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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2014 13:54:05 GMT -5
OK so Rufus's poops turned a little yellow-greenish and soft - exactly like the "Mucousy" poop in the poop chart here holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2469. I dug around in the freezer and found a rabbit that I had missed. Thawed it out, switched out the Turkey with the Rabbit and viola - normal poops again for both Rufus and Skeeter. All within the same day. I'm not sure if I told you but I've been able to keep Skeeter's nails trimmed by waiting for him to fall into Partially Dead Ferret Sleep. He's a light sleeper but if he's comfy enough I can move his limbs without him noticing. BTW... I left the Beef Spleen on the counter, open, while I ran to the bathroom. By the time I got back, my Lab Lisa had eaten the ENTIRE thing. She was grinning from ear to ear, licking her lips and had the grossest farts for the rest of the day. She's such a rascal! I'm sure the ferrets were ecstatic to know that there was none left for me to try to give them. Oh and for the first time ever, Skeeter played with me. He was in the pool and I was picking up the peanuts that had fallen out and putting them back in. I caught his eye the final group I threw back in and he did a pounce towards my hands, and then rolled through the peanuts and then did the war dance hops all over the pool. Everytime I would move some peanuts around with my hand, he would do the whole dance over again. I was laughing so hard! It was wonderful.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2014 14:18:08 GMT -5
Okay, so the poops sound like they're likely just due to a sensitivity, but if you're worried about IBD, I can talk to the other admins and get some info on how to help you do a protein trial to find the culprits. Haha sneaky you! That's a great idea for trimming his nails Even just holding and rubbing his paws and massaging them as he falls asleep without trimming them should help him adjust to the feeling and get more comfortable. I think the whole reason Javik does so well with trimmings is because when I first got him he would cuddle with me a lot and always fell asleep on my chest, so during the cuddle sessions I would massage his paws which made him more comfortable with the process. I'm glad someone enjoyed the spleen! lol yuck to the farts though, silly girl. Yay Skeeter! It sounds like he's finally warming up to you Javik does the same thing when I play with him in the dig box. I'll sit next to it and just pick up a handful of rice and sprinkle it over his head, he goes nuts from that.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2014 18:06:08 GMT -5
I try to rub his paws and ears while he sleeps because he's still iffy about me putting salmon oil on his ears. So far today I got three nails clipped. I should have specified that I virtually NEVER get them all done in one shot. I have to keep going back for more. The bad part is that when I try to do it while he sleeps, the smell wakes him up. So it usually ends up as a fiasco. You'll notice in most of my fouton pictures the huge stains on the blanket? All salmon oil from my attempts to get it on ears for the ear cleaning parties. I'm not sure who's more excited about the HT delivery coming tomorrow... me or the ferrets
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2014 20:59:53 GMT -5
Once the ferrets have cleaned each other's ears from salmon oil a few times they should get the hang of it and eventually won't need to be reminded/tempted to do so. Plus raw fed ears are a lot cleaner naturally than kibble, so hopefully soon you'll be able to stop the oil all together and lessen the stress on all five of you
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2014 12:41:15 GMT -5
I think the problem is that neither Skeeter or Trigger will really let the others clean their ears. They swing their heads around to get their ears away from whoever is trying to clean them. That ferret will give up unless they have some incentive, like delicious salmon oil. Rufus and Candy are the cleaners and Rufus will lay on top so that Skeeter or Trigger can't run away, then Candy delicately goes in and licks them clean. It is a very cute team effort.
Hare Today delivery arrives sometime this afternoon. Thanks to Mother Nature our driveway is about 3 inches of ice with 3 more inches of snow on top of it so I called to warn the FedEx folks because my husband is worried that they will get injured and then sue us for damages if they try to deliver the package. I told them to leave it at our mailbox and call me so I can come get it. UGH...
