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Post by cristina on Apr 25, 2009 14:52:55 GMT -5
yaaahh for the new baby!!! Tell me all about him/her....thats so exciting!!!
Thats great shes eating it! See now she figures, well Im not going to get kibble only so I might as well eat the mix, lol....she will soon LOVE raw meat, when I go grocery shopping and bring home all the different meats (I usually take them all out, cut them up, put into seperate little baggies and then freeze), they steal little cut up pieces! Its hilarious!
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 25, 2009 14:59:39 GMT -5
Yup! Do you think it's too early to begin adding some more chicken to the mix? I'm putting just enough that every piece of kibble is covered with some ground chicken at the moment, so it's basically 1/4 chicken.
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Post by cristina on Apr 25, 2009 15:02:21 GMT -5
Yes thats the way to go....keep adding a little more gradually, if she will eat it.....if she suddenly begins to not eat it, then you can always take a step back and go back to the amount of ground that she would eat and then from there add more very gradually.
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 26, 2009 18:47:29 GMT -5
New baby is here! I posted is basic info on the first page.
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Post by cristina on Apr 27, 2009 21:29:02 GMT -5
What a beautiful little boy! Is he from a breeder? Heres what you should do with him...since hes so young he SHOULD be very easy to switch (since he hasnt yet made kibble the only pallatable thing yet) I would start him on what Bonsai is eating, he should catch on rather quickly (watch him though to make sure he is indeed eating). So just discontinue the Marshals (unless thats what you use with raw for the switch, although I think you said zupreem which is a better quality kibble) and just put out a little extra for both of them to share. He should taste it and love it (hopefully!!) Thats what happened when I got my third baby, she took a bite of the others food (raw chunks with kibble "breadcrumbs") and wouldnt eat her plain kibble!!! Keep me updated and let me know how he does! *one thing I forgot to say, since he is little and pretty young, make sure they always have some food for them at all times (since they are still partly on kibble, this is a necessity)! Once your on purely raw meat its a bit different, but until then they need all the nurtrients they can get to grow. (just put a little extra kibble and ground raw in for them, I used to mix in the morning b4 school and cover in a bag and refrigerate then serve 2nd meal when I got home...just a suggestion that helps with always having something prepared and ready for them.
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 27, 2009 21:40:40 GMT -5
He is a beauty no? And no he's not a breeder ferret, he's from marshalls hahaha (Though hopefully furbaby no.3 will be a breeder hob. I love those big boys ) At the moment Bonsai and Samurai are separated (For just-in-case health reasons). And I'm putting kibble and raw mix in Samu's bowl, and he seems to be eating it just fine. But in little portions at once. Bonsai on the other hand is just chowing down! I've added more chicken so that it's more chicken than kibble and she seems a little wary about all the chicken but she eats it just fine! So, should I just put extra kibble in Samurai's bowl? Along with the chicken? and I love your suggestion! I will definatly do it!
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Post by cristina on Apr 28, 2009 16:06:36 GMT -5
Thats amazing, he looks just like a breeder baby! I have never seen a marshals ferret so dark and handsome!!!! yea, I forgot about separating them lol, I didnt when I got 3 (I didnt know too much about ferrets at the time, ferret math just hit hard lol ) and I learned the hard way...they all contracted ECE from someoneeee...(I think Boomy) and they all had their spells of it (2 at once!) but it was just a small bump in the road and we got over it well. So good call on that one! haha Just put in enough (for both of them), so they are not "out of food" or have an empty bowl at any time during the day. (the normal mix of kibble and ground)... The only reason I say this is because obviously kibble isnt that great for them and the only way for kibble raised ferrets to get somewhat of proper nutrients is to have food available at all times (obviously this causes alot of other concerns like overweight and bad teeth, etc....the list goes on lol) but since yours are not fully off of kibble yet and on to a variety of raw, the kibble is still the source of (not protein)but vitamins and such. (I tend to ramble and stray from topic when I write haha, so let me know if I didnt explain this in a comprehendable way! It sounds like everything is going great, so now what I think you should do is maybe start adding in variety (ground) so they can develop a taste for other meats too (not only chicken...which was the problem I had lol). I would start to add in ground turkey, duck, rabbit, beef, venison, pork (Im not the biggest fan of pork, I tend to substitute it with something else like rabbit or duck....but thats totally up to u!) This is just a list I thought up of off the top of my head....whatever kinds of meat you can find is good, the more the better! (sometimes I cant find good variety at times where I live so there is also online meat orders, one I use which I find the most "fair" pricing is hare-today.com. (when I order I buy in bulk so its not too expensive) *just in case your interested*
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Post by cristina on Apr 28, 2009 16:09:47 GMT -5
Ohh actually, you know what...(obviously this is just in case your interested....) I have alot of frozen ground meats from when I was on my switch and I bought way too much lol (I thought we were never gonna be off ground hehe)
If the shipping is cheaper, if you do want the meat I have (if ur interested I'll look exactly what types of meat and how much I have and let you know), Id be more than happy to send it, I highly doubt Ill use it, I mean at least not the amount I have.
