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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 1, 2014 23:39:50 GMT -5
Ok. good as long as he is eating and active. :-) I am the same way when i go out of town. Lol
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Post by gfountain on Feb 3, 2014 10:13:35 GMT -5
I'm home again. My monster wasn't excited to see me. He was, however, ecstatic to see my husband and daughter - I think I was being punished for leaving him. He ate pretty well over the weekend and cleaned up his dish last night, so I'm going to start adding slivers today - chicken thigh meat, right? I also need to weigh him again tonight. He felt heavier to me last night, but that could just be because I was away for a few days.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 3, 2014 13:59:27 GMT -5
maybe he is mad because you left him there. lol. are you at 100% raw grind yet? no more kibble gruel or baby food added to the mix? once we get them on 100% raw grind, that is when i usually start to increase the course of the grind. right now the beginners raw mush recipe should be like a yogurt consistency. we then move onto a more course grind and add less water to it. whole idea behind this is to get them used to chewing instead of slurping/licking. then we add tiny slivers of muscle meat to get them chewing on actual muscle meat and building up their jaw strength.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 3, 2014 14:09:18 GMT -5
Not quite 100% yet.. in 2 oz. of soup, he has maybe 1/2 tsp. of baby food. I usually try to just put it on the top to get him started, then he dives right in to the raw which is pretty thick. So it's not really mixed, just a light layer of baby food to sort of 'prime' him, because he's still not sure of the raw by itself. I didn't blend the last batch of soup very well, so he's already had to start chewing..not exactly slivers, but not mush either, sort of stringy stuff, maybe like the course grind you mentioned. Do you think he's not ready for slivers?
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Post by gfountain on Feb 4, 2014 9:55:17 GMT -5
Slinkee ate a little more than an ounce of 100% raw last night.. no baby food at all. It had some chunks in it & he had no problem with them, just chewed them right up. But this morning he has terrible poops - one very runny & greenish, another like yellow jelly Normal or not?
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 4, 2014 15:15:31 GMT -5
if you see him chewing then yeah go ahead and start adding bigger chunks.
are you adding the bone meal powder or egg shell powder at ratio of 1/2 teaspoon per 8 oz of meat? if we do not add sufficient calcium, poops will be runny.
funky poops are to be expected during the switch. their stomach needs to adjust to the new diet. just make sure he stays well hydrated. how are his poops looking now? it may be that he is having stomach upset if the kibble is being fed too close to the raw meat.
how many ounces of raw is he eating a day? if he is eating at least 3-4 full ounces a day i would go ahead and take the kibble away from him for good. feed the raw twice a day, 12 hours apart. leave extra for snacking in between meals if he wants.
can you find quail eggs? add 1 quail egg to food every other day. the yolk is a natural hairball preventive. so if he has a hairball that is causing the funky poops that may help.
if you see that he is really going to town on the meat chunks (chewing on muscle meat and not just swallowing chunks of course), then get a raw chicken wing and cover with a towel, then bash it with a hammer until all bones are broken up. then take scissors and cut that wing up into pieces that are about the same size as the chunks that he has been eating. you can also use chicken necks. cut into pieces that are about the same size as the chunks he is eating.
remember to only thaw out what you will feed for the next day. otherwise ferrets are very picky and if the meat turns, they will not want to eat it. they know when the meat has gone bad.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 4, 2014 15:40:10 GMT -5
Egg shell - yes, 1/2 tsp per 8 oz of meat Poops - still weird; 2-3 hours between kibble & raw. Water - He doesn't want to drink in his cage. He has a bottle and a bowl that's refilled w/ fresh water every day, but he waits until he gets out to go drink in the bathtub or from the dogs' bowl. Raw - He's only eating 1-2 oz/day of the raw.. Eggs - I can get quail eggs, but I'll have to order them. I already give raw egg yolk once a week, but it's from a chicken egg. He's still not 100% sure that he likes the mush. I don't think he's quite ready for the wing yet, but I've got some in the freezer, so I'll thaw one out for tomorrow.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 4, 2014 16:55:46 GMT -5
that is fine then. you do not need to get quail eggs. a chicken egg yolk is fine.
if he is still not eating the mush with gusto then prob not time to start increasing to larger slivers and chunks right now. you may turn him off completely and take some steps back in the process.
