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Post by acampbell89 on Jun 15, 2010 7:46:26 GMT -5
I didn't meant to ENTER that post...haha sry, keyboard issues! Anyway! Bear hasn't gotten sick since and yes, their poop is nice and soft for mommy to clean up My babies seem to be being difficult. I knew this would happen one day since they were such rockstars in the beginning! Nobody wants a thing to do with chicken hearts. Not even a sniff! Any suggestions with these hearts? I tried to give them a bowl of some lamb chunks and chicken but nobody cared. They only munched down on kibble! I even added in some ground beef (since I know it's their favorite) but nothing made them budge! Little boogers... I guess this is what you meant by "good" and "bad" days?
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jun 15, 2010 23:59:17 GMT -5
YEP - they're all schizophrenic brats who can't decide what they like to eat Anyway, no worries...this is normal. Go back to what they like to eat....try the ground beef in kibble. finely mince up a bit of the heart meat and mix a tiny bit in with beef....start out very slowly with the new meats by mixing in a tiny mount and slowly increase the amount of heart meat (or whatever they're hating at the moment ) as they begin to get used to it. Also remember that the hearts can be cut into longer thin strip (toys!) by cutting them in half lengthwise. Then cut the half-heart lengthwise again leaving it uncut at one end. You end up with a V-shape strip of meat that can be held at one end fo the V. This makes a longer strip of meat. When something is not appealing to your brats, remember- feed small amounts disguised in something they like and increase the percentage of the "yucky stuff" slowly over time. Also think "playtime"! You brats are STILL doing EXTREMELY WELL!!! Keep up the good work!!! -jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Jun 23, 2010 8:24:56 GMT -5
Update soon. We've been so busy.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jun 23, 2010 8:42:14 GMT -5
No problem....you'd be posting if you were running into trouble You may want to thinkk about looking into that starchless kibble from wysong. It is a little low in fat, but if you add some high-fat items with it (archetypal I freeze-dried, a little high-fat grain-free kibble, a little cream in a soup or mush with egg yolk, salmon oil, etc. you may fnd it a good addition to your ferret's diet. I think I'm going to by a bag to evaluate it. Have fun! -jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Jun 23, 2010 19:33:29 GMT -5
OK! Finally some sit down time... My ferts have been on and off again this week and last. Bear seems to always love raw I even got him to NIBBLE, but nothing more, on a chicken heart. The other's are back and forth everyday. They seemed like the salmon a bit- I got eat fert to at least nibble and play with it a bit. The egg yolk thing... was hilarous! They all seemed to just play in it and THEN lick it off of each other!! I knew you said we'd have some bad days so I'm not worrying. It just stinks we were making such good practice! Tonight and tomorrow I'm going to try to get them to play with some chicken again so I'll let you know how that goes. I'll also keep continuing your tips with the chicken hearts. I will also look into that kibble! Thanks! Hope all is well!!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jun 25, 2010 14:20:44 GMT -5
The 3 main things that affect my ferrets' appetites include the following: 1. Time of year (pigs in fall/winter, pickier in spring/summer) 2. Time of day: (mine are hungriest in the morning) ferrets are crepuscular (most active at dusk and dawn because that's when their prey is most active). 3. How much other food do they get to eat? If they've recently pigged out on kibble, they won'r be all that hungry. Here's what I do with my brats.... I tend to play with my brats more in the morning than in the evening. So, I feed then a good-sized breakfeast of fresh raw inth morning. I leave out a bit (food freeze-dried raw diet) during the day. (Not too much of the stuff). If the dry food isn't gone ore nearly all gone by dinnertime, them I'm giving them too much! Then they get a smaller fresh raw meal at night. For night time, I leave a very tiny bit of freeze -dried food out, if any at all. This makes sure they're hungray in the morning for their next big meal. If my brats have freeze-dried at 5:AM, they'll fill up on it, and they won't be hungry at 6:30-7:00 AM. Your brats are probably filling up on kibble, so you may want to cut back on the amount of kibble so they still have room for raw!!! Try experimenting.... let them get hungry before play time with the meat strips! Somebody commented on the starchless kibble stating that the price was not as bad as they thought it mught be.The kibble is a little low on fat, but a bit of salmon oil and meat scraps with some fat can easily make up for lower fat kibble!!! Hugs to your brats!!! -jennifer
