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Post by katt on Apr 10, 2014 1:09:04 GMT -5
OH! Are you on facebook? If so let me know. I'm Katt Crouch, you can add me. I'm on FB fairly often (less so right now with school being so crazy) but there is a new group that was just made for Alaskan Ferrents! (dance) And of course we have a HFF FB too.
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Post by brittles888 on Apr 10, 2014 2:27:26 GMT -5
Hey! I am on facebook...I am on the HFF group there too. I'll find you and add you. I text too (constantly) I'll message you my number. I ALSO am a night owl so perfect.
So when I went to the store today I just got split chicken breasts (it's all they had..no boneless in this week) and I also got ground turkey, boneless pork chops, a package of chicken wings and a package of chicken livers and chicken hearts. (I've just been grabbing the livers and hearts when our store has them in to stock up. Our meat selection here varies greatly week to week and we don't always have that stuff so I'd like to have a stock pile of it to be safe.)
I hadn't heard back from you yet so I ended up doing the slivers before you even suggested it. (I haven't made soup yet though...I'll do that in the morn.) With the first icecube of soup I added about half as much slivers (about the size of a fingernail...maybe that's bigger than a sliver?) They both ate the slivers...I didn't even have to help them do it. The second cube I did the same..added slivers and they ate them fine. The third cube I ended up adding half a hamburger size patty of the ground up turkey. I mixed it up (it was thick...thicker than anything they have eaten) and put a few drops of ferretone on it and they ate it right up. So today is going well.
Their poop is looking weird though...I guess that's normal though huh? I remember seeing a side by side of poop on certain foods once so I'll have to search for that again and check it out.
Ok, so tomorrow more soup and I'll add more slivers. Is it ok to add pork slivers? Or should it be chicken?
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Post by katt on Apr 10, 2014 3:01:03 GMT -5
Hey! I am on facebook...I am on the HFF group there too. I'll find you and add you. I text too (constantly) I'll message you my number. I ALSO am a night owl so perfect. Added and added - perfect! Sometimes it's easier to answer a quick Q via text of FB, though I do generally try to keep most of the switch-relevant stuff on here for the sake of people who may be following the thread. In the past I have done some switches partially over Skype and go figure I regretted it bc now I can't refer people (esp new mentors) to those threads because half the switch is missing from the thread. That said, with my crazy schedule the next few weeks text/FB may be a bit easier. So when I went to the store today I just got split chicken breasts (it's all they had..no boneless in this week) and I also got ground turkey, boneless pork chops, a package of chicken wings and a package of chicken livers and chicken hearts. (I've just been grabbing the livers and hearts when our store has them in to stock up. Our meat selection here varies greatly week to week and we don't always have that stuff so I'd like to have a stock pile of it to be safe.) I hadn't heard back from you yet so I ended up doing the slivers before you even suggested it. (I haven't made soup yet though...I'll do that in the morn.) With the first icecube of soup I added about half as much slivers (about the size of a fingernail...maybe that's bigger than a sliver?) They both ate the slivers...I didn't even have to help them do it. The second cube I did the same..added slivers and they ate them fine. The third cube I ended up adding half a hamburger size patty of the ground up turkey. I mixed it up (it was thick...thicker than anything they have eaten) and put a few drops of ferretone on it and they ate it right up. So today is going well. Good fuzz! (dance) In that case, I'm not really sure you even need to make soup quite yet - though it will almost certainly be needed for the organs and such, and it never hurts to have some on hand. Just make a small batch maybe. Will they eat the slivers without anything mixed into them? Give that a shot tomorrow, and then mix in a little soup if they don't take it. If they will take the slivers then just give them that sans soup, and we can save the soup for "gravy" to introduce new proteins. They are already off to a fantastic start! Their poop is looking weird though...I guess that's normal though huh? I remember seeing a side by side of poop on certain foods once so I'll have to search for that again and check it out. That's normal. Even in a gradual switch it takes a while for their GI tracts to adjust, and you just did a cold-turkey (lol pun intended) switch so there will be some funky poops. Absolutely nothing wrong with cold turkey switches though, I prefer it when possible - the sooner the kibble's in the garbage where it belongs the better! Ok, so tomorrow more soup and I'll add more slivers. Is it ok to add pork slivers? Or should it be chicken?See if they like the chicken slivers without soup as I said above. Try the pork too if you want - if they don't like the pork, hide a few slivers in the chicken slivers + soup.
