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Post by Heather on Mar 26, 2009 0:21:42 GMT -5
Yayyyyyy.....way to go fuzzbutts (says me doing a weasel war dance with Captain Jack, who is the only fuzzy awake at the moment) Did your little girl finally have a go at a mouse or did she refuse to participate at all? This is great news. Awesome work. I will check in with you tomorrow and see if they are up to a repeat performance. You know, Captain Jack was a totally unsuccessful at his firt couple of attempts. In fact he wanted out because he was horrified that the rest of the guys were tearing apart the stuffies (mice). The next time he wasn't so scared and the last time he actually hunted. He wasn't able to do a kill....he treated them like a toy but he's starting to get the idea on how to hunt. He loves eating them, now though. So sometimes it's just a matter of watching the others do what comes natural Good luck and I will check in with you tomorrow. ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Mar 27, 2009 0:42:04 GMT -5
Well all but trouble killed again today, though she did at least sniff it. and everyone ate theirs, though I am not sure if any one poached any one elses.... We will do it again tomorrow and the next day and by then I should have some more babies born my mamas are HUGE. Then some of my rats should be ready to go and they hopefully should be up for that. It went way better when I just put them back in the cage with their prizes. Be back on tomorrow.
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Post by Heather on Mar 27, 2009 23:16:10 GMT -5
Awesome bit of work. A big hug to the little hunters Come on there Trouble...you're the only one not playing the game Do you suppose she might be interested in trying if you cut open the prey? Captain Jack was horrified with his stuffies (mice) being killed. Odin only ate half of his mouse (the choice head and shoulders) before moving on. I left this little piece of mouse with Jack. In the morning when I went to get him, it was gone?? The next night I gave him one that had been rather brutally chewed when it had been killed. The next morning it was gone. Jack now has no problems eating the mice and he has attempted a couple of kills (he's not been successful, he won't bite them he rolls them around and smothers them by laying on them ) Are your rats very big? I'm not sure that would be a good idea to allow Trouble to try her hand on a larger rat, before she's killed a mouse. Just a thought, they can be a nasty piece of work in the arena . I will check on you tomorrow to find out how are rough and tumble little hunters did. Talk at you later ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Mar 30, 2009 12:04:52 GMT -5
Trouble has no interest in them live or dead. The mice and ASFR are just under a month old. I did the rats yesterday and Oh my Diesel had his gone in under a minute...Same with oliver, so they both got second ones. They did good with the rats, is there a big difference in smell or taste between the rats or mice do you notice a difference in reactions to them? So today rats again and then mice tomorrow until my new babies are older. Talk to you later.
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Post by Heather on Mar 30, 2009 15:11:50 GMT -5
Ok, we're going to have to work on Trouble. How are you with maybe chopping a mouse up? or sticking it in the blender (dead of course ) an seeing if we can get her to eat it that way (sort of we will get it in you if we have to feed you with a syringe : Just so she gets the idea that it is indeed food. My guys eat either without much trouble, but I wonder if it's size that makes the difference. My guys love mice because they get to make a fresh kill, the rats come to me frozen. So they might indeed enjoy the rats more if they were fresh. Your guys are doing fantastic, now we really have to work on your little girl Trouble . I will check in later to see what we might try and do about Trouble ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Apr 1, 2009 10:35:24 GMT -5
I will grab a couple pinkies and make soupy with them for trouble. See if that works. It's getting good enough that they are squabbling over their kills, I try to make sure they each get enough and it is nice to see them take to them enough that they want to fight over them. Not sure if they will take just a chunk of meat now or not I haven't tried yet, I wanted to get them good enough settled on the whole prey first. We'll see how it goes. Yipee!!!! and so it moves forward...
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Post by Heather on Apr 1, 2009 23:23:06 GMT -5
You are doing so fantastic . Give your little fuzzbutts a great big hug....fighting over their food...that is so great. They're really enjoying their dinners I agree with you. Let them get comfortable with their prey, after all it's totally balanced...right They could get by with eating only prey if you can cover their prey needs with 3 or more protein sources. It depends on what you want for them. Now, we have to convince Trouble about what she's missing. Really, you only have to worry about the one little one if everyone is eating the prey. That in a way is easier as you can focus on switching Trouble. I will check in with you tomorrow to see how your mouse in the blender deal went Good luck ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Apr 6, 2009 7:56:00 GMT -5
Well, still no interest on her part. She will eat soup in I use a spoon and hold her head up and sort of force the tip of the spoon in her mouth. Maybe I will try scruffing her...you know cause it worked so well last time...(lol not..) but maybe it's worth trying again. Everyone else is doing great now pretty much 100% accuracy with their kills and major fighting if I but them back in the cage together one or the other will try to get both, my god I have never heard the amount of screaming come from them as when I put them in together and they all do it now(except trouble of course) it started as a little scuffle with some chirrping and nattering but now they out and out screech at each other. I am out of older prey now, I got 3 batches of babies so I have to make a trip out to buy some bigger guys. Talk to you soon.
