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Post by pastelsummer on Jan 5, 2011 22:25:00 GMT -5
i had to rattied die because the got crushed under the housing in the cage when it got all flipped around they were still alive when i found them but not for long. so i popped them in the freezer and this morning let them thaw in the fridge well dh cut one in half and gave it to him but he refuses to eat it. I am tossing it in the garbage since it has sat all day. But why wouldnt he eat it? what did i do wrong
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Post by Heather on Jan 5, 2011 22:57:18 GMT -5
Has he ever had rat before? ciao
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Post by pastelsummer on Jan 6, 2011 21:37:34 GMT -5
no this was the first time i tried to offer him baby rat
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Post by 1 on Jan 6, 2011 23:39:56 GMT -5
Weal ferrets are often weird, not nearly as weird as humans but still. Even though they are carnivores and its part of their natural diet it may still take up to months to get them to eat anything with fur, scales, or feathers. And after you make a switch, upgrade, or etc to their diet expect lose stoles. I take it their body's can't identify it yet .
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Post by Jackie on Jan 7, 2011 1:33:08 GMT -5
He might not have recognized that it was food. One way to tempt them to eat is to cut the little mouse open and squish out all the stuff inside. You could also pour some olive oil or ferretone on the cut to entice them to eat you could also chop in into smaller pieces and scruff and stuff.
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Post by Heather on Jan 7, 2011 16:11:38 GMT -5
Unfortunately, your little one didn't recognise the rat as food. I've heard of ferrets who will eat mice who won't eat rat if they've never had it. It's rather like a ferret who's eats chicken and turkey and you suddenly offer beef. Most won't eat it. My guys were switched on rats and were a little reticent about nomming on mice, until they figured out you can hunt them too. It's all about what they're used to. Sometimes, just getting them to play with the prey is enough, but a lot of time, it involves cutting it open, or up or even mixing the pieces with other meats that they like. Unfortunately, our little fuzzes are not real big into trying new things. It could be a left over survival skill in the wild....you eat what you know, something else might make you sick or kill you. A perfect example was a group of wolves that were kept (rescued) in Quebec. They had always been given deer meat as their fallen prey. A group of "environmentalists" decided to petition for the release of these wolves. The rescue fought and lost. It was decided that they would be released up in the NWT. Luckily for these wolves the rescue actually followed up and stayed in the area observing (their theory was that if this indeed worked then others could be released to the wild as well). Despite having allowed the wolves to hunt deer on the reserve prior to release and despite their being abundant prey (elk and cariboo) these wolves almost starved to death. Why? Because they didn't recognise the different prey. They never even attempted to hunt despite being within hunting and stalking distance. Like those wolves our little carnivores have to orientated to each different type of protein we want them to eat and for some actually go through the whole switching method each time. ciao
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Post by pastelsummer on Jan 7, 2011 16:27:54 GMT -5
ok i will try again i will cut it up smaller and put it in with his beef today
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 7, 2011 18:12:22 GMT -5
That is so true. With Boris especially, I have to start all over again with soups if I try to introduce a new protein to him, or even one he's not had for a while(a while being over a month). And it takes hand feeding several times before he starts to catch on that this is actually food.
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