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Post by katt on Apr 11, 2014 21:30:37 GMT -5
Just checking in for updates - how did the chunks go?
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Post by katt on Apr 13, 2014 3:51:15 GMT -5
Bump
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Post by brittles888 on Apr 13, 2014 19:47:48 GMT -5
I didn't come back here because we were texting...I'm sorry! It makes sense to keep it all on here though. So, I actually COULDN'T make the soup that day because I couldn't find the top to my blender (only half of our kitchen stuff is unpacked since we are about to paint kitchen cabinets. It's still pretty chaotic over here.) I mixed up ground turkey and ground beef heart that night and gave it to them. They wouldn't really eat it at first, but if I put it on my fingers they would eat it off. I was rolling it into little balls and giving it to them and they were running off with them and eating them. I made the balls bigger and Lola was just like "licking" at the balls for a long time like she was trying to eat it but she wasn't actually chewing into it and eating it. Zin was grabbing the balls and taking them to the top of the cafe where I assumed he was eating them. He kept running back for more so I was like "Wow! Good eating!" But I saw later he actually just stashed them all in the top of the cage. So, they didn't eat that much in the end, of the ground meat. In the evening when I still couldn't find the top of the blender I ended up just putting kibble in their cage since they hadn't eaten much that day and they were at their bowl looking for food. So they have been back on kibble I guess for 2 days? How long has it been? Ugh. I was in the middle of painting the bedroom and just kept focused in there and didn't go searching through kitchen boxes. I realize that's probably not good to do, having them go back and forth, and I'll try not to do it again. Anyway, after they ate this morning I removed the kibble and I unpacked some more kitchen and I found the blender top! (It wasn't with the blender of course, it was in a box of last minute packing disorganization that my boyfriend threw together and didn't label. The last day in our old house he just ran around and put everything haphazardly in a box that was still out. My blender lid was in the dish draining rack and it got mixed in.) I'm just about to make a batch of soup. (That's why I came back on here, to find the recipe again. I HAD kept all the information about the diet in one place for easy reference but my notebook with that information is still in a box somewhere too.) Since I was here I came to check the thread and saw your stuff. So I'll make sure to check in here too and pose the questions here as well and not just text. So ya, soup now, with slivers added, then I'll up date on how it went. (Oh! And Zin DID have a partial blockage like I wondered in my texts. I picked up one poop right after he did it to check it out and it was mostly fuzz from a tennis ball! He normally doesn't eat weird stuff...I think he's freaking out and acting out because he hasn't been able to get out of the cage like he normally would. His favorite stash toy are tiny tennis balls, and so I took his "stash" out of a box of ferret toys and put them around his cage so he could have something to do. (He normally had them under my dresser.) I guess he was eating the fuzz off while in the cage. Which he never did before. I'm imagining it's like with a dog and you don't walk it enough they start being destructive and chewing on stuff and such...he's getting cage fever. I wish this house was ready for him. I let him out finally and he immediately got BEHIND the refrigerator (or course). I haven't even pulled it out and cleaned back there and for all I know there could be a box of mouse poison behind there (I've found a couple mouse turds in the cabinets, but seen no mice) So I fished him out then put him back in the playroom I made for him and he BOLTED out the door and ran from me under the boiler. He doesn't normally act like that! He'll run and play but not BOLT AWAY FROM ME and not let me get him. He want's freedom badly! I caught him again and got him in the play room and closed the door and about 30 minutes later Andrew says "Zin just ran by me!" Zin had broken through the door and ripped up the carpet even though I put down a office desk mat to protect the carpet there. He ripped it up first. He REALLY REALLY needs to explore this house and have his out of cage time again...it's so obvious...it's breaking my heart. I'm trying to work on the projects faster and finish the ferret proofing so he can. ANYWAY, I didn't have pumpkin OR plain Vaseline and the store was closed when I discovered him pooping the plastic fuzz stuff so I just used the ferret lax I still had. I've dissected every poop since and see no more fuzz...and I removed the balls from him. So hopefully that's done. I'm going to keep a close eye on it though. In my old house I would check their poop twice a day since a vet is so hard to come by here but I hadn't been doing that here since my poop scoop was lost in the unpacking mix. (I also found that again today and put it in a safe spot.) So I'm keeping a SUPER CLOSE eye on the poo to watch for problems. (After I found that fuzz...I went back and discedted the poops in those two boxes I took pictures of for you and I DID find fuzz in the raw food poops. They were yellow like the poops so it was hard to see. It makes me slightly worried since I am not familiar with raw food poop yet and I don't want to miss problems. That's a small reason why I just went back to the kibble too when I couldn't find the lid and he needed to eat... Ok ok, on to make the soup. Talk to you soon!
