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Post by gfountain on Jun 2, 2014 15:53:28 GMT -5
3 oz per day is plenty as long as his weight is stable and his activity is good.
I don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but you also want to give him soup every once in a while, just so he remembers what it is and that it's yummy. That is just in case something happens (he gets sick) and he can't eat solids. The HFF soup recipe is completely balanced, so he could live on just that for a while if he needed to. Hopefully, that will never happen, but with ferrets being finicky eaters, it's best to prepare just in case.
Also, eggs... Eggs are full of nutritious goodies and double as hairball preventatives. He can have the equivalent of one egg per week. Some feed one once a week, others feed a little several times a week, so how you want to do it is up to you. You CAN feed the whole egg, broken and scrambled up, or if you want to only feed part of it, it MUST be the yolk. While you can feed the whites WITH yolk as a complete egg, you CANNOT feed ONLY the whites. During shedding season, you can feed egg more often to combat hairballs.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 2, 2014 16:00:11 GMT -5
Just checked the spreadsheet again. His weight is great at 2lb 15oz! The morning he had the quail, he didn't eat much and later that day his poos were 'gelatinous' (great word :thumbsup: ) That is most likely from a completely new protein, both the small amount eaten and the funky poo. Instead of giving him straight quail, you might try mixing it with the chicken. That should help both issues.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 16:32:48 GMT -5
Okay, cool, we'll mix the quail with the chicken for a couple of days. Also... I might have had a revelation while reading your post when you mentioned "shedding season". This is our first summer with Ezra. His fur is EVERYWHERE after we get done holding him as of the last couple of days. It is highly possible that the little "fuzzballs" that we've been seeing in his poo were not fleece at all, but his fur falling out. These furballs are the size of my pinky nail and pretty consistent in size and shape. They are in every poo or every other poo. Is that normal? I gave him a really good brush-down with my hands and shook a BUNCH of fur off of him so maybe this will help. Should I give him vaseline every couple of days to ensure the fur is moving through him? I feel dumb for not realizing this.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 2, 2014 16:45:49 GMT -5
Very well could be his own fur then if he's shedding a lot. They ingest the fur when they groom themselves and then pass them in the poo. So try to keep the bedding as hairless as possible. I'm having to wash every couple of days right now because of the hair. And brush him often to remove the loose stuff so he doesn't remove it with his tongue.
Can you get a picture of a fuzzball poo? No vaseline unless you're pretty sure he's eaten something he shouldn't have, like the bedding. For hairballs, give him egg, either the whole egg or just the yolk (never just the white). He hasn't had eggs yet, so you probably will need to mix some with his chunks at first. The biotin in the yolk works to break up hairballs. Warning though, eggs cause stinky yucky funny-looking poos, so don't be alarmed. It usually comes out looking somewhat like it did going in, except thicker and smellier.
Vaseline does clean out the GI tract, but it also cleans out the good gut flora which he needs, so try to use it sparingly. If you suspect a blockage or know that he has gotten into something, that is the time to use vaseline.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 16:53:34 GMT -5
Okay, gotcha. I'll try mixing an egg into tonight's bone-in. If nothing else, I bet he will lick it up.
I CAN get a picture of the poos, but I can't upload it (still no wifi yet). Besides, I just pulled one of the poop-fuzzes apart with some tweezers and, yep, these are long, straight ferret-furs. Not fleece or anything foreign. I couldn't tell before because most of his fleece is white and so is he. D'oh! Throwing his bedding in the wash right now...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 18:45:51 GMT -5
Ezzy didn't eat much of his bone-in last night (it's the chicken wings he's used to and likes) but he was crunching bones up when I brought his breakfast of hearts this morning. I suspect that's why he's not eaten the hearts. He finished all of the wings, so I think we'll just leave the hearts through the night to be sure he eats them, and pick up with his AM meal tomorrow morning. Is that alright? He'll be missing out on bone-in tonight, but since he ate some this morning (late morning, too) I'm thinking it'll be alright?
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Post by gfountain on Jun 2, 2014 19:22:57 GMT -5
That should be fine My kids sometimes won't eat until sometime during the night, and then they're not hungry at breakfast time. It all works out OK though. As long as they get their required organs and hearts and poops stay OK, I don't worry too much about when they eat. I figure they'll eat when they're hungry. Slinkee actually likes his chicken to be semi-jerkified and he'll always leave some of it for hours before he eats it. And woe unto me if I try to take it from him before it's 'done', lol.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 13:26:30 GMT -5
Apparently it's not just Slink. I walked in this morning and Ezzy had this nasty, gnarly dried chicken chunk in his mouth... But whatever!
