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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 23, 2009 17:29:24 GMT -5
Hahaha well you need it! You gotta take care of yourself girl! I'm not remarkably surprised that they were apprehensive, but don't give up just yet. It takes some time to intro other flavors  Now! You got get some rest. No staying up until midnight tonight okay? |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 23, 2009 18:54:34 GMT -5
We'll see haha. I'm trying to be good. The most exhausting thing I did today was portion ALL that chicken. It's gonna take me forever once I start buying larger amounts of meat. I wonder if you can arrange to have it arrive on a certain day, i.e. my day off, lol.
Nuka and Sully had their dinner just now. Moki and Ginny had a few licks, but they didn't eat a bunch and Lucinda is turning her nose up again. I'm going to have to mix some kibble for her again. They hadn't had their play time yet (I am sitting in the middle of a weasel war zone right now and Ginny is trying to climb on my keyboard!) so maybe after this they'll be more hungry?
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 23, 2009 20:20:16 GMT -5
Still no luck getting the older girls to eat a whole lot...they haven't eaten much of anything today, so I'm contemplating giving in and giving them kibble, at least for half the day tomorrow. They need some time to eat as much as they want at their own pace.
I'd like to not give Nuka or Sully any kibble now that they're excited about soups, but I know they're not getting balanced nutrition right now either. What do you think I should do with them?
While portioning everything up tonight, I figured out that, based on the ice cubes (2 per ferret, like you said), about 2 1/5 cups of soup will be a complete meal for all of my ferrets. Does that sound about right?
I mixed up another day and a half of liquidy soup using the liquify button on my blender and then made two days worth of slightly chunkier soup using the puree option. I still have 4 whole chicken breasts for whatever I need them for--more liquid soup, whole chicken later, etc. I still need to get some ground meats, but I may wait until the older girls are consistently eating soups. Hmm...
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 23, 2009 20:24:36 GMT -5
LOL I hear you. I go shopping for their stuff on a completely separate day than my own grocery shopping usually, and on a day off so that I can immediately portion, bag, and freeze. It does certainly take some planning, I will agree there.
My kids are always hungry after a playtime - and then crash after eating - but eventually you'll have them worked on such a schedule that you can set your watch by them. I know at 9:00am every day they'll stop playing and all RUSH to the top shelf in the cage for breakfast. It never fails.
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 24, 2009 7:06:10 GMT -5
I had another question for you, but I totally forgot it!
Moki, Ginny, and Lucinda ended up eating a little more soup last night, but I gave them kibble for breakfast this morning, just to make sure they get filled up. They'll get soup tonight. The babies got soup for breakfast from the ice cube tray. I tried microwaving them like you said and they got WEIRD. They turned all mushy, but chunky, and I couldn't get the chunks to break up, and they smelled kind of cooked after only two minutes. Is it supposed to be like that? I gave it to them that way. Maybe if they eat the chunky pieces, I'll start moving Sully and Nuka up to something with a little more texture. Sully seemed to really like his soup warm instead of room temperature! If they don't eat it, it's okay. I'm giving them moistened and hard kibble this afternoon to try to balance out their diet a bit since they've only had chicken for awhile.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 24, 2009 9:16:58 GMT -5
Sounds good. Hunger is a good sauce, but starvation isn't so much  When I nuke the soups, I put one cube or so in a small ceramic bowl with about an ounce of hot water. Then I nuke for 45 seconds - a minute and stir up. This keeps it from overcooking like you experienced. Try experimenting with different methods, and you'll find one that works for your recipe. Of course, if they take to the chunks it might be a good time to think about reducing soups and moving onto ground/pieces...! |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 24, 2009 10:06:42 GMT -5
Sully and Nuka took the chunks! Should I try ground meat first or can I try cutting meat into tiny pieces? Also, I'm having a ferret play date tonight! The friend I mentioned to you a few days ago is coming over with her four weasels. I'm hoping she remembers not to feed them because we were going to try some soup with them. She'd love to do raw but she said she can't with her two five-year-olds. I say, rubbish! It should be fun. She's bringing her big play pen though because we can't have 9 ferret running around my house, even in my room, uncontained. My mother would have a heart attack.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 24, 2009 19:33:15 GMT -5
Oh have fun! Tell her I say hello, and take some pics of the action!!
I'm glad two of the kids liked the chunks, that's fantastic news. You can try teensy weensy slivers of chicken mixed into the soup and see how they take to that. And I mean teensy weensy. Cut it into tiny pieces like the size of a pencil eraser. It's easier to do if the meat is still slightly frozen, then let thaw fully and serve.
Good luck! And have fun!
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 24, 2009 20:46:45 GMT -5
We had a blast! My kids had never been outside before, so it was a nice change to be out in the playpen, and I have 120 pictures from it! Planning on posting some tonight to this forum and yours! She didn't end up bringing her older ferrets 'cause they don't always play well with others, but her 3-year-old and her 1-year-old came. By the way, she said to tell you her user name was "jes" on Ferret Village.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 25, 2009 11:52:12 GMT -5
Yep, I remember her! I'm glad everyone had a good time, going outside is always a blast, all the sights and smells and textures. It's a wonderland for fuzzies! It's finally nice out today, I'm going to take Morgan out for a walk  |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 25, 2009 17:10:08 GMT -5
The older girls are really inconsistent with eating their soup. Some days they'll eat half, yesterday they ate it all for the first time, and then today they hardly touched it...how can I get them to eat more consistently?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 25, 2009 20:53:21 GMT -5
Make sure they're hungry Are you still removing the kibble a while before feeding the soups? I'd remove the kibble, wait until each of them poops, and then feed the soups. Then you know their bellies are empty! |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 26, 2009 8:24:49 GMT -5
Yes, I take the kibble away 4 hours before, so I know they're hungry!
Anyway, this morning was successful so far! I sat there and watched Lucinda gulp down twice as much as Moki and Ginny, so that was really rewarding. The trio also got pinkie mice since somebody likes them.
I added very tiny chunks of chicken and pork to Sully and Nuka's meal, so I'll let you know if they eat those or not.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jul 26, 2009 12:33:32 GMT -5
Ou sounds good - keep me posted! I find my kids eat more in the mornings than in the evenings but I don't know how much bearing that has, if it's just my kids or ferrets in general. Anyway, sounds like a good morning for them!
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Post by bindiferret89 on Jul 26, 2009 14:49:29 GMT -5
Nuka and Sully ate the pork and chicken chunks! They waited till last to eat them, but they scarfed them down too! Anything new I should try with them or should I keep them on chunks + soup for a few days?
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