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Post by katt on Jun 3, 2011 13:17:07 GMT -5
You may have rambled but it was helpful rambling Thanks! It did answer my question.Sometimes I just have a hard time explaining things without rambling... lol
Wolfie, Stella, and Nala all did well at dinner time. I fed them the slices (cornish hen meat, nice texture) first and they were all kind of like "fine, if this is all I can have, I'll eat it" haha! But Nala did the best out of all of them. Stella is the one who is actually lagging in the process surprisingly. Good fuzzes! Keep it up! I am also going to the store tomorrow and try to find some organ meat, and I want to buy heart but I can't find it any where! Do you know anything that could substitute for heart and do you have suggestions for what kind of organ I should get? Anyway, besides that, they seem to be making progress. Heart is very important for the taurine. Look for beef heart, chicken heart, pork heart. Check out Asian and African or Halal Meat markets. Between the 3 they usually have every odd meat you need and then some. Ask local butchers etc - often they are willing to give you the things people don't want (which are usually things good for little ferrets) for free or cheap. If you really cannot find any heart at all, you will have to supplement with a Taurine Supplement. I will have to look into that if that becomes the case as I know very little about actually supplementing with Taurine because I have not had problems before finding hearts... But like I said, for hearts, organs, and "strange" meats always check the Asian Market, then African (Halal Meat) Markets and local butchers. For Organs: heart and gizzards are NOT organs, they count as muscle meats. Organs in ferret diet refers to any hormone-secreting part of the body. This includes liver, spleen, kidney, pancreas, and brain. Liver and kidney are usually the easiest to find but you would be surprised what Asian markets have in stock sometimes!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 14:10:13 GMT -5
Sometimes I just have a hard time explaining things without rambling... lolLol, don't worry about it, I am the exact same way, I'll start at the point of something then, a few minutes later I'll be talking about something completely different I just got back from our local market and found BEEF HEART! I was so happy, all I had to do was ask the butcher back there *slaps self* should've done that in the first place. How much do you think I should feed them and how often?
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Post by katt on Jun 3, 2011 14:58:19 GMT -5
Yaay for the beef heart! Try some little chunks in their ground beef and see how they like it... Some ferrets are a bit more resistant to heart and organ meats because the flavor and texture are both very different. My boys - Koda especially - LOVE chicken heart!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 19:59:40 GMT -5
Alright sounds good, I'll sneak some in there and see what they think. I'll let you know how it goes
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Post by katt on Jun 3, 2011 20:04:31 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2011 0:23:35 GMT -5
Big edit; Hey, disregard everything I said last night, I think that was mainly tiredness typing. Anyway, leaving the food in the cage, solved everything! They have been eating it all up, nothing will be left on the plate when I come to take it out! This is very exciting
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Post by katt on Jun 5, 2011 4:14:28 GMT -5
Big edit; Hey, disregard everything I said last night, I think that was mainly tiredness typing. Anyway, leaving the food in the cage, solved everything! They have been eating it all up, nothing will be left on the plate when I come to take it out! This is very exciting lol Ok I was going to type a long reply about that being normal and how to approach it... But never mind! I leave food in the cage all day. This will allow Wolfie to snack whenever he needs to as well. How are they doing on the heart? What types of liver do you have access to right now? Also, how big are the chunks? Go ahead and increase them in size and add more.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2011 12:32:17 GMT -5
;D ;D
How are they doing on the heart? What types of liver do you have access to right now? The first time I gave them some heart they ate it all up. The next day I tried giving it to them, but I didn't soften their meal at all, so, they didn't eat as much. Softening the meal with a little water and olive oil helps a whole lot, they will eat everything that is on the plate if I do so. As for liver, I only have the chicken kind, but I bet if I ask the butcher I could get something different.
Also, how big are the chunks? Go ahead and increase them in size and add more. I cut a slice of meat about an inch and a quarter long then cut it into fourths, they are pretty small, I'll start cutting them into halves now and possibly add a few bigger slices to see what happens. I also added more raw meat and less ground, they still ate it up!
