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 Jul 22, 2014 21:22:49 GMT -5
No luck yet, it slipped my mind I'm fairly confident the boys have it down, they seemed to mostly go for the slivers tonight. Thor stuck mostly with the soup on top, she ate a sliver for sure, maybe a couple others but I'm uncertain. I also saw with a couple pieces she picked up she chewed on it some then dropped it. Not sure if it was an accidental drop or on purpose. I weighed them in tonight. Clyde: 2 lbs 12 oz Loki: 2 lbs 11 oz Thor: 2 lbs 3 oz
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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 Jul 23, 2014 20:45:23 GMT -5
They did well with finishing last nights meal. They had 5.5 ounces and consumed almost all of it, the meal I gave them this morning didn't do nearly as well with only 3 ounces consumed. I just got home so I'm going to be preparing their evening meal now.
Update: Thor seemed a little more willing to eat the slivers tonight, she ate a few without putting up a big stink.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 24, 2014 10:36:00 GMT -5
I'm sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday. I'm having internet problems. Their weights are staying fairly stable. Thor is down a couple of ounces, but that's not a big deal. The amount they eat will fluctuate, so them not eating so much yesterday isn't really a concern if they ate well last night. Good for Thor eating more slivers As long as they're not balking, keep decreasing the amount of soup and increasing the number & size of the slivers each meal. As you decrease the soup, Thor should realize that she's going to have to eat those slivers if she wants to eat. What size are the slivers now? And what proportion of slivers to soup?
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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 Jul 24, 2014 18:14:18 GMT -5
That's quite alright.
I've been cutting varying sizes, some as small as before, some a little larger, not sure how to describe them. This morning equated to 5 ounces of slivers to 1 ounce of soup. 0.5 ounce of slivers were remaining when I came home.
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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 Jul 25, 2014 14:39:39 GMT -5
Thor has definitely made progress with the pieces of meat. Today they received no soup, I watched as Thor consumed a few pieces before laying down for a nap.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 25, 2014 15:20:39 GMT -5
Good for Thor! Any idea how many ounces she ate? Her activity, poops, and weight are still fine, right? Since she's eating the slivers on her own now and IF everything else is still good, I'd say that she just doesn't need much food. I know they'll eat a lot less raw than they did kibble.
So the idea now is to just keep increasing the size of the pieces; you should be working up to chunks about 1/2 inch wide and a couple of inches long. They'll do better with longer pieces rather than square. We're going to start adding some bone in soon, but until then, keep an eye on the poops. They're going to be looser until they get some bone, but I don't want them to be too runny.
What meats do you have on hand right now? I want to start working on bones and organs, but need to know what you have to work with.
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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 Jul 25, 2014 17:53:46 GMT -5
I didn't catch how much, Loki was snatching pieces at the same time. I just checked her weight and it's about the same as the last time, 2 lbs 3 oz. Her activity seems ok. In the cage pan, someone had what appears to be runny green poop, I think it was Thor. The last one I actually did see from her was more solid with some green, the rest brown. Poops in general have gotten looser since the removing of kibble in their diet, they were still solid when they were still getting kibble during the day.
As for available meat, the only thing I have left on hand right now is some chicken liver and boneless chicken breast.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 25, 2014 19:18:27 GMT -5
Raw poops are going to be very different than the kibble poops you're used to. That was one of the hardest things for me to get used to. Bone firms up the poop, which is why we want to get them eating bone pretty quickly. Green just means something is not digesting properly for some reason... to be expected during the switch. Poops can get pretty funky until their little bodies detox from the kibble.. funky and super stinky. But once the detox is done, I won't say their poops smell like flowers, because after all, it IS poop, but it's soooooooo much better. Smaller packages, less often, less stink. Once they start eating different things, you'll start to recognize different kinds of poop so you'll know what to expect when you feed them.
Since you're weaning them off of the soup, sprinkle a tiny amount of egg shell powder or bone meal on their meats once a day and see if that helps firm them up a little. This trick is NOT a long-term solution, but it can help temporarily until we get them on bone. If you're worried about their poops, post a picture so I can see it.
Boneless chicken breast is pretty low on the nutrition scale for ferrets. Dark meat is always better, fattier and more taurine, so in the future when you're shopping for them, go for the darker meats. Not that you CAN'T feed the breast, it's just not as good.
