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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 2:34:05 GMT -5
Sorry that he's being difficult.
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Post by katt on Jun 8, 2013 2:37:55 GMT -5
haha Don't be! It is certainly not your fault! Some are just more stubborn than others. I really think you are ready to graduate, you seem to have the balance down well enough, but I don't want to abandon you when he is giving you so much trouble over bones. As long as you keep supplementing with calcium he should be okay nutritionally, but I really want to see him crunching bones better, for his teeth too. What is your stance on whole prey?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 3:17:36 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind feeding him chicks and small mice, but I doubt I'll ever be able to do live food or big mice with him... I used to have rats and so it really creeps me out if they look at all 'cute'.
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Post by katt on Jun 8, 2013 16:29:54 GMT -5
Sherry and Heather suggested trying either clothesline or perhaps a C-Clamp of some sort.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2013 3:54:23 GMT -5
Attaching it to the cage? I'm on phone with left hand right now holding a neck for him. He's into it but does not bite hard. Uses his tongue a lot. Has taken about fifteen mins of solid trying to get through half. Oh he's just taken it from me and put it in a corner. Enough for now he says
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Post by katt on Jun 9, 2013 4:12:31 GMT -5
Will he actually crunch through the bones and EAT them if you hold it? Another suggestion was does the bone need to be held still, or is it just that he doesn't want it to touch the ground? Have you tried hanging the meat from shower hooks from the top of the cage so it hangs down? Do you think his teeth might still be hurting? You mentioned he was mainly using his tongue...that makes me a bit suspicious that he might still have some level of pain... Thoughts?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2013 4:33:51 GMT -5
He's always used his tongue to eat. It's a bit weird looking! Well, he's eaten half of it, including the bone, so I guess so! I think it needs to be both still and off the ground. He's not good at 'holding' food, and since he eats it by putting the whole end of the bone in his mouth, (preferably horizontally, he thinks), he can't do that with it sitting on the floor or a plate.
Am I misinterpreting the shower hook thing? I just looped it through. Because the shower hook is bigger than the meat, it doesn't really sit still properly. Were you suggesting I actually push it through the meat itself?
Thanks so much for all your effort.
I'm going to have to start again soon with newbie. lol
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Post by katt on Jun 9, 2013 13:58:34 GMT -5
Yes, you need to hook the hook through the meat, and then hook it either to the side of the cage (or the ceiling if he likes that better). See if he likes that?
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Post by katt on Jun 15, 2013 2:07:38 GMT -5
Just a bump to see how he is doing? How is the newbie doing?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2013 8:00:14 GMT -5
Hooked his meat and he didn't touch it. Newbie happily eats bones and all flesh I've given him but not organs yet.
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Post by katt on Jun 15, 2013 12:31:42 GMT -5
Good job little buddy! I'm glad he is taking to it so quickly! Have you tried organ and he isn't taking it, or have you just not tried them yet? For Nibbler, at this point I would really suggest going back a few steps in order to go forward. I recommend that you smash up his bones into tiny pieces mixed into chopped/mangled meat. When he will happily crunch those, gradually increase the size of the bone pieces. Let me know how he does on the crushed bone bits.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2013 19:40:48 GMT -5
Tried organs and he wasn't impressed with it lol. He rejected the liver entirely, he sampled the heart but I think Nibbler ended up stealing it from him since that's his favourite.
Ok I'll do that with Nibbler.
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Post by katt on Jun 15, 2013 22:45:09 GMT -5
LOL little brat! Will he eat soupies? If so, make a soup that is mostly muscle meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast is usually easy on the blender) and add a tiny bit of organ and/or heart. Gradually decrease the muscle meat and increase the organ and heart in the soup - as quickly as he will accept it and as slowly as he needs it. Until he will eat at least half organ soup, I would give him one soup meal a day to make sure he is getting his heart and organ. (Can you supplement with taurine powder in the meanwhile?) Then when he gets to 1/2 organ soup, you can decrease it to one meal every other day until he will eat plain ol' hearts and organs.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2013 0:14:02 GMT -5
Well Pagan has been stealing Nib's food so it's about fair.
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Post by katt on Jun 16, 2013 13:44:05 GMT -5
Haha Do I sense an impending food fight? How are they getting along? How did crushed bones go today?
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