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 28, 2009 16:14:00 GMT -5
Alright, I just happen to have some ground turkey I've been saving for the veasels.
I've been planning on making a soupie for the kids. And so far this is the mix I've thought up. Kibble, egg shell,and some chicken. Just as an enrichment for them. Anything I should add, change, etc?
thank fully Samurai eats EVERYTHING. I put some chicken in his food this morning and he ate the chicken and only a little of the kibble. and he LOVES his soupie (He's kind of skinny and I give the Uncle Jims to him for now)
And as for Hare-Today.com Ironically enough I was looking at the web site the other day and was like "Wow! This is awesome". I think i'll order that sampler, just to see what's a favorite. then order that certain food and some others that made the finals lol. and then throw some other stuff in and see how they like it...
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 28, 2009 16:17:07 GMT -5
Ohh actually, you know what...(obviously this is just in case your interested....) I have alot of frozen ground meats from when I was on my switch and I bought way too much lol (I thought we were never gonna be off ground hehe) If the shipping is cheaper, if you do want the meat I have (if ur interested I'll look exactly what types of meat and how much I have and let you know), Id be more than happy to send it, I highly doubt Ill use it, I mean at least not the amount I have. That would be awesome! I mean if it's ok with you of course. I'm interested hahaha!
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 28, 2009 16:18:49 GMT -5
I have to go to soccer practice, off I go! haha
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Post by cristina on Apr 28, 2009 16:58:45 GMT -5
Ok I have 5lbs of chicken and another 5 lbs of turkey....I also have about 3lbs of rabbit (I used probably 2 pounds of it, so I'd say around 3lbs is left. Its all ground and stored frozen in my freezer....so if you want it your welcome to it!
I am going to check out shipping prices for sending frozen foods and Ill let you know, and let me know if you want them.
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 28, 2009 19:37:57 GMT -5
Oh that is perfect! Once you figure out the shipping$ I'll send you the info and stuff. Thank you!
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Post by skizzy928 on Apr 29, 2009 14:52:08 GMT -5
I'm really worried. Samurai has really bad diarrhea. He ate that soup I told you about in one of me recent posts and he had some ZuPreem which he's never had before. But that's all I know...I don't know how to help him :C
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Post by cristina on Apr 30, 2009 11:19:33 GMT -5
It doesnt sound like anything to panic about right now....sometimes when they are switching, their body is learning to process the new food correctly and can cause some loose stools for a while. If it persists and she doesnt show signs of comming down with a cold, then give her a small bit of pumpkin (ex. Libbys 100% natural pure pumpkin, NOT pumpkin fie filling cuz it had additives in it that isnt good for ferrets), if this doesnt plump up her poops then we can also try some added calcium (sometimes when my ferrets have loose stools I give them some extra calcium (ie. ground up egg shells) and this seems to work too).
But this is pretty natural if it due to the switching of food, plus when you think about it, shes eating a more liquified diet right now (ground, maybe some water, and soggy kibble) so its common to have watery poops. Just keep an eye on her to see if her attitude changes becuase that could mean she could have a cold or the flu.
Good luck and keep me posted!
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