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 1, 2010 7:09:30 GMT -5
Hi! this is just a quick note - I'll be MIA from now until wednesday of next week. If you run into any issues, please feel free to post your question in the general raw section or PM either SHerryLynne or Heather! Thanks! -jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Jul 14, 2010 8:24:51 GMT -5
Oh good! You were MIA for awhile too! We've run into a few problems (my boyfriend and I, not the kids!) The weekend before the 4th we had a robbery. I am so incredibly thankful that whoever this jerk was didn't harm our babies. When I noticed the broken glass door I began to imagine the worst. I've finally got a laptop from my insurance company so I should be able to post more. This has, as you can imagine, set us back financially However, I've been keeping a good log of the fur babies: -We have gotten Bear and Mia to eat chicken hearts!! -Bear now licks up some egg yolk before playing in it! -Vincent, Marcellus and Yayo continue to be a bit pickier with the hearts but I have sucessfully gotten all 5 fuzzies to eat salmon this week! I can't afford to feed them raw EVERYDAY at the moment, I gotta make what we can get last but they are staying on track with the switch! Also, I have just ordered a bag of the Wysong brand ferret food. That should be here in a couple of days and we can give it a try! It feels good to be back! I hope all is well with you, Jennifer!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 15, 2010 9:16:46 GMT -5
Oh, God, I'm so sorry to hear about the burglary. Years ago, we went through the burglary thing, and it's very unnerving when you realize that anybody could come through your bedroom window at any time. The cops can't do anything about it, and you realize how much insurance will not cover (and all the things you don't even remember at the time you report your losses - but a year later, you remember that piece of jewelry you inherited from your grandmother - can't replace that even if you had Bill Gates' money.) Being robbed is definitely an eye-opener. I'm so glad the fuzzies were not bothered. Even so, it's VERY disturbing! Sounds like you're doing well with the trats. It can take a while for some ferts yo accept the organs. you can try smaller pieces. or mince the organs with a little bit of muscle meat to make them more similar to what they like. Whenever you're making dinner, remember that cartiagle, bits of fat and tidbits of meat can be fed to your kids as treats. Of course , you'll want to use unseasoned meat and no processed meats such as bacon, lunch meat, etc. You don't want to feed huge hunks of fat since it can cause a bout of pancreatitis. But a little fat is very good for ferrets. Don't worry about not giving treat every day...this is a slow process, and your kids may even develop a stronger preference to the meat when they get it less frequently. I know that my brats are especially fond on the fresh raw when I have been traveling and they've been eating freeze-dried raw only. I understand so completely about the burglary - it's not nearly as bad as a fire, but it's a VERY creepy thing that leaves you feeling so vulnerable when you realize anyody can come into youe house whenever they want to. -jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Jul 20, 2010 12:15:32 GMT -5
Yes, it is incredibly crazy scary. Thanks for understand. It's nice to know I'm not the only one Dumb burglers! Anyway, the Wysong food came in yesterday. Again, my monster was the only one to eat any of it I'm going to follow the instructions on the back for introducing this new kibble. I'm very impressed so far with what I've researched though!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 21, 2010 8:58:06 GMT -5
Put very mall amounts of the newer kibble in with the old kibble. Here are some more ideas:
1. lightly crush both kibbles making it more difficult to pick around the new food. Don't crush it too fine (becomes difficult to eat) 2. mix small amounts of the new kibble with the old and store together for a day or two before feeding. They kibbles will smell similar 3. Put a few drops of a favorite oil (such as ferretone) on a couple pieces of the new foo and offer them as hand fed teats. If they don't take them, lightly crush them and put them in with the other kibble. If you're using oil on the kibble, be sure to leave out smaller amounts of food since you want to be sure the older food doesn't sit around in the bottom of the bowl and go rancid. (That's true for all kibble anyway....some people tend to just add more food to the bowl, and the stuff on the bottom can get rancid and cause digestive problems if eaten.
-jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Jul 27, 2010 7:45:06 GMT -5
Hooray! We are now all eating the Wysong brand. I mixed the new with some old and eventually they caught on that this stuff was just as yummy...if not yummier! So far, everybody is hooked on beef, chicken, chicken hearts (finally!!) pork and salmon! Isn't this fantastic?! Over the weekend they weren't as thrilled about the chicken hearts but just before it they went crazy for them. Yesterday they were back on track too! Maybe they're like me and like to eat "bad" on the weekend This morning for breakfast we had some egg yolk during morning playtime and now their nibbling on their wysong kibble with chicken chunks in it. If my camera wasn't dead I would take a picture because they're soooo cute Where do we go from here? I'd like to get them on a schedule of what they eat throughout the week- that kind of thing. Any suggestions? Are there any new meats/organs I should begin to search for and introduce? Thanks, Jennifer!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 28, 2010 22:17:20 GMT -5
You definitely want to feed some liver. Most ferrets like the chicken liver better than beef liver. So, I'd start with chicken liver in small amounts. You should also try some turkey, lamb, and any other organ meats such as beef heart or any other disgusting organs that would never touch our lips . It can be very difficult to find variety meats depending on where you live. If you plan to feed more than 10% of your ferrets' diet as raw along with the kibble, you'll want to start them eating bone. In fact, it's good for them to eat bone anyway. A goo way to start out is with the tips of chicken wings. NEVER feed a bone that has been cooked UNLESS the bone has been boiled in water - completely submerged in water for the entire time. You can boil a bone until it's so that soft you can crush it between your fingers. Any other type of cooking will cause bones to splinter (big trouble!!!) anyway, that yucky little wing tip can be removed from the rest of the wing and cut lengthwise into a couple of long strips (great toys for playtime and enrichment!!! The tips are pretty much cartilage. this will help your babies develop their bone-crunching skills! -jennifer
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 31, 2010 9:03:41 GMT -5
Another thing, I want to emphasize....although the epigen gets rid of starches, which is a good thing, it's low in fat for a ferret (11%). You should probably feed multiple kibble types if kibble will remain the primary food. The other kibble(s) must have a fairly high fat content. In addition, make sure the meats you're feeding include fat. Ferrets REQUIRE between 20- 30% fat. Ferrets derive most of their energy from fats. This does not mean that you want to feed huge chunks of fat with your raw meats, but bits of raw fat trimmed from any unprocessed meats you may be cooking for yourself are good for your ferret. also marbeld, fatty cuts of meat are also good.
(feeding huge amounts of can make a fert sick - vomiting, the "runs", pancreatitis) . Just be sure you're feeding fa healthy portion fats with the meat. Most people (including me) are thrying to stay away from the fats!). Not true for a ert.
-jennifer
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Post by acampbell89 on Aug 16, 2010 13:33:34 GMT -5
I finally found chicken liver!! Holy crap it was difficult I feel like it's been forever and a day since I've been able to give you an update! Sorry about that! Summer time My babies are still doing well. Sometimes we have good days and sometimes we have bad. I am very proud of announce that nobody gives me lip about the chicken hearts anymore! FINALLY! Now they see them and it's fight to who can get to the bowl first I haven't tried feeding them the liver yet but if they don't take to it at first, I'll just use the same tricks I did to get them warmed up to the heart.. Also, I have found that if I do let them go a little hungry- they have no problem gobbling up whatever raw food is on the menu for the morning/evening! One more thing! I have noticed that they their coats are SO gorgeous! I mean, they were always beautiful but I can certainly tell a difference in the way it feels and shines! I'll try to get more consistent with my posts. I hope you don't think I'm slacking!
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