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Post by raynebc on Sept 10, 2015 2:36:11 GMT -5
Things are keeping pretty normal with this group. Cally still squeals a couple times a day as far as what I end up hearing, but they are getting along pretty well. I'm overdue to take their weights again, but Rusty's weight has been pretty steady, Cally's has been climbing slowly. Copper and Reska are pretty slim, but they are both generally eating at each meal.
Tonight they got their first offering of frog legs. Rusty was puzzled for a minute or two and quickly paced around the dish but after drinking some of the juice he parked himself at the dish and ate for a while. None of the other ferrets took to it the way he did, but he may have just been really hungry since they'd finished off all of their breakfast. They all seem to enjoy bone in meals more than anything else. I did end up doing scruff and sample with the other ferrets. Since they will spit out meat that I set in their mouths, I just hold it up to the side of their mouths so they end up chomping. I got them all to at least pick up a chunk in their mouths. I added a bit more frog leg with a light chicken FDR broth before getting ready for bed. This sweetened the deal for Reska and Cally and they both had some dinner. Copper was his usual lazy self and was more interested in attention than food.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2015 7:48:19 GMT -5
Raynbec what kind of sack is that which has trimming around edges and makes a lot of crackling sounds?
video of getting excited for dinner.
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Post by raynebc on Sept 10, 2015 11:35:07 GMT -5
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Post by raynebc on Sept 13, 2015 4:20:34 GMT -5
After I shampoo'd the ferrets' rug last night their pen was actually clean enough for me to hang out in for a bit. Rusty has a few tiny little scabs below his shoulders where Coppers gotten him a couple times, but they look like they should heal up fine. He still seems to give Copper space occasionally, even though he's big enough to whoop Copper if he had the will. While the other 3 were sleeping in the hammock I let him nap on my lap for a while, which is rare because he's usually so energetic and wants off the ground.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 22:20:22 GMT -5
What cuties! I have to admit, Cally's nose is adorable.
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Post by raynebc on Sept 24, 2015 13:00:40 GMT -5
The new guys are still gaining a bit of weight. Cally was at about .99kg this morning, and Rusty was at 1.5kg (although he did eat a bit of leftovers before I weighed him so that contributed). Reska's and Copper's weights are still decreasing, but I've increased their collective meal portion size to about 6 ounces per meal and the last couple meals they've had some leftovers even if it's just some chunks scattered around in the pen. I need to increase the amount of egg in their diet, they would slurp that down no problem.
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Post by raynebc on Oct 2, 2015 2:30:25 GMT -5
By now, Cally's over 1kg and Rusty's hanging at around 1.52kg. They both certainly love their food. I just adjusted the planned meal portion size to 7oz each for breakfast and dinner and it seemed to be about perfect this morning as they had a bit of their liver+heart left over. They were all slumbering when I got home, all probably having had enough to pig out and go into food comas.
In the past week I've been making an effort to throw an egg in every other meal or so, and I think it helped. Copper and Reska maintained their weight instead of continuing to get a little lighter. It still seems to be a popular addition, it always ends up being drunk before the meat is eaten. I'll aim to feed them a combined total of 4 eggs per week.
Cally and Rusty are getting a little better about using the litter box. I'm making a stronger effort to clean it frequently (removing poop and soiled litter and then wiping down the inside of the litter box with rubbing alcohol) to encourage them to use it.
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Post by raynebc on Oct 6, 2015 13:26:39 GMT -5
The new portion size seems to be going well, they've had a little bit of scraps left before every new meal. Cally now weighs a little more than Copper and Rusty's up to 1.55kg, he might even hit the 3.5 pound mark soon.
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Post by raynebc on Oct 26, 2015 2:42:10 GMT -5
They're all doing well. They still fuss with their spill proof water bowl so I'm going to fashion a harness with some wire to keep it attached to the side of their pen. They seem to like their new metal dog food bowl, it's big enough for them all to huddle around and they don't accidentally push their food out like they did with the plate.
To put an end to all of the odor complaints from my friend, I spent most of my waking hours yesterday replacing their area rug with vinyl matting to make their pen's floor spill/accident/damage-proof. I also changed all their bedding and gave all four of them their first ever (and only, for the foreseeable future) shampoo wash to make sure they were clean of any lingering grossness of their old area rug.
