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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 22:48:14 GMT -5
The only thing I can think is that his issue is with the texture. Marty would prefer to go hungry over eating ground beef.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 8:33:29 GMT -5
Don't give up he is just testing you, and throwing a tantrum. If the grinds are too much for him to handle, add some warm water to them and make them into a soupie. Ferrets also sometimes like their food to be warm. Or you can add some egg (whole or yolk) to the grinds, or his favorite oil to entice him
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 12:40:46 GMT -5
with my little guy he will not eat it for hours then all of sudden thinks he should eat-- remember to the raw will keep him more content for long -- versus the kibble.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 13:23:57 GMT -5
The egg made it worse, he absolutely refused to touch it. The only oil he will eat is ferretone which I'm trying to ween him off of. I can try making a soup, I haven't tried it yet. He was eating his grinds by sprinkling a tiny bit of crushed kibble ontop, but now he stopped. It was ground chicken I've been giving him. (well, moreso mush chicken made in a food processor). Once I added a small amount of organ meat and egg to it, he wouldn't touch it at all, no matter what I added to it. I'm really concerned for his nutrition if he won't touch any of the actually nutritious parts of the food.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 15:43:40 GMT -5
aaahh I suspect that it is the liver that he doesn't like. A lot of ferrets are not keen on liver. It has a new strong taste, so you might need to step back to soup stage to introduce it. With the balanced grinds (organs and eggshell/bonemeal), put them in the processor with some warm water and blend them into a soup. It should be something like yogurt in consistency. Sit with him on the floor, and cover your lap in a towel. Put him on your lap as well. Then you take some of the soup and dab it on his nose and mouth with your finger, so he has to lick it off. During this time you can scruff him gently, but try not to scare him because you want this to be a positive experience. After doing this for about a minute (if he is still trying to leave) let him go, and in 5-10 minutes repeat. You might need to do this for a couple of meals, but he should get used to it after. After he gets used to this feed him from a spoon. Then he will be fine eating the soup by himself and you can start introducing slivers of meat and then chunks
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 15:58:26 GMT -5
I'll give that a try. I tried giving him ground beef today instead of chicken and he ate a good portion of it. How much liver/heart do I put in to balance out the taste and nutrition?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 16:08:53 GMT -5
for 8oz of meat put in 1oz liver, 1oz heart, and 1/3-1/2 tsp eggshell/bonemeal powder, and a bit of water.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 21:40:14 GMT -5
If he doesn't immediately seem interested, is there a decent estimate of how long the soup mix will be good for? Can I leave it for him or make a decent amount at once and have it last a few days? Or should I make it fresh for him everyday?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 22:31:03 GMT -5
it lasts 6-8 hours. Keep dabbing it on his nose and mouth, he will get used to it, sometimes it takes a day or two.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 22:40:27 GMT -5
He seems to be really digging the ground beef at the moment, so I mixed in some liver and heart into it. I don't think he even noticed, so thats good news. My concern is that the ground beef isn't really building him into eating any bone-in meats like chicken wings. He seems to enjoy the beef a lot more then chicken though.
Can anyone advise me on how much liver/heart I should give him per day/week or anything to that regard? I've read you can give them too much and cause toxicity.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 11:36:52 GMT -5
You want the liver to be 5% of his diet, another secreting organ also 5%, heart 10% (heart is a muscle, but is essential), and bone in meats 70-75% and muscle meats for the rest.
So if you feed him twice a day for a week that gives you 14 meals, so the frankeyprey menu looks something like this: 7-9 bone in meat meals 3 muscle meals (one of which is all heart) 1 meal half heart, quarter liver, and quarter other organ 1 meal half liver half other organ.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 12:05:02 GMT -5
What other organ would be available for me to give him? I've only seen livers and hearts. Also I'll have to split the organs into his meat for now because he won't accept them on their own. His bone is coming from bone meal too for the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 12:43:42 GMT -5
I feed like that - I make up a weekly batch of liver + other organs + heart and mix them with other meals, usually with bonein.
I just managed to get one new boy to take raw, and I wonder if this may work for you..if he likes beef, you can try adding a bit of another grind to the beef, for ex a bit of chicken, and then, gradually increase the amounts. It worked quite well for me, of course each fuzz is different. Two of my switches worked well with the kibble powder in top, two took the chunks right away and this last one seemed to like the silvers added to his soup, or at least to have a sauce out of his fav mix to cover the other meats. Right now he eats any meat if I serve it in "gravy"
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Post by raynebc on Sept 19, 2015 14:28:45 GMT -5
The only other organ I've been able to get locally is kidney. Some butcher shops or ethnic markets may be able to get you some of this type of stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 17:41:45 GMT -5
At the moment, he is only eating ground beef and only if I sprinkle a very tiny amount of crushed kibble dust ontop. I think it might be a smell thing?
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