raw fed ferrets tend to drink less water since they get most of their hydration from the raw meat (or prey animal) that they eat.
well just keep an eye on his poops like i said it is to be expected. just let me know tomorrow how his poops look.
do the poops smell bad? they go through a detox period after you start taking them off of kibble.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 4, 2014 16:57:00 GMT -5
next time, try removing the kibble for a full 4 hours before feeding him the raw mush. he may not be eating all of the raw mush with enthusiasm because he probably is not very hungry from the kibbles.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 4, 2014 17:46:26 GMT -5
His poop smells like.... poop. So yes, they smell bad, lol. I think not as bad as they're gonna get though.
So remove the kibble 4 hours before the raw, then how long after the raw do I give the kibble back - 4 hours again?
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Post by gfountain on Feb 5, 2014 10:30:25 GMT -5
He ate about 1 1/2 oz of pure raw mush last night, then immediately started backing into corners and acting weird, looking at his rear and scooting on the floor.. there was no poop & no gas, so idk what was wrong with him When he finally pooped, it was still funky, but not as bad as earlier. This morning it's more normal, but still a little soft. His weight is 2 lb 12 oz. I thought it would be more because he feels heavier to me.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 5, 2014 15:45:47 GMT -5
after he eats the raw, then ok to put kibble back in like 4 hours after. raw fed ferrets poop stinks when combined with urine. smells like a monkey zoo when i clean up the newspapers. i think it is the urine that stinks more. other than that, when just plain old poop from raw fed ferret really does not smell that much. the kibble poop smells WAY worse in my opinion.
he may be gaining more muscle (as is expected when switching ferrets to raw). so you may see that he feels more bulky but he is actually putting on muscle.
he may just be adjusting to the new diet. that is normal and to be expected whenever switching foods. we are doing a gradual switch but still normal to see some funky poops. his stomach PH will adjust to his new diet. then you won't see that anymore.
raw fed poops are never like kibble poops. they are much smaller, thinner. the animal is not getting any grains or other fillers. so what they poop out are compact little logs. sometimes they will have two poops then a few scats later in the day. when you feed organs or muscle meat, the poops are darker, more loose. kind of gooey with livers since those are blood rich.
when you feed muscle meat and bone, they should be well formed.
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Post by gfountain on Feb 7, 2014 9:48:49 GMT -5
Slinkee devoured his raw mush last night - about 1 1/2 oz. He had a couple of biggish chunks of skin in there that didn't get ground up & he loved them.. didn't even hesitate!
Poops are looking more normal, a little greenish, but formed better.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Feb 7, 2014 14:51:12 GMT -5
wow that is awesome. so are we full raw now? start incorporating tiny slivers then slowly increase the size until all chunks. continue to add the bone meal or egg shell at same ratio.
livers and hearts you may have to continue grinding up and blending in with a muscle meat/bone grind twice a week. some ferrets will not eat them straight up. but he might. some do not care.
can you get kidneys too? should be 2 ounces of kidney and 2 ounces of livers per week. then about 3 oz of hearts per week.
did you try the raw chicken wing yet? he may go for that if he is already chewing and eating skin with gusto.
if you see that he is eating at least two full raw meals a day (like 3-4 ounces a day) you can go ahead and remove the kibble. are you leaving any left overs for him to eat in between if he gets hungry ?
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Post by gfountain on Feb 7, 2014 17:16:14 GMT -5
His mush is full raw, but he's still getting his kibble during the night & in the mornings. He gets his raw mush usually about 7:00, then goes to bed for the night at 8ish. I put the kibble back in when I go to bed between 10:00 & 11:00. I usually hear him eating between midnight & 1:00, so I don't think he's eating enough of the raw yet to take him all the way to morning. So far, he only wants 1 - 1 1/2 oz of the raw. I'm trying to increase his amount, but when he's done - he's done. And he pushes the bowl over to the dog who's usually standing there waiting for it. Egg shell to meat ratio is 1/2 tsp. egg shell to 8 oz. meat.. is that right? Kidneys I can get, but I'll have to order them I think. I'll check on that this weekend when I go to town. He wasn't the least bit interested in the chicken wing when I gave it to him last week, but since he ate that skin last night, I think I'll try the wing again & just spread a little of the mush on it to get him started.
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