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Post by fretki on Oct 7, 2015 1:15:55 GMT -5
I'm sorry for replying so late! I was abroad for a week and I thought my mail notifications would work, and tell me when the switching thread is updated, it didn't! I like coconut oil because of the consistency, if you warm it slightly it gets liquid to syringe it up, then put the syringe in the fridge and you have some kind of "vitamin paste replacement". But coconut oil is a plant matter oil, so it shouldn't be your only oil option for your ferrets. Salmon oil is fine, as long as there is only vitamin E added as perservative and nothing else. Krill oil is fine as well, usually available in capsules for human consumption. For some ferrets also extra vergine olive oil (evoo) would be good as it seems to prevent stomach ulcers. For switching about any oil will do, whatever they like, start from there Sounds good, continue to mix and let me know how it goes! Soup is certainly worth a try, may mix 50/50 in the beginning with S&C and freeze it into ice cubes, so it's less daily work for you and a familiar taste for them I'm back home, yesterday I attended the funeral of my grandpa, so know things should be a bit more steady, and I hope my notifications will work as usual with my national mobile operator. P.S. sorry edited several times, as it posted the paragraph in a different order than I wrote them, hope now it makes sense...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 12:40:43 GMT -5
Its okay!! I have a very busy lifestyle so I can understand the days zipping by.. especially with a family loss. Good news is Ive really gotten them to eating the organs at night. I haven't even tried the soup yet. Mainly because I was so excited they started following this new routine I didn't want to spoil it I figure I will continue persisting with it..and if I hit a halt in progress I will soup. Basically the way Ive been doing it is without the oil at this point. They like the oil but they're not buying it on the organs ha. I take the organs and sprinkle some S&C on it. The difference is instead of it being mostly S&C its mostly organ. So for example Ill give them three gizzards with a pellet of S&C. I started out with a few pellets..and now were down to half a pellet!! I'm hoping to get it to just plain organs and then work on increasing the size hope this is a good idea.. i kind of just ran with it haha. Id love your input on that! Heres how the menu has been going! Friday: 4.5 oz S&C Chick finished! then 1 gizzard with 2 s&c pellets which they also finished! Saturday:4.2oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 2 s&c pellets which they also finished! Sunday:3.8 oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 2 s&c pellets which they also finished! Monday:3.7 oz S&C Chick finished! then 4 hearts with 2 s&c pellets which they also finished! Tuesday:3.8 oz S&C Chick finished! then 3 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! Wednesday: 3.6 oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! Thursday: 4 oz S&C Chick finished! then 3 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! Friday: 3.4 oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 1/2 s&c pellet which they also finished! Saturday: 4.2 oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! they got 1 instead of half of one this night because they were being stubborn. Sunday: 4.2 oz S&C Chick finished! then 2 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! Monday:4 oz S&C Chick finished! then 3 hearts with 1 s&c pellet which they also finished! On a side note- I know they've been getting an awful lot of chicken lately. It seems that both the places we've been buying our S&C at have only been able to get in chicken and fish. I felt weird about buying the fish one..so hopefully they'll get some new meats in soon *fingers crossed!* ALSO..i thought i had no gizzards left which is why they got a lot of hearts this week. turns out the bag was hiding behind something in the freezer the whole time! I will weigh them tonight and post!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2015 21:54:43 GMT -5
On a quick note...good news and frightening news. Good news is both last night and tonight I got them both to successfully eat the organs with no s&c Alarming news is Eugene threw up a few chunks of gizzard tonight. He started to panic which made me come to the cage and then he threw three pieces up. One flew out of the cage.. and the others he chewed and re-swallowed. It looked as if he may have swallowed them without chewing cause they were still fully intact. I'm pretty shaken from this and would love to hear some input. I don't think it is vet worthy..as they were full chunks. But like I said I would REALLY love some input because I've never seen a ferret throw up and it was so horrifying for me also the chunks were about the size of my pinky nail as a reference.