Updated the spreadsheet. No more fuzz-poos since I brushed him down and washed the bedding, and his activity and weight are still good. He's lost 3oz (I think probably just from all the fur I brushed off of him!) but he's gained since we started the switch, so he has some room to fluctuate.
The hearts were a hit and he ate them without issue. Tonight is, I believe, half quail and half chicken wing bone-in. If not, we'll start with the quail tomorrow. He's got beef kidney and liver mixture for the day, so I'll let you know how full the bowl is when we get back tonight.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 3, 2014 13:41:27 GMT -5
Yay... no more fuzz poos! Glad that's resolved. Maybe give him his fleece back and see how he does? 2lb 12oz is a good weight.. that's right about where Slinkee is hovering right now, down from 2lb 15oz during his switch. Hearts - I think all ferrets must love them. Beef kidney/liver mix - that's new, isn't it? And so gross! I bagged pounds of it this morning and I still smell it after scrubbing my hands at least 4 times since. I don't know how they can eat the stuff! If he doesn't eat it today, give him something familiar tonight (so he won't be hungry) and mix a little of the organs into it. Actually, if he doesn't eat it, mix a little into his meals for several meals so he gets the taste of it. And it makes seriously yucky poos, so be prepared! You guys are doing great!
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Post by gfountain on Jun 4, 2014 18:50:30 GMT -5
How is Ezra? I saw he didn't eat any of the liver/kidney, but that's not too surprising. Did he eat the quail/chicken later?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2014 19:55:57 GMT -5
Just a quick moment to reply as it's kinda hectic here. He didn't eat any liver or kidney, but I'll mix it in tomorrow night. He didn't eat much at all of the chicken/quail, nor did he like his gizzards this morning (but he DID eat a bit). I'm taking a step back to just chicken wings tonight, to let him get his belly full.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 4, 2014 20:27:31 GMT -5
He's not wanting to try new things.. typical ferret, lol. You've got the right idea though, go back a step and try again. Instead of pushing the new meats right now, try just working on the chunk size and bone size for a few meals, then we'll go at the organs and new proteins more slowly. You can always make organ soup if necessary to get the organs into him. Baby steps are still steps! Hope things settle down for you
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2014 16:25:34 GMT -5
Hey, so things are busy again tonight but I'm making a moment to update. His weight has dropped another ounce... But ALL OF HIS FUR is coming out... Bedding is washed every other day instead of every week now... goodness gracious... So I'm sure the weight loss isn't bad, really. He's active and poops are okay. They were a little dry for a bit there, but he ate gizzards and they seem somewhat back to normal... All he wanted to eat was the bone-in for a while. I'll have some of that kidney and liver mixed in tonight for him, 25/75, liver/organs and chicken wings... We'll see how he likes that. My schedule for the next couple of days is... THU: Today, after work, shop for 2+ hours (I cook once a month so this is it for the month and it takes a while...) FRI: Tomorrow, after work, cook for about 5 hours (right up until bed) SAT: Then I wake up in the morning and drive to Houston to see my little brother and my mom. SUN: I'll be there the next day as well, and hopefully will have HOME WIFI set up by the time I'm back! MON: More cooking, pretty much the whole day... TUE: things might FINALLY settle down a bit... lol! So I will do my best to be around... And I WILL keep the spreadsheet updated at least once a day, so you can see how he's doing. Sam will need to handle it on the weekend, but he has the link, so if he doesn't do it, I'll have him get on here so you can complain to him. In the meantime, I'll keep doing as you suggested and integrate the stuff he's not eating (quail, liver, organs) and will at least mix a bit of the liver/organs to ensure he's getting enough. I prep'd a bag of the liver/organ mixture for Sam on the weekend and showed him the ratios... Also already have the quail/chicken mixture all set to go for him. *deep breath* Now... off to finish work and then go shopping... hehe.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 5, 2014 17:18:05 GMT -5
You're brave.. leaving Ezra's meals in the hands of a *gasp* MAN!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2014 17:19:10 GMT -5
DON'T remind me....
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