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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 12:47:58 GMT -5
I would love to have chickens, although I don't think I could ever feed chicks to the ferrets. I feel better when the meat doesn't actually look like an animal Okay, I'll do that next time I cut up some slivers. That should be later tonight or tomorrow. I haven't found any forums like this for cats, but I have found a few helpful Facebook groups. He already has a great coat, so it'll be interesting to see if it changes. He has short fur, but it's really thick and he sheds like crazy. He's around 8 years old, but he's not picky at all, probably because he's outside a lot in the summer and he hunts. We just got about a foot on saturday night/early sunday. I think it's supposed to snow again tomorrow, but only about 3-6 inches, although that's what they've been saying every time. I actually have this whole week off. I'm hoping to get lots of stuff done. I'm getting some fabric today, so I can make some liners and hammocks for the ferret and rat cages. I have a three level ferret nation for the ferrets and a two level critter nation for the rats so it's gonna be lots of sewing.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 13:40:46 GMT -5
It's snowing today and it's so pretty. Our barn looks like a picture postcard. I don't think I will ever get over the thrill of seeing snow.
Nice, the whole week off. You're more ambitious than I am. I'm thinking movies and reading. What colors are you doing for your bedding sets?
What color is your cat? He sounds like he is healthy and active. Has he ever seen the pigeons?
Are all the fuzzies doing well? How is everyone's appetite?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 14:30:08 GMT -5
You have a barn? We have some houses around here that are old barns turned into houses. I think they look pretty cool. I always start out feeling ambitious, but then I don't get it all done. Oh well. The rest is good too. I'm not completely sure yet. I just plan to get whatever's on sale. I was thinking red, orange, and yellow. Most of the stuff they already have is pink and purple so I wanted to switch it up a little. This is him: I think they call it marked tabby or something of that sort. His name is Crispy. He was from the first litter of kittens I fostered. He's an odd cat. He has huge eyes and a curly tail. The only way he likes to be held is like sitting on my hip, like a baby. He actually spends a lot of his time in the room with the pigeons, but he understands that the pets are off limits to him. He doesn't even care about my rats and mice. They're all doing well today. I'm out of slivers, so they're getting mostly soup today until I get some chicken. They've had around 6 ounces so far. I'm trying to get them to start eating in the cage more so the cats don't eat it all(although one of the cats sleeps in the cage). Some of them still go to the spot where I used to put the kibble though, so I usually leave a little there too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2015 17:08:22 GMT -5
We do have a barn. Paul and I have never lived in the country. When we moved from Florida to Tennessee a few years ago, it was a big change for us. Our county has more cows than people. It's like stepping back into the fifties. One movie theatre, that only has movies on the weekends. No dry cleaners, a town square and farms everywhere. We love it. If we need a city fix, we drive into Nashville. Crispy is very pretty. He sounds like he is very sweet and good with all the other little ones. I'm glad to hear that everyone is eating well. How big are the sliver sizes now?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 0:53:52 GMT -5
Oh, that is pretty! I live in a sort of small city, but there are towns around here that are more rural. Like the town I work in; they have lots of farms, horse drawn carriages, cows, stuff like that. There's actually a farm right next to where I work that sells grass fed beef so, if the ferrets aren't allergic to it, I can get some of that eventually.
They're still mostly as small as I can make them, which is pretty small. I'll make them longer and take some pictures next time so you can see the size. I checked Bentley's BG today. It was 54. And I was planning to weigh them as well, but of course the battery in the scale is missing. My brother steals batteries a lot(I think for video game controllers?), so I'll have to find one or get some more tomorrow.
I was talking to my mom and the vet earlier. The vet doesn't feel comfortable with me leaving Bentley without any food since he's still not very stable yet and him not eating on his own makes that difficult. And my mom thinks I need to sleep more. We were thinking of switching him to a better kibble and somehow giving only him access to it, at night and while I'm at work. I would rather do FDR, but I'm still working on trying to figure out which one to do. Also, I'm not sure he'd eat it on his own or if I could even afford it for very long. What do you think? The kibbles they had been eating were wysong epigen 90(original and digestive support) and 8-in-1 ultimate. I was going to take out the 8-in-1 and replace that with something better, maybe nature's variety instinct raw boost, if we do that.
Also, I got the fabric for the bedding sets. I got patterned ones because they were on sale. I got monkeys, owls, and frogs. I already made a set for the rat cage out of the owl fabric. I just hope they won't ruin it too quickly.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 12:00:29 GMT -5
Bentley's BG is rather low. FDR is not a bad idea, if he will eat and we know he needs to eat.
I would go for the FDR over a good quality kibble. Kibble by it's nature, has to have fillers to help hold it's shape. That's not good for his Insulinoma. FDR is simply 100% meat.