Let's go ahead and try them with tiny chicken liver pieces mixed in with their regular pieces. They'll have to work up to a full meal of liver at some point but I'm not too worried about that right now. I just want to start getting them used to the taste. It seems to be something that ferrets are not ambivalent about. They either love it or they hate it. We may as well figure out which way yours are gonna go, lol. You'll need to try to source another organ as well. They need to have at least 2 organs if possible. It doesn't have to be a chicken organ.. any animal will do.
OK, short list of things to do: 1. Keep increasing chunk size.. a little larger each meal. 2. Watch poops & sprinkle w/ egg shell if very runny. 3. Add tiny liver pieces. 4. Buy chicken wings.
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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 Jul 25, 2014 20:08:21 GMT -5
I had been using thighs to make the soup and chunks before, the breast was only recent. I'll stay away from chicken breast in future.
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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 Jul 26, 2014 20:04:53 GMT -5
Should have mentioned that I have fed them liver chunks in the past, Loki and Clyde have eaten them without issue. Some of the bigger pieces I cut up this morning were about 1/2 inch wide and about 1.5 inches in length. The boys didn't seem to have a issues with those. Thor was chewing a little longer, I guess she's still playing catch up.
I picked up some chicken wings, how long should I wait before trying bones. And when I do, should I cut the meat off or leave it intact.
Good news is I found an Asian market, it's a slight drive at 28 miles, but if they have parts I need it'll be fine. Going to take a drive down tomorrow and check it out.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 27, 2014 13:49:16 GMT -5
Thor chewed longer, but she was eating those big chunks, right? That's great! To get them started on bone, you want to smash those wings with a hammer to break the bones up. Actually, no.. not yet. First, cut the wings at the joints into 3 sections and offer them each a tip section to see what they do with it. If they eat it, fantastic! If not, then refreeze the tip sections for later. They're the perfect size for starting whole bone. Use the largest section of the wing and smash those bones. Cover the wing with a towel or rag you don't mind sacrificing to the cause (so you don't splatter raw chicken everywhere) and beat that wing until the bone is pretty well smashed. Cut the smashed up wing, bone and all, into chunks about half the size the fuzzies have been eating and mix some in with their muscle meat chunks. If this meal goes alright, then next meal smash the bone a little less, make the chunks a little larger, and add a couple more of them. You're going to keep changing things a little at a time for a couple of days, then we'll try just splitting the bone to reveal the marrow and see if they'll go ahead and eat it without smashing. They're going to be doing 3 things with these bony chunks: learning a new taste, learning a new texture, and building jaw strength. Literally LOL'd at '..if they have parts I need..' That sounds like my husband asking me to run by the auto parts store. 28 miles doesn't sound bad to me.. I live 15 miles from the closest anything.
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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 Jul 27, 2014 14:38:57 GMT -5
I have returned from my market adventure with glorious news. Ok, maybe not glorious, I picked up pork stomach, chicken hearts, and pork kidney. I'd say I was successful in what I set out to do. Looks like I'll get to let out some frustration on some chicken wings lol. I gave them one intact last night to see how any of them took to it. I could hear bones snapping as Loki chomped on the smaller end. It was the same with Clyde. Don't worry, I'll be smashing the bones from here on out to help them along.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 27, 2014 14:48:10 GMT -5
Actually, if they're chomping without smashing, by all means let them have at it! Those tip sections are great for starting out. The next section (middle section) has 2 fairly small bones in it. If you're careful and have a good pair of kitchen shears, you can cut those 2 bones lengthwise to expose the marrow. The largest section (drummette) has a fairly large bone and may need to be smashed, BUT if they're eating the smaller bones OK, don't smash that large one too well. Leave it large enough that they actually have to crunch it.
I hate to ask because I probably already know the answer, but... how did Thor react to the wing? Any interest from her? I'm going to assume not, so for her, you'll need to smash. If she doesn't eat it, you can try putting some 'soup-gravy' on it for her.
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Post by gfountain on Jul 27, 2014 14:51:41 GMT -5
You also didn't mention Thor and the liver, so I assume she doesn't like that either? Hopefully hearts will be a different story.. most ferrets love chicken hearts. Try cutting one in quarters and add it to their next meal.
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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 Jul 27, 2014 14:59:24 GMT -5
It's hard to judge her interest level, I'd say probably not nearly as interested as the boys, she kept trying to steal it off Loki while he was working on the tip. I don't know if she was wanting to give it a go, or just trying to steal it. That was the only time I saw her biting at it. I'll see how she does with smashed bone.
Should I give each of them their own wing to work on?
This was a joint effort, assuming Thor didn't contribute. I apologize as a pic of an old chicken wing isn't lovely.
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