Eschimpf's Switching Thread/Luci

[eschimpf]

Update:

I find that Mr. Bean is willing to eat fast and more mid afternoon. Morning and night he's kinda like meh, if I have to eat I will. But at about a hour ago till now he's Mr. Starving-Bean. Eating everything in his bowl (which was over 3 oz today) and looking for more. He is even licking the bowl clean! Whats your suggestion? Give him more mid day and less in the morning and night? Or feed only one big meal? He didn't eat all his super (All the chunks but lots of soup left over that I threw out this morning). I find he leaves 60% of his breakfast till about this time and scarfs it down like a mad ferret.

[luci]

Oh how interesting! A midday eater is a bit unusual, but hey... ferrets love to keep us guessing. So, yes, I would go ahead and follow his lead. No sense in wasting food. As long as he doesn't eat himself sick during his big meal I don't see any reason to force him to eat when he's not in the mood. In fact, if we limit his smaller meals he'll be hungrier and more likely to be adventurous and try new things.

All this said, he may very well change his mind later about when he wants to eat. And also it's not unusual for ferts to have a couple of days a week where they just don't seem to eat much. My girls may or may not eat a large morning meal, they always have soup in the evening and then they may or may not finish their morning meat overnight. But over the course of about 3-4 days I would say it all evens out.

[eschimpf]

Sounds good to me.

I forgot to add in his weight in yesterdays post. He is now 2lbs 13oz, that's 2oz up since I got him.

Nothing new on his food, I'm still doing small chunks of meat until he's used to that, but I have been adding more chunks to his food.

Just wondering but how long should I leave uneaten food in their for?

[luci]

The soup will get yucky the fastest. 6-8 hours. The chunks of meat should be good for 12-24 hours.

I have never had a problem with any of my critters eating old meat. Even 2-3 day old stashes. If the meat has gone bad they just won't eat it.

Times are of course going to depend on the environment, how fresh the meat was to begin with, etc. But I really do think you can trust that he won't eat anything that will make him sick.

Oh and know that chicken stinks! It doesn't take long for it to get nasty smelling. And my critters eat it anyway. They seem to know best.

[eschimpf]

Thanks. I was worried about that but I will trust that he knows best... hopefully

[eschimpf]

No new news. I haven't changed the size today, I'm thinking of up sizing the size of the chunks sunday, if thats okay.

[luci]

He seems pretty willing, so I say go for it. If he seems overwhelmed you just cut it smaller. Easy peasy.

[eschimpf]

Tried a little bit bigger chunks, about 1/2 inch. He took them all out and piled them in a corner.

So for supper I didn't add any chunks. This new batch of soup is SUPER thick, I added Pork into Heather's recipe and he really likes that. Tomorrow I'll go back to the smaller chunks. Guess he's just not ready for bigger ones yet.

[luci]

Awww. Well, that's okay. We'll just go along at his pace.

[eschimpf]

Update:

Today he has eaten about half what he has been eating, about 3 oz eaten so far today, but he did eat the smaller chunks tonight.

[eschimpf]

Update:

Today he has had really runny poops, I added in about 10 pieces of kibble to his soup, he picked out most of them but eat a few, since then his poops have firmed up. I dunno if this is because of the of the kibble or not but I thought what the heck, if he doesn't eat it oh well and if it helps even better.

Other than that he has been eating the smaller chunks of meat, all of his soup today, 3.5 oz today night feeding of 1.5oz later tonight.

[luci]

Aside from being runny was there anything else remarkable? Stinkier? Weird color? Ferrets and digestive upset are a fact of life. It doesn't take much to send those short digestive tracts into a tizz.

Have I warned you about moistening kibble? If not, here goes. Kibble that contains grains has a possibility of developing mycotoxins when moistened. Mycotoxins are a dangerous by-product of a grain fungus. When moistened, mycotoxins can show up alarmingly rapidly in kibble. Within a half hour. Can cause tummy upsets and worse. For that reason I suggest using moistened kibble as a bribe only and it should be taken up and thrown out after a half hour.

Do you have any canned or cooked pumpkin or squash on hand? That little bit of plant fiber acts like a brush for the intestines much in the way the fur or feathers of their prey would. Good for diarrhea and constipation. It wouldn't hurt to add a bit to his soup. No more than a teaspoon per day unless you're dealing with a blockage or something. My ferts get about a 1/4 tsp each day in their soup.

[eschimpf]

I never wet down kibble, I just tossed in a few, which he picked out most and put them beside his bowl. LOL

I don't have any pumpkin or squash on hand, I'll pick some up friday (Kinda strapped for cash... sigh).

It wasn't more stinky or weird colored just... runny compared to his normal every other day poops.

[eschimpf]

Update:

No kibble added into his food today and so far he's been ok poop wise. I'll just keep an eye on him just in case.

Last night I had him out in my room while I played on my computer, 3.5 hours later I realized that I forgot he was out, I found him curled up asleep in my husbands long johns. LOL.

[luci]

Awwww. They know thermal = warm.

Don't sweat the runny poops too much. It happens. And we're still working on getting a good formula, so you'll see some interesting feces. If it's runny and seedy that means too much fat or he's not able to digest the fat. Just runny could mean too much organ meat or red meat or heart. In any case, a bit of pumpkin each day helps slow things down a little in the digestive tract, lets him absorb more nutrients, and keeps the poops more consistent. 3kaw just started a thread about this and a few people have chimed in with what they do.