Wysong Archetypal 1 is FDR. Stella and Chewy's makes a feline version of FDR called duck,duck,goose and tummy ticklin turkey. Whole Life has a nice line of FDR. FDR can be expensive. You will probably have to order it online. Look at Amazon, they have good prices on it and if you have Prime, shipping is free.
Your vet is right, we can't leave Bentley with no food overnight and if he won't eat on his own, then you'll need to find something that he will eat.
Batteries use to disappear around my house also. My son is a big gamer. I finally started hiding some for emergencies.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 2:33:48 GMT -5
I've been researching FDR a lot lately, and I'm planning to try as many as I can. The price is the big problem. Although if it's only Bentley eating it, it may not be too much. I know it's not ideal, but can the FDR be fed dry? He may be more likely to eat it that way, since it's like kibble. I got samples from wysong of the rabbit and chicken FDR and they seem to like the rabbit one a lot more than the chicken. I'm going to order some samples of Stella and Chewys and some other FDR from Caseys Hidden Pantry once I get the money. I want to try as much as I can before I decide on one to buy.
I may be getting chickens in the spring. Primarily to have fresh eggs for the ferrets. I was thinking of only getting two or three since they lay an egg or two per day. I've always wanted chickens anyway.
I weighed everyone, but of course I left the little whiteboard with their weights on it downstairs. And now I don't want to get up. So, I'll do it first thing in the morning(hopefully). What I do remember though, is that Bentley gained .5 oz! His weight is 1 lb 12.5 oz. I know it's not much, but I get excited about any weight gain with him.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 10:45:35 GMT -5
I'll take that .5 ounces as a good sign of progress. Spring is coming up fast, so don't get too upset if everyone starts to lose some weight.
You can leave the FDR out dry. They seem to prefer it wet though. It will hold for 12 hours or more, when it's wet. Did you know that you can make your own FDR. Gfountain is doing it now. It takes a few weeks in the freezer. I'm going to try it soon.
I'm with you on preferring to feed already prepared meats. I couldn't feed those cute little chicks alive to mine, either. Having chickens will be fun though. We get all kinds of animals wander thru our property. One day we had a very proud rooster leading four or five hens thru the backyard. I have no idea where they came from or where they went. We also had about 50 goats show up. That was a blast watching them. They were from a farm down the road. I keep hoping they will show back up.
How is Yogi doing now that his Hemongoia (I know I didn't spell that right is gone?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 16:06:34 GMT -5
Okay, weights: Yogi - 2 lb 4.5 oz Hershey - 2 lb 11.5 oz Penny - 1 lb 8 oz Bentley - 1lb 12.5 oz Snowy - 2 lb 15 oz Nestle - 1 lb 13 oz
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 16:20:04 GMT -5
Yogi is doing good. It didn't really affect him much, but the vet wasn't sure what it was so he decided to remove it just in case.
I also took pictures! Dangling and from above pictures. I'll post them tonight.
I've seen things about making FDR and I'm thinking I might try it sometime too. I've been planning to make some jerky in the oven for the ferrets and dogs to try, but I keep forgetting. 50 goats?! That's crazy. We just get birds and squirrels. We have tons of sea gulls around here, since I live near the water.
I've been giving my rats all of the treats that the ferrets don't like or that aren't good for them. They love the n-bones. I've been researching natural diets for my rats too. I would love to switch all of my animals over to a raw/natural diet eventually.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2015 18:06:58 GMT -5
Your last weigh in was 25 Jan. Bentley has put on .5ounces Hershey has gained 2.5 ounces Penny has gained 2.5 ounces Snowy has gone from 3 lbs 2 ounces to 2lbs 15 ounces, a small weight loss Nestle has lost 1 ounce. Overall, everyone is doing well. Snowy may be the first to start moving towards a springtime weight. I'm happy that Bentley has not lost weight and actually put on .5oz.
Gina is doing her jerky in the freezer. I've bought FDR for a long time, and somehow never realized that you could freeze your own. Blonde Moment (shy) I'm dying to try it now.
I use to give mine N Bones. They adored them. Then someone posted on the forum and I learned that they weren't a good idea. Now, they have had a formula change and are even less healthy. Roamy still looks for me to give him them though. So, I keep a jar of dried turkey hearts and he gets a small piece when he's looking for a treat.
We had seagulls in Florida also. I don't miss them, but I do miss Pelicans, Ospreys and Herons. We were on the water. I've been to Massachusetts, but never to Cape Cod. I'm hoping to get there one day. I don't know if you're close to it, but it sounds so lovely.