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Post by Heather on Apr 6, 2009 23:50:52 GMT -5
You know, I found myself actually doing that with Calypso. I thought it rather a crude way of getting her to eat it but I found that it wasn't quite as bad if I used the arm of the scruffing hand to support her back. It was the only way I could get her to take the raw food to begin with. She was by far my most stubborn little beasty but then she didn't really want to live (she was suffering from shelter shock and just wanted to curl up and sleep....she missed her people so much) She took probably...2 weeks before she actually started eating from the spoon and that was still starting with the scruff but once she started licking it up I would release her and let her eat on her own. She now eats very well on her own and is getting quite fat If you chose to go this route, you will have to keep a close eye on her that she doesn't get too stressed. It is going to be stressful for her....and you. It's amazing isn't it as to how your sweet little furbabies, become wild little beasties when they get to eat prey as they're supposed to. They certainly don't get that type of stimulation from eating kibbles . I will check in to see if you managed to get your stubborn little girl to at least try her food. ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Apr 12, 2009 20:13:33 GMT -5
Only small bits then she struggles like crazy. Things going ok I am going to see about getting some chicks soon. Talk to you soon.
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Post by Heather on Apr 13, 2009 0:36:48 GMT -5
So you managed to get Trouble to eat a little bit? That's progress, try a little again tomorrow and we should have her eating the raw at least. Good going. Are you going to try and find a local supplier for chicks or are you just going to order from someone like rodentpro? I will check in with you tomorrow and see if you're making any progress with Trouble. ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Apr 15, 2009 11:39:38 GMT -5
This week has been so hectic. I feel so ad, this is the first time I have ever missed a day scooping litter and then to top it off they knocked their water bottle off the cage and I didn't notice for a couple hours...man I am being such a bad mommy this week. I have a friend getting married this weekend and I am sewing her jacket as well as making her jewelry, both last minute as in I found out this weekend just passed. Talk about biting off more than I can chew. My skin kids aren't to happy with me either and my daughter has an ear ache... So the ferrets are doing ok(a little thirsty right now) and there is a place in town I think I can order chicks in from. I am out of mice right now so have to pick some up, so for the next day or two I guess they will get steak from the freezer.(it's a good thing my husband is out of town working...shhh...it will be our little secret)
Can I feed them salad shrimp? I have a tiny bag that needs to be used up.
Mmmm I guess that's it for an update. Check back in when I get some chicks in.
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Post by Heather on Apr 15, 2009 23:39:50 GMT -5
Wow and I thought my week was hectic I won't mention the steak if you won't Bottle mishaps is one of the reasons why I use bowls. Now it doesn't stop them from swimming in them which can empty them just as fast and usually results in very wet bedding. You can feed them some salad shrimp (I'm assuming that we're talking about canned) but the sodium content is through the roof and probably really bad for them. If they're fresh, then yes, they can have them. Spoiled little ferrets....surf and turf...shrimp and steak...now I'm moving in too Don't stress yourself too much, give your furbrats a big hug from me . ciao
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Post by moonlightsedge on Apr 28, 2009 16:05:16 GMT -5
It's the frozen salad shrimp, I will check the sodium in them. Wow I didn't realize how long it's been since I have been on. I had a week straight of sewing for a friends wedding, last minute issues with her dress. and then this last week just of catching things up(and I'm not even close yet) The fuzzbutts are doing ok though they are probably not to happy with the little amount of time spent with them this last week or so.
Little Trouble is still being stubborn but the others are crazy about their whole prey, though they still won't touch store bought meat...kinda weird. I have a question about the mice and things. I just found that they have mites again(and my new batch came in with them to) should I worry about the ferrets catching them? Should I add tiny amounts of the ivermectin to their water? or just keep treating the mice and rats and not worry? I haven't seen them in the mice tank yet only the rats and the mixed tank and I have already treated them once. It is frustrating...I just want a healthy source of food for my babies... I am going to start trying the cut meats again I haven't for the last couple of weeks, been to busy, but then I would at least have some breathing space to get my prey prime... well gotta run, my job is never done these days...
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Post by Heather on Apr 30, 2009 1:09:31 GMT -5
Wow, you are very busy You know post your question about the mites to the breeding prey section. I honestly don't know. I've never had to deal with it. There are some very knowledgeable people who raise many different prey types and I'm sure they have information to share regarding keeping the prey healthy or treating a pre existing problem. I don't like ivermectin I know it sometimes a necessary evil but I wouldn't be using it casually. Find out what others think about this. I have a little boy who came down with an upper respiratory infection....his solution....stop eating. Fine we did the force feeding thing and he's not eating again.....guess what he won't eat meat...he wants only prey. So we're both looking at the same problem. I'm going to give him a couple of days of being finicky, I know how crappy he's feeling I have pneumonia, then we're going to work at getting him back on track little beast Are you making any progress with Trouble? Looking forward to talking at you again. ciao
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