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Post by acodlin on Mar 17, 2015 20:06:01 GMT -5
So how is Bolin and Mako?
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Post by RedSky on Mar 18, 2015 3:27:26 GMT -5
Mako seems fine in himself but he and Korra are barely eating. Maybe they miss Bolin but they seem bright enough whenever I go to their cage. Hopefully Bolin can go back in with them soon, the vet wants to hang on at least another week with Bolin and the same with Mako to have his levels back. I am letting him out under close supervision during their playtime. He mostly just sleeps anyway so I don't think he's going to get himself into trouble, I'm mainly just stopping Mako walking on top of him and Korra from being rough with him. Bolin didn't eat much yesterday and had stopped trying to chew larger pieces so I made him a balanced soup rather than just muscle meat and bonemeal powder that he was having before. He was only eating while I was offering him the food but I woke up this morning to see him eating some of the soup and just now he's eaten a 1oz piece of heart so hopefully we are going to right direction.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 18, 2015 7:04:48 GMT -5
The pain meds can make them sleepy. It's great that he is eating on his own, day by day he will feel a little better!
It may just be that it's time for them to change seasons. During spring/summer they tend to drop weight and eat less. Keep note of what they weigh so each year you can compare so you will know when/if to worry. Is Korra doing any better with her mice?
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Post by RedSky on Mar 18, 2015 8:28:44 GMT -5
Bolin is doing so well, I'm so happy with how he's eating and he look brighter in his face. I'm going to push to get their room sorted this weekend so he can have a bigger space and more out of the pen time, I figured there is no reason he can't just be out in the room while I'm keeping him separated anyway. He's not much of a climber and rarely gets into trouble while out upstairs so in their room which should be 100% ferret safe anyway he should be fine.
I'd stopped weighting out their food and realised this morning when I weighed out Bolins that I was giving them far too much so they were eating loads of their prefered meals and then skipping the stuff they don't like as much like duck necks and chicken wings. I gave Korra 0.5oz and Mako 1oz for breakfast as they are still separated, they had chicken and rabbit block (counts as a bone in meal). Bolin has some of the balanced soup (2.5oz) with some extra water and ate about half of it so far.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 21, 2015 10:31:04 GMT -5
Ferrets are sneaky like that. They will hold out for the foods that they like, they know mommy will give in! Getting them to eat bone is key for good dental health. Are they eating any bone in meats at all?
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Post by RedSky on Mar 21, 2015 15:30:30 GMT -5
Just weighed them today Korra is 1lb 6oz pretty much spot on. Unfortunately she is that quick and still bites so this is the best picture I could get of her. We are working on the biting but I didn't want to force her and break the trust we are gaining since I am not worried about her weight or size. She's super active today even for Korra and very very playful. This isn't a good sign for the boys or me though as she play bites really hard. Mako is 2lb 6.5oz He was getting a little chubby but hasn't been eating much the last few days, he eats better while out with Bolin so guess he's just missing his BFF :heehee: Good for a size comparison between him and Korra too as it was the same box. It's just used to store their extra toys in as I alternate often but they like playing in there. A dangling picture showing of his lovely tummy. Lighting a bit rubbish so his colours don't look right but you can see his shape. He's still my shadow and follows me around until he hears my OH then he's a bit of a daddy's boy but soon gets bored of being ignored and comes back to Mummy! He's still a bit funny on his back end, but he seems really happy and bouncy. I'd say a good level of activity but when he stops he always sits whereas the other two will still stand. I never really noticed this, or worried about it before but I am a little worried now. Still trying to get a big enough blood sample from him for a BG test. Bolin is now 2lb 10.5oz No longer a chunky monkey He carries himself much better and has a better arch. In fact a few time as he or Korra ran past me I had to do a double take to see who it was. Yes he ran! I didn't know if I should catch him to stop him from damaging anything or shout with joy. He very very very rarely ran and when he did you could see it was a big effort. Now he runs around just like Korra, moves with much more ease. I didn't want to dangle him, so got my OH to support his bottom in a half dangling picture. I can't believe how quick he's healing, how clean it looks and most of all how all his loose skin has shrunk back, I was thinking about re-naming him Bagheera (like in The Jungle Book) so I could call him Baggy for short
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Post by acodlin on Mar 24, 2015 20:48:15 GMT -5
I bet Bolin feels a ton better without that huge spleen weighing him down. Mako probably is missing his buddy. I'd put them together for feeding time, and I wouldn't worry too much about letting Bolin get out and walk around a bit. I usually keep them quiet for 5-7 days and then I start letting them out supervised and after about 10 days I feel they are usually okay to do most things.
