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Post by Celene on Jan 24, 2015 15:08:13 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 15:37:00 GMT -5
Thanks a lot for the research! I didn't want to sound like I couldn't google it myself - I did, and spent quite a while on it - but I always avoided everything that had "clumping" in the title, because I had that idea that clumping is bad stuck in my mind... I am using something similar to Cat's Best Nature Gold, but it powders... And we go through about 16kg of pellets in about 1,5 week... ( I found those others as well (I am usually buying stuff from zooplus ), and considered the OKO cat's best when I was researching litter here - but I thought that clumping litter is not recommended, and all those are clumping... Was I assuming all wrong ? I think canadian litter and cat food (orijen, acana) is quite popular here! I didn't find that corn one before! That sounds quite good!
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Post by Celene on Jan 24, 2015 17:20:32 GMT -5
Most clumping litter is clay-based (usually bentonite). When this clay gets wet it clumps together really hard and if your ferret ingests (accidentally or otherwise) it will make them sick and/or cause blockages. Naturally clumping litters use other mechanisms to clump. For example, I use Swheat Scoop which is made entirely of wheat. It clumps and makes it very conveniently scoopable, but when the clumps are put in water (toilet) the break up and disperse. The other thing about clay-based clumping litters is (I believe) they are quite dusty, because of the clay and can really irritate ferrets' respiratory system. Actually, before I hit "post" I wanted to find a source to make sure what I was saying was actually accurate, and found this which explains it a lot better than I did: thelighthouseonline.com/articles/natural.html
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 18:44:43 GMT -5
Celene this has actually been very helpful, I can't believe I just took it blindly that clumping is dangerous and that's all. I saw those types of litter before, and hesitated to order because saw "clumping" and I wanted to be extra safe since I did see a ferret have serious problems after being in contact with clay clumping litter before... thanks for your time, and apologies for sounding so... dense I kinda took it as a fact when everyone around me (vets, ferret owners) repeated that anything clumping is dangerous. :thankyou:
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Post by Celene on Jan 24, 2015 18:59:05 GMT -5
Well I think it's much easier in general when recommending litter for people to say "clumping is dangerous" and have people get non-clumping than say "some clumping is okay" and have someone reading that just assume clumping is fine and go out and get the clay stuff! A lot of people don't read very thoroughly and just skim which is why a simple message/slogan of "clumping is bad" rather than going into detailed explanation.
Not to mention I've seen litter that says "naturally clumping, bentonite free" and when I actually read it it's just a different type of clay which is still really bad.
I really really love (naturally) clumping litter because it makes litter box cleaning SO easy, you don't waste any extra, and you can flush it without worrying about clogging.
PS - Speaking of not reading thoroughly, I only JUST noticed that the title of this thread is actually "neep help".
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Post by Thérèse on Jan 25, 2015 7:13:41 GMT -5
We use puppy pads also. Thérèse apparently we have alot in common. lol and yet in many ways we are so different, I can only dream of being as organised as you. I don't have a whiteboard with meal plans, I don't even weigh meals but just put out what I think is a good sized ferret meal (no idea if it is close to what you guys feed because you all talk in oz and I'm in a gram world). As for storing the guys food, improvements have been made but I am still a long way from your orderly freezer. Initially they just shared the freezer part of my fridge with me. I baggied things in meal portions but that was it because space was very limited and I could cram things into small gaps. However I felt bad that I couldn't grab bargains or freebies when available because of the limited space and baggying only meant it was often best guess at what was what as it all looked kind of similar when frozen (is this bag rabbit chunks or giblets???). Now they have their own freezer though (a 2nd hand one off Gumtree that has already paid for itself with freebies and bargains). The markets I go to are only open Thur to Sun, so if you go late on Sun things are marked down although it's pot luck on choice. As I go every week the places know me and the items I get aren't the popular things (organs and such as opposed to steak or choice people cuts of meat and chicken). One butcher in particular will often give me free stuff if they have plenty because being the less popular stuff he knows by that time on Sun he is unlikely to clear it. Have now got plenty of lamb necks, lamb livers, hearts etc in Jelly's part of their freezer and they were all free. However, even with their own freezer nothing is labelled. I baggy it (like my bargain quails I got before Xmas, 2 packs of 4 quail marked down to 99c each, so that was 8 quail for under $2, super bargain) but now as I baggy it gets put in an old plast ic meat tray, so all the same stuff is kept together, but still crammed in and still sometimes I have to figure out what each tray holds by pulling out several bags to try and recognise what it is...one day maybe I will be less fly by the seat of my pants but for now I just dream of getting organised.
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Post by gfountain on Jan 25, 2015 11:03:52 GMT -5
First step toward getting organized...label those trays.
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neep help
Jan 25, 2015 11:16:59 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by kraesmom on Jan 25, 2015 11:16:59 GMT -5
I use a sharpie and put R for rabbit, T for turkey etc. it isn't fancy, but it doesn't take much time and it works. As an alternative, you could label your bins and just throw the unmarked baggies in them. I do use my scale when I bag up the portions, but can eyeball it pretty well. As long as they are getting a balanced diet, the cost of the meat is irrelevant. I WISH I could find sources for free organs and cast offs around here. As for litter, for the past 6 weeks or so, I have been using unmedicated chick crumb. (Baby poultry food). It is a mix of corn, soy and I think wheat. It is cheap, clumping, and works as well as blue buffalo walnut shells or swheat scoop, IMO. I would assume that it would be available at a feed store in Australia.
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