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Post by illian2 on Jul 3, 2010 22:25:57 GMT -5
I have a 9 week old kit and he is wonderful. The breeder I got him from did a wonderful job of starting him on a raw/prey diet. From the moment I brought him home, the little guy prefers only meat. He won't even touch kibble. The 3 Marshall ferrets I had before all ate kibble and after the last one died, I discovered and began researching a prey diet for the next ferret I would own. So I am new at this, but I have been reading posts on this website and feel fairly confident about feeding this diet. I have checked out some suggestions on what to feed (the weekly model posted by Giuliana in Cost of Raw and Whole Prey Feeding thread has been exceedingly helpful) and am tayloring a weekly feeding schedule for my little guy. My question is: Are the bones in the chicken thighs too big for a 9 wk old kit? They seem so much bigger than the bones in the young adult mice and chicks I'm currently feeding him. He is a tenacious eater - should I go ahead and give them to him or should I wait until he's older?
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Post by Heather on Jul 4, 2010 17:21:46 GMT -5
Truthfully, the kits don't care...only you do They're little furry tummies with teeth They can chew the knuckle part of the bone and probably do a fair bit of damage to it. I was surprised at what Napoleon could eat. He actually ate some of this bone that he stole from the dog, mostly the knucke but he did manage some bone. Napoleon is about 10 weeks in this photo. ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 4, 2010 19:48:38 GMT -5
I love that pic of Napoleon Show's what they are REALLY capable of!
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Post by Heather on Jul 4, 2010 23:17:37 GMT -5
What was a lot more fun was the pictures that I didn't get as I was too busy supervising and laughing. Quite basically, the dog wanted his bone back. Napoleon wasn't going to let him have it. Napoleon turned into this furry fang brat, hissing, spitting, growling, bottle brush tail, toes all splaid out. Poor dog didn't know what to make of it so he just laid down and waited for Napoleon to fill that little fat belly of his. Luckily for me, Shakespeare was a well trained therapy dog who had been specifically tested for small children. Pyrs also have a soft spot for anything baby, furkids or skinkids. ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 5, 2010 0:40:48 GMT -5
Oh, he was a bossy, possessive little brat when he was tiny, wasn't he
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Post by illian2 on Jul 5, 2010 14:52:00 GMT -5
Thanks so much for answering my question - and a picture is worth a thousand words! Chicken thighs are now officially on the menu
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Post by 1 on Jul 5, 2010 17:41:04 GMT -5
As I once leaned, a human can eat small bones if they are softened by cooking, its how we get calcium in the wild. WARNING ferrets are the opposite, they can eat small to large bones but don't cook them. They will splinter in their tummy and cost vet bills.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 10, 2010 22:57:01 GMT -5
Actually, bones soften when boiled as long as thy remain completely covered by water when cooked and cooled. If you boil a bone long enough, you can crush the bone between your fingers. This takes a lot of cooking for a very longtime, and the bones must remain completely covered with water during the cooking. It DRY cooking that makes bones harder. DRY cooked bones do splinter and caused problems. -jennifer
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Post by 1 on Jul 10, 2010 23:06:52 GMT -5
Actually, bones soften when boiled as long as thy remain completely covered by water when cooked and cooled. If you boil a bone long enough, you can crush the bone between your fingers. This takes a lot of cooking for a very longtime, and the bones must remain completely covered with water during the cooking. It DRY cooking that makes bones harder. DRY cooked bones do splinter and caused problems. -jennifer Oh, so boiled bones are safe? Thanks! I bet you can do a whole brakeosaures bone and eat it with freakishly small teeth! Maby I could try that some day!
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Post by 1 on Jul 10, 2010 23:08:48 GMT -5
Actually, bones soften when boiled as long as thy remain completely covered by water when cooked and cooled. If you boil a bone long enough, you can crush the bone between your fingers. This takes a lot of cooking for a very longtime, and the bones must remain completely covered with water during the cooking. It DRY cooking that makes bones harder. DRY cooked bones do splinter and caused problems. -jennifer Oh, so boiled bones are safe? Thanks! I bet you can do a whole brakeosaures bone and eat it with freakishly small teeth! Maby I could try that some day! Uh, minuse the small teeth. Just any bones?
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 10, 2010 23:49:38 GMT -5
Don't misunderstand. Mustelidmusk is talking about boiling them for many, many hours(16-24?)
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 20, 2010 3:03:56 GMT -5
Heather those pictures are hilarious lol!
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 20, 2010 9:41:26 GMT -5
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