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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 20, 2010 21:01:19 GMT -5
Hi, I'm back If you want to try adding a bit of water to the kibble, that might just work for them. Mine would try to sleep through feeding time as well. I had to hand feed soups for a while before they started to accept it, so that's not uncommon. With your biter, you will likely have to take a different tack. Since you won't be able to scruff and dab his nose with the soup, if he'll take the moistened kibble willingly, that would be perfect. My worst little biter was an abused 5 month old deaf DEW. She would bite as soon as she saw your hands, then panic and try to get away because she thought she was going to be hit, but forget to take her teeth out of your hand first. The only way we overcame this was to gradually teach her hands were nothing to be afraid of, and would only ever hold good things. It was a few months before she could even be checked out at the vet's, because you couldn't touch or scruff her, and I didn't want her traumatized. She now gives kisses regularly She does still bite, but it's more of a "Oh- what's that?" sort of bite. And it's not hard.
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Post by arachniac on Apr 24, 2010 23:08:55 GMT -5
Hello?? Is anyone here to help me??? See last post dated april 20th.... Thanks.
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 24, 2010 23:55:50 GMT -5
And I responded to it. See above your most recent post.
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Post by arachniac on Apr 27, 2010 21:57:44 GMT -5
Well I tried wetting down the kibble and it flopped they all snubbed it and I wasted two cups of kibble which I can't afford to do. I did get Asia to eat a few good mouthfuls of chunky soup the other day.everyone else but illusia is still snubbing it. Corbyn sounds like your girl - he'll bite keep chommping on your finger AND try and run away with your finger in his mouth and today after my shower he discovered my bare toes!!! I was hopping from foot to foot with her in hot pursuit. So I learned quick shoes or socks on is a must!! She gives a whole new meaning to the term carpetshark!! I'm away from home for a few days so I won't be able to update again until thursday night. I ordered 5lbs of duck (whole dressed duck ground) and 5 more lbs of chicken. Since nearly everyone liked the dehydrated duck brest I'm hoping the duck will entice some of the slower ones to get with the program.
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Post by sherrylynne on Apr 28, 2010 9:08:05 GMT -5
Here's hoping! You might want to try just a straight puree of chicken or duck, though, since you can blend it up without chunks. I mean the kind you'd get out of the store. Breast, thigh, etc. If you can get them tasting it, even with scruff 'n' stuff, then you can work on getting the good stuff into them after. A few of mine refused anything but puree for a while. If they found any kind of a chunk, they were done.
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Post by arachniac on May 2, 2010 22:32:31 GMT -5
Well I tried making a "chunk free" soup for the rugrats... No big surprises Asia and illusia licked and ingested some, the rest snubbed all attempts by me to get them to taste it. I have some duck thawing in the fridge will try that in the morning :)in fact as I type this Asia is tucking into a dehydrated piece of duck breast!! Now to just get her on the raw stuff!! (And the rest of them!!!)
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Post by sherrylynne on May 3, 2010 9:43:38 GMT -5
They'll get there. Just keep scruffing and stuffing! It will just take time, and you might have to concentrate on a couple or three, instead of the entire crew. Generally, once they are eating raw chunks, they prefer those to kibble anyway.
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Post by arachniac on May 3, 2010 22:11:33 GMT -5
Well today I whipped up a batch of duck puree with a drizzling of ferretone blended in and to my surprize Corbyn tucked in for about 30 seconds. Then Illusia had the lid from the blender to lick off. Asia licked some puree juice from my fingers. The rest are missing in action tonight. I think I'm going to take your advice and. Break this process down to just a few ferrets at a time. I think ill work on Asia, Illusia, Lily and possibly Corbyn. Speaking of that little she devil climbed up on my bed last night and sank her teeth into my finger while I was sound asleep!!!! Then later on in the morning after I was up and watching tv she walked up and chomped me again...I didn't even know she was there!! She is one vicious ferret. I'm going to lock her in the cage tonight with a buddy or else I won't get any sleep!!!!