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Post by brittles888 on Apr 14, 2014 0:38:05 GMT -5
Soup eating went well! They ate some of the slivers but not all.
I'll take their weight in the morning and do the weekly questionnaire. I reread the rules when I looked back up the recipe and it had been so long ago I read it all I forgot exactly what I was supposed to do once I had the mentor. So I'll get on the ball with posting better.
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Post by katt on Apr 14, 2014 11:34:14 GMT -5
Poor Zin, hang in there bud! If you have a harness and have time try taking him on walks outside to let out some of his energy. As for the tennis balls I would remove those. A 2 year old might enjoy playing with a steak knife, but that doesn't mean you should let them. Same goes for ferrets. It can be hard to take away toys they love but take it from someone who has been through multiple emergency blockage surgeries...it's not worth it to let them play with toys they can eat. ANY toy with ANY type or amount of rubber is always an absolute no-no with ferrets. As you have just experienced a ferret who has never chewed in their life can decide (for Whatever reason) to chew one day, and it only takes once. What if he had chewed past the fuzz and gnawed off rubber bits from the ball? I'm not trying to sound mean or harsh, many people unknowingly let their ferrets play with dangerous toys. I mean dogs love tennis balls why not ferrets? This is something I am extremely passionate and very strict about. ANY ferret can and WILL chew, so toys containing rubber (even so called "indestructible" rubber - no such thing btw) are super dangerous. When I get on my comp I'll find the pic for you of Koda's 2 blockages so you can see just how little it takes to put them into life threatening condition within hours. I will post a chart of poop for you later, I have to find it. Don't hesitate to post or send poop pics either. Poops during the switch will be odd as they adjust to the new diet, and soup poops and boneless poops (even with eggshell) will be softer than normal poops. Colors will vary widely depending on the food they eat. Chicken makes for fairly light poops, beef makes for very dark - almost black poops. Bone in poops when we get there will be more solid and will often have tiny bits of undigested bone (they digest most but some bits pass through). Organ poops will be very dark and soft due to the high blood content. Etc etc. I understand about unpacking - I am an army brat and spent my whole life moving from place to place. It is stressful and chaotic. How did they do eating the slivers in the soup?
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Post by brittles888 on Apr 16, 2014 1:55:47 GMT -5
Hey!
1. Ferret's name:Lola 2. Ferret's weight:1.9 lb 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. About 1-2 ounces of soup 4. Stools on various proteins. softer and much less than normal 5. Activity levels:slightly higher than normal 6. Weekly menu:soup with chicken
1. Ferret's name:Zin 2. Ferret's weight:2lb 3 oz 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal.1-2 ounces of soup 4. Stools on various proteins.soft and small 5. Activity levels:very high 6. Weekly menu:chicken soup
So, they haven't been eating the slivers very well. I keep finding the slivers left on the plate and nothing else...they are licking the soup away from around the slivers. But they ate slivers before so I'm not sure what's up now?
