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Post by Celene on Feb 2, 2015 10:29:55 GMT -5
I weighed them this morning - they've both lost a little but considering their energy levels the past week I think it's partially that the chunks aren't as appealing as the grind, but maybe also a bit of springtime weight loss.
Mocha Nova 25-Jan-15 1.80 1.67
28-Jan-15 1.75 1.68
02-Feb-15 1.69 1.59
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Post by Celene on Feb 2, 2015 14:32:20 GMT -5
The above weight from this morning was also on a totally empty stomach.
I seriously cut the pieces just oh so slightly larger than yesterday and didn't top with egg yolk and they didn't eat - not sure which caused it. I mixed in a little water which helped separate the meaty pieces. They'll eat the smaller ones, but anything that can't all fit in their mouths within a bite or two gets spat out beside the dish and left to dry up. I may have to go back to putting a little watered-down egg over top of each meal, but will hold off for now in the hopes that they'll just get really hungry and eat.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 17:32:03 GMT -5
I'm so proud you guys are doing amazing! Its okay for there to be some fat pieces at they do require a lot of fat in their diet. The recommended amount is about 35% so I wouldn't worry about putting too much fat in as long as you're not feeding whole meals of just fat.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 17:35:00 GMT -5
they're also still at good weights for females. I wouldn't be too concerned about a little weight loss. If its a lot suddenly then we'll start to worry.
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Post by Celene on Feb 2, 2015 18:09:33 GMT -5
Yup. Tonight I am going to feed them individually on my lap like I did for the organs. That way I can see how much each are eating, and it's also a good bonding experience and I love watching them tilt their little heads sideways as they try to chew.
Is it okay if I drizzle a little egg over every meal (at least to start) so long as it doesn't amount to, say, 1.5 each a week? (3 total). So far I've only been using the yolks because the whites are so gloopy they seem to be able to just pull out a huge glob of the whites and eat only that then they aren't hungry for their actual meat.
Also, does my frankenprey menu for the week look decent/balanced?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 21:04:29 GMT -5
it does look balances, but you should try to add in a second organ soon. Try looking for kidney or sweetbreads (thymus gland) at the grocery store. That amount of egg is fine. They can each have up to an egg a week!
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Post by Celene on Feb 2, 2015 21:12:51 GMT -5
I do have a lamb kidney but it's large and frozen. I wanted to wait until they were eating slightly larger chunks because truthfully I'm still grossed out by organs and want to do as little touching/cutting as possible. I think I cut the pork pieces for this morning a little too big because there was quite a bit left when I got home. The chicken I had for tonight's dinner I minced awhile ago when they were still only eating teensy slivers so the pieces are a little smaller. I dished up their meals separately and drizzled a tad of watered egg yolk over each all fancy and nice. I woke them up to feed them and they both ate about 1/3oz each and went right back to sleep.
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Post by Celene on Feb 3, 2015 1:12:23 GMT -5
So they were being little fussy faces and not eating any more chicken than those couple nibbles. They kept jumping up to the food shelf and looking at me for "real" food.
Then I brought out a tunnel which had been stored away for awhile, and they got SO hyper. They are very non-vocal and rarely dook, but they were dooking together and wrestling and running and were (no exaggeration) the most energetic I've ever seen them, and for a very long time too! Needless to say they were pretty hungry after all that craziness and gobbled the chicken right up and wanted more. Unfortunately since their meals this week are all pre-packaged for the week I had nothing to offer, but they had eaten quite a bit. I'll have to get a couple loose meat chunks to keep in the freezer for moments like these.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 2:00:34 GMT -5
I'm glad they ate the chicken! Sometimes it just takes some tough love. Mine would gobble down soup over anything if they had a choice. The tunnel sounds fun did you get any pictures? I have a marshals super thru way tunnel thats attached to a ball pit and they really like that. Especially when theyre hyper. Youll get used to the raw meat, but kidney will always be especially nasty. It smells like nasty rotten wee D:
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Post by Celene on Feb 3, 2015 10:05:39 GMT -5
Yeah. I am going to get some Vicks and rub it under my nose before I tackle the kidney! Even when I was dealing with the gizzards (they're frozen now because Mocha choked on a piece so I'm waiting until they're better at chewing) at one point I accidentally sniffed it and started gagging pretty bad. They do like chicken and will eat it no problem, it's just that when they were eating it before they were both getting pretty nasty poops so I stopped. There was one diarrhea this morning, but nothing really bad. For breakfast they had turkey - Nova needed a little coaxing but they both ate it. Tonight is organ night so they'll both be really happy about that. The tunnel I brought out is this one: They also have this tunnel: But right now it's put away. We're trying to sell our apartment so we have to keep it really clean and uncluttered, but I find when the tunnels were left out 24/7 they weren't so special and were never used.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 12:05:12 GMT -5
Vicks is the godsend for raw feeders. I use it when im slicing organs too Ooooh i like the colors on the tunnels. Mine is clear and its nice to be able to see them clearly, but a blue tunnel to match their cage would be nice They may still be adjusting and mine group still gets the occasional random diarrhea. If its just a one or two time thing its no biggie though. Good luck in selling your apartment!! Are you looking to upgrade to a house or something?
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Post by Celene on Feb 3, 2015 14:18:32 GMT -5
Yes! Vancouver is the second most unaffordable city in the world after Hong Kong. For the price of my 650 sq.ft. one bedroom apartment (constructed in the 1970's) I could buy a brand new 2014 townhouse in the suburbs. Although our plan is to get a "real" house that has a basement suite and rent it out so we can afford the mortgage.
It's tough and annoying selling though. But when I get a bigger place the first thing I'm doing is building a giant PVC tubing castle with hammocks and tubes. Actually, the first thing I'm doing is some hardcore ferret-proofing and searching for holes and such. But after that...
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Post by Celene on Feb 3, 2015 23:15:49 GMT -5
I'm not sure if it's the heart or the liver, but boy do these girlies love their organ meal! If it turns out to be heart I might start sprinkling it over the tougher meats. They both ate it up so fast that I ended up also giving them some turkey leftover from breakfast (I didn't put it all out because I didn't want it to dry up if they decided not to eat it).
Pork tomorrow for brekkie!
On a side note, you know you DEFINITELY aren't worried about raw meat anymore when you have a ferret sitting on your knee with a bowl of heart and liver and you reach over them to eat your own dinner at the same time.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2015 1:32:38 GMT -5
Oh they sound like they're doing so good!!! Soon we can start adding in some bony chunks
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Post by Celene on Feb 4, 2015 9:52:08 GMT -5
I can't wait! Their breath is rather stinky and they won't drink water when I add the oxyfresh supplement to it. I try to rub the pet gel on their teeth/gums but they are definitely not very receptive.
I'm still trying to get them to eat slightly larger pieces (maybe the size of my first pinky finger joint cut lengthwise) but it seems there is this invisible wall where once the pieces get *just* over a certain size they simply don't know how to eat it, or don't care to try.
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