Rusty and Cally are getting a checkup and canine distemper vaccine each later today in order to prepare for some friends moving in. They have a dog, and having one of those on premises increases exposure so I'm not taking chances.
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Post by raynebc on Nov 10, 2015 16:56:07 GMT -5
They're still doing well with the raw menu and their appetites do seem to be lowering a little bit, some of their meals will have a good 10-20% left when it's time for the next one. Rusty, Cally and Copper were perfectly behaved for getting their claws trimmed last night, but Reska got upset and fussed a bit. Afterward, I gave them all salmon oil as a treat. I remember the newbies not caring for it so much last time, but this time Rusty and Reska would put it away as quickly as I could set the plate down. I had to feed it to Copper on the side so he could have some. Cally didn't act too interested but I held her and she licked it willingly off the plate. Reska is still so skinny (just under half of what Rusty weighs) that I should get back into the habit of giving them oil a couple times a week. They still share 3-4 eggs per week and they still seem to love those.
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Post by raynebc on Dec 22, 2015 16:44:20 GMT -5
Their weights are holding pretty steady, although Copper gained 100-200 grams for Winter and greatly outweighs Cally again. Yesterday was Rusty's estimated birthday so I gave them back their tunnel which I'd washed the previous day and left hanging to dry. It was all stretched out from hanging so it was extra long and they all had a blast. I gave them all salmon oil to celebrate and they all loved it. Rusty, being the glutton that he is, had two portions of oil but I won't hold it against him. He also got extra cuddles so he probably had a pretty good day.
I found a petstore in an adjacent city that can special order duck necks, so I had them order a 5 pound portion of it. My guys love chicken wings and turkey necks so I'm optimistic that they'll like duck necks. They haven't been liking quail so much lately so I'm going to be mixing an egg with their weekly quail meal. They also sometimes eat organ breakfasts lightly (as they often do with muscle meat breakfasts) and gorge on the bone in dinners that follow, so I'm trying mixing them half and half to see how it goes (with a bit of FDR broth to homogenize the flavor). I might have to try moving organ to dinner instead if I get the feeling they're eating around the organs.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2015 17:57:23 GMT -5
Do you pound your necks with hammer?
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Post by raynebc on Dec 23, 2015 14:58:39 GMT -5
I use a good cleaver to separate the neck between the joining points of each of the vertebrae, then I typically slice each of those chunks into 2 or 3 discs, and then split each disc into 3 or 4 pieces. I try not to swing the cleaver at them any more than I have to because it's too easy to cause raw bone fragments to fly around and I like to try to keep things clean for my room mates. I can mostly get away with sawing through the meat down to the bone and leaning my weight onto the flat edge of the cleaver, or getting the blade into the bone/meat enough that it lifts up with the knife, and I can let gravity help by using both hands to gently slam the blade (with neck attached) into the cutting board to wedge into the bone. I end up with pieces small enough to be mostly eaten up and usually my ferrets will pick it down to some small bone fragments.
Turkey necks are tough to cut up this way, but I expect duck necks will be significantly easier because they're a smaller bird.
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Post by raynebc on Jan 10, 2016 2:11:35 GMT -5
Last week I got the duck necks and cut them up. It takes a while to cut up 5 pounds of them, but they are undeniably easier than cutting turkey necks. The weasels all got a half meal sized portion of duck necks for Friday snack. Rusty was game for it and even laid down at the food dish and ate for a while. Reska picked a chunk out of the food dish and took it to her food box for a few minutes. Copper ate a little bit of it but didn't seem too impressed. Cally was not particularly happy about it and would pick it up, carry it away from her bed and set it down. I scruffed her held a piece in her mouth when she yawned, and set her down after she was holding it, although I can tell she was getting annoyed. By dinner time (6 hours later), maybe 1.5-2 ounces worth of the duck had been eaten so it wasn't a smashing success, but they will be getting it again soon (probably Sunday dinner). I'll try mixing it with an egg next time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2016 4:14:33 GMT -5
They're all so cute :3 I wish my deaf ferret would play but for some unknown reason she doesn't and I've had her for a year now so I have to entertain her in other ways, same for my little old man Jasper who used to play but doesn't now so I take them on walks often so they can have a good sniff around, lots and lots of power sniffing
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