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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 1:24:05 GMT -5
I just read the FAQ, loved it! Lots of great info. However I'm a little confused about the feeding of the RAW diet... It says that while on the RAW diet they are fed twice daily and do not need to have food all day long?? That it's only the kibble fed that need food at all times?? I just want to confirm this. The poop chart put my mind at ease, because Bella gave me a scare yesterday as she started to have a runnier poop, I thought she might be sick as she wasn't eating as much. But it makes sense after reading the FAQ section. Another question I have...are we supposed to warm up their food a little prior to feeding them?? Or do we give it to them straight from the refrigerator? Could anybody tell me how long one batch of the soupy is supposed to last with 2 ferrets? I've also requested to join the Facebook group and I am still pending...is it still active? Let me in please!! lol Sorry for all the questions.  |
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Post by msav on Dec 13, 2014 1:34:55 GMT -5
You generally feed them enough so they have food until the next feeding. This is not easy to figure out. I look in their cage and if there is still quite a bit of food in the cage I skip the next feeding. Some foods like duck they like to have sit out for a while before they will eat it.
Don't sweat it. it is not as complicated is it seems. Once you have been feeding raw for a while it will become routine.
Sent from my SM-G900V using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 1:48:08 GMT -5
Thank you msav! :thankyou:
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 2:31:58 GMT -5
I've heard something else and need to verify. I was told earlier that the soupy diet should not be fed to them on a regular basis, because they should not have heart everyday???
Now that I have had them on the soupy, what do I do next??
Is there a menu I could follow...they have not eaten any bone yet.
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Post by msav on Dec 13, 2014 2:47:38 GMT -5
nothing wrong with soup. it has the correct proportion of heart and liver in it. it works out to be the same as feeding heart 1.5 meals and liver 1.5 meals per week. as long as you make it correctly.
only bad about it is that they are not getting bone and natural teeth cleaning of meat and bone.
soup is mainly for transitioning. soup even after fully transitioned should still be given every once in a while to keep them used to eating it in case the get sick and need to be fed soup.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 3:11:33 GMT -5
:thankyou: I'm now looking through the forum to find a menu that I could follow. I would like to give them a variety. Glad to hear that I am not hurting them by giving them the soupy full time.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 11:29:40 GMT -5
I just read the FAQ, loved it! Lots of great info. However I'm a little confused about the feeding of the RAW diet... It says that while on the RAW diet they are fed twice daily and do not need to have food all day long?? That it's only the kibble fed that need food at all times?? I just want to confirm this. The poop chart put my mind at ease, because Bella gave me a scare yesterday as she started to have a runnier poop, I thought she might be sick as she wasn't eating as much. But it makes sense after reading the FAQ section. Another question I have...are we supposed to warm up their food a little prior to feeding them?? Or do we give it to them straight from the refrigerator? Could anybody tell me how long one batch of the soupy is supposed to last with 2 ferrets? I've also requested to join the Facebook group and I am still pending...is it still active? Let me in please!! lol Sorry for all the questions. I leave food out all day. I put their breakfast out and then pull out something to defrost for dinner. Then at dinner, I pull up their breakfast plates and put out their dinner. I also pull something out for the following day's breakfast and put it in the fridge to defrost. Mine are free roam and everyone likes to eat at different times. I always add a little warm water to their plates. I also serve food at room temp. Some ferrets like their meat cold, but mine don't. The warm water releases the smell and they eat better. Some ferrents report that theirs are fine with Meatsicles. The average boy eats 3-4 ounces of meat a day, the average girl will eat 2-3 ounces maybe. If I'm doing soup, I make a fresh batch and then serve it. You have two and with the approx 10 ounces of soupie, that the recipe makes, you will probably have a little leftover. You can make bigger batches and freeze the rest. You can also just make soupie on the days that you plan to serve it. See what works best for you. I'm tagging gfountain, she should be able to add you to the facebook forum. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 11:43:10 GMT -5
You feed 2 meals per day, but it's important to have snacks available to them during the day also. If they're on soup, then have a bowl of soup out for them to snack on, or some slivers, or some jerky.
