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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2014 20:17:26 GMT -5
Ok. That sounds like a good idea. Question. Is it normal that they don't seem as hungry now? I am guessing it's because they are getting more nutrients from the soup. But I wouldn't think a cube of soup each would make that much of a difference. Once they eat the soup, they hit the hay and don't eat kibble for hours.
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Post by fretki on Apr 23, 2014 1:55:17 GMT -5
how much is a cube of soup? could you give me the weight of the cube and the weights of your ferrets? yes, they eat less often with raw, they don't need to graze all the time... and don't worry, they will pee more and poop less, this can be scarry in the beginning
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2014 11:22:44 GMT -5
Clyde is 2.2 lbs and Bella is 1.9 lbs. The cube is a large ice cube. The weight is .02 kg? converted and each cube weighs around 20 grams. Less poop? Sounds dreamy....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2014 12:44:38 GMT -5
I forgot to mention that I also add chicken baby food to it so they are eating more than a cube of food.
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Post by fretki on Apr 23, 2014 13:27:49 GMT -5
Yes, less poop, depending what quality of kibble they ate, it might be a drastic reduction ...and be prepared for funky and smelly poops in the beginning. Normally they first go through a rise of appetite on raw, then they settle on a pretty stable intake during a season; but they eat different average amounts in summer compared to winter. If you go towards summer now, I would say the ice cube mixed with baby food (lets say 30gr in total, meaning a mixture of 2/3soup=1cube with 1/3baby food?), is about half of what they are supposed to eat per day... so it is about a "normal meal"; could be a bit more or even a bit less
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2014 14:01:51 GMT -5
They were/are eating a good quality kibble but any less poop than what we have is good. Also, the poops are already starting to smell a bit worse. Mom was complaining. I told her it will be like that until they make the complete transition.
Your baby food/soup ratio was just about what it is. So I am gad to know they are not getting underfed at this point. They eat kibble probably twice a day now as opposed to 4 or 5, I guess.
Next week, I will do twice a day and then when it's done I have to figure out what I'm going to do with my kibble?
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Post by Heather on Apr 23, 2014 22:46:55 GMT -5
Kibbles are always appreciated at any shelter. I've dropped off kibbles at shelters as a donation ciao
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2014 23:32:32 GMT -5
I didn't even think of that. Great idea.
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Post by fretki on Apr 24, 2014 2:53:03 GMT -5
When you start with 2 soup meals a day, I would weigh the kibble you give to your ferrets (assuming you'll still leave kibble for the night for example) to determine how much of it they actually eat. Depending on how much kibble you have left, either donate to a shelter (some shelters can be picky and don't take opened bags) or use "around the house"... If I have high quality kibble left I feed the hedgehogs around the house and neighbours cats who are on cheap crap kibble
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 0:17:43 GMT -5
Sorry so long with no updates. Crazy life. But...things are going well with the switch. They are both eating soup twice a day and the chunks are getting bigger. Yesterday, I didn't realize how big I had cut the chunks, they were larger than I had anticipated, but they both ate anyway. What is a good next step? They currently eat a cube or two of raw soup mixed with a bit of chicken baby food and some chicken chunks. (I will be starting to introduce other meats in the future. Just have to get to the market. Right now the soup has chicken hearts, pork liver and chicken thigh. The chunks in the soup are also chicken thigh.) Oh I forgot, last week we had ground turkey in the house so they had that mixed in for a few days too.
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Post by fretki on May 6, 2014 6:13:32 GMT -5
I would work in different directions: - try to reduce the amount of babyfood until they eat raw soup alone... - put more very small chunks in the soup - try to make the chunks larger and larger with less and less soup Introduce new meats/proteins in very small quantities and check poop a few hours after eating, just to be sure they digest it well, then gently add more and more...
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Post by Heather on May 6, 2014 14:11:51 GMT -5
You might also try a chicken wing or two....cut it up but see if they will start eating bone ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2014 15:55:48 GMT -5
I like the chicken wing idea. It doesn't hurt to try.
Bella will eat the soup alone, Clyde is working on it. Tried introducing ground beef today, because we had tacos last night, I saved some for breakfast today. It did not go well. pukePoor Bella wasn't even finished eating before she was throwing up her breakfast everywhere.
I fed her later with just some soup and she was fine so no more beef. I also didn't bother to try it with Clyde. I already had pukey bits all over the cage because it is not a ferret's nature to throw up in one corner, rather travel to every corner and under every blanket around. And if only one will eat it, it's not worth it to buy. Hmm, what shall I introduce next week?
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2014 23:49:22 GMT -5
Bella and Clyde regularly eat their raw soup with bigger and bigger chunks and less soup. I want to know if you think 2 ozs. twice a day sounds like a good amount? That's about what they eat each. It's so weird. Bella will eat the whole bowl no problem. Clyde takes a few bites then won't touch it....unless I hand feed it. Such a spoiled baby.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2014 23:51:30 GMT -5
I forgot to mention how tubby Bella has gotten. Original weights when starting were Clyde, 2.2 lbs and Bella, 1.9 lbs. Today Clyde is 2.3 lbs and Bella is 2.3 lbs. Her weight gain makes sense because she eats like such a good girl.
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