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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2012 20:05:10 GMT -5
I went out today and got some gizzards with hearts and more baby food. Made a soup with that (along with a 1/2 of a raw medallion). She got a chunk of gizzard and had the FUNNIEST look on her face. I put her back in her cage because she was hanging onto it, but not eating it. She took it to the back of her cage and started eating it. She wanted me to just skip the first few steps and throw in some raw chunks right off the bat, I guess! LOL
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2012 20:54:15 GMT -5
I just took both of their weights. (Probably should have taken them before I started).
Alice is 792g, Cooper is 628g.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 16, 2012 23:27:53 GMT -5
Some actually do prefer chunks right off the bat! Mr. Frodo was like that. Fought the soupies like a madman first night he was here. Next day he stole a chunk of chicken from the others and went to town If your Alice is like that, be very happy- those ones are few and far between ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 5:08:22 GMT -5
I measured out their food tonight. 1 oz each. As I sit here typing, I can hear Alice munchin' on her chunks! I had to kind of 'show' Cooper that the chunks were edible, lol. He licked the soup off of them. I scruffed him and waited for him to yawn. When he yawned, I put a chunk in there so his teeth bit into it, and he's a happy fuzz now!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 6:03:06 GMT -5
OH! Also - what could I use to spot clean the cage? I want to get some type of wet wipees, but I don't know what would be okay to use in their cage. They're both dragging their chunks around the cage getting meat-yummies everywhere ( [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ .png" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/.png"].png[/IMG] ) so I need to get something to spot clean the cage with in between full-cage cleanings. It's past 4 a.m. right now. Had everyone fed around 3:30ish. Cooper ate every single lick of his. Of course, as soon as I lay down, get ready to go to bed, he starts knockin' his dish around, looking for more food. Had to get out of bed, grab his dish and the scale, run downstairs, and get him some more food. I'm tired and didn't want to make soup, so I just took a bit of raw medallion and a gizzard. Measured it out to 1 oz. He's munchin' on his gizzard. Might try a wing tip from a Cornish game hen tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to bed! Haha.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 17, 2012 9:46:20 GMT -5
Ok, since they are going full bore on chunks, you are really going to need to up the amount. Cooper is a baby, and he'll eat about twice as much as an adult for a while. Alice is just learning raw, so she'll also eat about twice as much as she'll finally settle down to I'd start by giving them BOTH 2 oz each per meal. You may need to up it from that though. I usually leave enough meat in the cage to do until the next meal time. You want to have a couple of small pieces left over. At that time, I simply remove old meat and use a 50/50 vinegar water mix in a spray bottle to wipe up. Any meat that's still good goes back in.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 14:54:37 GMT -5
Okay, so what all should I keep track of?
I have a little notepad that I'm keeping records of everything on. (As well as in Excel).
I'm keeping their weight in grams, what time of day I weigh them, what time I feed them and how many oz. each meal was.... Is that alright, or should I be tracking other things too?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 17, 2012 17:18:04 GMT -5
Your method is FAR more comprehensive than mine! Other than monthly weights, I just eyeball what they're eating now ;D No, I don't think you need worry about keeping track of anything else. Have you tries Alice with bone yet? Or liver or heart for either?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 17:24:52 GMT -5
Alice didn't eat the heart, but I gave her a bit of breast and she inhaled that. I gave Cooper a chicken leg. I don't expect him to eat the bone, though. Alice has a wing tip right now, so when I get home, I'll check if she ate it. Neither have had liver yet, but I'll go get some.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 17, 2012 19:37:30 GMT -5
Next time, try giving a full meal of heart, but chop it up well so they don't have to do a lot of chewing of it just yet. It can really make a difference in how well a meal is accepted.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 1:21:51 GMT -5
Alice eats her food in her litter box.... Should I be concerned about that, or just let her eat it in there?
Also, right now, I'm keeping both of them separated while they're in their cage so I can monitor exactly how much they're both eating. If I keep track of their weights, would it be okay to get them back together again? I'm almost wondering if Alice will eat more if she has to 'compete,' in a sense.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 18, 2012 1:29:13 GMT -5
Hey- Lucrezia used to poop on her food . While not necessarily acceptable to US, to them it's normal Unless she's consuming a good bit of litter along with the food, I'd not worry too much. You can try adding a feeding den and just redirecting to see if that helps solve the problem.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 2:48:54 GMT -5
(Just repeating this since you replied while I was editing my post). Also, right now, I'm keeping both of them separated while they're in their cage so I can monitor exactly how much they're both eating. If I keep track of their weights, would it be okay to get them back together again? I'm almost wondering if Alice will eat more if she has to 'compete,' in a sense. Should I ground up some egg shell and start putting it on their meat, at least until they start eating bone? How much egg shell should I use per ounce of meat?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 18, 2012 10:24:55 GMT -5
Competition for ferrets is a very healthy thing ;D Put don't be surprised if food fights occur! Squealing, screaming and hissing is the order of the day- it's fine when that happens And keeping a weekly chart of their weight during a switch is a good idea anyway. For eggshell, it's 1/2 tsp per 8 oz of meat.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 14:50:05 GMT -5
I opened up the ramp to them last night, and Cooper went straight up and finished Alice's leftovers, haha. They're both eating right now, and Alice isn't acting 'picky' like she was before. She's grabbing it, taking it in her litter box, and eating it quicker than she was. She's not sitting at the plate trying to pick and choose. Hehe.
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