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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2013 0:55:18 GMT -5
Today was heart day. He surprisingly took to it instantly with no problems, even though I hadn't included heart in his soupies. His stool today was as I expected from yesterday's liver day. Dark, tar like, and runny. This morning his weight was at about in the 920's grams. I'll probably start weighing by lbs for now on... sounds a lot easier lol He cuddled in my lap and took a nap today while I played some video games, it was definitely today's aww moment normally he's too hyper to cuddle or just wants to sniff around, he never slept on or near me until now. I have been considering getting another fert sometime in the next few months, but I was hoping to wait until my boyfriend and I move in together so he can pick one out for his own. He's been very excited about Javik and can't wait to have a ferret of his own now.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 15, 2013 1:33:45 GMT -5
Oh, that is excellent news!!!! The biggest thing I can recommend about keeping a ferret as a single for a while is that his bond with you is going to be that much stronger
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2013 15:11:29 GMT -5
Javik has been doing well, I haven't posted in a few days whoops. He's been chewing up smashed bones very well, eating normally, etc. I weighed him on the 15th and he was at 2 lbs. I finally chose a vet today and set up an appointment to bring him in and give him a check up on Friday morning. (The receptionist loved his name ) The fee will be $65, is that reasonable? I don't know if it's too low and might be poor service, or too over priced...There aren't many clinics in the area that see ferrets, so I didn't have too many options within town (I had considered a few outside of town). I'm hoping the vet will be accepting and supportive of his diet, but if not what should I do? Is there maybe a print-out of information for vets to show them the facts and benefits just in case? Or should I call some other vets? I can't believe I forgot to ask I also bought him some new toys A dryer vent finally, and some cat toys. One is a set of those stuffing less animals, they're small for cats and on a string attached to a stick since he loved the last one so much (he ended up tearing it up in two days...tore it off the string within the first few hours...I learned my lesson lol), and then a cheap "grab bag" of 20 cat toys. I don't expect those to last long and he will only be allowed to play with them with supervision, and hourly inspections. (I also ordered myself some hair dye in this order ) Just for review, his current diet is as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: AM- bone-in chicken or game hen drumette (2 oz) PM- bone-in chicken or game hen wingette (2 oz) Tuesday, Thursday: 4 oz pork muscle meat, divided into two meals, occasionally 2 oz of heart and gizzard mix Saturday: Liver and organs (2 oz cow liver, 2 oz misc. organs [kidneys, lungs...whatever I find in chicken carcasses] with a meatless bone) Sunday: 4 oz cow heart with a small cube of soup (always the first thing he eats) Some meals get a gel tablet of salmon oil, some days (depending on his poop consistency) get 1/8 teaspoon of ground eggshells.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2013 17:26:57 GMT -5
With the chicken bone meals what do they consist of?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2013 18:16:57 GMT -5
Any bony part of a chicken... wings, legs, hip bones, neck bones, drumsticks, thigh bones etc. All smashed to edible pieces.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2013 18:43:14 GMT -5
Okay, so right now he's getting six meals a week. He actually needs 8-9 Replace two of the muscle meat meals, and/or add some on the liver organ day instead of muscle meat.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2013 19:09:02 GMT -5
Ah okay, how many ounces of heart does he need a week? Should I give him a bone stripped of meat with his muscle days? (I use muscle days for his extra variety since it's pork and they can't chew pork bones.. and I had given him a stripped drumstick bone with his liver on Saturday, would that not be enough?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 17, 2013 23:20:05 GMT -5
They need meat WITH the bone The 8-9 bone meals we list takes this into account since bone is 10-15% of their total diet. A wing would be about 40% bone. Neck I believe is 75-80%. A thigh about 10%. Heart he needs at least one full meal a week. I do one meal one week, two the next.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2013 0:17:41 GMT -5
Oh! Thanks, I thought heart was a mandatory 2 meals a week. So I think I'll feed one heart meal with one bone in on Sunday, and add a bone in to my normal muscle days? I did feed him an extra bone day this week (yesterday) because he didn't finish much of his meal Monday and I was worried he'd miss the bone. Today he ate a wing and a drumstick, with just slivers and "crumbs" left.
How often should I be giving him additional egg shells? Or are they unnecessary with the upped amount of bone?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 18, 2013 9:08:36 GMT -5
What you've suggested sounds good With the increased bone he won't need additional eggshell powder.
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