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Post by Celene on Mar 3, 2016 13:58:40 GMT -5
Online courses can be very handy. I take online university courses so I can work and go to school at the same time. You can feed ground meat, but it does nothing for their teeth or jaw muscles and it isn't balanced. You can use it to replace a muscle meal, but that's about it. In the short term you can also mix ground meat with eggshell powder to replace up to 2 bone-in meals, but we definitely want to move away from that as soon as you can find some good bone in sources. Have you considered ordering meat online? A popular website that our American forum members use is Hare Today. They have SO MANY different proteins. Some good options would be rabbit (you can buy either whole or pre-cut into chunks), quail, and whole prey if you are interested in feeding that - stay away from larger bones like goat and pork (although you can buy and feed the boneless meat of course). You can definitely feed salmon and many people include fish as part of their ferret's regular diet. When choosing fish it is better to pick ones that are high in omega 3's and low in mercury. One downside of fish is that it REALLY smells after being left out for even a short period of time, and it also makes their poop quite stinky. One time I came to bring them fresh food in the morning and remove the salmon from the night before and started gagging so I didn't continue down that path. Have you tried contacting local butcher shops to see if they can order in rabbit or quail for you? Many have the ability to order it, but don't keep it in stock since it isn't generally in high demand. The same goes for organs. Other than that the best places to find meats are ethic markets (Asian in particular). How are they all doing with
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2016 4:29:39 GMT -5
I think I'll start ordering online once I get settled. My roommate and I haven't been getting along, so there's more problems. I'm trying to push her to move out so I have the place to myself, otherwise I'd move again. I just cant get along with people. :/ More exams too, one due Sunday night and another due next Sunday night. But it's spring break! Hopefully I can figure out what I'll be doing now... So frustrating and I don't want to move again. I'm sorry for all the long breaks, I honestly feel like I'm borderline abusing them with all the stress I carry into the room. I want them to be able to roam and play around the house while I prep their food or watch tv, and I can't provide them with that yet. I want to make my own decisions around my home, not this. I haven't talked to any butchers, I have a really hard time with audible communication and interaction. I actually got my fuzzies to help with the depression and anxiety. :3 Right now they seem healthy and happy. They have sooooo much energy. The last few days have screwed up their feeding schedule though. I'm afraid to leave my room because my roommate is violent, so they've been getting wings and organs, 2 meals of wings then 1 of organs. I don't even know what day it is anymore. I'm still committed to this, 100%. They need to be healthier and happier, ASAP. I'll keep you updated
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Post by Celene on Mar 6, 2016 11:45:16 GMT -5
Thanks for letting me know what's going on! I'm sorry to hear about your roommate situation, that's always a tough thing to deal with. Other than my spouse I don't think I could ever deal with living with someone else!
A couple days on an altered schedule won't harm them, but if they are eating only wings and organs they are probably getting too much bone and too much organ so hopefully you'll be able to get the menu back on track soon.
If you don't feel comfortable talking to a butcher in person, maybe you can try emailing around? If you place the order through email you only need to go in person to pay and pick up the meat.
Best of luck with everything!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 4:47:02 GMT -5
Yeah, people seem awesome, but you get close enough and they just irk you. This girl in particular was a great roommate, then got a boyfriend and ruined it because suddenly I was "extremely rude" to him, even though he didn't think so. I can't count the times I've been locked out or had a door slammed in my face or been accused of messing with her things. I emailed the manager and he's open to looking at a 1 bedroom apartment in the same building. Hopefully I can move in right away in the next few days, I have an awesome manager. Best case scenario, I'd just roll the ferrets down the hall a few doors! Okay, good, I don't want to make them sick. I'll keep monitoring the litterbox for any changes, and push to make this happen right away. I think I could do that. I'll check for an email for the butcher section at my usual store and compare prices to Hare Today.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 13:19:23 GMT -5
Have an appointment in 4 hours to sign lease papers! Packing up now. I still need to find a sublease before I get off the lease, but I'm on my own starting tonight!
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Post by Celene on Mar 8, 2016 16:46:02 GMT -5
That's so exciting!! I bet you and your fuzzies will be much happier on your own
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2016 6:31:26 GMT -5
It's much better already! I got all moved out tonight, and the fuzzies got a short playtime full of running around in circles between the kitchen and living room. Chasing each other over both carpet and tile is apparently super exciting. It doesn't seem real yet, haha. But the whole place is pretty much ferret proof, no holes or dangers that I can see. They'll get to have the run of the place until I get furniture, it's super empty right now, so no obstacles.
