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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 13:19:12 GMT -5
Thank you! Okay, today they'll get their first food that resembles an animal (and not squishy pink cubes in pink mush!). makes me so sad when buns don't make it, at least they won't go to waste I suppose. :/ And do I have to skin it if it has no fur? It's like a pinkie rat only bigger, and not a rodent. They were just a day old so no fur, eyes closed, etc.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2015 9:58:38 GMT -5
I also just remembered that you're interested in doing whole prey as well. Baby rabbits would make a fine treat. As Poncesmom has mentioned, Baby animals are always listed as treats. (which by the way are a great starter when it comes to whole prey) I actually gave my guys their first baby duckling the other day and they loved it! I'm an animal lover, so at the beginning whole prey was quite hard for me to even consider,(especially since I've owned all kinds of animals from ratties to guineas to rabbits etc) but I had a change of heart after giving pinky mice a try. I'm actually starting up breeding in a week. Since ferrets are designed to have whole prey in general, whole prey is very nutritional for them. Baby animals are a great starter when it comes to whole prey, as I mentioned before. Starting with small babies and increasing size over time can help them build up all the way until they can handle an adult animal. I did that with Pinky mice, through to fuzzy and then adult (I skipped on weaner and hoppers) It can be quite sad when lives are lost naturally, thats the way of life unfortunately but at least they don't lose purpose. If you have little pinky rabbits, you could try giving them one and see how they take it. They may be keen on the first try! No skinning is needed. The fur is very good for the ferrets insides. It kind of works like a cleaner in a way. ;u; If they aren't keen with the pinky rabbit, you could try cutting the stomach open and putting some oil in, or, you could chop it up like you would raw meat. (I had to do this with the duckling and it was quite morbid, but it worked out) I would love to hear how it goes. Photos of whole prey meals are also quite welcome.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2015 10:06:50 GMT -5
Good Morning!
I'm excited to hear how the baby rabbits will go over.
(dance)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2015 16:35:00 GMT -5
Everyone checking it out and licking them. (Mycroft looking clueless) Okay so when the bunnies are whole (stomach/chest cut open) the ferrets just licked the blood and stuff but didn't touch the meat. Except Cheshire. She ate the legs off both the bunnies! I'm gonna try cutting them up and seeing if they are more interested. Also, Mycroft ate his soup with slivers in it for the first time today! (heart) Happy Halloween! (if it is still Halloween)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2015 6:21:55 GMT -5
Wow! The rabbit pinkies are a lot larger than I was expecting! I had the same thing happen with my girl Haru, She wasn't too interested in whole prey to begin with other than licking up the blood. (Though my guys loved tiny little mouse pinkies, they took those within a second.) Cheshire is such a good girl for giving the legs a go! Since the pinkies are still babies, the bones would be quite easy for the ferrets to get through. I think they make a great bone in meat starter. ;u; Cutting them up into small pieces may very well help, I'm very curious to see how it went. So far is a great progress considering that the rabbit pinkies were quite large. I'm also happy for little Mycroft! :goodjob: I completely forgot about halloween Did you do anything fun for halloween?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2015 12:49:52 GMT -5
I helped all my siblings (oldest of 5 here!) get their costumes, while everyone was out trick or treating with my folks I stayed in and watched horror movies (giggle)
Speaking of horror movies! I cut the bunnies up into little pieces (thank you kitchen scissors) and broke the skulls but left the heads relatively in one piece. While helping the kiddos I came back to find Cheshire gnawing on a head. In the hammock. The white lined hammock. (Sigh) I quick scrub with vinegar got the blood out but gosh, my parents always taught me not to eat in bed! (Giggle)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2015 17:41:40 GMT -5
Leave it to Cheshire. What a funny little personality. Hydrogen peroxide will get out blood stains. You just put it on and wait for it to bubble up and then a little scrubbing will remove the rest.
I'm so glad the rabbit heads were a success. They really are eating quite well and seem willing to try new things. Boy is that ever great! Did Mycroft try any heads?
:wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 14:33:05 GMT -5
1. Cheshire 2. 1lb 1 oz (1 lb .4oz) 3. the weekly average for what she eats is 1 - 2 oz per meal, more in the morning less in the evening 4. only eating chicken right now so normal (though not quite as consistent as on kibble) 5. higher than normal 6. Chicken thigh cubes with a little bit of soupie (though I know she doesn’t need soup to eat it anymore), with unsupervised snacking in the day (baby bunnies or chicken thigh depending on the day)
1. Spinner 2. 1 lb 9.8 oz (1 lb 8 oz) 3. 1.2 - 2.25 oz per meal 4. same as Cheshire 5. higher than normal and wants to play much more often 6. same as Cheshire
1. Loki 2. 2 lb 6.8 oz (2 lbs 6 oz) 3. 2-3 oz per meal, he eats very slowly but eats a lot 4. same as Cheshire 5. playing hard and sleeping hard. He’s active for about the same amount of hours as before, but plays a lot harder. 6. same as Cheshire
1. Mycroft 2. 2 lb 6.4 oz (2lbs 5.9 oz) 3. 1.5 oz per meal 4. was a bit runny when switching from kibble, but normal now 5. normal 6. one soupie cube (about .8 oz) and meat slivers (about 8-.9 oz) per meal and doesn’t quite finish all of it, but is eating more every day. Still won’t touch the baby bunnies but is showing interest in them
1. Courage 2. 2 lbs 13.9 oz (2lbs 14.6 oz) 3. 2.5-3 oz per meal, he eats the most out of all the ferrets 4. Same as Cheshire 5. never. stops. moving. 6. same as Cheshire
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 14:38:13 GMT -5
Did Mycroft try any heads?
Nope not yet. He'll check them out when everyone else is eating them, but won't partake yet.
Food aggression? This morning while eating Cheshire went to take a piece of meat out of Spinner's mouth (even though hers plate not empty) and Spinner and her did a "tug of war" thing with both hissing (but Cheshire hisses at everything). I was going to let them work it out but Cheshire turned around and bit down on Spinner's leg. Spinner started making a scared noise and got all poofy. I scruffed Cheshire and she let go in a few seconds. It was really scary but Spinner was fine and it didn't break skin (though I know she is capable of it).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 15:25:00 GMT -5
Hello! Cheshire is eating quite well, especially since she's taken a liking to some pinky rabbits. All seem to be having a great amount of energy. They must be making good use of all those nutrients from the raw. Loki is a slow eater, thats cute! My Haru is the same! Everyone is almost completely on muscle meat~ Mycroft is catching up also. I had little giggle at how you said Courage never stops moving. What a personality! My laptop is about to die, so I'll reply again later.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 1:27:50 GMT -5
Food aggression? This morning while eating Cheshire went to take a piece of meat out of Spinner's mouth (even though hers plate not empty) and Spinner and her did a "tug of war" thing with both hissing (but Cheshire hisses at everything). I was going to let them work it out but Cheshire turned around and bit down on Spinner's leg. Spinner started making a scared noise and got all poofy. I scruffed Cheshire and she let go in a few seconds. It was really scary but Spinner was fine and it didn't break skin (though I know she is capable of it).It does seem that Cheshire has show some food aggression. Does Cheshire do this a lot? Thank goodness little Spinner isn't hurt! Maybe it was one of those days where Cheshire was feeling moody. (Hopefully it doesn't become a frequent thing.) Anyway, Here's a lesson on Liver. (yay!) Today was the Melbourne Cup, so I'm now sleepy from watching it all day. Feel free to read this lesson when ever you want, there's no rush. Bye bye for now~
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 10:34:07 GMT -5
They are all doing so well. I think little Mycroft is doing quite well for your stubborn one. What a little character.
Food aggression seems to happen sometimes with a favorite food. They'll work it out. You can distract them by offering another piece so each one is reassured that they will get enough.
I have a hisser also. Mika simply hisses at everything. It confuses the others when she hisses to invite them to play but it's so darn cute.
@machan 's lesson on liver is good. We want you to understand liver and how important it is, especially because too much liver is simply not good at all for them.
The next chance you get to shop, try to pick up some pork and use that for a few meals instead of chicken. Let's get them use to another protein and pork is nice and mild in flavor. It's also super fatty and fat equals energy for ferrets.
(dance)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2015 12:43:54 GMT -5
Pork it is! I'll try and pick some up tonight or tomorrow morning! Mycroft is now eating pieces as big as everyone else so he's just about on track with the rest of the business! Happy days!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2015 17:14:55 GMT -5
That's excellent news! I'm so happy that Mycroft is now eating larger pieces of meat. (dance) Good job!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 9:07:32 GMT -5
I'm so happy about Mycroft eating pieces. Ferret peer pressure and a good ferrent trying hard will do wonders.
You're moving along nicely and everyone is doing well. Do you think you could build a basic Frankenprey menu on your own, just for practice? That can help point out any areas that you are unsure of.
The format would be: a.m. Bone In chicken wings p.m. Muscle meat chicken gizzards. We want to know that you have your 7-9 meals of Bone In 3-4 of Muscle meats and your organ meals correct plus that you have a variety of proteins. Give it a shot and you'll be surprised at how much you already understand.
What's our girl Cheshire up to? Any new ferret mischief? Do you have any questions that are concerning you or something you aren't sure of?
I have to work for awhile today but I'll check back in after I get home. Hugs to all the fuzzies. :wave3:
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