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Post by Heather on Apr 21, 2009 23:24:14 GMT -5
Ahhh, laying down the ground rules. Good idea when dealing with kits...better yet best friends  I hope that you manage to work out the wrinkles. I would hate for you to decide that Ozzy needs a new home  . Bite inhibition has to be worked on by all parties. It's very confusing for the little one to be allowed to bite one party but not another. Working up a kit to a frenzy in rough play and then telling it, it can no longer bite a few minutesl later just isn't going to happen. It's like having a 2 yr old and allowing him/her to run up and down the isles of an empty space and then walking him next door to a church and telling him he has to sit still and be quiet. It can't happen, they have a tendency to explode A 2 yr old can't differentiate between appropriate places at this time. You may be able to eventually teach the fuzzy to be able to tell the difference between your friend and your bf but it's still a lot to expect. Ferrets love to play, but not biting has to be taught otherwise your furbaby just treats you like another ferret. That's really painful They're really harsh on each other. They're love bites...and ferrets believe in tough love  I hope that you're really able to work this, I believe you can...you've worked so hard with this little one. I believe in you and Ozzy. Good luck ciao |
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 22, 2009 2:41:12 GMT -5
Ozzy is already back to normal. His naughty behavior can also be attributed to the heat wave we had for the last few days. The temperature suddenly shot up to the 80-90 region for the last 3 days. I had to frantically take measures to prevent heatstroke (which mostly included getting Ozzy wet) while making sure that Ozzy still got a decent amount of out of cage time. The temps will be back in the 50's and 60's for at least the next week so things will be better.
The little boy is normally pretty well behaved. I only had to really work with him for a couple of days when I first got him. Now that the bf knows that the behavior changes were temporary, he's a little more willing to work with him. The main problem between them was the bf wasn't actually sending the proper signals to stop the biting. Now that he knows he's allowed to really yell when biting/nipping happens, things will go a lot more smoothly.
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 23, 2009 15:47:10 GMT -5
SO, it seems as though Ozzy isn't a big fan of chicken (except for hearts and gizzards). He was eating a couple of pieces of dried out chicken I didn't catch from yesterday morning though... I'm really considering just giving him old, dried out stuff just so he'll eat... Don;t worry, I know better than that. In any case, I'm not overly worried about how much he eats. He's now been with me for 2 weeks and has easily doubled in size. And he's quite the porker too. I'm pretty sure I saw neck rolls . I'm also sure his metabolism is freaking out because of the drastic temperature changes this week. |
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Post by Heather on Apr 24, 2009 0:18:24 GMT -5
You're going to find his appetite will fluctuate drastically depending on temperatures. My guys almost stop eating (scary) when the temperatures and humidity rises. Especially, the humidity. I have air con for the little monsters but when that goes on they also can't go outside, it means that it's too hot out there too. Quite often they just curl up and sleep it off. Hey, my guys find dried meats that they've stashed and I haven't found. They really seem to enjoy it   They also seem to know what their tummies can't handle too. Talk at you later  ciao |
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 24, 2009 15:51:57 GMT -5
So, I think that Ozzy's in between growth spurts. He ate all but an ounce of the food that I put in the cage for him even though he normally eats all of it.
I've given him 2 mice for breakfast and so far, he's only eaten half of one. Maybe he'll get rid of some of the extra fat he has... It's really cute but I know that it won't be good for him to be chunky for much longer.
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Post by Heather on Apr 24, 2009 23:41:16 GMT -5
I know where you're coming from but you know....Napoleon has always been a little chunky and he hasn't changed. I kept waiting for him to loose that baby fat and he never did. He's just lost a little every spring but not enough to slim out his tubby little butt.  ciao |
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 24, 2009 23:48:21 GMT -5
Well, I can accept Ozzy being a chunky little boy as long as he's got a decent appetite and plays for at least 3 hours a day. I'm sure that it'll be easier for him to get more playtime in once I feel he's big enough to interact more with the cats and run around the entire apartment.
Since he's growing so quickly, I'm letting Ozzy and Hermes have supervised time together. I was a little worried yesterday since Ozzy peed himself while the two of them were wrestling but then I realized that they were only a couple of feet away from the ferret litter box when Hermes started the scuffle. Poor little Ozzy must have been on his way to go potty. I will admit that Hermes is still playing a little too rough for my comfort but he has learned to back down when Ozzy starts biting and hissing.
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Post by Heather on Apr 24, 2009 23:57:28 GMT -5
Hopefully, you can get them to become playmates. Merlyn...the black kitty in the photo...loves Napoleon but that's only because Napoleon stands his ground and won't back down but unaggressively. He's done horrible things to Nicodemus, Pooka, and Babushka. All are more timid ferrets. Then there's the ongoing battle with Mad Max.....I thought that particular battle had been left behind.....no....they were at it the other day. Max is more careful but when he starts after the cat he's insane. He forgets that he only weighs about 3 lbs to Merlyn's 15 or so pounds. I really hope that your kitty and your furbaby can indeed become best friends.
ciao
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 25, 2009 1:03:01 GMT -5
I'm hoping so. I know that Hermes just wants to play and is just starting to learn the limits that Ozzy is setting for him. They seem to get along and Ozzy is far from timid. The little boy has now made a game of chasing after my feet whenever I'm in his room. I figure that if he's not scared of feet that are almost twice the size of his body, he's not going to back down from something like a cat.