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Post by Celene on Mar 9, 2016 16:47:57 GMT -5
That sounds perfect! When I moved last year I didn't have a couch in the living room for the first 3-4... It kind of sucked but I sure got a lot done since I couldn't lay around Have you been able to get them back on to a balanced diet yet?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2016 22:34:45 GMT -5
I'm mostly unpacked! Much better. Yeah, I'm at the same point. I had no chairs and no silverware before today. Mostly! I got some beef for them last night, so they're slowly adjusting to that. Booker is stubborn, as always. Yesterday was organs and then beef, and today has been only beef until Booker tries it. He won't even lick oil off a piece. :/ Tomorrow will probably be chicken wings again
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Post by Celene on Mar 13, 2016 11:48:19 GMT -5
Eventually he'll get hungry and give in One thing you can do if he still won't eat it at all is puree the beef and do a split of, say, 50% beef and 50% chicken (or start at a higher ratio of chicken) and then slowly increase the beef ratio until it's all puree beef and THEN give him the chunks. Sometimes you have to treat each new protein as a mini-switch. Of course it's easier if you can just get him to eat the beef chunks without all the coddling
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 11:47:42 GMT -5
He still resists. I gave them chicken for one meal just to get him to eat *something* but the last 2 days has been only beef for him. He's had beef soupie before and loved it, but maybe it's been too long. I will try your suggestion if he doesn't eat today. Yesterday I tried scuffing again, with some oil. He licked it but spit out the chunk. Sorry about the break, I've been busy trying to get things set up for the subleaser at my last apartment. Lots of paperwork and getting everyone to sign various parts. The plan is to try to get everything done today, but it might be tomorrow if I can't get in to see the manager today. But after that, I'm off the hook for that apartment and only responsible for my own!
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Post by Celene on Mar 17, 2016 23:24:49 GMT -5
For now I would put beef on the back burner (so to speak) and focus on maintaining a balanced diet while you deal with your apartment and everything, then circle back around to trying it. Do you have access to any other red meats such as lamb to try?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 4:18:39 GMT -5
Yeah, that sounds good. I can get ground lamb, maybe make small meatballs out of it for chunks?
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Post by Celene on Mar 22, 2016 11:10:19 GMT -5
If you can get ground lamb, that would be great! As long as their eating chunks and bone for their other meals you don't need to try and make the grind into chunks. Since it's a mew protein you might need to water it down a little bit and/or add a little egg/treat on top to bribe them to eat it.
How is your new place?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2016 2:25:28 GMT -5
Yeah, ground lamb and ground bison seem to always be stocked. I'll pick some up next trip. Sorry for the long break, between St Patrick's day, Easter, my brother's birthday, and trying to get the sublease, I've been so busy. And I had a huge project on top of it! We had to design and perform an experiment where we have various stacks of paper, crumple them into a ball, then highlight, count, and measure all folds. On at least 9 balls. I worked on that d*mn thing for 4 days and ended up turning it in late. If you look at a one-page ball, it actually has around 1400 folds. So. Many. And measuring was such a pain. Apparently you can apply the concept to the folds in the brain. They have a freaking mathematical equation for the volume-surface area ratio for a paper ball. Physicists did that. I wonder who would waste their time with that. Updates! Booker still refuses beef, I tried small beef chunks and slightly larger chicken chunks, but he wouldn't even pick out the chicken. I didn't have the food processor set up, but it's up now. I have a somewhat-system for organ soupie, I made a few containers of 4.5 Oz and put them in the freezer. I think I'll do the same with the other meals, I have 15 bowls so I can have the entire week prepped! My new place is awesome! My parents got me an old lazyboy chair and a cheap love seat, and they're giving me their old kitchen table after tomorrow. I'm glad I have family that love to go to thrift stores. Sublease is all taken care of, got the guy to sign it over, so I'm no longer liable for the old place! Booker is gaining a bit of the weight back from his hunger strike, and he dug into the organs once I spoonfed him a bit. The last few days has been organs, chicken wings for bone-in, and chicken rib/breast meat (mostly meat, few small ribs) for muscle meat. Once I have a chance to get to the store this week, the muscle meat will change. That will probably be Monday, after the holiday.
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