|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 17, 2014 12:52:09 GMT -5
oh my, i hate when that happens! they are actually taking quite well to the soup! do they still have a kibble in their cage and how many times a day do they eat soup? when it's hot outside they can become lazy and eat a bit less, so don't worry about it. that is normal. you just have to watch them carefully, we don't want them to lose much weight. did you weighted them since they started to eat soup? maybe we could try to move the kibble and leave them on soup only so we can start to add slivers? are you ready?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2014 21:36:13 GMT -5
They get soupie twice a day. I've been trying not to give them kibble, but have left it a few times. I'm just afraid of them getting hungry! LOL
I haven't weighed them since we started, but I can tomorrow.
Oh man, I dunno! I think they are, but me! The human element is the hardest part! I might have to hide the kibble so I won't be tempted. Kibble is truly a convenience food!
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 18, 2014 16:30:27 GMT -5
It is hard for us humans in the beginning, it was a big problem for me too! actually, i think we've all been there. my ferrets accepted it very well though do they even eat a kibble between that two soup meals when you left them? The best way to be sure they are not hungry in between that two meals is to left them some food in the cage in the beginning, during the day. the soup is good to eat for 6-8h. but, first you have to weight the food to know exactly how much do they eat and is that enough. i have a little black booklet from my own switch where I wrote down their weights daily and the amount of food they were eating on each meal. i was able to take care that someone of them do not remain hungry. i used to put the food in the bowl and weighed before and after feeding. i was really obsessed with them being hungry!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2014 20:55:00 GMT -5
If I leave kibble in the cage, they do eat it. I try not to leave soup and kibble in the cage together, because I don't want to mix raw and kibble. (The kibble is usually in place of a meal, ie I forgot to thaw out soupie and am running late) I'm trying to give as little kibble as possible. They didn't have any today Really I think it's me being paranoid, because none of them act like they are starving or anything. Both Owen and Wesley started eating soupie as soon as I put it down this evening. Percy was more reluctant, but I think he prefers his room temp and it was still a bit cold. He did eat a few bits I offered by hand though He likes the chewy bits. I think he will take to chucks well.
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 20, 2014 3:09:25 GMT -5
That's great they were out of kibble! see, it's not THAT hard if you want them fully raw, you have to be prepared to move the kibble for good sometime soon. i know it's hard. i work 12hrs shifts and that was a huge issue for me, how to leave them without the food. there was sooo much wasted food in the beginning, i used to left some meat inside, in case they are hungry, but usually it wasn't touched. Percy is maybe too bored with a soup and you can try to offer him few chunks and slivers with it, just to see how he'll accept it. it's not unusual that some of them skip a step or two
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2014 14:36:41 GMT -5
They ate chunks today!! WOOHOO!
I made up their meal today with chicken leg meat, a bit of liver, and a chicken heart. I tried to keep the pieces pea sized or smaller. Everyone ate some! Even Owen. He doesn't like being hand fed so I just set the bowl down to see what he would do and he was munching away on the chunks! He still licked around a lot to get the juice, but when he licked up a chunk he'd chew it.
Percy did great, he even ate big strips of pork (I had pork chops thawed for us humans) They were big strips too, about what you would use for stir fry (1/4 inch by 2 inches long) or about the size of a small pinky finger. He loved it.
Wesley did good too. He didn't seem as hungry (it's really hot today) but he had a few chunks with me and I hand fed him a strip of pork.
I'm going to prepare their dinner the same way. I hope they are as willing to eat it then.
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 24, 2014 9:01:17 GMT -5
woohoo! that's awesome!!! :boing: i see Percy is ready for a next level! you can start to give him bigger pieces, even smaller bones in meat to see if he'll eat. something like chicken ribs. I was in a phase of preparing different meat size for each of them. Baylis ate big chunks, Oscar small ones and Nyx only minced. usually they copy the behavior of others, and they begin to eat when they see it can be chewable. you just keep offering and soon they will eat
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2014 12:02:32 GMT -5
Today was the same too! I was in a hurry so I just weighed out some chicken thigh pieces into a bowl (I gave them about 8oz, they seemed hungry!) As soon as I put the bowl in the cage they started chowing down.
What do you recommend as a good starter for bone in meats? I have some chicken wings (the wing and the drummette, no tips) I can get turkey backs/necks in a pack too, but I cannot find chicken necks anywhere! Now that they're eating chunks, should I still prepare as I would for soupie, ie a bit of heart, liver, and eggshell powder?
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 26, 2014 16:32:19 GMT -5
wow, they are little eating machines! LOL how big were pieces of meat?
Yes, you can try with wings, but you should smash the bone a little bit to help them in the start untill they strengthen the jaws.
turkey necks are too hard for them right now. can you get chicken backs? of course you can try to give them some liver and heart, just to see how they'll accept it, and you can put some eggshells powder in case they don't want to eat the bone.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2014 19:44:45 GMT -5
I know! I was really surprised that that even ate it! The pieces were marble sized, a few were big chunks (they didn't like those as much)
I'll have to look for chicken backs. And a meat cleaver LOL
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 28, 2014 5:15:23 GMT -5
a meat clever will become your best friend! i have to tell you they advanced perfectly! they can be uninterested of big chunks BC they have to work on them, but always leave one or two on a side. they will take it eventually. you can increase numbers of big ones over time.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 9:21:21 GMT -5
I found chicken backs on Sunday for $0.90 for a whole pack of 4 backs! Woo hoo!!!! (I was shopping in a different town) I got 2 packs.
Now I really need a cleaver because cutting those up with my regular knife just didn't work. My hand hurts LOL. I was able to get each back into 4 pieces, but I think they were still too big for the weasels. They didn't really seem interested in them at all.
Last night they had some pork since it's what we humans were having for dinner and they really loved that. I had a big (lol i typed pig) piece of sinew and cartilage that I couldn't cut up so I hung it in the cage with a hook and let them go at it. Everyone had a go at it (meat pinata LOL), even Owen. -Just checked now. They ate most of the chop, and all of the pieces. Just left the little bones, but they were gnawed clean!
I'm starting to get nervous about leaving for vacation. They are getting dropped off on Friday so I need to start prepping their meals. ACK! I've been kind of playing it by ear so far. I'm thinking I'll make a big batch of soupies, and bringing a lot of meat chunks. She asked for me to bring a menu, but like I said, I haven't been following one yet. Any thoughts or advice?
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 29, 2014 15:44:23 GMT -5
nothing will happen in 7 days, don't worry. you can leave the soup and few chunks (different size) for every meal so they don't come out of the current routine. if you have chicken wings, you can give the bone a couple of raps with the hammer so the marrow is exposed, and freeze one wing for every day. i would do that if it's me. you can also cut the bone lengthwise, as you wish. they can offer them wings there every day, maybe they will surprise you when you pick them up
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2014 10:22:43 GMT -5
Feeling a bit better now that I have a game plan. The lady who runs the rescue/boarding has been great through it all and everything.
Plan is to make "chop" using the basic soupie recipe and I'll bring along other meat bits like gizzards, backs, and wing tips for them to snack on.
|
|
|
Post by dorena261-Natalia on Jul 31, 2014 16:28:44 GMT -5
That's great. I'm sure this lady knows with the raw and it's not gonna be any problems with it. Have fun on that trip and write something about it when you're back!
|
|