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Post by myfirebandit on Mar 8, 2010 16:04:13 GMT -5
I haven't gotten any frozen mice yet (store is closed on weekends) but I will in the next few days.
For now, Sprout is eating ice cubes of pork soup. She eats just about a whole cube every time I give it to her (twice a day). I'm leaving her food in there, and taking it out a few hours before pork time.
Today she saw me getting it ready and got all excited... jumped about, climbed all over me, and then once she got a whiff she rebelled. I still have to scruff her at first, shove her face in it, and as soon as she gets a taste I can let go of her and she'll eat it on her own... strange brat. I don't have to spoon feed her any more, and she is eating little chunker bits in the soup. No ferretone or kibble is added.
I only have a month til my job starts, and then I will only be able to feed her at night monday-thursday. Hopefully we'll have made some more significant progress before then.
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Post by sherrylynne on Mar 8, 2010 20:51:48 GMT -5
Don't feel too bad about Sprout- I still have to give Boris a taste of soup from my finger before he'll dig in And he's been having it every week now for almost 2 years! Since she's doing so well with it, try making it thicker for her. Maybe even a few teensy pieces in it.
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Post by myfirebandit on Mar 12, 2010 23:45:45 GMT -5
Still feeding Sprout pork soup... thicker, and she eats partly pureed chunks. She even started licking the bowl out tonight, and I didn't have to force her face into it to get her to eat it. I'm going to chop some bits up for her tomorrow and see how that goes.... Kitchen scissors are handy dandy Bug got lamb for the first time last night. He ate it all after it was in his cage for a few hours. Where do I go from here? Just keep making Sprout's soup chunkier?
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Post by sherrylynne on Mar 13, 2010 12:17:04 GMT -5
That's great news!!! When you do cut up some pieces, only make them about the size of kibble pieces. She still won't have the chewing motions down yet, and these she can just swallow til she actually gets the taste for them You may have to cover them with soup for now, but that's ok, too! For bugs, just keep him going on the different meats. You can also try him with some chicken liver, see if he'll take it. Once he's eating enough of a variety, and the liver/organs, we can set up a weekly menu for him that you'll use for Sprout also
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Post by myfirebandit on Mar 28, 2010 18:48:22 GMT -5
I'm so sorry I haven't responded... things have been crazy over here with visiting my family during spring break, and on top of all that, my computer got some serious viruses and was out of commission for almost two weeks. I'm back now! And with GREAT news!!! While visiting my parents, I couldn't bring any frozen pork soup cubes, so skipped the meat for a few days. While there, I gave Bug a bunch of fatty chicken scraps from meals my folks made. One night I looked over and Sprout had taken a mouthful and was eating it!!! It was shredded up pretty well, so she didn't have to chew too much to eat it. I wonder if she missed her pork and decided that chicken was similar enough.... haha. Her kibble was in the cage with her all along ^_^ I just got back home yesterday and am getting back to serious work switching her. Bug went through a growth spurt one night (he was significantly larger the next morning... everyone noticed it immediately) and now is larger than Sprout and turning into an awesome little chunker Anyways, I'm back on here regularly again, and advice is appreciated! I'm thinking pork again today until I get to the store and get some chicken to chop up finely and see if Sprout will go for it again....
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Post by sherrylynne on Mar 29, 2010 9:28:20 GMT -5
Hey, whatever works for them! That's what counts in a switch If pork and chicken are what she'll take right now, go for it. And that's fantastic news that they both took to the chicken so well. What you can do if you like, is just leave the minced/chopped up pork in the cage during the day, and give them the kibble back at night if they haven't eaten enough. Or vice versa. Whichever one works best for you. That's actually how I finally got my last one switched. She had no access to kibble during the day, so if she got hungry(and she did!), she had to eat the meat.
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Post by myfirebandit on Apr 2, 2010 1:32:32 GMT -5
I've been giving Sprout her pork during the day, and putting kibble and meat in for Bug at night. Yesterday I put in a piece of cornish hen. After a few hours I heard noise coming from the cage... went over... and Sprout was FIGHTING with Bug over the meat! She was holding her own, they were hissing and stealing it from each other and getting into little squabbles... nothing serious, but I'm really surprised! Kibble was in the cage while they were fighting over the meat....
I'm surprised by all this. I feel I worked so hard for so long and got nowhere, and now, BANG, she's eating it enthusiastically!! I didn't even chop up the cornish hen.... it was a whole quarter. I'm not sure if she ate the bones though.
Should I stick with poultry for a while so she's stuck on it and then switch to other meats? How soon do I start introducing her to other meats?
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 2, 2010 9:34:12 GMT -5
Introduce her just as soon as she'll take them! Wow- that's a major breakthrough. These guys never fail to amaze me I think you can likely try taking the kibble out entirely for 3-4 days, see how they do with just the meat.
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Post by myfirebandit on Apr 3, 2010 22:27:07 GMT -5
Sprout is eating bones I haven't had kibble in the cage for appx 48 hrs. First I put a chicken wing in. She took to it immediately! She ate about half of the wingtip. The next morning, when only half of the largest segment (the humerus?) was left, she chomped that up, bones and all. I gave hearts, liver and gizzard last night and this morning. I figured if she didn't eat any of it this morning I'd give her her kibble (no unfrozen chicken meat due to my lack of forethought). Unfortunately Bug stole the hearts and wouldn't let her near them even though she chased him around, but she grabbed a gizzard and munched on it ^_^. Tonight I threw in some ground beef that is left over in the freezer from trying to get her to eat beef soup. She ate a teeny bit and went to bed. I think she just has a tiny appetite This is one proud ferret momma.
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 4, 2010 10:32:23 GMT -5
You should be!! They are both doing wonderfully well For the hearts, you might have to give a meal of just hearts, to make sure they are both getting enough taurine in their diets. So, for meats, they are both eating pork chunks, chicken meat, bone, and organ(heart isn't an organ, neither is gizzard, just the livers/kidney there), and are they eating beef chunks, or just ground?
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Post by myfirebandit on Apr 4, 2010 11:58:24 GMT -5
I haven't tried beef chunks yet. Definitely will do. All the beef was gone this morning - a significant amount. I made sure to put in more than Bug could eat (little piggy). It's cornish hen tonight, and I will get some beef chunks for soon
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 4, 2010 19:35:03 GMT -5
I just get really cheap cuts when I can, of everything! I mean, why pay a lot for turkey breast, when wings and drumsticks work just as well . Or what would be a cheap, tough steak, as compared to tenderloin!
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 10, 2010 0:52:59 GMT -5
Hi, any updates yet?
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 18, 2010 14:04:33 GMT -5
Just to let you know- my computer has died , so although I'll be able to get on intermittently using my neighbor's, I'm asking the others to keep an eye out as well.
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