They have been on soup only again now since my last post.
I never originally gave the ferrets the mini tennis balls, they stole them from my Chihuahua. They are HIS favorite toy(the dog) (or they were until the ferrets claimed them). I had bought a bunch of them and the dog would play with them all the time, but then the ferrets took all of them and hid them and whenever I got them back out for the dogs the ferrets would take them again. What toys do you give your ferrets that are safe? Mine like the tennis balls, squeaky dog toys, insoles from shoes as well as whole shoes and sometimes dirty socks, and rolls of toilet paper which they shred. Those are the things they go and hide in their stash spot.
I've let them out of the cage twice now for a few hours and it's gone fine so far and they seem much happier. And Zin isn't going quite as wild anymore. He even played with me (he and I like to play "tag" and run back and forth from room to room-I go first and he chases me and when he peeks his head around the corner for where I am I scream "BOO!" and he dooks and war dances then dashes into the closest hiding spot then I run into a different area and he follows me there and I "BOO!" him again etc etc.) He loves it, but he wouldn't do it with me the other day he just wanted to run away from me. I closed off the doors to most of the rooms and blocked access to behind the fridge and let them explore the living room and kitchen and kept my eye on them. (At my old house, they would pretty much be out of their cage whenever I was home and could explore the whole house minus one room (my boyfriends music/computer room) so I think that's partially why it's so hard for them here...they aren't used to being restricted.
Anyway, let me know what I should do about the slivers and what good ferret toys are!
Brittney
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Post by katt on Apr 16, 2014 23:44:28 GMT -5
Sorry, just had a test and prepping for a few more. We have officially entered finals season. So, they haven't been eating the slivers very well. I keep finding the slivers left on the plate and nothing else...they are licking the soup away from around the slivers. But they ate slivers before so I'm not sure what's up now? They have been on soup only again now since my last post.
They have backslid - that is okay. For one they got their precious kibble back for a while and for two they are under a lot of stress with the move. It is normal during the switch to experience 2 steps forward 1 step back. How big are the slivers? Go back a step or two and make them super small and add only a few to the soup. When they eat those, add a few more the next meal, and a few more the next meal. I never originally gave the ferrets the mini tennis balls, they stole them from my Chihuahua. They are HIS favorite toy(the dog) (or they were until the ferrets claimed them). I had bought a bunch of them and the dog would play with them all the time, but then the ferrets took all of them and hid them and whenever I got them back out for the dogs the ferrets would take them again. What toys do you give your ferrets that are safe? Mine like the tennis balls, squeaky dog toys, insoles from shoes as well as whole shoes and sometimes dirty socks, and rolls of toilet paper which they shred. Those are the things they go and hide in their stash spot. I give my boys hard plastic toys only. Anything with rubber is a huge, huge risk. That includes the insoles. :/ My boys get cat balls (like the Dance and Dook toys at pet co - little balls with bells or rattles in them), small stuffies with NO hard plastic eyes/noses (those get chewed off), tunnels, dig boxes, foraging toys, cardboard boxes. Ferrets generally prefer interactive stuff anyways. Dig boxes are easy - get a rubbermaid bin and some rice (NOT the instant kind), pour rice in box, add ferret - enjoy! Tunnels can be rearranged. Cat toys can be fun as long as there are no easy to chew pieces. Hard plastic toys. Kenai loves jingle balls, but they don't get any with holes they can get their teeth into or they can crack them open and swallow the bell. (Kenai bites them until they crack open). They have hard-plastic links from the baby department (human baby toys), plastic rattles, etc. Honestly though for ferrets it's the simple things they like best. A box of crumpled paper, your smelly t-shirt, a plastic bag (supervised play only). And interactive toys: dig boxes, foraging toys, teaser toys. Etc. Examples of Dangerous