|
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 9:47:06 GMT -5
Oil makes for looser poops. Try to limit it to 1/2 tsp every 3 days.
Boys eat around 3-4 oz a day, girls eat about 2oz a day. Winter is coming, so they eat a little more and in the Spring they eat a little less. You will need to eye the soup as you decrease soup and increase the size of the slivers.
With five ferrets, you want to make a little more soup. Double the recipe or make two batches. You will know that they are full when some is leftover on the plate. One batch doesn't sound like enough ounces for five little guys.
It sounds like you are doing really well. (dance)
Gizzards are also good for cleaning teeth. Try putting some gizzard slivers in their soup. You can also try some quail bones. Crush them up and see if they crunch them.
Naughty Elvyra, you'll have to look for a heavier dish. She's having too much fun and enjoys the attention.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2014 8:17:50 GMT -5
Thank you both! I think I moved too fast with the slivers There were slivers and chunks with a little soup for the past week...there was always some left. Some evenings it didn't even look like they touched anything I think I have to make a few batches of soup, like poncesmom said, and really work with Zoey, Elvyra, and Zekrom. I saw (and heard!) Pepper and Reshiram chewing the slivers/chunks, but everyone else would get a piece in their mouth and drop it outside the dish. Once the liquid (soup and warm water) was gone, they walked away. With making multiple batches of the soup, should I leave liver out of some? I know they should only have 5% liver per week and I definitely do not want to 'overdose' them? Side note; We(the ferret community) had a pinic on September 21st and I took Reshiram and Elvyra (they were the only ones awake when we had to leave-I asked Zoey if she wanted to go but she said she needed her beauty sleep) We had a blast! We entered Reshiram, and Elvyra, in the 'tip the cup' race/game. (the ferret has 1 minute to knock over as many cups of water as they can) Elvyra only knocked over 2 (she was acting like a princess and did not enjoy getting her feet wet! haha), but Reshiram won the tie breaker with 3 cups and came in third place! Then Elvyra came in third place for 'flower pot dig' (knock over a flower pot and dig the flower out) - 8 seconds she got that flower out! So both my babies, first time going to an event, each won a ribbon! I almost cried! Proud momma moment!
|
|
|
Post by Thérèse on Oct 7, 2014 5:07:19 GMT -5
With liver it needs to b given in the correct ratio. The soup recipe contains the correct amount for that amount of meat etc. This mean if you increase tone ingredient you need to increase all ingredients by the same amount or alternatively if you decrease, you also need to decrease all the other ingredients. For example, if you are using double the amount of chicken then you need to double all the other ingredients too, to keep the balance. Hope this clears your question.
Also congrats to your little winners!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2014 7:56:56 GMT -5
With liver it needs to b given in the correct ratio. The soup recipe contains the correct amount for that amount of meat etc. This mean if you increase tone ingredient you need to increase all ingredients by the same amount or alternatively if you decrease, you also need to decrease all the other ingredients. For example, if you are using double the amount of chicken then you need to double all the other ingredients too, to keep the balance. Hope this clears your question. Also congrats to your little winners! Thanks Therese! I guess I was worried if they would get too much liver in the way of: A fresh batch of soup everyday. That would be liver 'everyday' instead of 5% each week. But it makes sense if the soup is balanced, if they have that everyday then the 'whole meal' itself it balanced. Still trying to wrap my brain around raw in general- Just when I think I understand everything, I second guess myself and get confused Thanks for the congrats! I still can't believe they won ribbons! I'm still trying to find a cute/creative way to display them...might have to wait until I have a couple days off! Everyone is doing really well (soup-wise at least) but Zoey is still trying to be a princess. She will lick the soup a bit on her own, but she won't really 'eat' it until I hold her and the dish up to her little mouth She will get there though! Today is Pepper's birthday (2 years old) and also our 2nd wedding anniversary! Time is flying!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2014 10:10:55 GMT -5
I finally pulled the kibble! Everyone is solely on the soup and I think it's going well for everyone except Zoey. She has no problem eating-IF I'm holding her I'm not sure if she's eating during the day (while I'm at work). When I put down fresh soup, everyone goes to the bowls. Any advice? I'd like to do tough love for her to eat on her own, but I'm afraid she will starve herself? Or am I being overprotective?
|
|
|
Post by raynebc on Oct 25, 2014 4:19:33 GMT -5
Will she eat from the bowl if you are holding her and the bowl?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2014 6:08:44 GMT -5
Zoey is being stubborn, so you gotta teach her that mom wants her to eat. Mine used to not eat when I left food in the cage, and they wouldn't eat unless I held them either. So I still held them, but instead of holding them on my lap I put them on the floor in front of me and had my hand on their back, then each day I would try to take my hand off slowly, and then lowering the spoon into the bowl more and more, finally they were eating on their own out of the bowl without me holding them, so I started putting them in the cage to eat and standing there with them, and after a few days of doing that I started walking away a little further, and now they eat all by themselves as long as I get them up and put them in front of the bowl, (or else they don't know it's there) and they even will go back to the bowl for leftovers now. You need to be firm in showing her she HAS to eat, and gentle in showing her mom is there and it's okay to eat.