A lot of ferrets prefer warm food, mine do, but you don't have to warm it up. Sometimes it's easier getting them to eat if it warm or some ferts like it cold. It's each ones preference.
How long it lasts depends entirely on how much your ferrets eat per day and the consistency of the soup. I have a 2.5 lb boy and girl, and the 8 ounce meat, 1 oz liver, etc etc batch lasts 1 day. Mine put away 5-6+ ounces each per day.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 18:54:27 GMT -5
You feed 2 meals per day, but it's important to have snacks available to them during the day also. If they're on soup, then have a bowl of soup out for them to snack on, or some slivers, or some jerky. A lot of ferrets prefer warm food, mine do, but you don't have to warm it up. Sometimes it's easier getting them to eat if it warm or some ferts like it cold. It's each ones preference. How long it lasts depends entirely on how much your ferrets eat per day and the consistency of the soup. I have a 2.5 lb boy and girl, and the 8 ounce meat, 1 oz liver, etc etc batch lasts 1 day. Mine put away 5-6+ ounces each per day. Wow!! They sure pack it back! I wish mine ate that much so they could get healthy again. One batch lasts me 4 days and that's with them eating only that during the beginning of their transition to RAW. I know they were neglected prior to them coming to me. It breaks my heart. They are getting there slowly. They don't eat a whole lot at once but they eat every couple of hours. Tonight for dinner they had chicken wing tip with bone in with chicken meat and very little soupy. I was pretty impressed. Thank you for the info! :thankyou: |
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Post by msav on Dec 13, 2014 19:33:24 GMT -5
I don't coddle my ferrets, If i did they would have me sitting there slicing their food into bite sized pieces and handing it to them one piece at a time. They would eventually refuse to eat unless they were fed that way in the future.
Ferrets will be lazy if you let them, this could lead to them not eating everything they are suppose to in order to keep their diet balanced.
If they don't like it cold they can wait til it warms up. If one of my ferrets will eat it cold then the other ferrets will get what is left over. Mine have learned to eat it cold if they want there choice of what to eat.
if mine had it their way it would be all mouse/rat all the time.
They are smart and they will manipulate you if you let them.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 0:07:21 GMT -5
Is it ok to supplement the 8 oz of chicken in the soupie recipe with 8 oz of rabbit??
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 0:40:27 GMT -5
What do you mean by supplement? Replace or add in?
You want to do new proteins slow so in case they have an allergy or sensitivity you can ID which it is, if you go too fast you won't know. You can do something along the lines of-
5 oz chicken thigh
3 oz rabbit
1 oz liver
1 oz heart
1/2 tsp eggshell/bonemeal powder
And with every batch (if they're okay with it) increase the amount of rabbit. If they take the above ratio good, you could do 4 oz rabbit and 4 oz chicken, then if they take that good you can go full rabbit or 6 oz rabbit and 2 oz chicken. However they are okay with.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 0:46:22 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the info. I will try that tomorrow. If you're not a Mentor, you should apply to be one!  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 11:48:45 GMT -5
Well I made my babies' food this morning, with 5oz of chicken and 3oz of rabbit. Mia ate so much yesterday that she has not eaten yet...she must be the one that ate the food throughout the night. A little piglet she was yesterday! I love it! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 12:32:53 GMT -5
Haha no I'm not a Mentor, maybe once my babies switch is over and I graduate, thank you.  Sometimes mine will eat a whole lot one day and barely anything the next, so that's normal. Once my girl ate 10 ounces, then the next 2 oz, LOL. Mine are pigs though and scarf down a general of 4-6 oz a day, they're chubbers at 2.5+ lbs. How is Bella taking to the rabbit mix? |
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