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Post by bitbyter on Mar 21, 2014 12:37:23 GMT -5
You'll know when shedding starts. You'll pick one of them up and when you put them down you'll notice what looks like about half a ferrets worth of fur on your shirt!
Once it starts I brush daily and do pumpkin once a week as my girls really are not fond of egg and I'm not sure how they would impact Wilma's allergies. Try the eggs, and if they take them stick with those. Otherwise try the pumpkin.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2014 20:53:26 GMT -5
Wow I didn't know they shed that much lol! That's so crazy. I have a brush I use for my cats, will that work for brushing them or does it have to be a specific brush? By the way, thanks for answering all my non-food related questions as well lol! Tonight I was able to find some turkey necks at my supermarket, which was nice because I don't usually see them there and I go there more often than the meat market. I also grabbed some lamb shoulder for Cooper to try and chicken thigh as well. Oh yes, and another Cornish game hen. It wasn't a go last time Cooper tried it but I'm thinking of dividing it up a bit. I keep trying to remember what you mentioned about bones and hooves and what not. I find myself in the market wondering if different animals are hoofed lol! I stopped weighing coopers food this week but I will start again starting Monday. Just wanted to mention that.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 23, 2014 10:09:15 GMT -5
Turkey necks you'll have to really smash up for him to consume the bone as they are borderline to hard for them. They are also really high in bone compared to meat.
Using the cat brush should be fine. I find that ferret shedding is usually over and done with by about two to three weeks. They shed a lot of hair in that time.
Hoofed animals are pretty much anything with 4 legs (including pigs in this instance as technically they don't actually have hooves). Just think of it this way. 4 legged animals and the really heavy birds (turkey) they cannot really consume the bone. There are a few exceptions with various cuts but as a general rule it works.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 12:05:50 GMT -5
Ah okay I see. Today I am making a batch of soup (need to make some) and am going to be putting in some slivers of a new protein. Are there any that are good for after the chicken stage? I have lamb, pork, turkey, beef, and possibly something else that I can't remember lol.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 23, 2014 13:32:01 GMT -5
I'd try the pork, turkey or lamb. Beef is usually a harder meat to get them to accept.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2014 8:58:38 GMT -5
Finley 2lbs 12oz/2lbs 11oz/2lbs 9oz/2lbs 8oz 2oz (per day) Solid, darkish, sometimes brown stools. Activity levels seem normal. Soup once a day. Oliver 2lbs 16oz/2lbs 15oz/2lbs 13oz/2lbs 13oz 1.5-2oz per day. Sometimes his stools have been looking a tad rubbery/mucousy Activity levels seem normal. Soup once a day. Cooper 1lb 10oz/1lb 13oz/missed last week but he is getting huge so I wasn't worried about it lol/2lbs 5oz 1.5oz per meal. Seem normal. Normal activity levels. Cooper's meal plan for this week: Monday am: chicken wing Monday pm: turkey neck Tuesday am: pork neck Tuesday pm: chicken breast Wednesday am: chicken wing Wednesday pm: 3 chicken hearts Thursday am: chicken drumstick Thursday pm: pork shoulder Friday am: chicken wing Friday pm: lamb muscle meat Saturday am: turkey neck Saturday pm: pork Sunday am: chicken wing Sunday pm: 2oz beef liver, 2oz pork kidney So, overall, they are eating less, but nobody seems to be losing weight so that's good. I guess it's just the change in season.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 24, 2014 12:29:00 GMT -5
Well Finley has lost 4 oz and Oliver 3 oz but that is pretty normal for spring. We'll keep and eye on it though to make sure it doesn't continue past springtime. Have you started adding slivers or chunks into their soup?
If Cooper is only eating 1.5 oz per meal then his organ day needs to be changed. It should be 1.5 oz of organs, half being liver (so 0.75 oz liver, 0.75 oz kidney).
