here are the feeding weights while we were gone starting July 1st. Cassia has been eating Lamb, chicken, Game hen, and duck so her eating measurements fluctuated.
1. To wean Cassia totally off of soup and get her eating organs. 2. Move Koufos off of soup and onto solids.
For #1. the best approach I've heard of lately involves the freezer and a mandoline (I'm guessing you have one?). Anyhow, freeze the organs until they are mostly frozen and then slice very thin on the mandoline. Then you can put the thin slices over her solid meat (boneless or bone in) in the bowl. When it thaws it coats the meat and she pretty much has to eat it.
For #2 lets bump him up to the final stage of slivers with just a tiny bit of soup on the top to moisten it.
As for housing I don't think it really matters at this point. If Koufos has access to the meals everyone else does, you'll have to keep a close eye on him to see if he doesn't just start eating that and snubbing his normal meals (that could be confusing for us if we don't know it is happening).
So for cassia I should stop giving soup/slivers and give her her own meat with the organs on it? I have a meat slicer as well that would probably cut the frozen organs easier, however if I am doing small organs like chicken hearts the mandolin slicer would be better.
Koufos is still at that stage of more meat than soup. 90% meat 10% soup. I have been giving him 1 meal a week of just straight soup as I am worried that he is not getting the required liver and heart. I also sometime will do heart slivers as the meat, but with the liver he has to have it in the soup.
with housing, it seems it would be better to put Cassia and Koufos together so Cassia will eat the meat with the organ on it and not the hanging meat that I give everybody else.
Sounds good. Do what you can with Cassia as far as organs with the meat she is eating and we'll really focus on moving Koufos off of his soup and onto solids. That's our goal for the next week or so.
Have you tried offering meat / bone in meat on the ground or on a plate to see if that will interest Koufos? The hanging meat may be a bit much for him at this stage.
Also, lets try pretty much all meat with just a tiny bit of soup moistening the top and see how he does with that.
when I do that he does not eat the meat he just licks the soup off. If I soak the meat in the soup for a few hours he will eat the meat. I tried soaking the meat in just a little bit of soup and he was not interested.
I put the meat on the floor of the cage he does not seem interested, today I offered him a thawed frozen mouse and he just licked it and left it.
Sorry for the delay, I just came back from vacation to be Laid off of work, so I have been dealing with that. First time ever in my life I have been unemployed, trying to cope with my emotions right now. I feel so weird not having anywhere to go everyday.
Try dipping the meat pieces in the soup and then holding it to see if he takes it in his mouth. It he does grab it, tug on it so he has to pull it out of your fingers. Maybe that will stimulate him enough to eat it.
but he does eat the silvers correct? What is in the soup you are making? Try making the meat the same base meat as the soup and see if that makes a difference.
I don't mean to pry but are you the only source of income or does your partner work? Are you going to be ok financially while you look for work? If you don't want to talk about it that's fine.