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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2016 6:46:11 GMT -5
The FN cage is awesome. I've been able to block off Ciel's access to the top level (with the food) while the others eat, whenever he starts stealing. Okay, I'll toss the bones and use pork with a little bone meal powder as the muscle meat meal. Cornish game hen and chicken wings for bone-in, and pork for muscle meat. That should be good for 3 proteins for now, right? He never loses the pudge though. Haha. I can try to get a picture tomorrow. I don't think he's completely deaf because he'll respond very well to some noises (I snap my fingers for "come", and he usually comes pretty quickly), I think it seems like selective hearing or misplaced attention. He can zone things out, definitely. He would respond to snapping from across the room, but not to clapping behind his back. I guess I'm not sure what to think of it. Yeah, as soon as I see that it has solution added, I move on. It needs to be completely natural, nothing added, and I go for fatty instead of lean. So many stores don't have much for options. Since the turkeys were Jenny Craig I figured they were not something the fuzzies could have, but the store frequently changes the available meat. Yesterday and 1 meal today has been pork with bone meal, and 1 meal today has been organs. I have a short break from homework after one assignment tomorrow, so I'll measure how much they eat.
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Post by Celene on Feb 13, 2016 14:27:46 GMT -5
Technically cornish game gen and chicken are the same protein - they're basically the same bird but CGH are culled younger. I'm some places they actually are a slightly different breed, but not different enough to be considered a separate protein for feeding. Eventually we will need to introduce one more source of bone (quail and rabbit are good options) and at least one more muscle meat (likely lamb or beef, they are high in iron and other vitamins so provide a good nutritional variety) but for now we will just work with what you have going
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 1:12:35 GMT -5
I can get beef chunks at Target usually, I've used it for soupies before. Lamb and bison are available in ground meat packages at the store I usually go to. I'm still waiting for a ride to the Asian market, but I'll try for this week. As for that picture, I'm hoping this will suffice. I had to take it from video because he moves super fast, so the image is pretty blurry. If not, I can try again when he's super tired, which isn't often. Today has been 2 chicken wings for meal 1.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 3:55:18 GMT -5
www.pbs.org/video/2179683576/The first minute and a half... I didn't know they did bio-terrorism viral testing on ferrets...Like, they make a biochemical and test how easily it transmits and virulence by testing it on ferrets... That's really sick, they're already abused by most "owners" and large-scale breeders.
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Post by Celene on Feb 14, 2016 10:27:28 GMT -5
Yup. In fact, Marshall Farms (the mill where all of your ferrets probably came from) makes MOST of their profit from selling ferrets for labs. The pet component of their business is only a tiny sliver.
Another well-known/ recent example is in the development of the ebola vaccine.
It's really sad and Marshall uses generally horrible breeding/ care practices which is why I only adopt ferrets and never buy from a pet store so I'm not supporting them.
Also, from the photo I don't think Ciel looks like a waardy.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2016 5:13:02 GMT -5
Yeah, all of mine are Marshall's. It's kind of pathetic how many breeders are only in it for the money. I had looked into adopting when I first started looking at ferrets, but I knew I wouldn't pass the part where they looked at housing and where they would be living. I had been in my cousin's house and he had two large dogs, and the house itself had been a hoarding place. I would have only kept them in my room at that point, but the rest of the house would have been a warning sign. :/ Well, that makes sense out of how they breed and care for the ferrets... No point in putting any love into raising an animal that won't last a year, I guess. Nearly everything they make is designed to kill them faster. Okay, good to know. Maybe he's just a little slow. Monday was pork chunks with a sprinkle of bone meal, not as much as the previous meals, then organ soupie. Yesterday was finishing the organ soupie, then chicken wings. I was preoccupied with making plans with my dad. He went and looked at cars for me and found one that would be really good. He had to get a few things fixed, then he and my brother drove up here to drop it off. So I have a car again! I'll check the Asian market this weekend after my homework.
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Post by Celene on Feb 17, 2016 10:03:27 GMT -5
That's awesome! When I lived in the city it was pretty stupid/pointless to have a vehicle. I moved to the suburbs in September and you definitely can't get anywhere without one since there are no busses and things are too spread out!
