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Post by Sherry on Feb 28, 2013 9:23:08 GMT -5
Getting them used to a feeding den will help cut down on stashing elsewhere. Since I've started just putting small carboard boxes in the main stash spots it's helped tremendously. I do, however, have to go around every couple of days and clear stash spots. I only feed in the cage but the brats STILL manage to get their meat out of there and hide it Here is a link to a variety of feeding dens: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=questions&action=display&thread=4544
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2013 10:38:43 GMT -5
(Long post, and not directly related to our feeding stuff. Not sure if you would prefer it moved to a more appropriate thread to share with others.)
Well... my wife and I are now joking about needing to put them back on kibble, and no longer feeding them raw foods. Sherlock's energy levels are so much higher now it is getting a little difficult to keep up.
They play longer, and play-fight harder than they have before, and each day it seems to climb just a bit higher. Yesterday was the tipping point of us really seeing how different they are becoming. Whether it is related to their new diets, or that they are growing up, I'm not sure but it was pretty eventful.
We have a solid board across the entry to our hallway, backed by a plastic storage bin that probably weighs between 20-25 pounds. We had to put the bin on the back side of the board because Moriarty can easily climb on top of the bin and then climb over the board.
Well, yesterday I had them in the office with me, and they were playing and causing a ruckus like usual. I've taken a lot of things out of the closet in the office for them to play with while I'm in there. I was done in the office so I took them with me out to the den, so they would be blocked in to the room we were in; or so I thought.
He went to the hallway barricade and stuck his nose in the corner where the board meets the wall. This isn't unusual. They will often go to that and scratch and let us know they went to go back in to the office to play. What was different about this day was Sherlock (our lazy fuzzbutt). His little mental gears are turning a lot better than they used to, and he was determined to get back to the office, so we just watched to see what he would do.
He started by scratching at the tile, which got him no where. He then started pushing his nose in to the corner a little at a time, and got just a bit of wiggle room for his head, so he kept pushing and making progress. This was impressive enough for us as we could hear the storage bin sliding a bit as he was doing this. From the spot he was pushing he had a little leverage, but still... its 20+ pounds.
After he had just enough space to get his head in the gap, he flipped on his side and began scratching at the board. I didn't really think anything of it until his body started inching its way in to the gap he had created. Then it happened... His shoulders reached the wall. So, he has now positioned himself between the wall and the board, with his shoulders against the wall, and his paws on the board. The scratching stopped, and in one well thought attempt he pushed against the board using the wall as his brace and he moved the board more than enough for him to walk through the opening he had created! Off he went trotting in to the office. I was too impressed to make him come back out again, so I went in to let them play some more.
His strength could also be partially attributed to the workout program I put him on last week. Moriarty can easily pull herself up over things, like the storage bins, or the barricade boards if I lift her high enough to let herself pull up and over. Sherlock though has never exerted that type of energy, we just always picked him up and placed him on the other side, and he got used to that... until I started his pull-up regiment. I now lift him just high enough, for him to stand on my hands and stretch about as far as he can to the top edge of the barricade board, and then he has to pull himself up and over, or he doesn't get to go play in the office.
I've been doing this with him almost daily for over a week now. Yesterday I had him do 3 reps before I let him in to the office hallway, and cheered him on and gave him a lot of praise when he pulled himself up each time. I'm thinking his workout program may have helped with his ability to move the barricade and storage bin (in combination with his new diet).
So, at that time we are back in the office playing. They have some tubes in there, which include wrapping paper. Yesterday he found a brand new tube of wrapping paper in the closet and wanted that more than the already opened one. I let him play with it for a bit as he pulled it around the office by the plastic wrapping. As soon as I saw him tear some of the plastic I took it from him so he wouldn't swallow the plastic, and put it back in the closet on top of a box so he couldn't reach it. I then encouraged him to play with toys he already had.
Next came something I had yet to witness.
He went in to the closet and looked at the wrapping paper tube I had just taken from him. He walked around the box a few times to figure out how to get up to the tube, but he couldn't get to it, so he sat and stared at it. Over came Moriarty, who went around the box and got on top of it without issue and then.... she figured out how to get the tube unstuck from the corner I had it leaning in and pushed the tube off the box and on to the floor to give it back to Sherlock.
I've never seen them work together before, and the tube wasn't even something she had been playing with earlier. After she pushed the tube down she jumped down and went off to play with what she was before. She wasn't interested in the tube for herself, she figured out how to get it back out for Sherlock to play with!