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Post by Heather on Apr 25, 2009 21:02:18 GMT -5
That's the problem....they're not afraid of anything. They don't know when to back down and they bite harder than another cat does when it plays. So the deal is they start playing ferret gets excited, bites cat as he would a ferret friend....cat gets scared and lashes out. It's the claws that you have to watch out for. Merlyn trapped Nicodemus and raked his belly with his back feet. It looked horrible and was gone the next day but Nico is terrified of Merlyn. With Max, first it was his tongue (split it right in two....looked like a snake) he had to have surgery to fix it and antibiotics for 2 weeks. Max never forgave Merlyn and started to hunt him regularly. Merlyn nailed Max (why am I never home when these things happen ) and blinded him in one eye. Max now doesn't hunt Merlyn....but if the advantage presents itself he goes at Merlyn. I've heard of cats playing with ferrets all the time. My guys play awfully rough for either cats. A cat raised with a ferret should become lifelong friends. Good luck ciao |
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 25, 2009 22:34:59 GMT -5
I'll admit that I'm starting to get a bit concerned about Ozzy's reaction to chicken. He only eats it if he's either starving or I make him and I don't think he digests it very well.
I saw some dark green diarrhea in the litter box this morning (gave him chicken last night) along with most of the chicken that I gave him. I gave him beef heart for breakfast and it was gone in a couple of hours and his poop went back to normal. I'm really starting to worry that he's allergic to chicken. This would make things really hard for me since I can't afford to buy novel protein sources for him. Also, chicken is where he's getting most of his bone content. Organs seem to agree with him just fine. It's just the regular muscle meat (besides heart and gizzard) that gives him issues.
Should I up the whole prey or will adding eggshells to his other protein sources be an alright bone substitute? He also has the same reaction to game hen so that's out of the question as well.
I'm really hoping that this is some sort of phase that he'll grow out of. If it's not, I'll only be able to supplement with raw since chicken is the only way I can get bone into him besides whole prey. And I'm pretty sure I can't afford prey only.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Apr 26, 2009 1:09:23 GMT -5
Sorry it took me so long to get in here. Heather has PMed me your feeding schedule, and I have reviewed it. It looks perfect, so you are now ready to graduate. Now that you've completed the switch and had your feeding schedule reviewed, its time to retire this thread to the "newbie switch archive"!  No one (yourself included) will be able to post in this thread anymore once its been moved to the archive. Please begin posting your diet-related questions in the "whole prey" "raw" or "general feeding questions and discussion" area. We encourage EVERYONE that is archived to continue posting. Feeding a natural diet is a learning PROCESS, there is much to learn after making the switch. There is always lots to learn, and lots to share with the newbies on the site. If you feel comfortable offering the newbies advice, then by all means go ahead. The more help we can get, the better. If you'd rather lurk and not post, thats cool too, its just always nice to have our graduates stick around. We (your mentor and I) will run a detailed "check up" with you (via PM or email) at the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year anniversary since "going natural" just to make sure all is going well and that you arent having any issues. Congratulations on your switch!    |
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Post by Heather on Apr 26, 2009 23:23:51 GMT -5
He might be allergic but I think I would try some other proteins for a couple of days. Try returning to the chicken in a couple of days. Your little tyke might have had a touch of the flu or upset tummy. Giuli has gratuated your little guy. That is so fantastic. Congratulations!!! Look once she graduates you, we can't communicate through this tread but if your still having problems PM me and I will answer you...No problems Congratulations, Little Ozzy {{{cyberhugs}}} |
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Post by ccretarolo on Apr 26, 2009 23:55:46 GMT -5
I'm expecting that he's going to keep on running into bugs for a while. My bf works for airport security and brings home a lot of stuff that both he and I have become immune to (we met at the airport) that could be hitting Ozzy. The diarrhea seems to have been a one time thing and he takes both beef heart and chicken as long as I give him small pieces.
I'm just going to keep an eye on him and keep some pedialyte on hand in case of prolonged diarrhea. So far it seems to be an on and off thing though. At least flu season will be ending soon and catching this crap now will make his immune system stronger in the long run.
I must admit that I'm proud of my Ozzy. He's already up to a 90% or better hit rate for his litter box so he's out of the cage most of the time. It's now just a matter of him getting big enough to deal with the cats (Hermes) so he can free roam.
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Post by Heather on Apr 26, 2009 23:58:54 GMT -5
Great stuff. Hey, expecting a ferret to hit the litter box more than 90% of the time is stetching reality Your little Ozzy is doing great. Good luck ciao |
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