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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2013 20:08:09 GMT -5
Well, my fiance is the one who cuts the meat if there is bone and he cuts it into 8 parts. I think in a day or two I will try them on pork. I would like to add because they haven't been on raw for long or eating much but chicken/bird(s) Both of them there tails smell like grape... is this okay? They never had this smell before... Oh, no not just the wing they would be small and dying... I give them one bowl of chicken one bowl of turkey and in 24 hours I change it three times. I just once a day in the morning I give them a chicken wing just so they will get used to it and they do nibble on it still and eat just about half of it bone to. I'm scared to clean there poop once it has bones in it. Won't it hurt them to poop them out? I know people feed ferrets raw uncooked bones all the time but for me I'm scared it will hurt them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2013 6:26:56 GMT -5
Grape tail is perfectly normal actually, and it will fade over time.
We actually had someone on here who only fed his ferret a chicken wing a day and claimed the ferret was happy with that... so we just like to make sure. You can leave non ground meat out for a whole day or longer without worrying about poisoning them. I put a whole chicken leg, thigh and everything out on Monday. The ferrets stashed it and didn't touch it for 2 days. Then on Wednesday I caught them nibbling and chewing on it. Mine like to age the meat so that it gets dried out a bit and crusty. Trust me, they've been doing this for months and months and they don't get sick, they won't eat it if it's more than they can handle as they have fresh soup out every day as well.
Raw bones are soft, unlike cooked bones which become brittle and break. Plus they have very acidic stomach acid, which basically acid washes the bones and breaks them down some further. Ferrets generally aren't swallowing big pieces of bone whole though. If you watch them eat you'll see that they chew a great deal on the bone to break it down so they can swallow it. When you look at their poop you will see all these white bits, these are small shards of bone. Because of a ferret's short digestive tract, they can only absorb so much calcium out of the bone and poop out the rest, hence why it's important they get a lot. There are very few instances of raw bone puncturing the internal digestive tract. Nature designed them to handle it. I know it's scary for us to think of, but they are meant to eat it.
It's like these people who run barefoot. The media gets all over them calling them crazy and saying how they will injure themselves etc. But when humans evolved to their modern state, they didn't evolve to wear Nikes. Our bodies were designed to run as they were made just fine. It will require some training and condition for most people in western civilization to be able to run barefoot comfortably, but you can do it, and it is arguably safer as you're running with the correct strike then, not the one shoes force you to use.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2013 18:31:14 GMT -5
I have been reading up on the grape tail and made a post on this site. Aw, that sounds like a nightmare the poor baby. I always make sure they have some kind of meat in there and I do have back up kibble. I promise I will never let my ferrets go without food or fresh water. I make sure because it is summer I give them water 3 times a day. I clean litter boxes every day and wash everything even the whole cage every week. I try to give them the best. Hm, I'm just always worried about leaving the meat out I always keep giving them fresh stuff about two-three times a day. I never wanted them to be on raw because it's raw... I mean it's not even cooked a chicken of all things. But they aren't human they are aniamls and animals eat other animals so I have learned to let them eat raw but the leaving it out... but I guess if they are eating and they like it then whatever. I will try leaving the food in there longer now. Now what kinda bones can they have? I only know of chicken and turky. But also is there any kind of bone they shouldn't have? Like are feet bad or some kind if bone in the back? I probably will never feed them anything new until I come on here. I also, did get another CGH but I don't think they are ready for it yet because they still have problems with the wings. Should I try putting a whole legg in there with the bone in? Or maybe only giving them chicken/turkey with bone and not taking the meat off for them and everything?.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2013 8:46:09 GMT -5
The easiest bones for them to eat are the smaller ones. Most beef bones are too large for them to gnaw on, but they can get the marrow out of them and eat that and just play with the bone itself. A lot of larger pork bones are the same way as are things like lamb, venison etc. Mainly any large hoofed animal will have bones too large to be appropriate. You can find some ferret sized pork bone pieces, such as the neck and tail bones, ribs and my grocery store sells scraps of bone they've cut off of larger pieces that are a good ferret chewing size. Also the bone in pork chops are small enough they can eat.
Your best bet for ferret bones are turkey, chicken, CGH, any other kind of bird you can find- quail, pheasant, pigeon, duck etc, rodents like mice, rats or guinea pigs, rabbit, squirrel etc. On a chicken, turkey etc the best bones are the neck, smaller wing pieces, ribs etc. The drumsticks and larger wing pieces take a while for them to be able to chew through as does the back bone. Chicken feet are also inexpensive, bone heavy snacks.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2013 16:29:35 GMT -5
I think I will try them on a mouse soon I just live in a really small town and they only have two pet store that don't have any ferret stuff other then Marshalls food. I do not have a car and the next good town isn't for an hour my aunt drives me when she can. Yeah, wouldn't it be good if I could get them to eat the marrow? Pork bones...? Hm, I guess I could try that. They might like it. I'm giving them a whole chicken leg in a few hours so I can leave it in there over night and maybe a bit tomorrow. I'm not worried about price when it comes to them I just want the best for them.
