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Post by gfountain on May 21, 2016 10:15:06 GMT -5
That would give you chicken, quail, rabbit, lamb, and pork for their diet, right? That's 5 proteins with 3 of them being bone in meats. That should be fine.
As far as the love seat goes, unless you can make it less 'interesting' for them under there, they'll never give up. Are there legs or feet under the seat? Could you take those off so the seat sits directly on the floor?
Speed bumping is normal. Some ferrets do it a lot, others hardly at all. It just means they're tired, bored, mad, sad, not getting their way... Nothing to worry about unless it's happening ALL the time and/or other behaviors have changed.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2016 6:29:36 GMT -5
Perfect! I need to wait until Friday for payday and then I can order them. I'm also off all next week which will be perfect for quality time switching with my ferrets.
Hahaha I have so many blankets rolled up around it at the moment. It's working a little bit but when I'm not looking they are straight there trying to dig them out :')
Ahh ok. See reading that they do it cause they are bored has made me quite sad. I'd hate to think my fuzzy was bored. Although to be honest, she shows no interest in ANYTHING. I have a ball pit, packaging peanut pit, little hidey huts, tubes and pipes, bags, sand pits, a tinsel box and a torn up paper box and nothing. I've seen so many fuzzies go mental for all of these but my two are like "no thanks" The most popular out of all of those is the sandbox, bags and tubes. If I rattle a carrier bag, they go mental and play and then thats it. Lost interest.
I give them the shower to play in but all they want to do is run off with the plug! I have a bag full of toys and they only ones they stash or play with are the squeaky small ones. I'm at a loss! Even in their cage, I have blankets, toys, hammocks and hidey hole hanging things and they never use them.
Am I doing something wrong with the enrichment? They seem to be happy. Triss is always dooking and we race up the stairs if she knows we are going up and then she bounces around my bedroom. ha.
Back to the food, been smacking the bone with a hammer (mortar from my pestal and mortar) and it seems to be going down a treat and quicker. There have only been tiny pieces from the wings left and the rest is just the meat after 24 hours. Stools are still loose though. :/
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Post by gfountain on May 25, 2016 8:57:07 GMT -5
I have one little guy who speedbumps a lot. He doesn't really like toys much. He prefers to play with me. When I can't give him my full attention, he flats. He's got all kinds of things to play with, including 3 other fuzzies, but sometimes he just wants me, which is gratifying and makes my heart happy, but it's pitiful to see him sulk when I can't play.
I'm glad to hear they're eating their bones better. How many bone meals are they getting in a week? When are their stools loose, after a bone meal or after a muscle meal?
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2016 10:24:25 GMT -5
They are having as many that is on the plan at the moment and it seems to be a constant thing with their stools at the moment. I keep checking them and some of them are bird seedy and i had a scare the other morning, Ciri's was bright yellow! My other half had informed me however that he had given them an egg yolk and Ciri ate most of it so im hoping thats the case! She's been normal coloured ever since. They are very dark and runny but not so runny like water. Just very wet. Now you have mentioned that, I do think Triss maybe the same. She was so excitable when I got home and paid her attention. Ciri jumps on her to play all the time but 30% of the time, she's just not interested bless her. She's then walking around with a Ciri on her back ahahha
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Post by gfountain on May 25, 2016 15:46:20 GMT -5
Egg will definitely give them yellow poops. Post a picture of their normal poops for me. Are you keeping a food journal? You need to keep track of what they eat and what their poops look like, as well as activity level and weight.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2016 6:55:46 GMT -5
I thought the food journal was the plan that I have? I don't know who eats what though with me being at work in the day. All i know is what is left over at the end of the day. If they have ripped the meat of the bones then I leave the bones in the cage but take any meat out as it has a horrific smell once it comes too 24 hours haha. I will try to get a clear picture for you. Funnily enough, even though they can go in their cage, when they are out they like to do their business on a puppy pad next to our bathroom door whether it is a "well mum and dad too it in there so it must be right" thing, I have no idea :') Once they go on a fresh pad there, I'll get a clear picture for you.
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Post by gfountain on May 26, 2016 8:58:28 GMT -5
What you have is a menu. A journal has more information. It should include what they eat, how much they eat, unusual activity level (lethargy for example), poops, weight once a week, and anything else concerning their diet or health. We recommend keeping a journal for several reasons: to make sure there are no issues with certain proteins, to keep track of amounts eaten during different seasons, to track seasonal weight gain/loss, to determine what activity level is 'normal' for your ferret.
If they only do their out-of-cage business on a puppy pad by your bathroom door, consider yourself lucky! I have 'potty spots' in every room of my house, whether or not it is MY designated spot is of no concern to them. Their most preferred location for pooping is in the middle of my front doorway. (headwall)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 12:31:00 GMT -5
Ahhh right ok. I will start making a journal for them then to document their weight and things. I do weigh out their food so I know how much they should have a day.
Oh dear! I bet that can be a nightmare! Mine are pretty good, they only ever go there or in their litter tray. Even if they are upstairs, they will run down to the corner with the puppy pad.
