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Post by katt on Oct 28, 2014 20:12:05 GMT -5
LOL @ little Miri! (giggle) Zack is doing wonderfully! I'm really pleased that he is starting to chew on the chunks better - the girls too. Go Fuzz! (dance) For the seasonal thing, it depends. It could simply be that they aren't entering winter mode yet - each ferret is a little different depending on when they were born and it also varies by your location and what your daylight cycle and temps are. Another possibility (though unlikely to be the case in all 3) is that they have their seasons reversed. How much weight have they each lost? When you can, please post a picture of them each from above and a front view of them dangling. Keep up the awesome work on those chunks. They are making GREAT progress!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2014 22:09:34 GMT -5
Zack continues to protest the pork. But I went for my favorite kind of shopping today - weird meat shopping! (dance) I bought them more chicken hearts, pork kidneys, lamb shoulder (which I have to attempt not to eat myself, if they are ever to try any lamb). And I splurged with the budget, and got them an $18 rabbit. I also bought beef lung, which I don't know what to do with i think it can be part of the organ meal that is other than the liver one, right? They lost about 100-200 grams each in the last couple of months. But the measurements were made on two different scales (at the vet and at home). So there is a margin of error. Sorry I forgot about weighing them regularly I think it is just their diet. They all gain and lose about the same all together. Here are the photos Miri Zack ` Honey
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2014 22:56:07 GMT -5
Ok i have a poop question. These kinds are new. Is this a sign I am giving them too much eggshell in their meals? they remind me of kibble poop UPDATE (not about poop) we had the beef kidney and pork heart breakfast in the morning with a quail egg. I didn't add any eggshell, because the weird looking chalky poop from yesterday (and some more this morning). Zack thought it was poison first, but then I added some oil so he would calm down, and got to eating it from the spoon and from the bowl a bit too Miri and Honey ate it very well. Here is Miri who can't wait to get some of the yummy organs. UPDATE Honey finally got what was coming for her. Poor fuzz, she broke another fang of hers. She was trying to get through our door to the kitchen. It was just the tip of it. Biting doors is not the way to get anywhere good. Is there any precautions I should take about this? More UPDATES (I should really slow down with this novel, that I am writing to you today ) Anyways, I made some jerky it has bits of chicken duck and chicken heart. I added some skin pieces too. Ok here is a photo. And now how should I proceed to store and try to feed it?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 8:48:56 GMT -5
So this weekend I portioned the rabbit, and for the organs we ate its liver and lungs and kidneys chunks, and for heart meal we had chicken heart soupie. The rabbit liver was not a big success, we liked it's lungs and kidneys though. The heart soupie was a huge success we ate 250grams of it among the three of them. In the evening we had some Turkey backs and neck. Which also went very well. Zack is starting to try and eat stuff from the food bowl, instead of just off the spoon. I also caught him eating a stash of ferret jerky, so it might be good news for if I let them try the jerky that I made. Zack did freak me out a bit yesterday. It was partially my fault because I forgot to add eggshell to both organ meals this time. I think because it was quite soft poop from the organs he might have strained too much and got a small prolapse. I started looking at what I should do about this, in the time that I was looking it all disappeared back. UPDATE This morning we continued eating turkey backs. Zack ate so well I was surprised (dance) He ate from the bowl himself, big chunks and the bits of bone with them with absolutely zero fuss.
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Post by katt on Nov 3, 2014 21:10:19 GMT -5
Yayyy Zack!!!! (dance) (dance) Good boy!!!! So glad he's over that bump. It sounds like overall rabbit was a hit! When you get a chance this week, will you post another menu so we can keep working on practicing the balance? Also, how are they doing on the bone bits - it sounds like they are accepting them pretty well? If so, start offering them bigger pieces. Wing tips are a good sized starter bone. If they are munching on decent chunks they *May* even take a whole or halved wingtip. It helps to slice up the meat on the bone, but leave it hanging off the bone, then cut the wing tip in half to expose the juicy marrow.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 9:01:13 GMT -5
I would like to let them try the jerky that I made. So if I need to leave them food they would know how to eat that. Should I add some water in it? Or try yo just cut it like kibble and leave in their cage?
