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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2015 10:18:58 GMT -5
I tried the freeze dried raw treat stuff with Fez and he absolutely wouldn't touch it. Didn't try adding water though... This "trip" is going to be several weeks, like from moving out of our place here, spending a week or so at my parents in Arkansas, then a few days driving to California, staying in a hotel, etc. It's going to be a tough time for him unfortunately, definitely tough food wise!
So he's dropped some weight, I noticed last night that he was looking slimmer, so I weighed him. 3.2lb, so he's lost .2lb in a couple of weeks so far. I've managed to make some new portion bags that are less amounts than what he was eating before so he's eating most of his 2 meals a day again.
I've seen some people feed frozen/thawed mice... Could that possibly be an option to maybe try him on for parts of the trip? Finding a pet store is pretty easy in a lot of places to be able to grab one here and there when needed. Maybe? Can they eat the entire thawed mouse?? Fur and all? So gross haha.
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Post by kraesmom on Mar 21, 2015 12:36:16 GMT -5
I crumble the FDR and add warm water. You may have to dab some on his nose a couple of times until he realizes that it is food.
Mice, yes...they eat the fur. Mine tend to eat the heads and leave the butts behind. lol
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2015 12:20:43 GMT -5
Still feeling unsure about trying a mouse haha, just seems gross!
So a friend gave me a huge amount of duck & goose meat - her dad and her are avid hunters I guess? I don't know whats what in the bags, it all looks the same to me but it's apparently all mixed together. Some of it had freezer burn so I tossed a bit of it, but there's so much meat. It's actually the grossest smelling meat I've dealt with so far for the raw diet. Ick. Anyways, it's all cut up now. We'll see how he takes it.
I've got way too much meat in my freezer for him right now, much more than we'll get to in the next 4 weeks. Hopefully I can take a good amount with us in the car to my parents in Arkansas where we're staying a week or two before heading to CA. They don't have much freezer space ever but we'll see how it goes.
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Post by kraesmom on Apr 6, 2015 14:35:55 GMT -5
Please post your current menu so I can review where you currently are. Do you have any concerns with Fez? How has he been doing? Energy? Poops?
As for the extra, I'd say to pack a cooler and whatever you can't take, see if there is an HFF member nearby that could use it.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2015 23:14:02 GMT -5
Hey! Just wanted to check in, were in the midst of moving - in Arkansas staying with parents right now.
Fez's diet has gone out the window right now, none of the meat made it frozen for the drive, it lasted a few days in the fridge but it got nasty. Still another week here and then several days driving etc, not quite sure what to do. got him some chicken wings yesterday but that's it so far..
He's currently having an insane fur blowout! There's balls of fur everywhere, even just dangling off him, it's kind of crazy.
I had him in a guinea pig thing as his travel cage but he kept trying to chew out of it, so I found a smallish wire dog crate for a steal price at an estate sale and I've set that up as his new temporary cage and he likes it a lot more now. I wanted to try and add a second level but not sure how.
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 2, 2015 18:34:07 GMT -5
I'm so sorry! I did not get a notification that you had posted! Hopefully you and fez are getting settled into your new home now and have scoped out the local markets. Let me know how it is going!
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 13, 2015 23:30:38 GMT -5
If you are no longer interested in having help for your switch, I'll ask an admin to archive this thread and I'll take in a new mentee. It seems that I've requested a menu multiple times to ensure that fez is getting a balanced diet. I haven't seen the menu yet.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2015 22:11:36 GMT -5
I didn't receive any notification of your response either! Weird! His menu has not changed, I've just kept following the same menu constantly. If I happen to run out of something I might switch it up a little for that meal. I've actually found some great grocery store options when it comes to organs and what not, rather than having to buy a huge big bulk liver or whatnot, these places have them already partially sliced up, much more convenient and cheaper for me. One butcher even gave me some tripe to try the other day, but I haven't yet given it to him, I wasn't sure if it was a good organ. He's loving the new place though, he has much more freedom now oddly enough.
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 25, 2015 11:37:40 GMT -5
The menu looks good, although it's pretty much chicken and pork. I'd like to see a third (or fourth) protein in the mix. Organs from a different protein source don't count. I assume the box near Sunday is the list of all the proteins that he will eat?
Pop quiz: 1. How can you tell if your ferret is getting too much or too little bone? 2. Give 2 examples each of muscle meat, edible bones, and organs. 3. Are leaner meats better for your ferret or fattier meats? Why? 4. What counts as a "different protein source?" 5. What are some good emergency taurine sources if you run out of heart?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2015 21:31:48 GMT -5
We've discussed the protein sources before though and had decided different protein sources organs were acceptable? Cause it's generally beef heart, and turkey livers... Otherwise I would have changed that ages ago when we discussed?? And where does tripe fall in, is it an okay organ to feed them?
Pop quiz answers: 1. The poop, too runny or liquidy = not enough bone. 2. Gizzards, pork stuff. Chicken wings, CGH parts. Liver, kidney. 3. I'm not sure which is better with leaner or fattier, would that depend if you want them to gain weight or lose weight...? 4. A different animal? 5. Not sure on emergency taurine, another organ perhaps like liver?
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 26, 2015 12:14:55 GMT -5
I recently read a clarification (not sure if it was here or on the FB page) that organs are NOT counted in the variety. The greater the variety, the better. I know beef is pretty expensive right now, but a bit of red meat in the diet would really help boost his iron. Even if it is just one meal per week. Green tripe is ok, although most fuzzes refuse to eat it. Green tripe has nutrients, white tripe is pretty useless as far as nutrition goes.
1. correct, although to expand on it...if the poops are dry or chalky, there's too much bone and you need to reduce the amount they're eating 2. I'm assuming that "pork stuff" is boneless meat chunks? Then yes 3. Ferrets get their energy from fat, so the fattier cuts are better. 4. Yes, a different animal outside of organs. 5. Taurine: Taurine is created from muscles that get lots of use. Therefore, the heart muscle (which pumps all the time) & beef tongue (because they are constantly chewing cud and therefore using their tongues) are good sources of taurine. If you can't find hearts, you can substitute tongue or even get supplements from the health food store. Liver is not high in Taurine, but IS high in Vitamin A. Taurine is water-soluable, so excess is secreted from the body. Vitamin A is fat-soluable, so excess is stored in the body and can be toxic in large amounts. They need some for a balanced diet, but not too much. That is why the HFF has limits on the recommended amount of liver to feed. As a side note, chicken thighs are higher in taurine than breasts or wings (and are also higher in fat) so if you have a choice between wings or bone-in thighs, pick the thighs most of the time.
The box near Sunday on your schedule...those are the proteins he will eat?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2015 19:53:03 GMT -5
Yeah the stuff on the side is the stuff he definitely will eat, he also likes turkey necks now too, he wasn't a huge fan of duck/goose meat, he still ate it but he never seemed as excited by it. I didn't know there was different colored tripe, I was given a piece of white tripe then I guess, so useless to offer to him? Beef is pretty expensive but they have that beef meat for stew stuff, like a small thing of chunks of beef for a stew, I guess? That's not too badly priced, would that work for maybe once a week?
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 27, 2015 10:48:34 GMT -5
Stew beef would be great and will save you some time with the prep already done!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2015 17:40:19 GMT -5
There was none yesterday at the store so I got him some cheaper steak meat I think it is... I have no idea honestly, it's just beef is all I know haha. Where and how often should I throw it into the menu then?
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Post by kraesmom on Jun 29, 2015 20:43:25 GMT -5
Even once or twice a week will fill in for some vitamins and minerals not present in poultry and pork.
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