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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2016 2:25:56 GMT -5
Happy Easter!
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Post by Celene on Mar 27, 2016 22:56:47 GMT -5
That paper ball project sounds like a LOT of work!
Silly Booker being so fussy. If you have the food processor ready now, you can always try introducing the beef as a puree, with chicken and/or blended with egg or salmon oil. You can start at only 10-25% beef and slowly work up. Once he'll eat 100% beef soupie (would count as a muscle meal) then you can start with chunks. It's a lot of work, so if he'll eat bison or lamb instead that is a good substitute as both are nutritionally similar. Another great protein to introduce is pork - a lot of ferrets find it really yummy!
I'm not sure if you've had a chance to email butcher shops or order online, but it would be great if you could introduce another source of bone-in meat such as rabbit, quail, or both.
I'm glad your living situation is all settled! Free furniture is the best. Our current couch was previously in the basement/rec room of my parent's old neighbour's place. They had three kids so it's seen a lot of use, but it's black fake-leather so had stood up well. The only down side, is people will always think your furniture is crappy/needs replacement, so will try to pawn stuff off on you that they don't want anymore. Despite our best protests, we ended up with my grandma's sofa/chair set, which is only a few years old and in good condition, but she finds it too tall for her. The only problem is we really don't want it! The fabric seems to attract fur like a magnet and it's really claw-able, so it's going on craigslist tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2016 0:35:19 GMT -5
It was a ridiculous amount of work, but I got a decent grade. Just happy it's done. Haha
I've been looking on Hare Today for ideas on an order. I was going to get lung and kidneys for the third organ in the soupie, some quail, bone in rabbit and duck, boneless rabbit and goat, then ground duck with organs. Any changes or suggestions?
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Post by Celene on Mar 31, 2016 18:24:53 GMT -5
All of that sounds great! If you're already getting bone-in rabbit I wouldn't bother with the bone in though since most ferret meals 7-9 per week are bone-in anyway and 3 of them are heart/organ so there's only 2-4 muscle meals per week which you can use on pork/goat/lamb or whatever else. What part of the duck is the bone from? Ducks are rather large, so most ferrets can't eat the bones - maybe the neck and wings at most. I feed duck gizzards (which are a huge favourite) as they are tough and chewy so very good for cleaning teeth and building jaw strength. Here's a photo (actually from a cooking/turducken instruction site) that shows the size of various fowl in relation to each other for reference.
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Post by Celene on Apr 4, 2016 15:00:15 GMT -5
Hey! Time for a pop quiz 1. List 3 organs aside from liver. 2. Organs should consist of approximately how much liver, and how much "other" organ? 3. What percent of the diet should be organ? 4. How many meals a week should be organ, and of those meals how much needs to be liver? Good luck, and don't worry if you don't know all the answers! Also, if you could post your current weekly menu for me that would be great
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2016 19:25:51 GMT -5
Okay, that makes sense. The website just says "whole duck with bone, cut into 6-8 inch pieces" so I think it's whatever you happen to get. I'll nix that. I haven't had much luck with gizzards, tried them in soupie before and some small chunks were left that were picked around. Thanks, the photo helps. I think my scale is way off. Not sure if I bumped it during moving, or what, but I can cut 2 pig hearts into pieces, and the scale reads 6 ounces. Looks like I need to either recalibrate or buy a new one. 1. Kidney, pancreas, brain, stomach, lung, tongue, gall bladder, spleen 2. I believe it's 50% heart, 25% liver, 25% other for organ soupie 3. 20% 4. 3 meals, 0.75-1.5 for liver, depending on if you have another organ Right now we're on chicken wings and ground lamb/chicken mixture. Booker gets about a lick and quits. Haha
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Post by Celene on Apr 6, 2016 18:12:06 GMT -5
Okay, that makes sense. The website just says "whole duck with bone, cut into 6-8 inch pieces" so I think it's whatever you happen to get. I'll nix that. I haven't had much luck with gizzards, tried them in soupie before and some small chunks were left that were picked around. Thanks, the photo helps. I think my scale is way off. Not sure if I bumped it during moving, or what, but I can cut 2 pig hearts into pieces, and the scale reads 6 ounces. Looks like I need to either recalibrate or buy a new one. 1. Kidney, pancreas, brain, stomach, lung, tongue, gall bladder, spleen Yes! Although lung is generally considered a pseudo-organ as it does not secrete and doesn't not have the same nutrients as other organs. It can be fed, although other organs should be mixed in as well.2. I believe it's 50% heart, 25% liver, 25% other for organ soupie That is correct!
3. 20% Yes! Although just to clarify, that's 10% heart, 5% liver and 5% other organ. Technically heart is actually a "muscle" and not an "organ" in terms of raw feeding, although it is a very necessary part of their diet and it is considered an organ in human terms
4. 3 meals, 0.75-1.5 for liver, depending on if you have another organ Yes!Right now we're on chicken wings and ground lamb/chicken mixture. Booker gets about a lick and quits. Haha Any chance you can tell me how many of those meals are wings, and how many are the mix? Does the mix include heart and organs? I just want to make sure they're all getting a balanced diet. What size are you cutting the wings to, or are the whole?