items, and just the kind of destruction they can do: www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/14657/edible-dangers-home-kodas-cataloga MUST read for any ferrent - This is ALL it takes to cause a blockage. These pictures were 2 Life Threatening blockages. Had Koda not gone into emergency surgery, he would have died. www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13211/blockages-all-takesI will add as well - if they can get their teeth into it, they can ingest it. They easily chomp through whole bones. Rubber is nothing in comparison. Even hard rubber like Kong toys is absolutely not ferret safe. Having been through 3 emergency surgeries with my boys, and 4 years of Koda's pathological chewing, this is something I am extremely passionate about. Rubber is a huge danger. Hundreds, if not thousands, of ferrets die every year from ingesting rubber objects. I have seen ferrets who never chewed anything in their life just one day up and eat something indigestible and end up either dead or on the Operating table. All it takes is once, and you can never predict when they will make that hair-brained decision to chew on something. And it WILL be when you aren't home, or at 2 am on a Saturday night when all of the vets are closed and the only ER doc doesn't see ferrets... I swear they plan it that way. lmao Ferrets! Ugh! I've let them out of the cage twice now for a few hours and it's gone fine so far and they seem much happier. And Zin isn't going quite as wild anymore. He even played with me (he and I like to play "tag" and run back and forth from room to room-I go first and he chases me and when he peeks his head around the corner for where I am I scream "BOO!" and he dooks and war dances then dashes into the closest hiding spot then I run into a different area and he follows me there and I "BOO!" him again etc etc.) He loves it, but he wouldn't do it with me the other day he just wanted to run away from me. I closed off the doors to most of the rooms and blocked access to behind the fridge and let them explore the living room and kitchen and kept my eye on them. (At my old house, they would pretty much be out of their cage whenever I was home and could explore the whole house minus one room (my boyfriends music/computer room) so I think that's partially why it's so hard for them here...they aren't used to being restricted. Poor fuzz, they have been stressed. It sounds like they are starting to settle in though. That is good. Can you get any Bach's Rescue Remedy by chance? I tried ordering some online and everyone said they wouldn't ship to AK. But if you guys have a natural foods/supplements section in one of the grocery stores you might be able to find some there. It can help a lot with stress. I'm glad that they are settling in! Anyway, let me know what I should do about the slivers and what good ferret toys are!See above. I'll try to remember to take some pics of some of the toys we have. All toys are checked regularly for damage and discarded when they show any signs of chewing, fraying, etc.
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Post by katt on Apr 17, 2014 2:17:02 GMT -5
I didn't come back here because we were texting...I'm sorry! It makes sense to keep it all on here though. Just wanted to add that texting is fine (don't feel like you are pestering or anything - if I'm busy I just won't answer right away lol), I just try to keep regular and important updates on here as much as possible for a few reasons. - Newbies often read/follow the various switching threads, so they are much less helpful to others when important information (that might really help them) is missing - It is a more permanent place to keep a log/record for reference. It's much easier to loose track of trends, dates, weights, important stages or details, etc when they aren't on here. It's nice to be able to scroll back and go oh yeah, 2 weeks ago you DID tell me that Zin was not eating as much pork as usual...etc - Archived successful switches are frequently used as very valuable reference links for new members interested in switching or for mentors in training (and even long time mentors!) who might be going through a similar situation. For example I did 2 of my longest insulinoma switches mostly via Skype. At the time it was much more convenient especially because I was on Skype every night and we could have live convos and there were very frequent and important questions (both of these switches had very bad insu and were being very stubborn about eating). Now I really regret not having that info recorded on the forum switching threads. Both of those ferrets were pretty extreme cases and we went through a lot of different tricks and approaches - there's still good info in the threads, but so much information that could have been invaluable to other owners of insu ferrets is now lost in Skype chat cyberspace.... :/
