glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 16, 2009 14:16:30 GMT -5
Update - This weekend Bastien ate 2 pieces of chicken thigh bone (both about 2 inches long) and Melinda finally decided that her meat didn't have to be in microscopic bits Baby food is down to 1 - 2 teaspoons at most I don't want to get too excited - sure as I do, they will go backwards again Haven't tried any organs in a little while. I figure they are getting some in the NV and I don't want to confuse them at this point. Melinda is getting better about not stashing when she first starts eating. But... when she is full or just taking a break, she will grab the biggest mouthful she can, run and stash, come back for another huge mouthful, stash it... This will keep up until I move the food or it runs out. It's kind of funny to watch. She uses her bottom jaw like a shovel to scoop up as much as possible and usually drops a fair amount on the way to her stashing spot. Sometimes she picks up the leftovers on the way back to the dish but usually she just runs past them - or through them which really seems to irritate her
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Post by tsslilsis on Feb 18, 2009 11:25:08 GMT -5
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww That is so wonderful!!!!!!! I'm sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.. Have things continued to go good these past couple of days?? I contacted Giuli for ideas on how to get some progress but if they have taken this step up and are continuing then we will just set the ideas aside, hopefully they will continue to make progress.
The meat tug-o-war is too cute. It is almost a nightly game for Ravi and Lily because they have to have the same piece of meat.. But it makes Sally Jo upset because they start hissing and dooking insanely.
I'm realy glad things are coming along. I know it must be frustrating with you, with so many steps barkwards to get a step forward. Ferrets are just stinkers.
I do agree, it will be best for them to stay on the track they are on for a bit before jumping into trying organ.
About the stashing.. Weezer always stashes his food. He'll grab a big piece, raise his head and run to the top level of the cage with it.. He does it a couple times but then he starts eating it. It is cute because sometimes they put their left overs back in the dish, if only they always did that, the cage would stay so clean!
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 21, 2009 21:34:22 GMT -5
Bastien is doing well with small pieces of bones. Melinda is getting better with small pieces of meat. She still stashes constantly - I wouldn't mind if she would go back later and eat it... I keep trying to get her interested in bone but so far no go. I bought them some lamb NV. Melinda loves it... Bastien wouldn't touch it
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 21, 2009 21:47:35 GMT -5
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Post by tsslilsis on Feb 23, 2009 2:09:45 GMT -5
Yep, its obvious that Bastiens teeth are a bit cleaner than Melinda's.. That green looking tartar, Weezer had that before he started eating bone. Bastiens teeth are pretty clean though they are a little bit dirty right at the gum line.. It should clean up before long. Her teeth are whiter, but I do think they are dirtier.
If your willing to take some time to try it and are willing to try and feed Bastien and Melinda separately we can try the ideas that Giuli has suggested to me. Unless you would rather wait until you have a day off. Or you could continue to go with the flow. Its up to you. The reason I say they would be fed separately is that it her ideas consist of some fasting and that would be a step back for Bastien.
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 24, 2009 18:44:05 GMT -5
Melinda is doing much better about eating meat pieces. She has seemed a little more interested in bones but still not chewing on them at all so I may have to go with separating them for meals. I'll be off Friday through Sunday so ... what do you suggest?
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 25, 2009 11:55:34 GMT -5
maybe it won't be such a bad thing to feed the little brats separately - Bastien likes to take his time, stretch, wander and generally wake up before considering whether or not he wants food. Melinda can't wait to hit the food as soon as she wakes up. She runs to the plate and gobbles what she wants and then starts stashing anything left over. Last night and this morning I had to physically remove her from the food dish so that Bastien could eat. As soon as I put her back down, she was literally trying to steal the food from Bastien's mouth (and Bastien LETS her )
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Post by tsslilsis on Feb 26, 2009 9:39:07 GMT -5
Yikes!! She's a feisty one isn't she? I'll never understand why some ferrets think they have to have the piece of meat that their sibling has, it doesn't matter how many other pieces of meat there are, apparently the one that is claimed is always much better.
Giuli's first suggestion -
Do not let Melinda eat for 24 hours, no food at all! Then offer her some bone in meat. If there is a way you have prepared it in the past that interested her, try it again after the 24 hours is up. During the fast, if you want you can add some unflavored pedialyte to their water. Only offer that bone in food for the next 24 hours, and if she does not eat it after that then we will move on to the next idea.
If it gets to be 48 hours and they still haven't eaten the bone-in meat, remove the bone-in meat and feed her 1/2-1/3 of what you would normally feed them. Keep her hungry, but don't starve her. When it gets to be 72 hours (so on day 3) try again with offering the boneless meat.