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Post by katt on Nov 5, 2014 22:14:20 GMT -5
I would maybe try hand feeding them some bits and see what they think (if they try to run off with it let them and watch to see if they go chew on it somewhere). You can leave a few pieces in their cage too. I wouldn't bother rehydrating, unless perhaps they decide to be uber stubborn about it, because the goal is for them to eat it dry AND they were munching on their own self-made jerky already. If anything, I'd say put a drop of oil or egg on it and hand feed them a piece to entice them to try it and hopefully they'll take it from there. If they DO give you trouble thoug (*ahem* Zack would NEVER do such a thing right? ) let me know and we can try a different tactic. How are they doing with the slivers and bone bits? Try any bigger bone pieces yet?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 15:44:14 GMT -5
The bones are getting slightly bigger but the main progress we have is with the meat. they are eating long ribbons of it. About 10cm no problem. Zack is working to catch up with the girls but he still needs some work. He likes the thinnest pieces, sometime when he eats a long one he just tries to swallow it instead of chewing and ends up gagging on it but we are working on learning to be better.
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Post by katt on Nov 7, 2014 20:35:59 GMT -5
What did they think of the jerky? I missed your Q about how to store it for some reason. I would put it in an airtight bag or container. It should be fine at room temp for a long time if it is airtight but will last even longer in the drive or freezer. And they are making wonderful progress. It takes some time to get used to chewing, and those jaw muscles have to build up too. Plus he's Zack. They are doing so great! (dance) Keep up the awesome work!!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2014 19:20:35 GMT -5
Zack had the time of his life today with chicken liver chunks and some egg. He was eating on his own. I will have to try the jerky yet.
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Post by katt on Nov 10, 2014 4:22:14 GMT -5
Zack had the time of his life today with chicken liver chunks and some egg. He was eating on his own. I will have to try the jerky yet. (dance) (dance) That's great!!!! How is he doing with the bone chunks?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 11:59:21 GMT -5
I forgot to mention in the last post, I have tried giving them beef for a couple of times. It was not very good the first time but not a disaster. so we will keep working on it. And today we tried rabbit head crushed teeth and all. Honey kept trying to steal the eyeballs but she didn't actually chew them. Everyone ate that, much better than the beef struggle. Miri doesn't like the beef at all.
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Post by katt on Nov 10, 2014 23:53:59 GMT -5
I forgot to mention in the last post, I have tried giving them beef for a couple of times. It was not very good the first time but not a disaster. so we will keep working on it. And today we tried rabbit head crushed teeth and all. Honey kept trying to steal the eyeballs but she didn't actually chew them. Everyone ate that, much better than the beef struggle. Miri doesn't like the beef at all. Haha I'm glad they liked the head! Did they crunch on the skull bones at all? Keep trying with the beef. It does take longer because it's more strongly flavored, but they'll get there. Baby steps.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2014 9:58:37 GMT -5
I crushed the bones, and yes they crunched them up. I am having a lot of work in school, so I'm not updating as often as I like right now. I'm keeping them at the same size pieces for now. I'll try to cut the water down, but I'm not going to be too intense about getting them to eat things.
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Post by katt on Nov 13, 2014 18:27:36 GMT -5
I crushed the bones, and yes they crunched them up. I am having a lot of work in school, so I'm not updating as often as I like right now. I'm keeping them at the same size pieces for now. I'll try to cut the water down, but I'm not going to be too intense about getting them to eat things. No worries. It's near finals time, I am well aware of that unfortunately. lol You're doing a great job as are they, just update when you can. Work on gradually crunching the bones less as they get more used to chewing the bone bits.
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