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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 12, 2009 12:37:10 GMT -5
Awesome! Sounds like a good day. Don't give in to any of their stubbornness now  |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 13, 2009 8:01:49 GMT -5
And stubborn they are being! After their ADV tests, they ate 60% of their food and yesterday they only ate about 20%. Little brats, lol. On the bright side, rabbit was a hit with the little ones!
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 15, 2009 4:13:38 GMT -5
Nothing new to tell you except the older girls seem to be wanting to go backwards now. They're even trying to refuse soups, although I'm really holding out on them and haven't given them any kibble. They just haven't eaten very much for about 2 days.  |
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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 15, 2009 9:19:51 GMT -5
They are testing you --- seeing if this is just some funny game to you. Force feed if necessary, you might even have to thin out the ground and soups to be able to syringe feed. But they won't go hungry for long, they know that stuff is food and are just testing to see if they can get their kibbles back. Don't back down!
I'm glad the rabbit went over well! I went out yesterday to pick up some rabbit and pheasant (Bravo! and Primal) but the store didn't have either. I was bummed, so I got some NV rabbit just to have on hand.
Good like and keep pushing food on the older girls. Their stubbornness can only last so long before they realize you aren't kidding.
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 17, 2009 18:44:22 GMT -5
Doing well here! The older girls are starting to give in now that they're realizing that's all they get.
I rearranged my entire bedroom over the weekend and organized everything, mostly for my benefit, but also with ferret proofing in mind. There was too much for them to get into on the lower bookshelves with there being 5 ferrets in the house now and they were constantly making messes. It's so much better for them because they can have a good, long run on the open floor and it's wonderful for me because I can leave the room for more than 5 minutes and not worry about DESTRUCTION! lol
I also got my Wysong samples in the mail today (Archetype-1 and Archetype-2) and a 20% off coupon! I think both types of food were supposed to be in little pellets, but one got pulverized by the postal service machines so it's sort of crushed now. I figure I'll sprinkle it over raw or use it in a soup.
How are your little fuzzbutts?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 17, 2009 20:28:58 GMT -5
Oh that's good news, I was going to ask how things were today if I hadn't heard from you  I rearranged my apartment over the weekend too, funny coincidence. I wanted to create a space that I could separate Pilot and Ranger from Morgan if I needed to. He tends to be really domineering and I want to try a different approach to integrating them. How are Sully and Nuka doing? Still working on bones alight? With Sully you can start trying some larger bones. Has Nuka started on bones yet? Let me know how they like the Wysong. I've never tried it with my kids, personally - but I imagine it works out well on days that you need a quick meal fix! My kids are all fine, I bring Pilot and Morgan into the vet's tomorrow. Pilot is getting another melatonin implant and we're having a chat about surgery. Morgan is getting his rabies booster. Routine stuff but I'll let you know what we think about Pilot's adrenal. And, how are YOU doing?? |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 17, 2009 23:14:29 GMT -5
Sully and Nuka will take anything I give them and went to town on a big ol' chicken thigh bone the other night! Nuka won't eat as much bone (maybe her jaws aren't strong enough yet and it tires her out?) but I've seen her work at them. My next item to try with them, since they're accepting of all textures and flavors thus far, is whole prey. One of my pregnant feeder mice died mysteriously, so I'm going to have to get another female. My other female is twice as wide is she is long and ready to pop any day now, so I'm waiting on that and then we're going to see how big bad Sully takes to a live pinkie. I have a feeling he has a lot of hunter in him and Nuka is pretty spunky, so she may enjoy it as well. Because pinkies are so small and have no fur, I really don't think it will take long for Sully and Nuka to see them as food, but who knows? These ferrets like to throw curve balls at me.  Let me know how it goes at the vet, especially with Pilot. I'm doing fine, although I'm busy. I went job hunting today and applied a few places. One place (a smaller, local version of Build-a-Bear) called me back to set up an interview, but I missed the call, so I need to call back in the morning. I also applied at a vet's office for a receptionist position and our local premium/natural pet food store (mostly geared toward cats & dogs) which unfortunately doesn't offer raw diets. Meh. Nonetheless, any change is good change right now, especially since I've been unemployed for a month now and I'm BROKE. It really sucks to be almost 20 and leeching $$ off your mom all the time. I also have to call my doctor tomorrow 'cause I'm having weird leg pain. At least all the free time has allowed me to catch up on fun stuff: penpalling, zines, writing... How have you been? You seem busy; hope it's not stressing you out too much! |
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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 18, 2009 19:50:20 GMT -5
Gosh, I have been really busy, and not in the kind of way that I like! Work is crazy with people on vacations so I've been working a lot, which makes me completely worn out but then there've been a lot of getting back-to-school things I've been doing. I apologize for being a little MIA!! Things should be settling back down now after this weekend - my brother who lives in Chicago and his new wife are coming for a visit - they just eloped last week suddenly. So it'll be a family weekend for sure Good luck on the job front, it's tough right now but hopefully something will come through for you. I get leg pain too, the starts of new varicose veins (crazy huh?) My mom had them really bad at my age too, and darn they aren't nice feeling!! Hope your problems are easier to clear up and less painful too. The vet appointment went well, Pilot has gained a quarter of a pound!! So we're going ahead with surgery at the end of October or early November. Morgan's rabies shot went fine, and they both of them dazzled the techs and vet alike with their perfect behavior and sweet kisses (even after Pilot got her melatonin implant... what a good girl she is!) And Morgan didn't even poof! What a guy! Pinkies might take a bit more encouragement (heck my kids are still touch and go with prey!) but I'd definitely give it a go. The earlier they get introduced, the better. And you never know, they might take to live quickly and surprise the both of us Keep me posted on jobs and on the kids, I'm off to check on Pilot's impalement wound (gosh those implant needles are enormous!) |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 18, 2009 23:56:29 GMT -5
Aww! Poor Pilot! Give her lots of kisses for me.
