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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2013 19:00:06 GMT -5
Last night he had the Primal Rabbit mixed with Rad Cat Lamb with turkey neck meat & bone chunks. He seems to like the Rabbit ok, will no more the next time I feed it to him. It has a green color to it, weird looking & shaped different too. LOL
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2013 20:59:08 GMT -5
He approves of his feeding den. That's great! Some ferrets really need that special, secure place to munch on their treasure. I got a packet of chicken organs and neck from my grandmother and boy, what a fight I had on my hands. I could hear them hissing and growling over it in the cage.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2013 21:12:42 GMT -5
LOL, that reminds me of the video I got from the gal we got Sanuk from, when him & his siblings were fighting over chicks. It was cute & funny. Glad your babies enjoyed their goodies tonight.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2013 7:48:33 GMT -5
So what proteins has mr Sanuk tried so far? What does he seem to like/not like?
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2013 19:33:42 GMT -5
The proteins that Sanuk likes: Rad Cat: Turkey, Chicken, Lamb Bravo Basics: Turkey, Duck, Rabbit(he didn't like) Stella & Chewy's frozen: Lamb & Chicken
Stella & Chewy's Freeze dried: Chicken, Turkey, Duck duck goose, salmon, beef, lamb, rabbit.
I got some Bravo Basic Ostrich, but haven't cut that up yet. He likes the S&C steaks in beef & lamb, which I break up in pieces & give about 4-6 chunks in between meals if he gets hungry.
For supper tonight he had S&C frozen lamb with chicken neck. He is getting better with the bone, I saw him chew on one piece of bone. It isn't consistent, but its a start. I try & break the bone up pretty good.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2013 21:24:53 GMT -5
Remember too he'll have to slowly work up his jaw strength and bone handling skills before he'll eat the larger pieces. Ferrets tend to have to learn how to manipulate their paws on how to hold it and their jaws on how to get it down without gagging.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 18:48:03 GMT -5
I bought some chicken thighs that are skinless & boneless(they were on sale), I wanted to see how well he would eat chunks of just meat, so I gave the bone a rest for tonight. I cut up one whole chunk & froze the six other ones for later. Tonight, Sanuk had Bravo basics Duck, with 1 tsp of S&C FD duck duck goose ground & almost 1 1/2 tablespoons of chicken thigh cut into chunks about the size of the regular altoids(mints. WAIT FOR IT.......He ate it ALL!!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 21:41:34 GMT -5
Great job! I wonder if he'd eat just chunks without soup? Maybe try offering him some in between meals as a snack?
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 22:06:01 GMT -5
Sounds like a good idea, I will try that. The frozen raw that I feed him hardly has any water in it at all, maybe 1/2 tablespoon just to warm it up from the fridge. I should weigh the amount he is eating now to see how much it is. I know it isn't 2oz, I wish it was. I use to mix a lot more for him, but it would just go to waste, so I cut back, if he is still hungry I always mix more for him.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2013 10:36:06 GMT -5
That's pretty much the way to do it I find. Keep some thawed in the fridge so you can do another meal in a bit if they chow down through it all and put less out at a time so it isn't wasted.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2013 19:23:10 GMT -5
Well the giving just the chunks as like treats, was a NO GO! Refused to eat any that I tried hand feeding even the scruff & stuff didn't work. He seems to have gone backwards with the chunks of chicken thighs & now also the chicken necks. He isn't even eating all of his food that he normally would before. I'm hoping that is because of spring & summer changing weights. He is acting normal otherwise, so I'm not too worried, just keeping an eye on him. He had Bravo Basics turkey tonight with a few pieces of chicken neck & bone. He didn't eat it all, but ate better tonight than this morning. He is eating some S&C FD beef & lamb in between his meals. I don't leave out a lot of the Dry FD as I want him to eat more of the frozen raw & the chicken neck & bone.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2013 22:00:44 GMT -5
Aww. That does happen sometimes, for whatever reason they decide to step back and be fussy. Keep at it though, keep adding chopped meat and bone to his soup and he should come around.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2013 19:15:58 GMT -5
I feel better after tonight. Sanuk ate all of his food tonight, so I'm happy. He had Bravo Basics duck with chicken neck & bone. I didn't add as much as I was before the set back, but he ate all that I put in there including the bone. What is the best way to get them to eat the bone & not spit it out? I smash them in pretty small chunks, but some are going to be a bit bigger. Do I just hold him or let him go in his "den" & spit it out? LOL I have been holding him when he gets some chunkier meat & bone in his mouth & tell him to "chew" & he does pretty good when I do that. I bought a small upright freezer this weekend. SO cool!! I posted pic on FB.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2013 20:02:56 GMT -5
Sanuk may have been protesting and just balked that night, or simply not as hungry. Sometimes if you change things too much too quickly they get all snarky on you, the little divas.
I saw the pics. Very nice! I'm jealous!
You're lucky yours will gnaw on command, lol. I got the non kits to eat bone by soaking bone in meat pieces in soup for a while before offering it to them. They got the idea pretty quickly. It also helped that they loved the flavor of the meat- pork. Pork is a favorite and I can buy lots of cheap fatty, bone in cuts for them here to chew on in addition to their soup. One of my [mentally] slower ferrets I am transitioning by offering him a wing tip or other tidbit on occasion with some ferretone smeared on it. He started out licking the oil off of it, the next time he picked it up in his mouth and stashed it, the time after that he gnawed on the skin briefly. Each time we try we make a little more progress towards realizing it's food. Best thing I can recommend, persistence. If you can, snap or cut bones to expose the marrow as a tasty treat. Try different proteins. My guys adore pork bones, they don't like chicken bones as much. They'll only eat wing tips and necks and sometimes a drumstick and ignore everything else. CGH they'll eat just about all of it.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2013 20:53:28 GMT -5
Not to sound dumb, but what does CGH mean? LOL I have never offered Sanuk pork, I will give that a try. What is the best to try at the grocery store for pork & bones? I don't know if he gnaws on command, but I tell him & hold him until he does. Part of being persistent I'm assuming. So maybe sticking with a certain amount for a full week & then adding a little more the next week is a good way to transition? Lowe's had a sale on freezer's so I jumped at it. It was a good investment as I'll have some of our frozen in there too at some point. His stuff pretty much took up our whole freezer. LOL I have noticed since he has been on raw, his nails grow so flippen fast!! I'm trimming those babies every week! Thank you for all your help.
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