If you keep up that pattern for a few days (only offering 1/2-1/3 of the normal diet, offering as much bone in meat as she'll eat) she will probably come around and eat the bone in meat.
I hope it all works out!!
-~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Feb 27, 2009 23:06:04 GMT -5
Feisty is definitely a nice way of describing Miss Melinda I love her dearly but she is truly a brat! Last night she actually ate a little piece of chicken neck. Today she stashed a lot of bones but didn't eat any - unless you count a cockroach as bone in meat (I didn't see her catch it but there wasn't much left when I found her with it. YUCK!) Should I be trying to give her larger pieces of bone with meat on them (like a wingette) or just little piece of bone with some meat on them? Bastien is still doing well with small pieces of bone but he won't even pull any meat off of larger pieces. Is it ok if they are just getting chicken and cornish game hen bones? Are there any other kinds of bone that are small enough for them to eat at this stage? I looked at the grocery store this afternoon but didn't see anything that looked promising.
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Post by tsslilsis on Feb 28, 2009 8:34:40 GMT -5
Lillian tends to be like that. She's not picky, but she can be bratty.. She will bite you sometimes but she is a really small girl (Around 1 1/2 pounds) so I've noticed if you are really gentle with her and take your time when you pick her up and such then she is extremely happy.. She is a funny little one. Mmm!! Cockroach!! Little booger. You can use wingettes, and you can score them really deeply with a knife, because it might help her take it if the meat on the inside is shown. If that is a no go, you could try the necks. If she'll eat neck then that is better than nothing and you can work your way up from there. For Bastien, you could try slowly increasing the size of his bone in meat. Where he is at right now is good, and he will probably work his way up himself. I think I've mentiont this before, but cornish game hens are really just young chickens (See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_game_hen ) so as long as you are feeding two other species of meat minumum (and those can be boneless) then you are fine. A lot of people cannot get their hands on rabbit or quail so chicken is generally what is on the menu for bone in. But there is no problem with that. -~Ketlin
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 1, 2009 20:21:04 GMT -5
Bastien says: "Mommy, Melinda got into the treats and now I have a tummy ache " This afternoon I went into their room to find a bag of Bandits treats and a bag of duck jerky all over the floor. Since Bastien isn't a climber, I'm pretty sure we know exactly who managed to get up on top of the desk Bastien seems to be feeling fine now but he had a nice bout of orange diarrhea earlier - he does love duck jerky No progress on the bone front. Melinda loves to stash the bones and every now and then will even eat a tiny piece of meat off of one but still won't munch on them. Bastien will eat one or two small pieces of bone but shows no interest in the bigger pieces and won't make any effort to pull any meat off. Friday when I gave Bastien some NV, he scarfed it; other than that, neither has been overly interested in eating (except treats and duck jerky ) Neither has been real active for the past couple of days, either. They are playing like maniacs now so maybe they will feel more like eating in a little while.
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 2, 2009 23:18:49 GMT -5
HM. I would suggest trying that process over again once you have some free time, just be sure there isn't any food that can be stolen.
I think most ferrets just eat the bone in meat or don't eat it. I don't know of too many ferrets who have pulled the meat off the bone. How big are the bone in pieces that Bastien is taking?
They were probably hyped up on those bandits last night!!!
I would get Giuli in here, but she's not posted in a couple weeks and texts have been sent to her with no avail.
-~Ketlin
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Post by Forum Administrator on Mar 3, 2009 16:51:33 GMT -5
To get your little ones to eat bones, what methods have you tried? If you can give me the list of what you HAVE tried, then I can give you NEW suggestions. Don't fret, we'll get your babies eating bones, sometimes, you just have to be sneaky about it to get them started .
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glynus
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 143
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Post by glynus on Mar 5, 2009 18:36:13 GMT -5
Hi Giuli! Bastien is doing ok with small pieces of bone. Melinda, on the other hand, will stash it but won't even consider eating it. I've tried playing tug of war with them. I didn't give Melinda anything to eat for a day and then only gave her only CGH bones with a little baby food gravy for a couple of days. She gave me a lot of really nasty looks and pouted but wouldn't eat.
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Post by tsslilsis on Mar 10, 2009 9:08:05 GMT -5
Any progress? Or is it still same old same old? If Giuli can't figure out a solution we can pull another mentor in and see if they can get it done. I'm sorry I've not been of more help on this, but I've tried to give all my ideas.
-~Ketlin
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