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Post by fretki on Oct 15, 2015 7:22:22 GMT -5
Glad you are progressing without soup! Don't worry too much, carnivores make a difference between vomiting (e.g. being sick and throwing up) or regurgitation (e.g. eating fast to "put the food to a safe place and then ran away with it" and then throwing it up to eat it again. Might be a bit frightening for Eugene, if he never did it before, but as long as he tries to eat it again, it should be fine! Hope he'll learn to chew a bit better, this is an important factor as well for food staying down
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 7:25:44 GMT -5
Oh great haha I've been so nervous since it happened but that made me feel much better. I really had myself convinced something was wrong and I was failing at this whole thing. Thank you for such a quick response and sorry for getting so worked up! I just love my babies
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Post by fretki on Oct 20, 2015 15:49:23 GMT -5
You're welcome! I try to check in every day on my phone app, it's not the most convenient to write long text, but for a few sentences it works fine. I try to get on my pc 2x a week to be able to write a bit more I hope Eugene feels better? He regugitated once or did he have more incidents?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 13:46:30 GMT -5
He is feeling much better!! Thankfully he has not done it again since then! Silly boy making me all nervous I have the menu since the last I've posted. Tuesam 4.6oz S&C Chicken-finished.. pm 3 chicken gizzards-finished Wedam 5oz S&C Chicken-finished... pm2 chicken gizzards-finished (this is the night eugene threw them up and decided to re-eat them) YUM Thursam 4oz S&C Chicken-finished... pm4 chicken gizzards-touched but not eaten. Fridayam 4oz S&C Chicken-finished... pm 3 chicken gizzards-Left only a few chunks Saturdayam 4oz S&C Chicken-finished.. pm 4 chicken hearts-ate half Sundayam 4oz S&C Chicken-finished... pm 2 chicken gizzards-finished Mondayam 4oz S&C Chicken-finished.. pm 2 chicken hearts -finished Tuesdayam 4.4oz S&C Chicken-finished.. pm3 chicken gizzards-finished Wednesdayam3 chicken hearts-finished noon1.4 oz S&C rabbit-finished (this was the day i picked up more food) pm 3 chicken gizzards-finished Thursdayam4oz S&C Rabbit-finished pm3 chicken hearts-finished I FINALLY was able to get some other proteins in regards to the S&C, They had to special order it for me and it was ready Wednesday morning..so thankfully we will be seeing a better rotation and a lot less chicken!!! Ive learned my lesson about having extra types in the house for situations like this. I picked up some pork chops..and was planning on trying to get them to eat it!! I personally feel really motivated right now. For some reason they're taking to bigger chunks much better now. I haven't done anything different..but knock wood I've been doing bigger pieces every time they eat. Im hoping it continues this way I weighed them both..Eugene is currently 2.8 lb and Weasel 1.9
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Post by fretki on Oct 26, 2015 17:17:17 GMT -5
I'll have a closer look on the menu tomorrow! Thank you for posting it.
Yay for different S&C flavors! What did yoz buy/order?
Did you try the pork chops? ^^
Sent from my SM-G900F using proboards
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2015 18:20:12 GMT -5
For the s&c I was able to get duck duck goose as well as rabbit :-)
They ate the pork chops!! So thrilled..I had to cut them small and put a tiny amount of S&C mixed in (they refused it plain) but they still did it with a bit of encouragement which is fantastic. I will continue working on size being increased as well as serving it by itself
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Post by fretki on Oct 28, 2015 2:59:26 GMT -5
yay, menu looks great, they seem to finish nicely their meals? I guess you really have a good eye for how much to give them, really great! and yay for the different S&C flavors, this really gives a nice variety! and last but not least a yay for the pork chops! I use prok stew meat as boneless muscle meat meal, my ferrets love pork! Do you have access to beef or lamb as well? We're working towards the stronger tasting meats
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 20:16:51 GMT -5
Most of the time yes they are great with it!!! It seems the only time they have a hard time finishing is if i push the size increase too far. Slow but steady i suppose hehe :-) am i correct in assuming that we are working our way up to say like a full heart without having to cut it? I should have access to that (beef&lamb), but what cut of meat should I be looking for?? Ive noticed some have done sirloin? I have the menu for you :-) Friday: am 5.3 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 3 chicken hearts-finished Saturday: am4 oz S&C rabbit-finished pm 5 chicken hearts-finished (which surprised me!!) Sunday: am 4.8 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 1/2 pork chop with 3 duck duck goose pellets crumbled in- left 1/4 Monday: am 4.8 oz S&C chicken-finished pm1/2 pork chop- left half (wasn't surprising cause i didn't mix any S&C in) Tuesday: am 4.4 oz S&C rabbit- finished pm-1/2 pork chop with 2 duck duck goose pellets crumbled in- finished Wednesday: am 4oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 4 chicken hearts-finished Thursday: am 4.5oz S&C rabbit-finished pm 4 chicken hearts-finished Ive also weighed them. They're staying pretty stable which makes me happy. Eugene is weighing in at 2 lbs 9 oz and Weasel is at 1 lb 9 oz Also realizing i haven't been mentioning poop or energy levels. Both ferrets have been great as far as energy goes. And poop is doing okay (as far as i can tell )
