Babycakes0707 Switching Thread

[sherrylynne]

That doesn't look too bad. My main concern with this one is what kind of pork bone can they eat? Mine will eat rib ends(mainly cartilage), but that's it. And do they actually eat the drumstick bone, chopped up or otherwise?
And heart and gizzard are muscle meats, not organ. For that, you'll need kidney, pancreas, lung, brain, etc. Good rule of thumb? If it doesn't secrete, it's meat
Other than the concern of type of bone, it looks good! You've got your three basic proteins, your liver, and 4 days of bone in!
When you start getting other meats, just substitute according to your menu. Example, lamb for pork or beef chunks, cornish hen, rabbit, quail for bone in meats.

[babycakes0707]

the porc they`ll eat ribs , bone and all, they sometimes leave a bit of the bone though, they dont finish it fully.

[babycakes0707]

oh and for the drumsticks i cut them into 3 pieces and they eat most of it, sometimes they`ll leave some bones but not alot

[sherrylynne]

Here's a copy of the pm I sent you for reference, just in case you accidently delete things like I do

Not a problem! And I really do believe you are ready
Ok, here's a basic menu:

Mon.- bone in
Tues- muscle meat
Wed- bone in
Thur- muscle meat
Fri.- bone in
Sat.- organ meat am, either bone or muscle in the evening
Sun- bone in


Bone in meats: chicken wings, ribs, drums, etc., rabbit, quail, turkey necks, whole prey, pork riblet tail ends(mainly cartilage), duck ribs, wing tips and middle part(not the drumette- too dense), neck, cornish hen. Some ferrets will actually eat the pork back ribs- mine are too lazy!

Muscle meat: lamb, chicken meat, turkey meat, pork, beef, venison, elk, buffalo, heart(any kind), goat.

Organ: liver(any kind), brain, spleen, lung, thymus, kidney.

The reason I listed it this way is to give you more freedom to pick and choose depending on what you can get. As long as they get at least 3 of the different meats above in the weeks menu, your bases are covered
Some people are only able to get chicken for bone in, and that's fine, as long as they are getting two different types of meat otherwise.
All you have to do when you can get another meat/bone is simply substitute for the appropriate meal. For example, I can't always get goat or lamb for a muscle meal, so I might just give turkey chunks instead that week.
When I shop and prepare the meats for the ferrets, I try to get as many different kinds as I can afford. After defrosting(they are normally frozen), I chop and baggie(one baggie per meal) what I think they'll eat. I've got 4 boxes in my freezer, labeled "bone in", "muscle meat", "organ", and "whole prey". The baggies go into the appropriate box, all mixed up. I usually pull 4-6 baggies at a time, depending on what they are getting for the next 2-3 days according to the menu plan, and defrost in the fridge. When there's only a couple baggies left in the fridge, I pull another 4-6 to replace them
I'll admit, I do it the lazy way now. When I first started, they got different meats, bones, etc every meal. Now, it's what comes to hand! Muscle meat days, they might get lamb and turkey chunks, or goat and beef. Bone days, Cornish hen and turkey necks.
I do keep whole prey separate, and give that to them twice a week when I can. It just goes in place of "bone in"
Now that I've got you thoroughly confused, any questions

[sherrylynne]

So, how's it going?

[babycakes0707]

alright so, so far this is how their feeding schedule goes

Monday; bones
Tuesday; muscle meat
Wednesday: Bone
Thurs,; muscle meat
Fri.; Bone
Sat.; organ &bones (bones are usually chicken or turkey necks/backs with the organs)
Sun. ;bone

This week i had porc back ribs, chicken wings and turkey necks/backs for the bone days.

muscle meat i had chicken hearts

organs i have beef liver

[sherrylynne]

That looks good! Only thing I'd add is some kidney if you can get it.
I gather you mix and match every week? I'm going to get Heather to come and take a look at it, and we'll see about getting you graduated finally

[sherrylynne]

After talking to Heather, we just want to be certain that if the bone content is too high for them(ie: they get constipated), that you understand you can replace one of the bone in meals with a muscle meat one to "loosen" things up again

[babycakes0707]

i got some kidney this week, i tihnk its pork. i find it really hard to get different meats, theres mainly chicken at the grocery store near me but i try and look further to get pork and beef. also so far they dont seem to have any issues w. beign constipated..it seems to be quite the opposit actually. at first i thought it was because they were just dealing w. the changes of meats and all that but its been bout 2 weeks and its still pretty liquid in their litterbox...i give them bones like i wrote in my schedule and they do eat most of it so im not sure whats going on there...

[sherrylynne]

My ferrets have looser stools. Wet and "mushy" most of the time unless they've had whole prey. For one, I've had to add a bit of commercial raw every morning, but hers were bad enough to cause a bit of a prolapse from time to time.
Is it possible one of them are lazy about eating the bone, and the others are eating all/most of it? You can try adding a bit of pumpkin to the diet of the "lazy" one if that's the case. What kind of treats are they getting, and how much?

[babycakes0707]

i dont give them treats, cause neither of them like any that ive tried lol. and i can just feed them raw pumkin? i dont know where i could find that around this time lol.

p.s- sorry it takes so long to answer, my computer is not loving this website for some reason and it either wont let me sign in or when i click a board it tells me the page doesnt exist. it works when it feels like it lol

[sherrylynne]

Yes, just go to the baking section in your grocery store, and pick up a can of pure pumpkin from the pie filling section. Not the kind with spices in it, just straight pumpkin. Try about 1/2 tsp for the one with the problem. You can use that daily if you like. If they don't want it "straight up"(some will, some won't), you can mix it with a bit of raw soup. It won't hurt any of them.
When you say "liquidy", do you mean just wet and soft looking, or actual liquid, like really loose diarrhea? And does it happen all the time, or just after certain meats?

[babycakes0707]

wet&soft,most likely and it seems to be all the time and from both,which is wird cause i watched them eat yesterday and they both eat bones...

[sherrylynne]

That's actually fairly normal for raw fed stool Mine all have wet soft stool! With Lucrezia I was concerned because her's was borderline liquid. Turned out the brat wasn't eating the amount of bone she was supposed to be, so I supplement her a few times a week with commercial premix. Now, she's simply got the soft, wet stool, and no more problems with a prolapse happening.
Ok, let's try this graduation thing again,

[Heather]

Ok I'm good with this
Congratulations, you and your little ones have gone the distance and have now reached graduation
Please remember that if you have any questions post them in the general areas. If you would feel more comfortable asking your mentor she will be more than happy to answer your questions, you need only pm her with them.
Once your mentor has popped in to give you her final message of congratulations your thread will be locked down and posted in the archives where it's available to be read at any time that you might wish to review or refresh your memory of past information.
ciao