Korra sounds a lot like my Nadia. She is a sandy girl, small but good weight.. can be very bitey and very much independent. We have an understanding lol. She will never be a cuddly ferret. It just isn't in her personality.
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Post by RedSky on Mar 25, 2015 5:51:19 GMT -5
I put Mako and Bolin in together since Mako was still on one level. However Korra was in the section above and was going CRAZY trying to get to them. I fell soft and after a two days let them all be together. Now every time I go in I see them grooming each other (usually the boys, but not always) or all three of them in one bed, often with various body parts hanging out. It must be so warm in there so I guess they stick parts out to cool down. I went in this morning and only Bolin's head was actually in the bed, under Mako too... It's funny watching them all climb out one after another, like a clown car.
Eating wise, they are cleaning their plates of organs and heart pretty much every time now. Same with their weekly meal of mice and chicks. I need to copy over their new menu. I keep changing it depending on what I have in. Tomorrow night they will have their first quail, so I'm hoping they take to that. Still not there with other bone in meats, they ate most of the rabbit ribs but pick around other bones, getting there slowly with chicken wings, still mostly ignoring duck wings and very much random with pheasant as to whether they will actually touch it or not.
I think it largely boils down to Bolin, if he's hungry and starts eating the other two copy, if he doesn't eat they don't. If they are all separated Korra will eat when she's hungry but Mako will only eat little bits and needs some encouragement. Unless it's heart, then it's gone.
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Post by RedSky on Mar 26, 2015 20:19:04 GMT -5
It was pheasant again for breakfast and not much is missing. Mako ate some of it as soon as I put it in the cage but I didn't see the other two touch it at all.
It was a whole quail for tea, Bolin was in bed with my OH so I was amazed when Korra started going crazy at the bars while I was getting quail out of the bag. The Bolin woke up, not even in the same room and he must have smelt it. My OH put him on the floor and he came running. Took a while and a bit more wiggling to get them to start eating but by the time I left them all 3 had chewed off a couple of toes each (Bolin took most of a leg too) and feathers were everywhere thanks to Mako and Bolin grabbing a mouthful of feathers and shaking. Bolin seems to be good at just plucking it though. I'm hoping I can just vac up in the morning... Wish me luck. Maybe quail needs to be an outside food?
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Post by RedSky on Mar 27, 2015 7:28:36 GMT -5
I'm amazed how little is left. I've not had a close look as I'm having a bad day with my back and can't bend but it looks pretty flat and just odd pieces around. Also there is no where near as much mess as I thought there would be. I planned on this being their meal for last night as well as this morning, so I'll leave in the bit for now and give them their tea early (heart, liver and kidney) then toss in a chicken wing before I head to bed.
