|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 16, 2009 23:31:16 GMT -5
I think the problem with Hermes is that he's an incredibly picky eater. I get the feeling that I would have to cut a mouse up and smear canned food all over it just to get him to try it.
I think I'm just going to wait until I have a bulk order to try again with him. maybe I'll buy some jumbo rats for the cats so they can have whole prey meals rather than an occasional snack.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 16, 2009 23:40:43 GMT -5
Ozzy might enjoy them too. I know that my guys do. Rats are a favourite here. Unfortunately, do to a flood my supplier has no rats, in fact bought mice off me. I hope that she manages to start her rat breeding programme again soon.
ciao
|
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 17, 2009 0:15:21 GMT -5
I really wish I could start my own breeder colony... It's going to be hard to talk my bf into letting me keep 100 mice and rats in our freezer. And of course I can't find any local suppliers that will sell for ferrets... And I really hate lying to people that I do one on one business with.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 17, 2009 2:00:37 GMT -5
You have my sympathies on that one. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to tell little white lies. So they don't have scales but when they tuck their feet up they can slither too   One hundred mice isn't that many....rats...maybe I have to admit my husband finds it disconcerting pulling out a freezer container and looking at a whole bunch of pink tails and noses:D  but he's getting used to it  . ciao |
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 17, 2009 16:56:30 GMT -5
Ozzy finished all of the food I put in his cage so his amounts are going to go up to total 6 oz a day. I was finally able to find some beef heart at the grocery store I go to so I got the largest one I could find and gave Ozzy 3 oz off of it. I'll give him another 3 oz of chicken heart tonight.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 17, 2009 22:25:51 GMT -5
He's doing fantastic. I posted your menu to Giuli and I will copy what she emailed back. You're that close to graduating I think you're actually finding out what she would like you to change. **Everything looks good, but I'd like to see her rotating between chicken thighs, bone-in breasts, legs, wings, backs, necks, AND wings. He's growing so he'll need those meatier pieces of chicken like breasts and thighs. As long as she rotates those parts I think she'll be good to go. Just have her make those changes and then PM me a link to her thread and I'll graduate her. ** I think for the most part you're already adding more meaty bones anyway, so that's all she would like to see changed. Looking good  Beef heart is really good for him and not all that easy to find. Great work. I was able to buy it through the coop that I belong to but have been absolutely unable to find it in stores any more. I will check in with you tomorrow and see how you and Ozzy are doing. ciao |
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 17, 2009 22:36:32 GMT -5
Here's the revised schedule. Giving him more variety with the chicken should be easy since I usually buy whole chickens. They might take more time to prepare but I save a few bucks.
Monday: 2 mice (hopper or larger), 3 ounces chicken or turkey gizzards.
Tuesday: 2-3 ounces gizzards, 3 ounces boneless chicken.
Wednesday: 1 chicken neck, 1 chicken thigh, 1 ounce organs.
Thursday: 3 mice, 2 ounces gizzards
Friday: 3 ounces chicken hearts, 3 ounces beef chunks.
Saturday: 1 chicken wing, 2 ounces bone-in breast meat.
Sunday: 3 ounces chicken hearts, 3 ounces pork chunks.
The quantities will eventually go down when he stops being such a little piggie but this is pretty much the gist of things.
I'll eventually have access to goat and possibly some free range chicken but I'm not entirely sure when that's going to happen.
As for the beef heart, the grocery store I go to has a pretty large Hispanic clientele so they have more "exotic" cuts of meat. It's nice to be able to get beef heart for only a buck a pound.
|
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 18, 2009 0:34:43 GMT -5
I just placed an order with rodentpro. I figure that 100 weanling mice, 50 large adult mice, and 20 medium rats should last me a few months. I probably shouldn't have spent the money but hey... I'll just make my bf hide my debit card from me if I feel the need to do any more heavy duty spending.
At least I should be getting a job in the next month or so *crosses fingers and hopes*.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 18, 2009 14:13:29 GMT -5
Sounds fantastic. I hope you get your new job, there are certainly a lot of people out there without one  . I just pm'd Giuli with your revised menu and hopefully we will hear back in the next few days. I will check in with you later. ciao |
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 19, 2009 5:46:35 GMT -5
So, I might have the chance to give Ozzy live prey sooner than I expected. My sister has a small tank for mice and she needs to either give away, sell, or kill a few because one of them ended up being male and there was an unexpected litter.
I'm thinking that I'm going to kill all but one or two of the ones I get just in case Ozzy isn't as skilled a hunter as I'm hoping. After all, he is a little bit chunky...
I also got to talk to my dad earlier and he's agreed to raise some rabbits as long as I can get him a decent hutch and he gets some of the meat. I'll also be getting the offal, heads, and necks from my dad's first chicken kill in a couple of weeks. Goat will be coming in a few months and we're talking about buying some quail chicks. I do have to admit that I'm glad that my dad enjoys raising his own meat and is able to now.
On tomorrow's menu will be herring heads (left over from dad's fishing bait), beef heart, and gizzards.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 19, 2009 14:16:48 GMT -5
Wow!!!
Your little guy is going to have some dinners!! Fantastic. Let me know how the herring goes over. The beef hearts and gizzards are things that he's had before, but I'm always interested in the fish. Some ferrets really like it and others react like it's poison. The heads will be filled with trace nutrients and are a great calcium supplementation.
ciao
|
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 19, 2009 14:28:46 GMT -5
He wasn't too exited about the fish. I'm going to try it later though. If all else fails, Calypso really loves anything fishy so she'll eat all of the fish heads I have with no problem.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Apr 20, 2009 0:22:59 GMT -5
Your Calypso is a kitty? It's always really good when you can try things and know that if they're not eaten the first time around that someone else will eat them and they're not wasted . With all the furcreatures in my house somebody always eats something that's left over. ciao |
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 20, 2009 1:40:04 GMT -5
Calypso is a lovely, slightly overweight black kitty that I got when she was 8 weeks old. She was the first kitten I got to raise on my own so she got spoiled with tons of fish and shrimp...
|
|
|
|
Post by ccretarolo on Apr 21, 2009 16:26:02 GMT -5
So, men are frustrating. I went to my best friend's place last night for his 21st birthday party (really just us sitting around drinking and watching Will and Grace). I trusted my bf to make sure that all of the animals were fed and that Ozzy got some out of cage time. He did fine with the feeding but told me that he doesn't want to try to help with nip training Ozzy since he kept on going for him...
I'm almost thinking that I might need to rehome Ozzy just to be sure that my relationship doesn't become a series of arguments. I'm hoping that he was just over reacting though.
EDIT: Finally got to have a real conversation with the bf about Ozzy biting him. Just ends up that my best friend was playing a bit rough with him when he was over and it got carried over to the bf. Things should be fine once I make my friend realize that even allowing Ozzy to lunge at his hands is a big no-no.
|
|