And don't worry, as long as she eats every 12 hours she will be fine, I only feed mine twice a day but I do leave some soup in the bowls usually in case they do want to get a snack.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2014 12:09:23 GMT -5
Zoey was definitely the most reluctant of my 5, but now yes, Zoey will eat from the bowl if I hold her. The past 2 times I 'fed' her, I was able to have her, have her little feet on the ground; but I still have to put her face to the food before she will eat. It's weird, almost like she 'forgets' that eating is a thing? I should try to video our feedings so I make sense She will eat in the cage only IF I show her the bowl and put it next to her. I don't understand why she won't eat on her own like the others? She does have adrenal disease(got the implant 05/17/14) but I don't think that should be causing her not to willingly go to the bowl to eat. I have also noticed the amount of urine is crazy! There is more urine than poop and that's just so weird to see after 3 years! And they don't smell the ferrets anymore They don't have their little ferret musk and that makes me sad. Reshiram (albino) had grape tail, while only on kibble, so I hope he gets that back! I guess I should be happy they don't stink But I suprisingly miss the musk... Today is day 5 of only raw being available! yay! I'm going to start putting some ground chicken in the soup tonight. Hopefully they won't leave it behind like they did before!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2014 14:18:21 GMT -5
Yesterday I was almost ready to pull the plug on only raw until I get a mentor. I found out/realized I was using too much heart and too much eggshell (I have been sprinkling/estimating rather than using a measuring teaspoon). Plus Zekrom was having loose/ugly poops(It looked like melted dark chocolate blobs and since his bum is bare, had a little poo on the inside of his thigh) so I tried to up the eggshell over 2 days with no improvement. I was feeling like I was doing more harm than good. Zoey just refuses to eat unless I put the bowl to her mouth and even then she would barely eat half an ounce. Reshiram and Pepper started as good eaters, but over the past week I noticed a couple times where they ignored the food all together. Then little miss Elyvra, I barely saw her eat at all! She would take maybe 3 licks and then run off with mouthfuls. Plus everyone, except Pepper(she has always had such a lush coat and big build since we got her) looked like they were loosing weight! Ugh, I felt like a failure. BUT, I decided to suck it up and see what the numbers say. (aka, I weighed everyone) I started a weight log at the beginning of the month and I'm so happy I did-Everyone's weight is exactly, to the ounce, the same since they were on kibble! I was so relieved! THEN, I saw Zekrom poop-it was solid! Not as big as kibble poop, but not a melted chocolate blob! THEN, I put down 2 fresh bowls of soup and everyone went to eat......and contiued to eat! THEN I put down the little bowl Zoey likes-she walked over and started eating on her own! She ate about half the bowl (there was about an ounce in there), wiped her mouth on the carpet, and then gave me kisses I spent the morning reading a couple switching threads and I'm feeling confident again to keep going! I remember, before I even filled out an application, thinking 'I can remember how much everyone weighs, I won't need to write it down' but I am so thankful I did! Especially since last night I got the weights confused in my head until I looked at the paper I also took a screen shot of the receipe so I don't get confused when I make more soup this weekend
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 9:49:06 GMT -5
Ground chicken plus egg=success! I saw Reshie, Pepper, and Elvyra chewing! I did not see Zekrom and Zoey chewing, but they really seemed to enjoy their egg I will be incorporating some slivers/make a chunky soup and see how that goes over this week. I found cornish game hen (purdue brand) at a walmart this weekend. I put it straight to the freezer, but was wondering if I could chop that, bone and all, and give that to the babies already? It's so small, but I wasn't sure if they need to build their jaws on more meat before tackling the CGH bones?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 15:36:48 GMT -5
This morning I saw Reshie chewing some pieces the blender missed! He is looking gorgeous too with his thick fur and solid body-but last night he felt a little oily. I wonder if it's the season change or raw? I really need to take some body pictures. Hopefully me typing that will remind me/get me into gear.
