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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2015 14:46:55 GMT -5
I am using the same amount of chicken for the soups, just pureeing less and cutting up pieces beforehand to put into the soup after it's ready... so the soup is lessening in that way.
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Post by Desiree on Aug 6, 2015 20:45:32 GMT -5
Just checkin in? How's everything going?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 22:28:10 GMT -5
It's going all right... My hamster Pocket died and I have been very sad for over a week now
BUT!!! Onward!!!
They are now on to sizes as thick as my thumb, but not quite as long. Some times I don't get to feed them a second time that day/night bc they haven't yet eaten the pieces in the first portion. BUT, they do eventually eat them Ink 2 lb 6 oz (2 lb 5 oz)
Kisses 1 lb 6 oz (1 lb 6 oz)
Mage 2 lb 4 oz (2 lb 1 oz)
Annie 1 lb 8 oz (1 lb 8 oz)
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Post by Desiree on Aug 14, 2015 11:00:28 GMT -5
That's okay. Weights look good. If you can't get them to load we can skip it for now. I'm glad they are eating more chunks. How much would you say they are eating a day? As long as it's the minimum if they only eat once a day that is fine. They will eat when hungry.
I'm very sorry about Pocket! No matter how small, our pets have a place in our hearts. May he stuff his cheeks with plenty on rainbow bridge.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 14:04:37 GMT -5
That's cute thanks.
They are on all chucks now, no soup... but Ink isn't interested in eating the liver and hearts... any suggestions?
Also, he's prone to swallowing the chucks whole, to avoid chewing. Is there a way to stop this or will it just stop once he gets used to chewing?
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Post by Desiree on Aug 17, 2015 16:04:37 GMT -5
Try mixing it with something he'll eat or add some oil or egg with it.
Some ferrets don't chew till the pieces get bigger. The goal is too make them big enough they have to chew. We will get there. How big are the chunks?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 17:49:52 GMT -5
Well, they WERE an 8th of my thumb, but now they are a little over a square inch to two square inches... and it seems they were waiting on me, because they are eating the pieces faster now that they are bigger! In a few days, I will see about giving them their entire meal whole! (dance)
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Post by Desiree on Aug 19, 2015 16:39:31 GMT -5
We are still using chicken yes?
That is awesome. Sometimes ferrets like bigger chunks. My old shefert loves her bone for some reason. Spent months getting her on muscle meat and she takes to bone like a champ.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 22:58:13 GMT -5
Yep! Still using chicken... I am having a hard time getting Inkie to eat the big chunks. Also, How long should I leave the meat out for? And, how big is the total big size we are going for?
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Post by Desiree on Sept 4, 2015 17:07:25 GMT -5
So Sorry for the long delay. I was out on a contracting job. Bigger chunks can be left out for up to 12 hours (even longer in the winter). I always go off of smell. If it smells bad it is bad. Most ferrets won't touch bad food so I don't worry to much if I miss a piece of meat or leave it out for a little extra. The size we are going for is kind of up to you. It depends on how much prep you want to do. I can throw in a pork chop for them and they will eat it. It's nice to have less prep to do. As long as they are chewing on food and getting stimulation. When we get to bones, that will be the tester. You can only make bones for small before they don't have to chew them. Hope everything is okay with you.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2015 20:53:37 GMT -5
Hope it paid well Ink seems to be maintaining weight, but the others are looking skinny! I will update Mon night or Tue day... I have been house sitting again, so I have only had Ink with me. Could they be loosing weight if they are not getting enough water? Yesterday, my brother put out food for me; when I came over for a check up, Mage and Kisses hadn't hardly eaten ANY of their food!!! Should I try for soup again? I really hope not! I want to do little to no prep! I eventually want to expand to a skunk and a dog, and with so many different types of animals, the easier the better! As far as the length of the meat being out, I was hoping there was a time limit, because I had read others' accounts that they will limit their pooping schedule to about twice a day or so if you feed them twice a day and they actually eat it in a timely manner. Is this true? If so, what can I do to encourage them to eat the whole amount and faster? Still treat oil? Thank yooooooou!!!
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Post by Desiree on Sept 6, 2015 21:26:50 GMT -5
Hmm, Mage and Kisses may not be eating because you aren't feeding them. That can happen. Sometimes though they just aren't hungry. Lets get some weights and pictures and then we can go from their. You can always dab the food in a little bit of soup or oil to get them going if they need it. eventually they won't need it. How long had it been since he fed them and they had eaten or not eaten?
As for the pooping thing, I haven't heard of that. While feeding every twelve hours is the norm, food should be left out for the entire twelve hours. A ferrets digestive tract will process food in about 4 hours so they should be have food readily available when they want to eat again. Some will binge and not eat for another 12 hours but I have found that it isn't common. Mine eat about half fresh food when I put it out and then will graze on the rest for the rest of the day. And they still poo about every 4 hours. If they are finishing food when you put it down, you would have to put out more just in case they were hungry again later.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 0:32:32 GMT -5
Ink 2 lb 4 oz ( 2 lb 6 oz )
Kisses 1 lb 2 oz ( 1 lb 6 oz )
Mage 1 lb 15 oz ( 2 lb 4 oz )
Annie 1 lb 6 oz ( 1 lb 8 oz )I am feeding them, but I wait until they finish all their food, which takes longer than 12 hours... so, should I try smaller amounts just in case they just don't like the older pieces? Or maybe they want something different from chicken?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 0:43:14 GMT -5
P.s. Would salmon filets be ok for them to try at this stage? :thankyou:
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Post by Desiree on Sept 16, 2015 12:12:11 GMT -5
Yeah, go ahead and try some salmon for them. I'm a little worried about Mage and Kisses weight. That is a good drop but it has been a while since you posted their weights. How is their energy? I can't get a good feel on their body weight from the dangle pictures can you grab a picture of them top down. Like this: If they are doing good and eating enough chunks, lets go ahead and start sourcing some bone in meats for them. Quail and cornish game hen are great start bones. If you can't find those we can start with wing tips. What you will want to do is smash them a little bit. This serves two purposes, one is to make the bones more manageable and the other is too open up the bone and reveal the bone marrow which is tasty. Make the pieces just slightly smaller than the chunks they are eating now. Also, since we have been switching for a while and they seem to be off soup completely, lets go ahead and start offering them their heart and organ meals. If you want to make it simple, simply blend the liver and other organ with heart. Heart should make up half of the recipe, liver a 1/4 and the other organ a 1/4. If you were doing a pound of a heart, then you would do 8 ozs of liver and 8 oxs of the other organ. You will this meal (the same size as their other meals) three times a week.
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