Also, my Binxi I don't know if she is okay? She was so small when I got her! I was told she was the runt of the littler and she was missing some fur when I got her... Now, she is so big, bigger then my Oswin like she has a fat belly and she has so much fur and it's summer... Shouldn't she be small and have less fur? Should I take her to the vet? All poops are good and she eats a lot, no treats, egg and pumpkin about 1-2 a week, plays good/fast little girl, and she seems to be happy and ever since last month they both run around the room all day and night they have there own big room.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 20:45:09 GMT -5
She probably just has her seasons switched, one of my males is huge and floofy, almost 4 pounds right now and in full winter mode. In the fall she might lose a bunch of weight when she sheds and go into summer mode if she's switched. You can order frozen mice online and have them delivered to you, as an FYI.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2013 21:26:54 GMT -5
Yeah well she was born in Feb, so she hasn't even seen a winter yet. I can't wait! I never have ordered meat/food over the internet before. Do you know of a site? Also, any other good sites to buy raw food from would be good. I heard everyone loved something called (Bravo) then they had some recalls and maybe some thing else is going on too but no one seems to like it much anymore. What is your take on it?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2013 6:24:50 GMT -5
I don't order food online personally, but I know plenty of people who order from sites like Haretoday, Rodenpro and Bigcheese. The shipping gets expensive because they have to pack it in special packing and rush ship it, so if you go that route it's best to do larger orders.
There are sites that sell commercial raw like wag.com if that's what you're looking for. Again, I buy mine all locally since I have about 4 stores in the area to choose from.
Bravo is fine, I still use it in 5lb logs I portion myself and refreeze. They did have salmonella recalls once or twice for the 2lb chubs, but even if the recall did effect me I would have kept the food anyway as it's dangerous to the humans preparing it, not the ferrets eating it. I just would have been extra careful handling it and washed my hands extra well. I also use NVI and S&C's brand, and occasionally I get a bag of Vital Essential's as well.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 7:20:31 GMT -5
Well, I was looking into getting a deep freez... and then I can buy lots of meat at once. I will look at the sites but I might not order anything until I can get the freezer and getting them eating bones. Oh, okay thanks for telling me that. What can I do to get them to eat more bone? Should I try leaving only chicken wings in there for one day/10-12hours... and I will leave four in there for them? I know they do eat about half a one so I don't know why they don't want more.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 20:00:48 GMT -5
Honestly I'd stick to smaller bones for now, they're probably not ready for larger ones. You can chop a chicken wing into smaller sections they can better handle for now with a meat cleaver, or failing that at least bash them up with a hammer to expose the marrow for them and make it easier to chew on.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2013 2:55:35 GMT -5
I have been cutting up the wing more and they seem to like it more now... I still give them a leg or breast during the night but only wings in the day. I did get beef marrow from the store I didn't give them the bone I just took out the morrow for them and they seemed to like that.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2013 15:51:54 GMT -5
That sounds good. Keep chopping the bones up for now to get them used to chewing it, as they get more used to it you can make the pieces bigger.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 11:58:39 GMT -5
They are still only eating chicken and turkey but they are eating more bone now. Plus they are eating the chicken gizzards and I got chciken heart for them and they like anything to do with chicken but that is about it. I also, find it really wierd that they both have the same taste in food.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 19:34:54 GMT -5
It's just what they're used to. You have to open up their minds and broaden their horizons with a little persuasion. Try getting them some new foods- pork, beef, lamb, mice- whatever you can, chop it up into small pieces and mix a little in with the chicken or turkey. It's just like getting them to switch from the kibble to the chicken- add a little bit in at a time and gradually increase the amount. They should eventually start eating the new protein. You can add a little pumpkin, egg or oil to it to help get them tasting it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 21:26:49 GMT -5
They both don't like any kind of ferret treats... I have tried four different kinds of Marshalls treats and they both don't like them. They both like the N-bone chew treats. Both don't like cold pumpkin they like it warmed. They both love eggs and hate beef. They almost always eat together they are so cute. They aren't sisters and I had Oswin a month before I got Binxi... they get along so great for not knowing each other.
Yes, mice my aunt is picking me up a 10 pack it might not be a lot but I think I'm probably going to be wasting some sad really... I got pork and then I thought I should cook it and then my fiance said no and I just don't like the idea of pork... but they don't like beef so might as well. I will get them some fresh pork from the store tomorrow. I only have lamb kindneys... I have chicken gizzards and hearts they eat them. I really want to try rabbit it seems like a good idea because they do use ferrets for rabbit hunting. I don't really give them kibble anymore... and I haven't really been using the pumpkin. I'm going to try the oil last time they kinda just licked it off... but, they do love eggs.
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