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Post by fretki on Nov 2, 2015 15:12:42 GMT -5
Yes, you are correct, we are working our way up to whatever size is ok for you. To really use their jaw and train their inner carnivore, the size of a whole chicken heart or gizzard would be good, so I suggest it to be the goal, ok? Well, beef heart and lamb heart should be on the more affordable side than sirloin? (giggle) I use cheap beef cuts as muscle meat for example beef boiling meat, here you get a huge piece of meat and I have to cut it into chunks myself ....or lamb ragout, here it is sold in cubes, the cheapest version has a nice amount of fat and some bone/cartilage pieces, my ferrets love to gnaw on the cartilage. And they love a little extra fat in their diet when going towards winter
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2015 19:48:50 GMT -5
I will look into the other meats for sure!!!! They're doing very good! We are working our way up with sizes still which is super exciting. Hopefully we will get there soon!! I have the weekly menu! Friday: am 4.3oz S&C chicken-finished pm 4 chicken hearts-finished Saturday: am 4.5oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 2 chicken gizzards-finished Sunday: am 4.4oz S&C chicken-finished pm4 chicken hearts-finished Monday: am 4.5oz S&C duck duck goose -finished pm 3 chicken gizzards-finished Tuesday: am 4.5oz S&C chicken-left 1/5 pm 1/2 pork chop-finished Wednesday: am 4.5oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 1/2 pork chop-left 1/3 Thursday: am 4.5oz S&C chicken-finished pm 5 chicken hearts-finished Poops have been a little soft for my liking but it seems to be getting better. I will keep an eye on it as the week progresses and take photos if necessary. Energy levels have been the same. I will weigh them tomorrow and post as soon as possible tomorrow :-)
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Post by fretki on Nov 8, 2015 2:39:03 GMT -5
Yes, if you are concerned about their poop, please post pictures! They might have softer stools as they don't get calcium/bone in the evening... Do you have a place that sells quail (could be located in the freezer section in the store)? Maybe would be worth to give tiny bones a try Ok, will look through the whole menu, when I got their weights as well.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2015 9:07:39 GMT -5
Here is a photo of poop! I am not sure which ferret did this, as it happened during the night. It is super dark and super tar-like.. please excuse the photo lol. I took it to the window on the poop scooper for better lighting. I have noticed that on nights they eat chicken gizzards they usually have dark poop. Ironically this was a morning they had chicken gizzards the night before. I am not sure why I never got back to you about their weight! I weighed them the next day and wrote it down...but for some reason never posted it! My apologies Weasel had weighed in at 1 lb 10 oz..Eugene at 2 lbs 11 oz I have their current weights as well. I did it before sitting down to type this. Weasel is 1 lb 11 oz..Eugene is 2 lbs 12 oz. As for the weekly menu: Friday: am 4.5 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 5 chicken hearts-finished Saturday: am 4.5 oz S&C chicken-finished pm 5 chicken hearts-finished Sunday: am 4.5 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 5 chicken hearts-finished (this night was very exciting..i cut the hearts into quarters. four large chunks per heart. they finished it!!! Weasel loves to chew. she goes for it every night. Eugene takes some more convincing..but he was hungry and finally went for it. these are the biggest pieces i ever got them to both chew successfully-so that was great. I plan on cutting them only in half now once i feed hearts again! ) Monday: am 4.5 oz S&C chicken-finished pm 3 chicken gizzards-finished Tuesday: am 4.5 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 3 chicken gizzards-finished (gizzards for this week were cut pretty big..but i would still like to see them get to bigger pieces) Wednesday: am 4.5 oz S&C chicken-finished pm 1/2 pork chop- they left about 1/4 of this. (they stuck with the smaller pieces and wouldn't go for the bigger ones. still working on it. ) Thursday: am 4.5 oz S&C duck duck goose-finished pm 1/2 pork chop- finished I can try quail for sure!!! Just have to get my hands on some The stores around here are usually great about variety..but on and off they seem to carry nothing haha. I should be able to find some though
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