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Post by Celene on Apr 13, 2016 21:55:36 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, do you know when you expect to receive your Hare Today order?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2016 5:05:29 GMT -5
The last few days have been an absolute nightmare. So there's the gap above the trim to get to the space under the cupboards. I have had it blocked with their tunnel for the last month and it's worked until Pocky found a way behind it, and "if it can be moved, it will be" mindset kicked in. Now Pocky can go under the cupboards and get back out, no problem. Booker, on the other hand, can't. He crawled under them and got stuck, and couldn't fit his head back through the same way from the inside. I spent an hour trying to get him to go through the same hole, and another two hours using a scissors to scratch through the particle board floor of the cupboard. And of course he goes on like nothing happened. And the next day I thought Pocky got stuck under the next cupboard over, which didn't have particle board, and was blocked off from the hole. Luckily, she got out on her own after a bit.
Right now I've been doing a full, uncut chicken wing, and switching between bison grinds and organ soupies for the second daily meal. Day one: Chicken wing, organ soupies. Day two: Chicken wing, bison grinds. It's been the easiest to remember among everything else.
I haven't had a chance to order it, I need to pay off enough on my card to be able to pay for it after my insurance increased this month. Money is really tight at the moment. I get paid next Thursday, so I plan to order it then.
I have a final exam due by Saturday in one of my classes. No idea why it's so early, but it just means I can divert more attention to my other classes. It opens tomorrow, wish me luck! haha
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Post by Celene on Apr 15, 2016 0:03:34 GMT -5
Firstly, good luck on your exam!! Secondly, by my count if they are getting organs every second day they are probably getting a little bit too much (it might not be a big deal, but liver is very high in Vitamin A which will build up over time and cause toxicity). The other issue is they might not be getting quite enough bone, since we usually recommend 7-9 bone-in meals per week. There are two ways to go about it: 1. You can prep meals once a week (or every 2 weeks, or whatever works) and label the meals: (it doesn't have to be tupperware - freezer bags which can be rinsed and reused work well too). 2. You can remember a system, for example: - Chicken wing every morning (which you do) - Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon meals organ - Tuesday afternoon chicken wings - All other afternoons are bison grind. The only other suggestion I would make would be to add in one more protein, such as pork (which is easily found and usually loved by ferrets). You could alternate this with the ground bison for their muscle meals. The two advantages of this would be a) more variety and b) more chewing/whole meat. In regards to the cupboards gap, I happen to know EXACTLY what you mean. I had the exact same thing in my old apartment which I never knew about until one day my little girl Truffles went missing and I heard scratching. In a panic I ended up tearing the baseboard/trim right off (whoops) and thankfully it didn't go anywhere (like into the wall). She looked like a little ghost she was so white with drywall dust! Since it didn't actually go anywhere, we just vacuumed it out and left it, and she ended up always wanting to sleep there. You could always try posting a picture on the forum or in our facebook group - I'm sure many other ferrents out there have had the same issue and could offer some creative solutions.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 20:42:45 GMT -5
Okay, I think the second might work well. I should really just write it down and tape it to the fridge, think I will...
That's actually perfect! I just took out some pork to cut up the other day.
Well, I got some tape to tape the tunnel down, so they can't move it. Since two of them would be stuck under it, I won't take the chance of leaving it open. But I also tore the trim off, haha.
Right now seems to be shedding season, that was about the time they start smelling better, right?
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Post by Celene on Apr 20, 2016 21:49:04 GMT -5
Yes! Changing bedding frequently also helps tremendously with smell. During shedding, a great way to help prevent hairballs is feeding egg. The lecithin in yolks helps break up hairballs before they form by dissolving the fat that binds them. A ferret can have up to 1 egg each per week (a little more during shedding season) but a whole egg at once can be hard on their digestive system so maybe feed 1-2 eggs between them all a couple times per week. I usually just feed the yolks and save the whites for omelettes for myself
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 22:44:22 GMT -5
Sounds like a good idea. I've noticed that Ciel especially has been coughing here and there, and that the salmon oil wasn't really helping for long.
How frequently do most people change the bedding? I've been trying to change it once a week, not sure if that's enough during shedding season
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Post by Celene on Apr 21, 2016 14:53:03 GMT -5
Last year during shedding season one of my girls actually learned to FAKE COUGH because she realized when she did it I'd give her salmon oil. We realized after I left the room (but my spouse who isn't usually the one feeding salmon oil was still there) that she stopped coughing as soon as I left but would start again when I came back. Once a week for bedding should be fine. If they are blowing their coats and fluff is everywhere, you can try using a furminator on them, I have one and it works great! Either the "small animal" or "cat" size would work.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2016 14:06:15 GMT -5
I don't think Ciel is faking, because he'll gasp while trying to eat food or oil. It almost sounds like wheezing with a sinus infection or something. He's usually fine after a bit, and doesn't start again for a few hours. But it's kinda cute that she did that. Bratty, but cute. I changed to pork for muscle meat. I think their poop is finally staying solid now instead of being inconsistent and like pudding. Okay, I'll look into the brush once I get my check. I realized I can't get mail where I am, so I had to ask for my check to be held until I can clear it up with the landlord. :/
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