I have got pictures of the poops. Photoshop is being weird and keeps error messaging me when I'm trying to upload and it won't let me do it through here directly :S
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2016 10:58:21 GMT -5
I'm also having issues with the liver and kidney again.
I've noticed it on the past few times I have given them their organ meal where they have not ate that much of it and there is some left over but I thought it was because of the portion size.
I gave it to them yesterday morning for breakfast like normal and they came down, sniffed it and went upstairs back to bed. I thought "Maybe they aren't that hungry this morning" (FYI, it's been like 25 degree heat here in the UK this past weekend and today) so I thought with the heat, they might not have much of an appetite.
They are in the shade though and have a fan so I know they are cool.
So i left it in until their dinner time and they hadn't touched any of it. However, when I put their next meal in, it didn't touch the sides! They ate it so fast so i felt bad like I had starved them.
I don't understand why they are turning their noses up and the liver and kidney again?!
Are they playing me for a fool knowing they will get another meal they prefer? haha.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 6, 2016 11:11:52 GMT -5
Is their liver and kidney still in soup form or in chunks now? They've been doing pretty well with the organ, haven't they? The brats very well could be manipulating you.. that is totally a normal thing in my house, lol.
Are the ferrets outside? Just having a fan blowing will not necessarily keep them cool. Since ferrets don't sweat, a fan by itself won't do much good. You need to provide some kind of moisture for the fan to blow on. I've seen some people soak a towel and hang it between the fan and the ferrets, either draping it over the cage or the fan. The problem with this is that the towel dries out quickly. An option to make the towel stay wet longer would be to hang it so the end is in a bucket of water. As the water evaporates from the towel, the towel will wick water up from the bucket and stay wet longer. You can also freeze bottles of water, wrap them in a towel and put them in (if they're ferret proof) or under the cage.
Have you managed to access more proteins yet? The babies are eating full raw, no problem with bones or anything really (except the hesitancy with organs), so I feel like we're just waiting to get some more variety in their diet so I can pronounce you an official 'raw feeder'.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2016 14:14:03 GMT -5
It's like a thick gravy with chunks. They've done it the past few times now, it's getting really irritating haha. I am starting to think they are playing me. They are so clever, especially Ciri, so I wouldn't put it past them.
No no not at all, my babies are inside, in my living room in the shade. It's the coolest part of my house and I have bowls of water that they can dip and play in when they are out of their cage which is whenever I am in.
I have bought them quail to start. It got delivered yesterday actually. With it being whole, should i start them with the wings or grind up the breast to make soup again?
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Post by gfountain on Jun 13, 2016 15:41:42 GMT -5
Just keep working with those organs. "Some ferrents end up serving a little organ soup with every meal, spreading it out over the entire week instead of stressing about getting them to eat entire meals of organ. If that is something you want to try, let me know and we'll work out the amounts they need to keep their diet balanced. Don't make quail soup. Give them the wings to start with. They shouldn't have any trouble with the bones, but they might turn their noses up at the new protein. If they don't want the quail at first, chop some of it up and mix it in with their favorite meal so they can begin getting used to the taste. Let me know how it goes. If you could update me more frequently, we could move this process along faster.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2016 13:52:48 GMT -5
Im going to try dipping the food in the organs juices and see if that helps! Yep, they turned their noses up so I've mixed it with a chicken wing to see if that has helped. No problems so far. However, I am a little concerned. My little Ciri was playing lovely then all of a sudden, shes puffed up and she started wretching. She was then sick but it was like spit. No lumps or anything. Just a line of spit. She was then fine, started to play with her toy then it happened again. Shes playing and she's ate a bit of pork immediately afterwards. I don't know whether to be concerned or not. Shes stashing food now like she normally does. Can Ferrets get wind if they've ate then ran off or something? Or should I be concerned? *
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Post by gfountain on Jun 16, 2016 15:07:27 GMT -5
I'm not understanding what happened with Ciri. Was she playing when she threw up? Or was she eating? WHAT was she eating or what had she eaten just before it happened? You said she ate some pork after. Has she thrown up again since eating the pork?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2016 15:14:27 GMT -5
Sorry, i was typing in a panic.
She was running around as usual playing with Triss and then she went off on her own. Doing her own thing and then I saw her bolt past me all fluffed and I knew something wasn't right. I followed her as she was making gagging noises and she bolted from me again to the other side of the room. I followed her, very worried, and she was sick behind my little foot poof thing. Once she'd finished, i picked her up and she was making clicking noises.
She seemed fine, picked up her squeaker and then 1 minute later, she was fluffed up again so i put her in the cage and comforted her as she threw up again and looked at it properly ( I know disgusting but i need to see) and it was pure white bubbly spit. Well that's what it looked like. No colour to it, no lumps, no mucus, no blood. Just a long string of white spit. Not even a puddle.
She had a drink and i held her and she went all hyper and wanted to be put down. Then she started grabbing bits of pork out the cage and running off to stash them. I then caught her eating a chunk of pork. She went back to the cage and stashed some more and was chasing Triss with it then proceeded to dig under my love seat chair again and she got under.
it's been about an hour now and shes sleeping with Triss around her in the cage.
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