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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 1:12:43 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Peanut 2. Ferret's weight: 890g 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal: 1-2 oz (I think) 4. Stools on various proteins: Normal 5. Activity levels: Normal 6. Weekly menu: This past week we've been having the pork recipe we discussed earlier that does not have quite enough heart. Tonight I made a blend of 8z beef, 1 oz liver, 1 oz heart, 3/4 tsp bone meal, plus water as needed. I accidentally made some of the batch with twice the amount of liver needed (ugh!!) so I'll be cutting it with extra beef before serving.
1. Ferret's name: Raisin 2. Ferret's weight: 893g 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal: about 2 oz 4. Stools on various proteins: Past week she's had those freaky green poops, watery brown poops, explosive diarrhea, then some were randomly.. normal. 5. Activity levels: Normal 6. Weekly menu: See above
1. Ferret's name: Porkchop 2. Ferret's weight: 1418g 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal: 2-3 oz 4. Stools on various proteins: Normal 5. Activity levels: Normal 6. Weekly menu: See above
1. Ferret's name: Noodles 2. Ferret's weight: 1336g 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal: 2-3 oz (maybe more - he's a piggy now) 4. Stools on various proteins: Normal 5. Activity levels: High/normal 6. Weekly menu: See above
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 1:15:30 GMT -5
Dinner Tonight
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 10:19:00 GMT -5
The dinner I put out last night was 5 oz. Forgot to weigh it before dumping, but I don't think they even touched it.
They did eat like piggies right after I got home and during playtime, though, so I wasn't exactly surprised. I think I'm going to try this:
5-6 oz before work 5-6 oz when I get home 5-6 oz during playtime 2-3 oz at bedtime in case they need a snack between then and breakfast
I'm probably also going to start using grams more because they are so much easier!
I need to get into better weighing habits in general. This morning I was so proud because I remembered to weigh the food before putting it out, but I only got the weight of the dish WITH the food on it (319g). So I'm not to sure how much food I actually put out! It looked like 5-6 oz. Going forward I'll try to weigh the bowl by itself, weigh the meat and weigh them together as well to be sure I can tell exactly what was eaten..
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Post by Desiree on Apr 7, 2015 13:30:12 GMT -5
So while you can add more beef, remember to add more heart too. BUT a couple of days with more liver, or more beef won't hurt them. What we want is balance in the long run, a couple days of extra liver might cause loose poos but it won't harm them as long as you remember to make it balanced next time. Don't worry, it takes a while to get used to balancing and weighing.
Grams are fine with me, I use grams with hedgies.
With the food weighing, weigh the bowl and write it down somewhere. That way when you weigh food before and after you can just subtract how much the bowl weighs to get how much they ate.
Alright, everyone's food intake looks good. That is pretty thick soup which is awesome. As long as you are comfortable with where they are food wise, I want you to start adding small slivers of whichever meat. Start with 5-6 small pieces, the size of the crescent of your pinkie nail. Add this to every meal. If beef seems to be their favorite we can start with that. Make sure the pieces are thin. What we want to do is trick them into eating and chewing before they realize they are actually chewing pieces.
As we move forward we will begin adding more slivers and upping their size, alternating every couple of days. If we find that they won't eat a certain amount or a certain size after trying a few times we will step back for a few days and try again
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 13:46:04 GMT -5
I'll have to get more heart soon. That was my "limiting" ingredient when making soup last night! It's the one ingredient I can only get at the Asian Market around here so I'll have to set some time to go get it. I did make one batch with the proper proportions, so most of their meals will be balanced until I can go get the hearts over the weekend. I'm also going to try to make more soup using another protein. They responded well to the pork so I'll probably do that. That way they can have some variation every day.
Thanks! They seem to like the soup whatever way I give it to them although I think they prefer with a bit of water added. I'll get a bit of non-ground beef today and add slivers to dinner :3
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 13:47:00 GMT -5
I wonder if they have taurine available in stores around here..
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Post by Desiree on Apr 7, 2015 17:26:13 GMT -5
Hearts were really hard for me to find too. My closest Asian market, which is an hour away, didn't have them but my local butcher shop did, I didn't even know they existed till I got ferrets. LOL
If you can't find hearts, tongue is another source of taurine. If you can find beef tongue you can use that as well. Heart is the best source of course. Make sure to stock up on it when you can. Again, a couple days or so aren't going to hurt.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 19:41:12 GMT -5
Yeah, I got a pound of chicken hearts last time I was at the Asian market. $2!! I'll get over there on Friday or Saturday
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 10:02:33 GMT -5
Ugh, I forgot to re-weigh the dinner bowl before I dumped the excess this morning. (headwall)
Once I make a habit of it, it'll get better!
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Post by Desiree on Apr 8, 2015 11:09:44 GMT -5
It's okay, can you estimate how much they ate? This is the one you put the slivers in correct?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 11:37:17 GMT -5
I think they only ate about 3 oz total, most of which Raisin ate. I put 6 oz out this morning + a little bit of water mixed in. Before I left for work I saw Noodles nibbling on it. I just started a notebook for myself to help me get better at recording everything.
Life got crazy and I didn't get to the store like I planned. :\ I hereby vow to get some meat to cut up right after work today. I'm thinking I should get beef, right? Since that's the base of the soup they are eating right now?
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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2015 11:58:14 GMT -5
Taurine can be ordered online, it's inexpensive. It's a good thing to have on hand, that said I would caution that taurine does not replace other important nutrients from the heart muscle and shouldn't be used as something you depend on for heart replacement unless necessary. Beef tongue is also very high in taurine if you can get that btw.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 12:28:04 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm gonna have to order some taurine just in case. I also want to start putting together my ferret first aid kit. Figure I'd try to order everything at once. Suggestions?
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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2015 13:09:33 GMT -5
Canned pumpkin, meat baby food, Carnivore Care, VASELINE (NO ferrent should ever, ever be without this), a treat to put in the vaseline (salmon oil is best), styptic powder, SudoCreme (definitely good to always have), PrepH, Rescue Remedy, syringes...
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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2015 16:53:49 GMT -5
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