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Post by katt on Apr 17, 2014 22:26:58 GMT -5
Just checking in
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Post by brittles888 on Apr 18, 2014 2:40:28 GMT -5
Hey! So, I just read now what to do about the slivers. Without even reading that, I actually did that today anyway. I went to their cage and saw only the slivers left (and actually I think they might have been bigger than slivers. I can't remember where I saw descriptions of the sizes. I have ALL that information printed out and written down in that notebook I made when I first signed up to do this program, but it still hasn't surfaced. (I haven't even gotten to my books, paperwork, desk type boxes yet.) There is so much information on this forum and in the past when I would browse around it was always overwhelming and I couldn't always find stuff again once I read it which was why I made a hard copy of all that stuff. ANYWAY, my slivers have been about the size of half a whole fingernail...I'm thinking now slivers were the size of a fingernail clipping? Please refresh me. ) ANYWAY AGAIN, so I saw the slivers or chunks or whatever were still there so I tried hand feeding them to the ferrets. Zin would take them that way and eat them. But Lola wouldn't. She would lick it and lick it and even took it into her mouth for a second and chewed on it with her back teeth but then would spit it out and would never swallow. I broke it down into even smaller and smaller chunks (like half a fingernail clipping) and then she would take it and swallow it. So Zin will eat the half fingernail size chunks, as long as I hand feed them to him. I'm assuming I should probably cut them smaller and put them in the soup again next? Thanks for all the info about the rubber. I knew it was a danger but they never chewed it you know? So I wasn't worried. I will have to figure out what to do. I normally leave a basket of dog toys for the dogs and that is how the ferrets choose out those toys and claimed them, so I'm going to have to re figure what I do with the dogs. The dogs don't really like their squeaky toys or balls anymore anyway because they don't want to get nipped by the ferrets if they squeak them. But the dogs have gotten bit while playing with their toys so now they are afraid of those toys and won't even take them. (If you squeak a squeaker, the ferrets run to you and will bite your feet. It's the only time they ever bite. I always wondered why they do that...prey instinct from the squeak? Something kicks on in the when I squeak and they go into wild mode. They will wake up from a dead sleep and be at energy level 10 in like 2 seconds if they hear a squeak. Or come running out of any hiding hole. I was able to find Zin last year when he moved my window screen and jumped 9 feet down to the lawn and got outside last year with the squeaker toy.)(That was terrible to discover, that he was gone out the window.) (It took me a while to ferret proof my last house as I discovered all the different things they would do and get into...like that.)(He actually did this TWICE...the first time there was no screen and I never imagined he would get up into the window sill and jump so far. But I let them out when I got home from work at 11 pm and left them out to play and when I got up in the morning Zin was nowhere to be found. When I realized he wasn't in the house and then thought he might have jumped out of the window I FREAKED OUT...I posted on our local info facebook page and was just looking up the number to the police station to let them know in case someone found him and called and right then THEY CALLED ME! Someone had found a ferret and the dispatcher knew I was the only one in town with ferrets. That little bugger was found three blocks away INSIDE A HOTEL. Ha.) So, I got screens for all the windows. And then he got through, so I started closing the windows if he was out. Learning curves...thank god they weren't deadly.) Ah I'm rambling...Ok! Oh one question, was it concerning they each lost one ounce last week? What's normal? Thank you!