Our kits are getting too smart!
So that is why my wife and I were joking about putting them back on kibble. We could somewhat keep up with them at their slower pace, now... we aren't so sure ;D. But they are becoming more and more amazing to us in their ability to work through things.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 1, 2013 13:41:15 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D It's a. Combination of the diet and him growing Meat protein builds muscle. And the you get they are when they are switched the denser the muscle seems to be. Combine that with his exercises- and that's what happens ;D And starting them at an age where they are still developing brain cells and you also get a smarter ferret! Think about kids who are raised on a healthy diet compared with those raised on junk food And just think- it's only going to get worse ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2013 22:56:06 GMT -5
Weighed them both tonight and they are the same
Sherlock 1.3kg Moriarty .88kg
We are still giving soup, but have it mixed with chunky organs meat and skin. They are eating this the most, and leaving the bowl of just organs for the most part.
Going to try to introduce a bit of pork to them this week, and setting up their feed den (one per level because they will be tiny due to size limitations unless you recommend otherwise.)
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Post by Sherry on Mar 4, 2013 0:21:45 GMT -5
Tiny is fine keep increasing chunk to soup ratio every couple if days as well. Let me know how they like pork!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2013 9:51:59 GMT -5
We also found out some friends of ours, who live in the country, hunt rabbits and other game like quail and snake on their property, so we may have found a source for more protein and organs for them to try since we don't have many options at our stores here.
It wouldn't be a frequent thing, but at least they may be able to have more sources every so often.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 4, 2013 15:28:37 GMT -5
Oh, that is fantastic! Mine adore rabbit and quail
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2013 10:31:46 GMT -5
Things have been going well this week. They are totally off soup now and on to small chunks of meat and organs. The only change behavior wise has been their energy levels. They have been more active while they are awake (more running around) but when they do that they put themselves to bed sooner than we had seen before.
They are eating a mixture of chicken breast, skin, liver, gizzards each day. They are consuming about a full bowls worth of food each day, and they some times snack on the larger chunks of organs we have in a different bowl.
Added pork to their mix last night. When I left for work they hadn't eaten much of their mixture yet.
He looks like he is leaning down some as well. Being only about 6 months old I wasn't expecting him start doing that yet, but I think it is because of the better diet. Will weigh them tonight and get you updated pictures if they will hold still. My wife is not feeling well so it can be a challenge to get those pictures by myself. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2013 10:34:08 GMT -5
Oh... added the box for the feeding den this week just to see if they would naturally try to hide some food in there before i started putting wings in. Mo did a few times that I saw. She would take her organs in to it and chew on them for a while. Think they will take well to it once I get it finalized this weekend.
I also plan on doing some cooking this weekend (no seasoning) and will have a lot of rendered pork fat I can reserve in the fridge. My goal was to use that to mix in with their food in their bowls if you think this is OK. Just something to give them a bit more consistent intake on the fat as the chicken skin doesn't normally last through the whole pack of chicken and organs.
Input on this idea?
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2013 15:19:51 GMT -5
No reason why you can't give them that He's leaning down both because of the diet(they drop the kibble fat before putting on the muscle), and the fact shedding season is here keep going with the pork, and also time to start trying some bones! Chicken wings or necks are ideal for this. You may have to chop both up a bit for them.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2013 15:20:58 GMT -5
Oh- almost forgot Gizzards are muscle meat, not organ. You also need to start adding in some heart when you can.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2013 17:30:06 GMT -5
Hearts are given to them as well. We get mixed packs of hearts and gizzards for them, and try to separate the hearts some times so they have just hearts available in their organ dish for one day a week.
As expected, he getting lean per the weigh-in this afternoon.
Sherlock - 1.26kg (down from 1.3kg 5 days ago) - lot more energy while playing Mo - .86kg
Will start cutting up the wings and giving them the bones in their bowls. I'm pretty sure she will just try to hide them though instead of eating them.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2013 19:39:07 GMT -5
Try segmenting the wings at the 3 joints, cut the middle section between the two bones, cut those and the tip in half, and smash and chop the drumette well. Can you find pkgs of just hearts? Ultimately they'll need at least one full meal a week of heart.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2013 20:03:31 GMT -5
Have to he mixed. I tried a pack of all hearts from a different store and they rejected the food. The brand and store they like only come mixed 50/50
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2013 23:41:22 GMT -5
Try talking to the butcher. I could only find them originally mixed like that. However, after talking to the meat manager I was able to order them by a 10lb case.
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