Koda's New Menu + Questions

[katt]

Well, Koda ran out of meat today after I decided that it was beef heart making him smell bad and I threw the rest out, so I went to the store to discover they were having a sale! After a lot of time shopping, and twice as much (at least) chopping here is Koda's new menu!

I bought:
2 whole chickens (skin, gizzards and all)
chicken hearts
chicken gizzards
ground turkey (new)
ground buffalo (new)
beef (new-it was like a pot roast T-bone bone in thing, don't remember what it was called)
rat pinkies
whole Cornish game hen (new)

I chopped it all up (except the game hen and rat pinkies) in different sizes and put it randomly into sammich sized ziplock baggies and put it all in the freezer. Then I also made 4 different "Duck Soups." Only they weren't really "duck" soup and I kind of invented the recipe haha There was various chicken parts, turkey, buffalo, egg, beef, a little calcium powder, water, and some bits of yellow squash in the soups. Each one was a slightly diff mix (i.e. only 1 had egg, 2 had squash, and the rest was random meat mixes). I put it all in the blender (LOVE my Magic bullet! ;D ) and pureed it into a mushy soupy gloppy pink stuff. He LOOOVED the one with squash and egg. I gave him a little to taste and he went NUTS! haha He kept looking for more! Then I let him clean my spatula (waste not want not ) and he tried to stash it! hehe

He has now had all of the above as well as lamb, fish, and um I don't think he had pork yet, I don't remember.

It all made Waaay more servings than I expected (which made me happy). I would like to get him up to some whole foods (he still doesn't like eating anything not chopped up ) and add a few more food options, but we are making good progress.

Are pork tail and pork feet ok?
Beef tongue here is REALLY expensive and I don't think I'll buy him anymore beef heart. After class I got a whiff of some bad (after being in his cage all day) and wanted to throw up. I now have no desire to have anything to do with it ever again. And it made him smell bad too.

What is tripe? It is spendy but you get a lot. It is white and I remember reading something about like green tripe? Is white tripe ok? What about raw bacon (unseasoned, wait, do the MAKE any unsalted?) for a little treat?

Where can I get rabbit? DEAD rabbit. Killing mice is one thing. Killing a cute bunny is TOTALLY different.

Oh yes, and I am sure I sound naive, but what on earth is that long, hard, "turkey neck" shaped thing in the middle of the chicken? It reminded me of a turkey neck, but obviously that is not it. haha I only buy precut chicken (boneless skinless chicken breast tenders! Yeah!) Or precooked rotisserie for myself.

Oh and he will get some hamster pinky too when my roommate's feeder-breeder gives birth. And mice pinkies.

I am not sure how to transition him to adult mice/rats. I don't want to cut them up bc I hate touching them (I either use plastic bags to grab/hold them or tongs to feed my snake) and they smell gross. Any suggestions? Once he is eating it whole/adult, can I just put him in the tub with a live mouse and he will kill and eat it?

[sherrylynne]

White tripe isn't worth it. No nutrients, as it's all boiled and bleached out. Pork tail and pig's feet are ok. Not much meat on the pigs feet, though he may have fun chewing away at it!
Rabbit I get from a whole prey provider. And that long turkey neck shaped thing? It's the chicken neck, and yes, he can have it
As for mice, I actually had to start mine off with chopped up pinkies mixed in with their regular meat. I chopped them frozen- less mess. Not that there's much with a pinkie anyway! And you will get used to the idea to the point where it doesn't bother you any more, with enough practice.

[katt]

Wel have chopped up rat pinkies and now he eats whole pinkies, but how do I get up to adult mice? Preferably without chopping the adult mice.

[Lynxie]

You could just go slightly older and older, until you are at adult.

[sherrylynne]

Sorry- misunderstood!
I started with pinkies, then went to hoppers, then small adults, then the large. I will admit- when I moved them up to hoppers, I did have to make a slit in the belly, and squirt in some oil. That way, when they licked up the oil, they got a taste of mouse along with it.

[lnsybean44]

I get my rabbit at an ethnic foods mart. It is all human grade meat. You litterally walk in point out the rabbit you want and they take it in back. Where I go, they will chop the rabbit up for me, fur and all and bag it I actually need to get back down there before the boys forget how to eat rabbit too, like they forgot how to eat mice.

[katt]

Hmmm....we have a few ethnic markets, but not any that I know of that keep live food. I will have to check it out. I have been meaning to go look at their random meat selection anyways. It'll probably have to wait until the new huge stock in my freezer starts to diminish. Which I have a feeling won't take as long as it looks like it will... lol

[tiggyeaj]

Oh, I LOVE ethnic markets. In SW Ohio there's this place called Jungle Jim's--it has little sections from all over the world and you can buy the "strangest" things. Case in point: camel. (I never did eat it . . . )

Even if they don't keep live animals, a lot of ethnic markets will have great meats like rabbit, goat, lamb, duck, etc . . . and the odds and ends bits of meat and organs for really great prices.

[katt]

Yeah, I need to check them out after I run out of the big batch in my freezer haha