How long can these be left to be eaten?

[carnivorouszoo]

I was wondering how long you think these should be left down to be eaten before I should clean them up to avoid too much bacteria.

Slightly heated soupies
frozen soupies
thawed pinky mice

This is what I want to offer each morning and want to know when I should take up which ever I offer and give back the kibble. Or should i have kibble down at all times for now? They have ahd slightly heated soupies and I only gave them 30 minutes before I gave the uneaten to the cat. They had frozen today. I put it down at 8 am and took it up at noon. Was that too long? Not long enough?

Thanks for any help!

[sherrylynne]

Here's a good rule of thumb for various foods(courtesy mustelidmusk).

Wet Kibble: 4-8 hours
Ground meat: 12 hours
Freeze-dried Diet (served wet) 12 hours
Commercial Raw frozen diet 12 hours
Meat chunks: 16 hours
Bone-in meat: 24 hours
Whole prey (meat exposed): 24 hours
Whole prey (no meat exposed) 36 hours
Freeze-dried diet (served dry) Over 1 week (the primary concern is palatability rather than bacterial issues)

For soup, I'd say the slightly warmed 4-6 hours. Frozen 6-8.
for the interim, take the kibble out the night before(as long as there is nothing like insulinoma), and offer the soup in the morning when they come out. After they go back in cage/room, give the kibble back for now, until they are eating enough of the soup/pinkies

[carnivorouszoo]

Ah thank you! I know for snakes it is ok to leave their mice overnight if needed but was not sure if it was ok with fuzzbutts. This is good news I will start taking up the kibble at night as well. Thank you! With this knowledge I will start offering mice and their soupies. Although Jack still needs me to give it on my finger. Dianne ate half their frozen soupies yesterday. I will try to catch them eating soupies in pics and mice if they show interest

[sherrylynne]

That's excellent! You've already passed the first hurdle with them, and sound like you are well on your way

[carnivorouszoo]

Thanks. Dianne isn't giving me much trouble. The day I found out it was too warm I had given them hopper mice and she was going for it but then the heat made her throw up I am waiting a day or two so she doesn't associate it with the mice. Jack shows so little interest in food. I really wish my vet would get back. But then he looks so good. I almost wonder if he is eating when I am not looking. Well now their cage is mainly in the living room where it is cooler and I can watch them more so we will see.

I am getting a breeding quad of rats and either a pair or trio of mice this week. Will be easier than ordering. Especially since I have 5 corn snakes, 11 corn snake eggs due to hatch near the 4th of july, a cat and 2 ferrets. The cat and ferrets I hope to have on Raw by Christmas

[sherrylynne]

The cat, I really can't say. I tried to get my four there for a year, without a lot of luck. The ferrets will likely be fully raw within a couple of months!

[Heather]

Cats aren't that bad really. It just takes a subtler perspective I figure I switched a 12 yr old siamese kibble addict, it can be worked It took me 6 months mind you and a complete year before I was sure of where it stood but we succeeded that was over 10 yrs ago and yes the old fart is still around
ciao

[sherrylynne]

I should send you my kibble head, Heather Even trying to get that brat on wet food, he went anorexic on me twice! Had to syringe feed him both times to start him eating again

[Heather]

I have to admit it was more difficult to find him moist cat food that he would eat consistently than any of the conversion from moist to raw. That was the easy part I spend weeks trying to find a moist cat food that not only he could eat but wouldn't projectile vomit all over the place. I tried all the high end ones and finally resorted to the cheap end garbage....he liked Friskies....it has terrible contents and smelled even worse but he ate it. Then it was just the matter of converting him to raw from that garbage.
ciao

[sherrylynne]

My Siamese wouldn't even sniff at the raw, the brat! And believe me, I tried every trick in the book before I finally realized it simply wasn't working So we did the canned(he would finally taste the Fancy Feast!), but with the anorexia as the result. He'd start off great, then just eat less and less, til he was eating basically nothing!
So- he's on high end kibble.
Oh, well, one really stubborn one out of the lot isn't bad
And carnivorouszoo? Most cats aren't quite that bad. Some actually take to it quite quickly!

[msktty89]

My four cats are eating raw and only one is being raised that way, the others were switchers. So, it can be done! Maybe mine were more adventurous, but they switched about as quickly as the ferrets. Only one gives me a hard time and that's just because A) he's passive, so I have to make sure the others don't take his food and B) he can't have beef or buffalo because it makes him puke. But all that really isn't that bad or difficult to deal with!