I can't wait though. I'm going to try them on pinkies today. Their soupies today was just grinds in a bowl and then I mixed warm water and heart in the blender to make a sauce. As long as I keep adding warm water to the grinds so that they don't get cold and icky, the team loves it. I have noticed little bones in the poop though. When they eat bigger bones, do they only digest them down to a smaller size?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2014 18:11:48 GMT -5
They babies had their first taste of Cavvies tonight. They were dubious about trying something new. I had to hand feed each and every one of them but in the end they all ate it. I think the part of the Hare-Today order that they were unsure of was the "Hair" part. MPC only grinds up the inside of the critters. HT does everything, feathers and fur are included. So I'm anticipating some interesting poops tonight. Have a good weekend.
The pinkies were a no-go. They're still at the licking food stage, but I think the progression to HT where they have to chew will force them to open their mouths wider and eat like a real carnivore.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2014 19:45:34 GMT -5
Yes, as they eat more bone I've noticed it mixes and digests fully, mine almost always have regular looking poop unless I give them a bone heavy (or dense) meal such as rabbit (lean meat, but dense, weight bearing bones). I do still notice eggshells in their poop when I feed them anything with shells in, which is strange since I get them down to a very fine powder. I guess they just don't utilize eggshells as well.
The fur should be a good thing (or at least it will be once their system adjust to it), fur helps keep poops uniform and "clean" in a well contained package. It would be particularly helpful to feed around the same time as organ or egg meals.
I hope you and your husband are staying safe during the snow!! We've only had one week of snow this year and I HATED driving in it. Blech. I love snow, but I'm too much of a worrier to drive in it daily, I panic too much lol
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2014 13:45:00 GMT -5
Today should be interesting. I'm sure the kids are unhappy. I've put them back in their original location (the smaller enclosure area) because we're putting a vinyl floor down in the ferret room. Shampooing the carpet weekly is just not cutting it and I feel it isn't sanitary, especially now that they've decided the area under the fouton is their toilet. So the whole room is getting revamped. Tupperware to go under the fouton, and the vinyl floors for a more sanitary cleanup after accidents.
They still refuse to eat the hairy cavvies unless I spoon-feed it to them but if I hold that spoon up, they pig out. Poops are looking fantastic - neat little packages, just like you described.
We're used to the snow here but I typically don't drive in it. My whole driveway was a sheet of ice, but then it got up to 50 this weekend and now everything is melting. Its gray and dreary. I hope you guys are doing well too.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2014 20:23:18 GMT -5
Oh how I wish I could replace the carpet in my room with hard floor. That'd make life so much easier, but we rent and I don't see myself staying in this house for any longer than the next year. When I do move to a new place, though, it will definitely have to have at LEAST one room/area that isn't carpeted. It's much easier to clean hard floors, and I feel steam mopping is a lot more sanitary than shampooing carpet. Have you tried starting them out with the spoon feeding then slowly lowering the spoon into the dish until they're eating out of the dish alone? We're all doing well out here Having plenty of rain, which I don't mind a lot, the ferrets' appetites seem to be picking up again finally. For some reason they went from only needing to eat once a day to eating their entire meal halfway through the day and finishing a second meal as well that same day/night. I'm not complaining though, I've been wanting them to gain a bit more weight so I'm hoping this appetite surge will help with that.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2014 14:16:40 GMT -5
Rufus and Skeeter are too smart. Trigger follows the spoon and Candy just wants to be part of the fun with the boys, so she'll finish eating from the bowl and then walk over to see what I have going on in the spoon. Rufus and Skeeter, those little stinkers. When I put the spoon down slowly, they immediately look up at me, like, "uh mom? mom? mom? hey mom?... you know you put the spoon down?"
I think that the hair was really bothering them. Since its already a grind, if I blend the hairy part in a food processor with a little bit of oil and then add the heart chunks (tiny chunks) in, they've decided they love that and want to devour it. I noticed they won't eat it when it starts to dry out. If I add more moisture in (warm water), they go at it again. So we're still in the soupie phase I guess. They eat the chunks in the soup. I guess its more of a stew I'm making for them. The grinds and water and a little oil make the "broth" and then heart chunks for the meat.
