that I dont think were included in the last list! sorry I got carried away with this one! |
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 24, 2009 0:27:11 GMT -5
I feel like I have to plan or I'll feed boneless one day, and boneless the next, and then forget what i fixed earlier that week and feed boneless again.
I will change it up, because eating the same thing gets boring!
it was just an example to make sure I had the portions correct haha.
I will expand their diet as soon as I can spend some quality time in the grocery and bounce around a bit.
I know marsh sells ox tail occassionally, a lady infront of me bought it one day. We were having a discussion at work and this black lady I work with was talking about chicken necks and how good they were and I was like "omg where do you get them!!"
she thought I liked them haha and I told her they were for my ferts.
haha
I'll definitly keep an eye out for variety. Ill have to shop with my mom =)
oh ferrets and all their needs haha
I'm going to start working on some frozen soupie cubes too =)
thanks for all the research I'm so appreciative
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 24, 2009 14:05:18 GMT -5
Thats what I was worried about too, which is another reason y I feed bone and boneless everyday, that way I dont forget and they balance out what they want at which times (but thats just me).
Let me know when you get your new little girl and what she thinks of raw! Im sure it will be an easy switch as well since shes young!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 24, 2009 16:59:29 GMT -5
okok you know how I worry.
Well apparently their poo is smelling pretty bad. My bf emailed me and said that it smelled like death. I havent smelled it so that could be an exaggeration
and that its runny.
I'm wondering if that could be from the pork I fed them
or maybe the dark meat I fed them stayed in the fridge a little too long? It was only in there maybe 3 days and I smelled it and i didnt notice an real odor.
gah I'm all worried now.
their poops were doing so well too!
what do you think?
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 24, 2009 18:53:14 GMT -5
well first off let me remind you (though Im sure you will if needed) if their behavior changes or you think they may be sick then dont hesitate to bring them to the vet, only you know your babies! Ok now if the meat was bad its usually pretty apparent due to the smell, believe me I think you would know if it was bad, you may encounter times where you think meat may smell "not right", so its pretty noticeable when its gone bad. So I think your ok with that, plus a ferrets digestive system is so short that things such as bacteria dont have enough time sitting in there to cause illness (usually). The reason I asked in the beginning about the poop is because alot of times your ferret(s) can be exposed to ECE when in the pet store and/or in transportation to the pet store. If there are exposed you may not know because either they are just carrying it and dont present any symptoms or they have have already gone through it before you got them. *now Im not saying they have it or anything, Im just giving you some first hand facts* Like I mentioned before my Boomer got it (probably from the pet store) and I didnt even notice, the second week I had him he only had "flu like symptoms" and it went away within a week, later I found out it was ECE and he got through it fine! Some ferrets get it worse than others, and if their young they usually bounce back fairly quickly. When my Penny and Mimi got it about a month or 2 ago Mimi had it like Boomer, not that bad but Penny was more affected. But they are all well and healthy now and I dont have to worry about going through it again (its kinda like chicken pox, once they get it they build up a kind of immunity to it). One of the reasons it can be really dangerous is the dehydration issue, ferrets are so small that its easy for them to become dehydrated. Penny for example threw up twice one night after duk soup and then her poops started to get runny and orange (with mucus and sometimes with tiny bubbles) and I took her to the vet and they gave her IV fluids (she only had a minor case of dehydration, but I also gave her cc's of water and pedialyte down her throat every couple of hours which helped before I brought her in) This is the reason I asked if you could get a picture of it so I can see what exactly it looks like. (the poop isnt always green slimey, Penny never got green poop just orange and slimey, so its sometimes hard to determine it) Plus they lose their appetites normally when they have this virus and yours seem to have great appetites right now so dont panic!!! (some ferrets get over it on their own without you even knowing, it all depends) Now dont get too worried I am JUST giving you some info about it, not to scare you haha! Just keep me updated with the poops and like I said if the start acting not normal or they seem sick you will know. I will be on tonight checking this every so often so feel free to ask me anything or even if you want to tell me your concerns...Ill be there for ya (cuz I know what its like! and its always nice to have someone to vent to! ) |
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 24, 2009 22:52:24 GMT -5
ok so the poops were still brown, just a little runny but still held a tootsie roll shape so I'm not too worried. They did smell pretty awful but I really think its the introduction of new meats and the dark meat that wasnt super fresh. I had it in the freezer and found it. It was a bit freezer burnt so maybe that was it. idk. Maybe it is ece, I'm keeping an eye out for abnormal poops.
Shes eating right now and they have lots of water. She still seems just as energetic and all over the place so I'm not flipping out or anything.
and no flu like symptoms as of yet =)
I've had a rough night, the bf and i broke up sooooo its been a baaad night.
I'll post more in the morning. For now, I'm going off to bed because I got no sleep last night.
thanks for all your help <3
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 24, 2009 23:07:59 GMT -5
Im sorry to hear that! (I can definitely relate)
Yea I think your in the clear of ece right now, it also could be do to not only the introduction of raw but also of organs especially since most ferret kibbles dont include much organ meat. I have noticed when I feed organs that their poop smells a bit more intense than usual.
|
|
|
|
Post by monicaexplosion on Feb 25, 2009 21:31:55 GMT -5
more chicken today. A thigh this morning and 2 wings tonight. They almost finished the bone on the thigh and for dinner they ate some meat off and I'll leave the bones in their cage tonight.
I went to the store and picked up a cornish hen, some boney thing(haha i cannot remember), and a 10lb bag of chicken bits and pieces.
they did not have necks or anything
I'm disappointed.
breakup is going awkward
ugh
shoot me
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 26, 2009 13:57:56 GMT -5
Yea breakups are hard, but I have noticed when you have pets (especially ferrets) it helps you not feel lonely!!
Good, if your having trouble finding variety I dont know if you know about this site but I order all the time from it...www.hare-today.com....it has lots of variety and its the cheapest shipping around for raw meat that I can find. Just in case your interested!
|
|
|
|
Post by cristina on Feb 28, 2009 9:27:36 GMT -5
Ok I got some feedback on gizzards....yahh lol Here is what Guili told me:
"gizzards.....they are technically a boneless muscle meat (not an organ) I like to feed them on organ meat day though, because they are tough and chewy and ferrets seem to like it. The rule with organs is "if it doesn't secrete, feed it as meat". "organs" that aren't classified as organs can be fed as "boneless muscle meat. Sounds confusing.
Here's an example:
Organs that can be fed several times per week (technically muscle meat):
Heart
Gizzards
Testicles/thingy (Yes you can feed these, although they don't seem appetizing to me lol)
Brain
Organs that shouldn't be fed more then 1x per week:
Liver
Pancreas
Spleen
Tripe
Lung
Kidney
The reason you should only feed some organs 1x per week is because they are very rich and they are high in certain vitamins. Overfeeding liver (for example) can cause high levels of Vitamin A to build up in the body, this can cause health issues. Gizzards and heart aren't very rich and they don't contain very high levels of any vitamins, they can safely be fed several times per week as a boneless muscle meat. "
So dont worry about feeding them a couple times a week, they can only do good!!!
|
|
