trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
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Post by trutan85 on Aug 10, 2014 10:38:25 GMT -5
Time to type up an update for the week.
Here is their weigh in today:
Clyde: 2 lbs 10 ounces Loki: 2 lbs 8 ounces Thor: 2 lbs 1 ounce
Activity levels are good, very energetic.
Poops look good, solid and appropriate colors. I've even noticed those nice furry poop packages from the mice and rats. I must say it's a relief to not be seeing green poops anymore. I'm pretty sure you said it was from the detox off kibble, but it was still a relief when I stopped seeing those.
As far as the soup, he didn't touch it while I was watching.
On a side note, I'm going to work on their permanent cage feeding den. With how much of a mess they're making lately with the whole prey I need something I can clean easily. I'm such a procrastinator.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 10, 2014 17:26:34 GMT -5
Weights are still good.. that's good. Funky poops are from the change in diet. Color and consistency will change from meal to meal depending on what they eat. hehehehe... messy eaters, huh? They should get neater over time and with practice. What are you using for their feeding den?
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 10, 2014 17:42:13 GMT -5
In the cage I didn't have anything and outside I tried a cardboard box. I went out today and got a storage container, cut a hole in it, and attached it to the cage by a tunnel (same as how I did the litter box) making them a remote feeding den. I got the shower curtain rings but at the time didn't know how I was going to attach them. After thinking about it, I'm considering suspending them with shoe laces. This should contain the food and the mess in an easy to clean area (not their bedding) and help prevent stashing (Loki likes to stash in the litter pan ). I had wanted one while they were still on kibble but never did it, it wasn't a huge deal, but after a few weeks of raw I see that they are pretty much necessary for raw fed ferrets.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 10, 2014 18:47:18 GMT -5
See if you can find @abbylee22's thread with her feeding den. (Or @abbylee22, post a picture in here please) She used a storage tub and put eyehooks in the lid to hang stuff from.
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 10, 2014 19:44:07 GMT -5
I found some pictures of it and that's a great idea. Mines a bit taller but I think I can do something similar
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Post by gfountain on Aug 10, 2014 22:12:17 GMT -5
I'm thinking it might be about time to introduce another new protein. Clyde and Thor are both eating the mice, Thor is eating rats, Loki is eating the heads... see what else you can get and let's start something new with them. Maybe Loki will like quail or cavy or rabbit better than mice.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2014 14:59:07 GMT -5
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Post by gfountain on Aug 11, 2014 18:42:48 GMT -5
Thanks @abbylee22. That first picture, though.. the poor bird!
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 11, 2014 19:46:41 GMT -5
I agree, I think it's time to give them some new whole prey proteins. Sadly I'll have to wait a couple days before I can place my hare-today order, and when I do I plan on getting quail, rabbit, and cavies.
That would give me 5 whole prey proteins through the week. I could do my rotating menu, each day a different animal and I would be able to split it up to 3 meals each of rats/mice (6 total) 2 meals each of quail/rabbit/cavies (6 total) 2 meals for chicken/beef/etc. (2 total)
The only thing that I really need to figure out is the sizes of rabbits and cavies I should get.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 11, 2014 20:36:18 GMT -5
That will give you 7 proteins total.. that's great. As far as the sizes, that's going to be trial and error I'm afraid. However, you can split the prey up into more than one meal if you need to. For example, a whole rabbit is going to be balanced regardless of what size it is (assuming these are adult prey, not juvenile). If the rabbit is too big for one meal, you can randomly chop it in half or thirds and feed it over the course of a week. As long as they eat the entire rabbit, whether it's in one meal or 3 meals, it will still be balanced. Make sense? The only thing you need to watch out for when feeding larger prey over several meals is that everyone gets some organs and heart.
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 11, 2014 20:48:45 GMT -5
Yes, it makes perfect sense. This is where it gets complicated, trying to figure out how to feed a balanced meal to 3 ferrets that involves prey that are more than one meal. It'll take some trial and error before I can figure out a good system.
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 12, 2014 19:28:48 GMT -5
So I just read something interesting posted by Sherry in another thread saying that ferrets are supposed to get most of their moisture from their food. I did notice that once I cut kibble from their diet they didn't drink as much water as they did before. I just want to know of that's something that normally happens.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 12, 2014 20:39:42 GMT -5
I don't know about MOST, but yes, they get a LOT of moisture from their food. Raw fed ferrets drink much MUCH less than kibble ferrets AND stay better hydrated in spite of drinking less. I mean, it makes sense if you think about it. Think about a piece of kibble and a piece of chicken.. which one is wetter, lol? Kibble actually keeps them in a state of near dehydration all the time. Their systems have to draw moisture from their cells in order to process that dry stuff. Which makes their skin drier. Which makes their oil glands work harder. Which makes them smell worse. Which makes people bathe them more often. Which dries out their skin and fur. And on and on. The semi-dehydration of kibblers also means they can't fight off illnesses as well, which is why raw-eaters who get sick manage to not show the effects as readily, another reason to really know your ferrets.
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trutan85
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Thor still "beats up" her bigger younger brother.
Posts: 192
|
Post by trutan85 on Aug 12, 2014 21:12:46 GMT -5
It does make a lot of sense, I just never put any thought into the matter. It was one of those moments where I read that and I realized I haven't been needing to fill their bottles back up nearly as often as before. I had gotten a second bottle before I got Clyde to make sure I met their water demands, now it just seems like overkill. I don't think it's something that people really think about when switching from kibble to raw, definitely food for thought though.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 12, 2014 21:51:37 GMT -5
What did your 'kids' eat today? I was just reading on another thread about a ferret who won't eat mice no matter what his ferrant tries. She was about to give up on him eating whole prey at all and actually did go back to kibble for a while, but then she decided to try him on her other ferrets' rabbit and he devoured an entire dish of it and wanted more. So maybe Loki just doesn't like mice the way I don't like asparagus!
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