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Post by katt on Jun 5, 2011 14:45:58 GMT -5
Perfect! Keep increasing the chunks number and size and decreasing the ground. Meanwhile, let's start introducing them to new meats. Check around and see what other meats you can find. Almost anything is good for them! Asian markets are a GREAT resource as they usually carry rabbit (yum) which is very healthy for ferrets. Here are a few ideas of meats they can eat (some they are already eating): Pork Chicken Beef Lamb Goat Game hen Rabbit Quail Pheasant Rodent (rats, mice, hamster, guinea pig...) Turkey Duck And of course look for as many species/animal versions of the following: gizzards, liver, heart, kidney, spleen, lung, brain, pancreas. We can start introducing them to new meats while we simultaneously wean them off of the ground meat. Then comes the bones. Let me know what you can find. Oh yeah I knew I was missing some (just woke up lol)... They can also eat any kind of venison/wild game: deer, elk, caribou, moose, etc. And fish: sardines, mackerel, salmon, halibut, fish oil...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2011 9:59:08 GMT -5
Wow, I was so surprised that they could have game meat, but at least it gives us a bigger menu to choose from. Everything sounds good though! And would you like me to eventually possibly try all of them(or at least the most I can find)?
Also, last Monday I gave all of them some liver, should I do it today and possibly keep doing it once every week?
Sorry it took for so long to get back, I have class starting today, luckily online, but it is quite more rigorous than I thought.
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Post by katt on Jun 6, 2011 13:02:59 GMT -5
No worries As for meats pretty much anything fit for human consumption (and then some) is okay for ferrets. And the more variety they get the better. So yes, it would be good for you to work as many of those meats as you can find into their diet. For the liver, yes keep giving them a full liver meal a week. Just like wi the meat chunks though start to decrease the ground meat and increase the liver chunks. As for yur diet goals, where do you want to take this. I believe you originally said whole prey diet? There are a few options... 1) Feed "Frankenprey" supplemented with the occasional whole prey 2) Feed primarily whole prey supplemented with Frankenprey 3) Feed a diet of completely whole prey Frankenprey is what most people use as their base diet, and what we wil be working towards initially regardless of what option you decide on. (and you can always change your mind later btw) It consists of feeding primarily supermarket/game (list above) and commercial ground meats in a manner that imitates the proportions is tissues found in whole prey. So 10-15% bone (things like turkey necks, chicken wings, pork ribs, chicken back, etc), 10% organs, and 75-80% muscle meat including heart and gizzards (any of the meats listed above). A primarily whole prey diet is usually the best for them. I am of the personal opinion that primarily whole prey supplemented with Frankenprey is best because it most closely resembles their diet in the wild where they would hunt for themselves as well as eat carrion of larger animals. In addition it allows for more variet and more=better. The problem with an All whole prey diet is that it can be difficult to ensure thy are getting the amount of variety they need. It is also very expensive. As long as they are getting a BARE minimum of 3 different protein sources (ie mouse rat and whole quail) then it is okay...but like I said you really want a wide variety of meats in their diet. So it would be healthier if you could feed them say: mouse, rat, whole quail, whole rabbit, guinea pig, hamster... Personally for financial reasons I feed Frankenprey supplemented with a fair amount of whole prey. Any of the above works hough and will be very healthy for your fuzzers.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2011 23:20:22 GMT -5
Wow, good to know all that information! I think that feeding them Frankenprey supplemented with the occasional whole prey seems to be my first choice. Also, today I bought some salmon and ground bison, so, that is what will be next on the menu.
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Post by katt on Jun 7, 2011 0:33:30 GMT -5
Let me know how it goes.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2011 11:58:12 GMT -5
Alright, last night I gave them some salmon and kept it in their cage over night, they didn't eat much of it when I woke up the next morning, still quite a bit was left. So, for breakfast I gave them some of the bison and they loved it! I guess they aren't really fish lovers But, they're definitely moving along, I've decreased the amount of ground meat, upped the chunks even more and they are seeming to get the hang of it.
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Post by katt on Jun 7, 2011 12:24:50 GMT -5
Awesome And fish and ferrets seem to be hit and miss. Some Really like it, and salmon is good for them...but while they both love Fish Oil, I haven't been able to get either of my boys to touch any type of seafood... Perhaps try mackerel if you can find it? It seems to be a popular choice and many ferrets really love it. I haven't found it tomtry for my boys yet...
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