How are their poops with less bonemeal? Also, is it actual bonemeal or just ground eggshell powder?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 2:28:22 GMT -5
Okay, so Ciel's "hunger" or whatever it is is getting out of hand. I need to start separating him every meal. I took them out today and they ran for 40 minutes or so, then I put them away and set out their food. Ciel decided it would be okay to bite Koi's nose and shake his head to get the piece of pork out of her mouth, even though there was a full bowl within his reach. No cuts that I can see, she seemed fine with a little pressure on various spots, no blood. Punished Ciel by locking him on the lower level until Koi was done. They're bonded and everything, so I'm not sure why he's being so possessive.
The city I live in has a decent bus system, but the timing and vicinity to things are screwy. Plus, it's been mostly below 0 degrees F and either windy or rainy, so walking/waiting/transferring buses is an event. Much easier with a car.
It's actual bone meal powder. With less bone meal their poop has been moist, once in a while runny with a few pods of undigested fat, and either dark from organs or with bone chunks.
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Post by Celene on Feb 21, 2016 10:17:56 GMT -5
If their poops are really soft/loose, you can increase the amount of bonemeal powder. If their poops are pretty firm/hard you can decrease it. Poops after organ meals will almost always be pretty gross. Bone chunks are pretty normal as ferrets' bodies will absorb what they need and let the rest pass.
As for Ciel, fighting over food is very normal with ferrets (and often accompanied by several squeaks and hisses), but biting his friend is not okay. It could be simply that he's really excited over his raw food (let's face it - no ferrets fight over boring old kibble) but it should not get to the level of him hurting his friends. For now I would suggest just giving him a little more food so he doesn't feel like he's lacking any and needs to fight for it, since he isn't fat I wouldn't worry too much about him over eating.
Then again, it's often more about a form of play than the food itself. My girls will wrestle and fight over a choice chunk of meat even when there is a full bowl of nearly identical chunks right beside them!
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Post by Celene on Feb 24, 2016 10:46:45 GMT -5
How are things going? If you could post your menu for the week that would be great
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 5:01:05 GMT -5
I've continued to go off of the one you posted. Pork/bonemeal for muscle, chicken wing for bone-in, and heart/liver soupie. I plan to go to the store this weekend and look for other meats, and hopefully come up with a better system for meal prep during the week. Unfortunately, this weekend is exam time for some of my online classes, so I have 1 by Saturday night, 1 by Sunday night, then one early next week (I'll know once it's open). I'm hoping to knock out the 2 by Friday night so I can have the weekend to study. I'll post once I'm done with them. Histology, Microbiology, and Infectious Diseases. And then Physics. So. Much. Information. I think Ciel is getting better about sharing, or at least had a good day today. Pocky started chewing on one of his strips and they both chewed on it for a while, and he actually let her take the piece away to finish it and started on a new piece!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 5:05:03 GMT -5
Can ferrets catch pneumonia? Apparently one of my roommates caught it from his brother, then gave it to my other roommate. I'm definitely staying away from both of them until it's gone (easy with 3 students during exam time, haha), but I was curious, just in case I carry it somehow.
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Post by Celene on Feb 26, 2016 17:42:00 GMT -5
Oh no! I hope everyone feels better soon! Getting sick during exam time is the worst, but so common because everyone has a weakened immune system from being stressed, under slept, and eating junk food (since there is obviously no time to cook while cramming).
Ferrets *can* catch human sicknesses, and it's generally recommended you stay away from your ferrets as much as possible if you're sick. Having said that, in practice I don't think it's actually very common. Before I learned of this I would always use my first ferret, Truffles, as a cuddle blanket when I was sick and she never once caught anything.
Since you aren't sick yourself, as long as you wash your hands well before going to your ferrets and keep your roommate away from them it should be fine.
PS - exams on weekends sounds ridiculous! I will leave you alone until then. Good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 20:39:24 GMT -5
Thought I responded to this earlier, I guess it didn't go through from my phone. I kind of like having everything done on the weekends, it gives me more time during the week. Not sure why but online classes are easier for me and always have been. I suppose it's just easier. Thanks, I'll let you know when I get grades up! Haha I'm going to the store in a bit, I'll post what I find tonight
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 5:29:06 GMT -5
So the store didn't really have much. Chicken, pork, beef, and ground lamb and bison. Is there a way to make grinds work without soupies? Should I make little meatballs or something? The other thing they had was fish, salmon I think was the only raw option. Would that be a good option? I only ended up getting chicken wings.
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