Also, check your scale. It might be off slightly. The amounts you are listing for their meals seems to be a little low in my estimation (I could be wrong, it's just that I would expect males to eat more than that). Just weigh something that has a marked weight on it (bag of pasta noodles, package of unopened cookies, etc) and see if it matches. It could also just be the seasonal change though.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 14:36:19 GMT -5
I have started adding slivers to their soup. For about a week last week they had chicken breast pieces in it, and starting yesterday I added lamb slivers and they seem to like it. Also, the soup is pretty thick now, about as thick as I can get it without breaking the blender haha. And thanks, I will change Cooper's organ day. I'm going to check my scale tonight as well. :-)
I also divided up a cornish game hen yesterday. I wasn't sure what to do so I removed the legs and wings and packaged/froze them and then froze the other whole center of it after cutting in half. It was a dirty job lol. But I gave Cooper one of the wings last night and I heard him crunching up the bone and going to town for awhile, so I'll definitely do more cornish game hen for him. He also enjoyed the neck. :-)
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 25, 2014 17:26:55 GMT -5
Awesome! If they are eating slivers readily, start lowering the amount of soup you give them and increasing the slivers.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 19:33:34 GMT -5
Gahh, some days they really seem to take to the soup well, and other days they want nothing to do with it lol. I still can't feed them slivers of meat on their own without the soup, except MAYBE chicken breast. Lol now I see how this can be a difficult process. I guess I'm just getting worried that they will never get this lol! I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel haha. This batch of soup I made tonight has chicken thigh instead of chicken breast. I got as much meat as I could off the bone and put what was left aside so that Cooper can chew on those. I'm also still trying to get them to try the egg yolk. Finley is okay with it, but still unsure lol and Oliver won't touch it yet. Cooper loves it. He seems to love whatever I put in front of him lol. Wish the other two would! So I'm still going to try with the slivers. I think my biggest problem at the moment is understanding the actual time I should feed them. It's so all over the place right now. Some times they eat in the morning, other times I offer it in the morning and they don't want it so I offer it later in the day and then maybe they'll eat it. And if not I just put it in their cage and sometimes they'll eat it during the night. Do you have any recommendations for meal times?
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 26, 2014 20:24:36 GMT -5
what I'd do is just leave it with them for 2 hours and then remove it. If they don't it eat, they have to wait for the next meal. It will stimulate their appetite and make them realize they need to eat when the food is there. You just have to get used to the idea that they are ok with food not being there. For the slivers, try dipping them in the soup and then offering it to them by hand (still close to the plate though). You are making pretty standard progress so don't get discouraged. Ferrets will always try and take the easy way out when it comes to food ("why should I chew on that when I have this nice easy soup?"). Hang in there you are doing fine!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2014 7:09:04 GMT -5
Thanks, this makes me feel a lot better lol. The last two days they eat really well and off the plate on their own so that's good. Today I will try dipping the slivers in the soup, I think that's a good idea and something they'll like. I also have a feeding den set up for them now. Should it be inside the cage or can it be outside of it? They tend to eat out of their cage since they're mostly free roam.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 28, 2014 8:31:58 GMT -5
Put the den near where-ever they normally eat. The idea is for them to identify it as a "safe" stash spot so when you are fully on solid foods they will stash there and not elsewhere.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 29, 2014 10:58:13 GMT -5
Try letting Oliver eat a bit from the spoon and then place the spoon IN the soup (just laying on top of it). It may be all the connection he needs.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2014 11:08:41 GMT -5
That's what I've been trying to do (with the spoon). I try to start him off with the spoon and then I put it on the plate. Sometimes they will eat it entirely unprompted, and sometimes I have to get them started. I think it depends on how hungry they are.
They seem to be getting the idea though. I noticed they really like the chicken thigh, and there's lots and lots of fat on it that sometimes the blender doesn't get all of. They love it and chew on it happily lol. They haven't had kibble in awhile now, so I'm hoping they are starting to catch on lol. Right now their soup is SUPER chunky and they are doing well with it and both are eating the chunks of meat really well. But some days are better than others progress wise lol.
Cooper is doing the same old thing lol enjoying his meats. I noticed his jaw strength has increased because he is eating a lot more bone than before (I.e there is less bone leftover when he is done). I gave him a pork shoulder recently and he ate a ton of the bone that he wouldn't really bother with before. Whenever I hear him chomping on bone I smile lol!
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