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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 11:28:37 GMT -5
Ah, you're right... Sam fed him this morning and he follows the menu, so I'm assuming Ezzy got half quail and half kidney this morning. IF he eats it, that'll be a total of .75 meals kidney. If that's the case, he's done with his "other organ" for the week, and I can then give him either a full meal of liver (to be sure he eats it all) or just .75 of a meal of liver (the rest will be quail or necks). He hasn't had trouble with the liver, so that should even him out.
And YES his pee does smell good... in a weird way... not like roses or anything, but it does smell like a sour kind of clean smell.
He's definitely building muscle, you called that one a few days ago. His belly feels so strong! And I will go ahead and start weighing weekly. His guard hairs have all completely fallen out and his back is as smooth as a rabbit's fur, dark grey, and very soft. He looks like an entirely different ferret! How much of that do you think is raw food vs. Summertime hair loss? I know raw food can make their coats change, but I don't know how much... either way, Sam and I are loving it! "Let me pet him...." "NO, let ME pet him!" lol!
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Post by gfountain on Jun 10, 2014 11:37:37 GMT -5
Can you post a new picture of him with his new hair? I think probably the change you're seeing in his fur is a combination of things, but probably more summertime than new diet right now. The hair loss definitely is seasonal, but softness, shininess, sleekness go with the diet. And when he grows in his new coat, it should be much thicker and more luxurious than before. Have his markings changed with the shed? Some ferrets' facial markings completely change with the seasons, masks lightening or darkening, or sliding down the face, or going away completely.
And maybe my house rule will help you guys decide who gets to pet him... whoever was the last one to clean up the poo gets the first snuggles. Heehee, it's always me... (giggle)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 11:43:58 GMT -5
Hehe that's a good rule. Luckily Sam is pretty good about cleaning up poop AND sharing snuggles. I'm lucky. I'll take a picture tonight. His facial markings were different when we first got him, much more mask-like than panda. Now he's still a panda-face, and that hasn't changed. Only the color on his back. Compare his facial markings: when he was new vs. a month or so ago: I think you can click to expand... but you can see how he's changed! I'll get some new pictures of his summer coat up tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 15:51:26 GMT -5
As requested, here's a picture of him today. He looks like a different ferret and has lost an inch off of his waistline from shedding guard hairs alone... another inch or so getting rid of kibblebaby fat. Look how muscular his shape is! He looks scraggly because, well, his fur is falling out. Lol. For comparison, here is week 1, the day we first started raw soup:
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 16:23:42 GMT -5
This video also shows his color, shape, and size pretty accurately (taken today):
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Post by gfountain on Jun 10, 2014 18:51:05 GMT -5
Oh my goodness... I love his eye makeup! The first picture had me a little worried because he looks, well.. scraggly, lol. But he looks great in the video, soft and fuzzy. And almost white! Weird how much the light colored ferrets change from season to season. He looks like he's managing the levels well too. He also looks like he wants to get out and play... well, until he went to bed.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2014 20:32:05 GMT -5
Yes, he's having a MUCH easier time with the levels since his recent weight loss. Much less of a belly for him to hurdle over now. I gave him 50/50 quail and necks tonight. It'll be his first time with the necks. He is liking the quail. Next, we need to get those mice mixed in with something.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 10, 2014 22:18:13 GMT -5
Mix the mice with whatever he likes best. Start with 2 or 3 little pieces and work up from there.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 12, 2014 11:05:46 GMT -5
Checked the spreadsheet.. no luck with the mouse, huh? Did you give it whole or cut up? By itself or mixed with chicken or quail?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2014 11:54:23 GMT -5
I mixed it with the leftover quail he had. He ate the quail but not the mouse last night, so I left the mouse to see if he'll like it when it's the only option. The mouse is cut up this time, chopped into about 4 pieces, which is the size he's used to eating the chicken and quail. I'm going to make a small order from hare-today when my check comes tomorrow (woo, we made it!) so we'll have more options for him soon.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 12, 2014 12:27:25 GMT -5
Because it's new, you may need to chop the mouse smaller right now. Ferrets tend to be lazy eaters and if he has to work for it, he may just not eat it. "Because, you know, mommy will be by later to give me something I really like."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2014 12:38:24 GMT -5
Hehe... Alright, I'll try that. I'm going to try and mix mouse in a little more frequently. If he doesn't eat it today, he'll be getting it all pulvarized and mixed up with chicken necks (which he seems to LOVE). He should have enough beef kidney consumed for the week, so we'll just see how he does with his meal of chicken liver. He should be fine, he doesn't seem to mind it.