Does anyone have any advice about the CGH in the above post?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2014 10:40:17 GMT -5
My goodness do I love my babies! I remember reading somewhere that if you cannot remember what life was like before now, you are truely happy- and I have a hard time remembering what I did before I got ferrets Zoey's anniversary is coming up (easy to remember when we got her; 11-11-11); hmm, only 3 years ago! When I got home from work yesterday, I saw a 5 sleepy faces that perked up when I asked how their day was Zekrom and Elvyra got up to use the bathroom (litterbox) followed by Pepper (who likes to poop on the shelf by the ramp-grr!) and I saw there was still some soup left from the morning. Zekrom has a little wheezing (more like a gurgle...bad description but makes me think he had a hair in his throat) so I thought an afternoon egg was in order! They sure do love their eggs I gave them their 'dinner' around 9 but everyone really just wanted to play; and play, play, play! So many dooks and spear tackles! Ha, I'm not sure what was different, but last night was fun! I also tried to brush everyone's teeth-ugh, I cannot wait until they can eat bones. Reshie was the only one who did not try to fight me...and he was also the only one I noticed who had 1 tiny dot of tarter on his back top molar I'm going to 'try' to brush their teeth again tonight. Zoey accidentally showed me a stash of hidden kibbles last night While everyone was running around, I didn't see Zoey. I then heard crunching and found her behind their baby bed (a double/2 story/bunk bed type dog bed) and there was Zoey. I scooped her up and tried to give her some soup and she struggled right out of my arms/lap. So I then gave her some fdr treats and she happily ate that. She confuses me-she will eat some soup until someone shoves their face in the same bowl or she will eat when I hold her. I can tell she enjoys the soup but she won't willingly eat on her own. She will eat without my assistance, but she won't eat much (half ounce at best). If anyone can offer advice to progress the raw feeding, we all would appreciate it! Also, does anyone know if I should bother giving them some CGH? Or is it still too early-as in do they need to build their jaws with chunks first?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 15:42:26 GMT -5
Ugh, I forgot to thaw hearts while I'm at work. I think everyone is doing well-I'm going through soup like crazy! Reshiram is chewing everyday! Pepper WAS a good chewer, but she's been enjoying just soup this week. Elvyra is 50/50 on chewing, and Zekrom only chews when he accidently licks up a sliver When Zoey gets a sliver, she tries running with it, sometimes I can contain her and she chews half and spits the other half out-then she runs off. I will be doing weights tonight along with baby mani/pedi's and teeth brushing. (Reshie is the only one who does not fight the teeth brushing). I'm thinking about thawing and chopping the CGH-does anyone have advice on this? Is it okay to try or is it too early?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 10:07:19 GMT -5
I thought about a month or so ago that the babies were shedding for winter-I'm not sure if something has changed with the raw or if they are truely getting their winter on but wow! Everyone seems to be shedding a lot now and eating like crazy! I now realize also, that I am going to have to cater to each baby indiviaully for this switch Zoey-we had a breakthrough Saturday morning! I placed the plates and dishes down and she just jumped right in there and started eating on her own! I usually have to coax her into eating, but she did it all by herself!(this morning I needed to help her, but that's why I've been getting up 45 minutes earlier ) I weighed everyone yesterday and Zoey weighed 1lb 9oz- she's down 3 oz since last week-not sure what's going on but she looks good... Zekrom-I think I could try small chunks with him! I put in some chicken skin/fat slivers and he happily chewed away! Gosh I love that sound! His weight is up 1 oz! He is 2lb 9oz! Pepper-she is turning into quite my little chubbers! Her fur, ahh, I cannot get over how incredibly soft she is! She's always had a great coat, and a pot belly, but maybe she's allowing me a little more cuddles (20 seconds instead of 5) I'm going to try more slivers with her. She will chew, but I think she might want to get used to the chewing idea before getting into chunks. She has also gained an oz, she wieghs 2lb 5oz! Elvyra-she is a little stinker, but there is something about her that you just can't get mad at her! She is a tiny tot, her weight stayed the same at 1lb 12oz and her eating is pretty good. She doesn't eat much and I have to watch her because she LOVES to stash, but I am going to try slivers with her too. Reshiram-God love this polarbear cub! He has really developed some gorgeous muscle tone! He is so solid too! He gained 2oz, weighing in at 3lbs 4 oz! He doesn't cuddle as much, there's too much to run/see/eat/play! But he will allow momma to give him belly rubs I think I can give him chunks, maybe even try a smashed chicken neck! We'll see how things go!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2014 11:32:42 GMT -5
Zoey is still doing great! That was definitly something I was worried about (her eating on her own/without my help to get her going) but she is really getting in there! I noticed that she will 'chew' a little also! YAY! I tried a smashed chicken neck on Tuesday-Reshiram and Pepper went for it! I didn't chop pieces of it, but next time I will. They would gnaw on it a bit, but I think if there were pieces they could actually get in their mouths, they would! I'm going to try a chicken wing too. Elvrya, a few times, has 'needed' me to get her to eat like Zoey did-not sure what that's about but wanted to mention it. Pepper 'needed' me to help her eat this morning; that was a first for her. Reshie has started 'stashing' in the little camper tent we won and, this morning, Reshiram would stash a piece and Zoey went in there and ate it! It was hilarious! This happened 3 times this morning! Either Reshiram didn't mind, or didn't notice little Zoey eating his stash I do have a concern so I hope someone will chime in: Zekrom is having funky poops-which I know is normal but his rectum is pretty red. He is still having really loose poops/almost diahareah(sp?). It doesn't seem like it bothers him and his appetite is great. Maybe I'm just more in tune with everything they do and his bum always looks like this? I don't think it's a prolasp-but maybe starting to become one? He turned 3 years old October 15th-can older ferrets still get prolasps?
|
|