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Post by sherrylynne on May 4, 2010 22:03:12 GMT -5
Oh, what a monkey Corbyn is! Not a pleasant way to wake up, that's for sure But- that's a really good start for them. One other advantage to only switching a few at a time. You get a lot of heavy duty bonding time with the hand feeding they need at the beginning. I've got one who still prefers to sit on my lap and have his soups Keep them going on the puree for a couple or three days, then add less liquid, so it thickens up. Keep doing that every 2-3 days, til they are just eating the ground.
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Post by arachniac on May 9, 2010 0:05:52 GMT -5
Ok liTtle setback.... I just had to have emergency back surgery so I've missed their raw the last few days. And my dad already resents the ferrets and he doesn't know I have 7 so they just ate kibble but I'm back home now and as long as I don't have to lift the couch up to find them ill be able to carry on just fine . Ill try weaning them down from soupiees to ground over this week, and see how that goes. But we had a breakthrough today with Corbyn....she didn't bite me once!! Baby steps I have to keep reminding myself....
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Post by sherrylynne on May 9, 2010 0:35:00 GMT -5
Oh, my! I do hope you're going to be ok! The back is some scary stuff. For the fuzzies, just do what you can right now. If you need to take some time off from this to heal up, that's ok, just let me know, and I'll hold your thread open for you, ok? Now, for the transition to ground, only thicken it up every couple of days, that way you're less likely to have someone dig in their heels at it. If they do, don't be afraid to go back a step if that's what it takes. This is done at their speed, silly beggars that they can be And YAY!!!! for Corbin! I know exactly what you mean there. Here's my little biter, Willow: She's definitely "daddy's girl" Hard to believe by that pic how terrified of human hands she was when she came into the house! She still does bite sometimes, but now it's not quite so deliberate. It's more of an "Oh- what's that? CRUNCH!" But she doesn't draw blood at all anymore, so that's a major improvement AND SHE GIVES KISSES!!! Sans teeth
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Post by arachniac on May 14, 2010 15:27:40 GMT -5
Well things are going ok. I'm back to soupies they wanted nothing to do with the ground. I had to go back home the other day and one of the weasels stole my new cordless mouse (after Corbyn broke my wired mouse!!) They have stashed my mouse and I have no clue where it is!! And with my back healing I'm not able to lift the couches to check for it. Must be payback for leaving them alone... Boy do I need a second cage!! I was just reading about hepatic lipidosis and how they shoulld eat every 4-6 hours... Is it still safe to withhold their food for 8-12 hours before offering a scruff n' stuff session? I know in cats HL is very dangerous so you shouldn't fast them longer than 6-8 hours.
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Post by sherrylynne on May 14, 2010 22:03:05 GMT -5
For a healthy adult ferret, it's no problem. If they are very young, or if they are ill, then no. And while ferrets CAN suffer from hepatic lipidosis, it's reversible with them, which is good! Even for cats, I find that to be an odd time frame. Mine regularly have their last feeding of the night at 9pm, and don't eat again til 6:30, 7am. It was my understanding that for fatty liver disease to develop, it was more of a 24 hour time frame. And that's a bugger about the mouse! All mine try to stash is the remote controls
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Post by arachniac on May 17, 2010 15:06:23 GMT -5
Well things are going ok. I'm back to soupies they wanted nothing to do with the ground. I had to go back home the other day and one of the weasels stole my new cordless mouse (after Corbyn broke my wired mouse!!) They have stashed my mouse and I have no clue where it is!! And with my back healing I'm not able to lift the couches to check for it. Must be payback for leaving them alone... Boy do I need a second cage!! I was just reading about hepatic lipidosis and how they shoulld eat every 4-6 hours... Is it still safe to withhold their food for 8-12 hours before offering a scruff n' stuff session? I know in cats HL is very dangerous so you shouldn't fast them longer than 6-8 hours. Is this true for ferrets too??
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Post by arachniac on May 25, 2010 10:43:52 GMT -5
Sherrylynne,
you around?? I popsted on the 17th of may and still haven't heard fropm you .... are you ok?? Jill
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