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Post by Sherry on Mar 28, 2013 16:59:52 GMT -5
If it's white there is no nutrition in it at all as it's been bleached. If it's green and you can get them to eat it, great! Word of warning? Use gloves when handling and the smell doesn't want to wash off your skin ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2013 20:41:46 GMT -5
Tripe is bleached, so that didn't work.
We picked up stuff for them this weekend which included a corshish game hen, and a whole chicken for us to break down. We had goose on sale for Easter down here but they wanted $80 for an 8 pound bird O.o
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Post by Sherry on Mar 31, 2013 7:55:02 GMT -5
OMG!!! That price is INSANE
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2013 8:34:49 GMT -5
Few questions to start off our week -
I broke down the game hen and the chicken last night so we introduced them to game hen last night, and will see how they did with it this morning. They have been doing really well with their wings and eating the bones as long as they are cut up in little chunks with some meat. If we give it to them anything larger they just ferret it away.
The chicken was a whole bird with parts inside, which included the neck. I know that has been mentioned as good for them to chew on for cleaning teeth n whatnot, but how would we give this to them? Cut it in to small chunks like we have to do for the wings right now?
When I got finished cutting up the chicken there was the breast bone left, and the back, with some random small organs still attached to the bone structure. I had already pulled out and set aside the heart, liver, and gizzard, but I'm not sure what all is left in there. Are we safe to give them the breast bone to eat or is it too tough? And what should I do with the spine/ribcage?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 1, 2013 9:19:19 GMT -5
All of it is good for them With the Cornish hen wings, try giving them just segmented at first, see how they do. To be honest, all mine get their meat cut about the size of an adult mouse. Some ferrets really like whole pieces of meat, some refuse. It's your choice how you want to give it
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2013 8:02:16 GMT -5
They are eating the game hen without issue though it did seem to mess with their tummies a little bit for some reason. We have to cut up the meat and wings we give them in to small-medium pieces so they are more likely to eat it rather than ferret it away.
Their diet now consists of:
Whole chicken sectioned and cut in to chunks (bone in all parts except the breast) Whole Cornish game hen sectioned and cut in to chunks Bonless pork chop cut in to chunks Chicken gizzards, livers, and hearts (2 oz per ferret per week of liver) Beef heart and kidney (2 oz per ferret per week for kidney) Boneless lamb We mix in the chicken or beef hearts with at least one meal every other day.
We are trying to make sure they get bone-in meals each day. We are still having to mix cream with their liver or they won't eat it. Doesn't matter if it is beef or chicken liver, neither of them like it mixed in with their food and will eat around it or pull it out and set it aside.
1 Tbs squash every other day.
Anything else we might be missing in their diet? Think we are ready to put our permanent weekly menu in place for them now if you have a schedule we should keep for them.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2013 9:49:55 GMT -5
They are doing really well! The tummy upset sometimes happens with a new protein also. It should disappear after having it a few times. I think you are also ready to set up a menu for them 8-9 bone meals, 3-4 muscle meals(at least one of which needs to be heart), one organ meal(2oz liver/2oz other organ) a week You can mix/match liver and other organ however you like. If you are certain they are both eating enough heart that's fine as well.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2013 22:20:54 GMT -5
Weight this evening
Mo: .823kg Sherlock: 1.23kg
They have each lost a bit more, but nothing significant yet. He still looks like he is slimming down a lot more compared to his chunky self just a few months ago.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2013 9:57:20 GMT -5
Given that it's spring, the slimming down/weight loss is to be expected.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2013 14:01:26 GMT -5
They got the chicken back last night for their first time, mixed with a bit of chicken gizzard. They destroyed it all. Bowls were totally empty this morning from what I understand, and they both got probably 1/3 of their bowls filled with the mix. Apparently they like the spine.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2013 9:20:29 GMT -5
Things are on track for their menu rotation and going well except for one thing. We give them about 4oz of food in the mornings, and they eat some, but then he ferrets probably 2/3 of the total food left after they are both done eating. He has two spots he puts it in, so easy to find, and when they come out to play in the afternoon they eat from their stashes. She hides her food in the tunnel, but if he is up before her he steals her food and puts it in his hiding spots. She knows where they are, and goes to eat from them some times. I'm just wondering how we can help curb this habit. I know they are ferrets, and he his ferreting, but we are seeing a lot of food wasted because of this. We don't want to have them being hungry while we are not home, but at the same time we would like to help encourage them not to take their food out of the cage. If he gets in the ferreting mode, and we have the cage door closed while he is out he throws a huge tantrum and then just lays on the floor pouting.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 10, 2013 9:32:02 GMT -5
They really are very good at playing us, aren't they ;D You can either try to direct the stashing by placing a couple of stash spots or simply close the door while they are out. He WILL get over it after a while ;D Also, if they are stashing that much you are likely feeding too much Especially if it's not being eaten within 24 hours. Something else you can try is simply giving much less for the next meal if they've got a good bit of stash going. I also give one or two very light days a week food wise. That way if they have any stashes they go and clear them out ;D
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2013 11:11:19 GMT -5
Yes they are good at playing us, especially him. He has gotten good at his pouting and tantrums so we normally give in so he stops doing that.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 10, 2013 13:34:50 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 14:04:04 GMT -5
My wife had a great idea to help curb his desire to ferret food. We just put a barricade up in the hallway to keep him away from the cage while he is awake. It worked, which was good, but yesterday he started EATING the sock I had given him with a noise maker in it. Not sure if it was just because he had torn a hole in it and he decided to keep going or if it was part of his frustration with not getting to the food. So I took the sock and gave him a new one to play with and moved the noise maker to it. He seemed content with it but will keep an eye on that behavior. Other than that I think our kits are pretty settled in the routine of eating. We just have to figure out how much to give them each meal so they eat well, but aren't trying to ferret the majority of it in their hiding spots. They have really taken to the meals with bones in them. Its pretty interesting to hear them crunching through bones while they eat. Oh - last night was liver and cream meal. She ate maybe a teaspoon or two. He totally snubbed it. It had been in the fridge defrosted for a few days so that may have been an issue. Going to try beef liver with them tonight as it will be freshly defrosted. Will see how it goes.
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