I'm worried about over feeding liver and kidney with these meals of whole prey, for one meal they have a mouse and chick each, then they share this quail for 2 meals. I have no idea who ate what out of the quail. Should I reduce the liver and kidney a bit? I don't really want to play around with chopping bits out of the quail when they are so happy to take it whole, but if that's best I could do.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 27, 2015 19:27:31 GMT -5
Leave the whole prey as it is. It is fine. Quails and feathers.. oh my, yes they will be everywhere I suggest a feeding den ( could be a large cardboard box) and anchor it down so most of the mess is contained! Im glad to hear they are eating better, getting them to eat bones is hard work but if your patient they WILL do it. Getting them use to smaller bones and then moving up in size is usually the best way. Quail bones are pretty easy for them to eat. Sorry I haven't responded. Things are hectic at my house. We are trying to sell our house in one state and move to another so I'm working sat/sun/mon nights and driving to ohio wednesday to look at new houses and coming home friday, plus Im getting my bachelors in nursing online so I have classes in the middle of all of this mess too >,<
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Post by RedSky on Mar 28, 2015 5:12:17 GMT -5
Still not much luck with bone in meats, but whole prey they really like. First time with quail and I didn't have much to pull out of the cage (I left it in until this morning). I was surprised by how little mess there was, didn't take me too long to clean up.
Oh, sounds very hectic indeed! I moved last year and I was so stressed out and we only moved 30-40 minutes away, petty much down one long road too!
A few updates, Bolin's getting better and more active everyday. Korra is now back to living with the boys 24/7, I either find all 3 cuddled up in 'the hive' bed or 1 or 2 are in the hammock. Not sure why I bother with the other beds, they never use them! I'm a little worried about Mako's balance and behaviours. Going back to the vets with him next week.
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Post by acodlin on Mar 29, 2015 17:15:36 GMT -5
Are you smashing the bone in meats and breaking up the bone? They did eat the quail bones right? Im sorry about Mako. I have one who has some neurological issues myself.. not sure if it is residual from a stroke, brain cancer, or something else. It sucks that they can't tell us whats wrong
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Post by RedSky on Mar 29, 2015 17:47:31 GMT -5
Any bones similar in size to chicken wings I've been smashing, anything smaller I haven't bothered. They ate pretty much all the quail, the only bit left was in the litter box. They take stuff in and then refuse to eat it because it's covered in litter. Seriously they bury it completely (maybe I'm using too much litter) and then come back and try pick the litter off then give up and walk off in a huff like it's my fault.
They didn't eat much last night, or today. But energy levels are good and there is hair everywhere! I think mostly Mako's but I can't be certain.
I want to work on my menu again as I'm not happy with it. I feel like I might be overdoing the organ meals by feeding whole prey, but also worried that I'm not sure who's eating what. How much leeway is there? Also I've been using dehydrated duck breast cat treats for treats, and also using minced meat (lamb, pork or beef). I try to mix some bone meal in if it's a bone in meal but it's hard to get it mixed in and still have something that I can feed as treats for training. I'm thinking I could rework the percentages to give me the balance needed for 11 meals, hope that they are getting their fair share of organs from the whole prey and take out the non-heart muscle meat and use about 1oz per day for all three ferrets for training? Mako and Bolin are doing great with their tricks and Korra is starting to trust us and behaving much better. It will also help cut down on the amount of salmon oil they get. There current portion sizes are 3oz twice a day, and unless it's heart, organ or whole prey there is something left when I come with the next meal. Their heart meals are 4 to 5oz as I know they will eat it all, and fight over it if there isn't enough. I don't want to up their organ meals and knock the balance though. I thaw the meat in the fridge so if the eat their full meal I can take it out of the fridge and it's ready for them to eat within an hour or so, but this pretty much never happens (except with the above) and then I adjust the time between meals to get back on track.
I've also got a freezer full of soupie, and would like them to stay familiar with it, so I was thinking of putting in a little bit with their mouse meal since it will stay a balanced meal and they LOVE mice, so shouldn't hold out for more soupies.
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Post by acodlin on Apr 1, 2015 8:45:10 GMT -5
The only organ that I'd be worried about over doing as much is liver. Why don't you post a menu and I'll look over it. With whole prey it is harder to determine who eats what for sure. Once I see your menu we can go from there.
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