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Post by gfountain on Jun 12, 2014 13:40:05 GMT -5
I'd throw some mouse in with that liver.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2014 14:16:17 GMT -5
Okay, will do, if we can get to the store for some mouse tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2014 9:13:47 GMT -5
Heya!
I thought about what you said:
"Because, you know, mommy will be by later to give me something I really like."
I already had a hunch that just leaving him with the mouse would do the trick, so as you probably saw on the spreadsheet, we skipped an AM meal yesterday, and left the mouse there instead. When I got home, it didn't look touched. He might've had a couple of licks, but none was eaten.
Instead of caving and tossing the mouse, I let him out of the cage and played with him for a few hours. Normally, he gets fed as soon as I get home, but I wanted to give him some tough love. During this playtime, I watched him go to the food bowl and then run into the closet (I admittedly wasn't paying a ton of attention to him at this point, I was editing pictures on the laptop), but I had an inkling that he was stashing mouse. Remember, this mouse was chopped into 4 pieces. I didn't mix it with anything because this was left out before we discussed mixing with the liver. Anyway. When it came time to put him in his cage again, all that was left in his bowl was the hindquarters of the mouse (legs and tail), and when I checked the closet, nothing! He must have realized mommy wasn't going to cave and he better eat while it was still good! Woo!
So, with 3/4ths of a mouse in his system, I decided to test him. This method seems to work pretty well with him, for some reason. I tossed the hind legs of the remaining mouse and gave him his next meal. This was 50/50 chicken liver and chicken hearts (both of which he loves) and, since I bought more mice at the store last night, I chopped a mouse right in half (across its belly, not head to toe) and left the two pieces in there with his regular meal. I figured since he didn't eat all day the day before, he might be extra hungry and give it a go.
I woke up this morning to get him, and the WHOLE mouse, ALL his liver, and ALL of the chicken hearts were gone. I double-checked all over his cage because I couldn't believe it. Nice little furry poops waiting in his litter pan. Wahoo!
On another note, are rats okay for them to eat, and are they considered different protein from mice? I've seen them in the freezer at Petco when I buy the mice, and they are euthanized and flash-frozen, made from the same company.
We finally made it to payday, also! So I'm placing an order with hare-today! I'll wait for your feedback, but here's what we'd like to order:
8 adult quail (smallest available quantity)
1 large rabbit (The site says they'll be 2 1/2- 3 1/2 lbs - they are out of small and mediums... If the weight is 3.5 lbs, it should feed him for almost 40 meals... so I can just chop it up and give it to him inbetween meals of mice and stuff, I assume? I know you are not a whole prey expert, but is that how this works? I am not comfortable with waiting until they get small or medium ones in, because I want to get him used to the taste of other proteins soon, and I think he's ready after his victory with the mouse.)
50 adult mice (we know he likes them now, so I figure we'll go ahead and stock up on 'em!)
2 adult chickens (we know he likes these, too, and I think they'll come with the guts and heads and everything)
guinea pigs... They have them extra-small to large... Extra-small is 1/4 to 1/2lb, and large goes up to 3.5 lbs. The extra-small should feed him for a day if it's 1/4th of a lb, and for 2 days chopped in half if it's 1/2 lb, so I'd like to get several of those... I also want to get a couple of the small ones just to see the size difference so when we place our next order, we'll be more knowledgable, so I was thinking 5 extra-small and 2 small?
I have TONS of chicken hearts still, and TONS of chicken gizzards. I could order chicken livers off of the site, but they've got them cheaper at HEB, and we've still got quite a stock.
They also have lamb - 3lbs mutton/bones/organs, course ground. I'd like to have an additional protein for emergency situations, and course ground sounds like something he'd like. Once he gets used to it, I'd probably keep it in the freezer for him just in case I ran out of something and needed to keep his balances up while we waited. I always want to have a plan B for him. Soooo, here's what I'd like to get, let me know what you would change:
3lbs course ground lamb 2 small guinea pigs 5 extra-small guinea pigs 2 adult chickens 1 large rabbit 50 adult mice 8 adult quail
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