This vinyl floor went down ok, but there are areas popping up. It was supposed to be self-stick, but I think I might have to get vinyl adhesive for those pesky spots. I now need to buy an area rug since they have nowhere fun to wipe their little faces! What do you think about shag carpet? I was thinking they might like how fluffy it is.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2014 19:50:01 GMT -5
My phone is now at under 5% battery lol let's see if I can knock out a reply before it dies... What size spoon are you using? Tricky little guys lol, have you been feeding other protein sources this week or are you focusing on cavy right now? I think they would love a fluffy shag rug, don't spend too much on it though, I'm sure they'll love digging it to shreds I just wanted to note, staying on grinds and soups for a few months is perfectly fine. Many people stay at this stage forever, some for 6 months, some prefer to skip it entirely, it's all up to your comfort zone and your fuzz's preference. That said, we can stay here as long as you/they want, but make sure you let me know when you're ready to move forward and I can give some more proactive advice to get you out of this stage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 13:35:50 GMT -5
Skeeter is eating well and pooping well but he's still super skinny. Maybe he's just one of those people who are lucky enough to never get fat. I was thinking of staying on soup until he got bigger but he might not.
Lets go one more month and then if there is still no change, or if something else happens in between now and then, I'm going to take him to the vet to see if something else is causing him to be so skinny. Is skinny an early sign of Adrenal Disease? I noticed recently that Skeeter has a burnt smell sometimes near the back of his neck - he's super musky. Then again, he's also the only non-Marshall ferret I have. Not sure what the musky burnt smell means.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 12:23:21 GMT -5
Skinny isn't a sign of adrenal, but weight loss or weight gain can be. Burnt smell is a common sign, however. Have you noticed any other signs/symptoms or oddities in him? Such as aggression, appetite or activity change, etc? It is normal for some older ferrets to just remain skinny, some ferrets will always be skinny, it just depends on the ferret. We can definitely stay at this stage for another month, just give me the word when you'd like to move forward
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 12:29:58 GMT -5
Could you get updated pics and weights on Skeeter specifically (and the rest if possible), I'd like to keep an eye on him for any physical signs.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 14:46:44 GMT -5
So the update is that I'm now mixing HT with MPC. They don't like the hair in HT, but if I blend it and mix it with some MPC grinds they are super happy. Today's mix was a sampler platter involving each plate with the HT Mouse Mousse mixed with an MPC protein. The options were Rabbit, Herring, Muskrat, and Mutton. All seem to be devoured evenly, so I think we have a win on the new proteins. In terms of food, they each now have their own bowl which I fill with about 4oz per ferret, per meal. I'm pretty sure Trigger eats everyone's leftovers so he may be up to the 6oz per meal range. Candy has been eating really well lately and Rufus seems to be eating less. OK so updated weights. Trigger the Pigger has EARNED his name. Weigh-InRufus: 42.30 oz. / up 5.70 oz. Trigger: 59.85 oz. / up 17.40 oz. Candy: 31.40 oz. / up 4.40 oz. Skeeter: 44.30 oz. / up 2.85 oz.
In terms of signs of aggression, I'm not sure what to think. Every now and then he will jump on Trigger and bite his neck, but it only lasts for a few minutes and Trigger does it back, so I usually think they're playing. The worrisome thing that Skeeter does is that he gnaws on things, like the ramps, and hammocks. It reminds me of kittens that were weaned too early that suck on blankets? He closes his eyes and goes *chew* *chew* *chew* as if he's a baby with a teething ring. Oh and I check his poops religiously because I'm paranoid that some of the string fuzz from the hammock may come off - its crocheted. So far he pooped out a small piece of thread once. The poops are all huge and in the whole prey/raw grind bundle (the hair bundles the poop up nicely). In terms of personality, he is super super skittish. I can't hold him, he doesn't like to be touched, but he seems to like me I guess because he always comes over to me whenever I come into the enclosure. He'll follow me around, wipe his face on me, sniff me, and if I've just taken off my leather boots, he even tries to eat my toes; but he won't let me really show him affection. Skeeter PicsI really wanted to do a comparison from the earlier pictures, so here is Skeeter from the beginning to present. November 14, 2013November 19, 2013December 6, 2013January 15, 2014He seems like he's getting scraggly in comparison to the earlier pictures. And does he look lumpy in the lower right picture?
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