I got the job at the stuffed animal place! They hired me on the spot and I start Friday morning. Yay!
The leg pain, we think, is just a muscle spasm that's affecting the nerves in my leg, which I should have figured out since I'm in massage school, but I went into panic mode, lol. I've been having some minor varicose veins there too. Bleh.
The older girls are doing really well on ground, by the way. They're starting to get the picture: this is food. This is the ONLY food you get. So there. LOL Tough ferret love.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 19, 2009 10:42:05 GMT -5
Congrats! That was fast! I hope this job turns out to be fun (or at least tolerable!) until you can get the massage therapy thing going.
I knew the girls would figure it out. All ferrets seem to go through that original stubborn phase where they refuse it even after they've seemingly accepted it. So now you're over that hump. Keep it steady for a week or so and then let's see about adding teeny chunks.
Are you going on therapy or meds for the leg pain? I hope it's something that you can work out and doesn't trouble you for much longer.
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 20, 2009 15:04:55 GMT -5
My mouse had FOURTEEN babies yesterday! She's a first time momma though and she seems to be having trouble nursing them all at once, so I decided to help her out a bit and feed three of them to the ferrets. Well, now I know who my mice hounds are.
Moki is apparently the one who was eating the frozen pinkies I left in the cage. I gave her two live ones and she killed them and ate them right up like snacks.
I gave her a third because none of the other ferrets seemed interested and she stashed it, but didn't kill it completely and I felt bad because the little thing was in pain, so I took Sully over for another sniff. As soon as he smelled the blood, he started licking it. I just wanted him to kill it so the mouse wasn't suffering. After a minute he got the hang of it and realized he had to kill it to eat it. He seemed to REALLY like it once he figured out it was food! The others aren't really interested at this point.
I got two more breeding pairs of mice from another pet shop last night except upon closer examinationg, I think they have MITES. GRR. Not even sure what to do about that at this point because I'm afraid to treat them with them being feeders for the ferrets and I don't have CO2 to kill them and then freeze them. You can do the same thing as with CO2 with vinegar, but it's not as humane and often doesn't kill them completely. Any ideas?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Aug 20, 2009 19:35:09 GMT -5
You know, I'm not really sure. I've never fed live so I've never had to question that sort of situation!! I'd post in the prey forum and ask, I'm sure someone has had that sort of issue before. There's got to be a humane and easy way to deal with this.
I'm soooo surprised Moki took to the mice! What a good girl! Sometimes they just have these innate senses about these things and take to prey so easily. Other times, they don't know a mouse from another ferret.
Sounds like your colony is really getting started too, that's so fantastic. Hopefully we can get the others taking to mice soon enough too!
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 21, 2009 22:44:54 GMT -5
Sully took another mouse today, no help from Moki this time! I'm letting the rest of the mice grow a bit now so that they'll have some variety in ages and I need a few for my snakes.
Not sure what to do about the mites. I posted (accidentally) in the whole prey forum instead of the breeding feeders forum. So no responses yet.
I think I'm going to have to start separating Sully & Nuka during meal time. Nuka is developing a serious attitude problem when it comes to food. Today was the second time I've witnessed them fighting over meat and today Nuka attacked Sully while they were tug-of-warring over CGH. I scruffed her to try to get her to back off and let go and Sully bit her front paw. No blood drawn, but I don't want it happening again. Crazy ferrets.
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Post by Heather on Aug 23, 2009 18:37:36 GMT -5
I"m just popping in regarding the petty food bickering. Unless they draw blood, let them work it out. It's usually loud but it's rarely hard (it looks and sounds a lot worse than it actually is). The more you interferre the worse it will get  . In their opinion this is food worth fighting for . It will settle down, to a dull roar My guys fight over mice too, with much screaming and snarling...but no one ever gets hurt, just make sure there is enough food. Once the dominant ferret is full, then the other will get to eat. It's not the way we would like it, but it's the ferret way. I'm not interferring, it's only a suggestion, you don't have to take it but it will make your life easier in the long run. There are foods that ferrets think that are good enough to forget friendship for. Mice just happens to be one of those food . ciao |
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Post by bindiferret89 on Aug 23, 2009 19:11:05 GMT -5
Thanks Heather! It just really freaked me out. I've never seen them get that crazy. And ours wasn't mice...it was game hen! Eek! But I'll let them work it out next time. Thanks for the tip!
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