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Post by katt on Apr 18, 2014 3:11:43 GMT -5
So, I just read now what to do about the slivers. Without even reading that, I actually did that today anyway. I went to their cage and saw only the slivers left (and actually I think they might have been bigger than slivers. I can't remember where I saw descriptions of the sizes. I have ALL that information printed out and written down in that notebook I made when I first signed up to do this program, but it still hasn't surfaced. (I haven't even gotten to my books, paperwork, desk type boxes yet.) There is so much information on this forum and in the past when I would browse around it was always overwhelming and I couldn't always find stuff again once I read it which was why I made a hard copy of all that stuff. ANYWAY, my slivers have been about the size of half a whole fingernail...I'm thinking now slivers were the size of a fingernail clipping? Please refresh me. ) ANYWAY AGAIN, so I saw the slivers or chunks or whatever were still there so I tried hand feeding them to the ferrets. Zin would take them that way and eat them. But Lola wouldn't. She would lick it and lick it and even took it into her mouth for a second and chewed on it with her back teeth but then would spit it out and would never swallow. I broke it down into even smaller and smaller chunks (like half a fingernail clipping) and then she would take it and swallow it. So Zin will eat the half fingernail size chunks, as long as I hand feed them to him. I'm assuming I should probably cut them smaller and put them in the soup again next? Yes, slivers are fingernail clipping sized (what a gross comparison...lmao). And yes, if the smaller slivers are what Lola will eat, then mix that into their soup. Feed that for a few meals (let me know if you have to hand feed of they will eat it on their own), and then work on gradually increasing the slivers in size and number. Thanks for all the info about the rubber. I knew it was a danger but they never chewed it you know? So I wasn't worried. I will have to figure out what to do. I normally leave a basket of dog toys for the dogs and that is how the ferrets choose out those toys and claimed them, so I'm going to have to re figure what I do with the dogs. The dogs don't really like their squeaky toys or balls anymore anyway because they don't want to get nipped by the ferrets if they squeak them. But the dogs have gotten bit while playing with their toys so now they are afraid of those toys and won't even take them. (If you squeak a squeaker, the ferrets run to you and will bite your feet. It's the only time they ever bite. I always wondered why they do that...prey instinct from the squeak? Something kicks on in the when I squeak and they go into wild mode. They will wake up from a dead sleep and be at energy level 10 in like 2 seconds if they hear a squeak. Or come running out of any hiding hole. I was able to find Zin last year when he moved my window screen and jumped 9 feet down to the lawn and got outside last year with the squeaker toy.)(That was terrible to discover, that he was gone out the window.) (It took me a while to ferret proof my last house as I discovered all the different things they would do and get into...like that.)(He actually did this TWICE...the first time there was no screen and I never imagined he would get up into the window sill and jump so far. But I let them out when I got home from work at 11 pm and left them out to play and when I got up in the morning Zin was nowhere to be found. When I realized he wasn't in the house and then thought he might have jumped out of the window I FREAKED OUT...I posted on our local info facebook page and was just looking up the number to the police station to let them know in case someone found him and called and right then THEY CALLED ME! Someone had found a ferret and the dispatcher knew I was the only one in town with ferrets. That little bugger was found three blocks away INSIDE A HOTEL. Ha.) So, I got screens for all the windows. And then he got through, so I started closing the windows if he was out. Learning curves...thank god they weren't deadly.) Yes, squeaking is a prey instinct. It is very good to have them trained to come to a squeaker or something similar - you can always give them a little treat (salmon oil in a dropper bottle is great)when they come running to the squeaker. For the dogs, maybe you could get some Extra-Tuff toys? I know PetCo and PetsMart carry the stuffed toys made out of heavy canvas that have squeakers in them - those are pretty durable. I think they are called Tuff toys or something like that... www.amazon.com/Tuffy-LIL-Oscar-Sea-Creature/dp/B000NVDEY0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1397808399&sr=8-7&keywords=dog+toy+toughwww.amazon.com/Tuffys-Gary-Gator-Sea-Creatures/dp/B000OC7PEI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1397808399&sr=8-11&keywords=dog+toy+toughYou could also do hard plastic balls. Ping pong balls are generally okay (they make fun dig boxes too!) but the dogs might chew those up faster than the ferrets. If you can monitor them, rope toys might be okay too, Koda and Kenai both try to eat rope, but if you can put them out for supervised play only... Do your ferrets usually free roam with the dogs, or are they in separate rooms when you aren't home? Ah I'm rambling...Ok! Oh one question, was it concerning they each lost one ounce last week? What's normal? Once ounce isn't a big deal. Esp considering they just had a stressful move and it's spring! Ferrets can gain/lose up to 40% of their body weight each seasonal change. Their bodies will also be different on raw - more muscular, dense, sleek, and lean and less flub.
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Post by katt on Apr 18, 2014 21:17:03 GMT -5
Just checking in for the night.
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