Paul and I are snowed in. That's a first for me. We may be in desperate straits, lol. We are out of donuts and sweets. I'm making gingerbread now, since that's all we have in the pantry. How's your weather? Are you getting more snow?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 1:15:31 GMT -5
It's gonna be weird seeing Snowy without so much chubbiness and fluff. The pictures will have to wait a couple days. My charger for my computer broke. I just ordered a new one, but that'll take a few days at least to come in.
I'm still trying to find healthy treats that the ferrets will eat. We had a little bit of luck with small freeze dried shrimp. No one really like freeze dried turkey or chicken liver. Snowy seems to be the most difficult with those things, which is off since he's young.
I'm actually just a bit North of Cape Cod, on Cape Ann. I've been to Cape Cod a few times. I've been going every summer for a dog field trial thing. We have bird hunting dogs, although we don't hunt with them.
I heard about your weather down there. Ours actually isn't too bad right now. We had a bit of snow earlier, maybe a few inches. But at this point, a few inches doesn't make much of a difference. It's funny when they announce a snow storm, everyone goes and buys milk and eggs so the stores run out. I've always found it kind of silly. My blizzard food essentials are just popsicles and ice cream. I always crave cold things when it's snowing.
I just realized today, that I only have six chicken hearts left! Luckily I have some turkey hearts left over from thanksgiving, but I guess I'll have to plan a trip to go get some more. Hopefully they'll have more than two pounds this time.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 13:33:37 GMT -5
I'm gonna try to make lots of soup and cut up lots of slivers today. Should I cut up slivers of the liver and heart too? I won't do the heart yet since I'm running out, but I can definitely cut up some liver slivers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 16:51:06 GMT -5
You can try liver slivers. Mine don't care very much for them, they prefer their liver in a soup form. I did buy some 100 percent FDR Liver. If I find on Organ Days, that they have refused the organ soup or not eaten enough, then everyone gets a small piece or two of the dried liver. They like it.
As for other treats, some ideas could be raw shrimp. Roamy loves shrimp. Not the dried kind. Dried cod is a big favorite. Grizzly salmon oil is a good treat, just limit it to 1/2 tsp every 3 days. You can use pieces of gizzards or another protein or even some FDR and drop it into a large shallow bin of water and let them go fishing. Soft scrambled eggs can be a treat, as are raw quail eggs. I also buy Dried Hearts, and cut them into smaller slivers and give those as a treat. Take a look at Amazon, under Pet supplies. That might give you some ideas. Just check out the ingredients and make sure that there is nothing added. If you're super brave, you could check your local petstores and ask about insects. Crickets for example, come already dead. I've heard scarey things about some worms, so avoid those or if you decide on something like that, let me check with the mentors, first. Pinkies are baby mice, already frozen. Pinkies and chicks can be bought already dead, and they are considered a treat.
The south is just not prepared for snow. We can't get out of our driveway and we're outside of the city (if you want to call Lafayette a city), so there are no snow plows. I'm not sure that the county even has any.
Back in Florida, it was like your area during Hurricane season. Everyone bought tons of supplies, i.e Beer and Snacks. Everything shut down and then nothing happened. But it was a good excuse to shut things down and relax. I was military and still had to go into the base, but it was nice and relaxing with not much to do.
That's so funny that you crave cold things during snow storms. As far as I'm concerned, I'll take any excuse to eat ice cream.
If you have a ferret emergency shelf, you might consider picking up some Taurine powder. Then if you run out of hearts and there is a storm, you will still have some taurine to fall back on. Stick it on the shelf with a can of pumpkin and some vaseline for emergencies. They never happen during convenient hours. We've talked about the blockage protocol before, right?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 17:07:42 GMT -5
I have no problem with trying insects with them. I just don't like touching live ones with my hands. I've even eaten dried crickets and meal worms before. I believe the worms that aren't good are super worms and some other kinds, because they bite. I've been planning to get some meal worms for the rats, so I can try those with the ferrets too when I get them. I don't think I could do pinkies. I used to breed gerbils and I loved the itty bitty pinkies. Even dead, they're too cute for me. They also I'll look for those other things to try, too.
Yeah, that's what I heard. We get hurricanes here too, but they're not as bad once they get here. The worst that we get is nor'easters and tropical storms, usually.
I have a very well stocked ferret emergency kit. Pumpkin, Vaseline, sub-q fluids, needles, syringes, pretty much anything I could need. That is one thing I don't have though. I'll have to get some. I know the health food store sells it, but it would probably be cheaper on Amazon. I do know about the blockage protocol. Luckily, I've never needed it. I don't have any that usually chew. I fostered one that chewed half of a rubber phone case, but luckily she passed it all on her own. I didn't know about the blockage protocol back then.
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