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Post by dorena261-Natalia on Feb 29, 2016 5:32:17 GMT -5
did you try to offer bone in meat to Granger, and if you did, how it went? and... any news with Cowboy? licking the meat off of your finger is a great start. he'll get used to that taste very soon. waiting for the news...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 9:31:07 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for all of your advice, thank you Heather !
I can't wait to get Granger going on raw. I have not yet tried him on anything, he's at my boyfriends house who happens to live an hour away, he will only be there for two weeks. (I don't have adequate space to quarintine him here) I'm going on Wednesday to take the raw supplies to him. And we will begin then...I hate putting it off but due to my schedule I can't get here until then.
I don't know that I'll be able to find any green tripe in my area. I'm actually having a hard time just finding hearts. When I first started our local grocery store had pre packed packs of just hearts, they no longer carry them. I'm having to currently buy a package of hearts and gizzards mixed, the heart count is pretty high though, about 20 per pack. So it's not too bad..I'm thinking I might have to begin ordering off line. I'm going to check a few more places first before I do that though.
Soup went well yesterday, small improvements but nothing big.
Maverick and Bandit continue to really enjoy soup, they're the biggest eaters! Paisley enjoys it too, but she doesn't eat as much as the boys. They're all 3 only receptive to about one or two slivers before they're no longer interested. I offered a bowl of slivers yesterday, I just cut up a little of everything. Paisley was only interested in licking off the blood and didn't try to eat any chunks on her own.
Durango actually ate soup by himself and helped himself to the slivers bowl, he'd eat a piece and then hide a piece. Lol. He ate chicken thigh and heart but spit out the liver. He actually ended up taking the entire bowl of slivers and hiding it! He's a funny little guy!
Hoss ate out the spoon and still will not lick out of bowl. I'm beginning to think he doesn't want to get his face dirty lol. I'm going to try a plate tonight and just put enough to cover the bottom of plate and see how that goes.
Cowboy. Sigh, cowboy...he refused to lick from my finger, and actually fought to get away. I dabbed a bit on his nose, he licked it off but he wouldn't go for my finger. I will say that he showed more interest in the bowls and everyone else eating. He kept going over and sniffing and looking at what everyone else was doing. I think peer pressure may get to him. We will see. I hope so, nothing else seems to be convincing him lol.
I will post report cards this evening after work.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 23:31:51 GMT -5
Hey guys, just wanted to check in and let you all know I'll post report cards tomorrow. I wasn't able to get weights on everyone tonight.
I had to make an unexpected trip to my boyfriends house, he's worried about Granger, he seems to be doing a lot of sneezing and seems kind of congested. He wanted me to come and see him...he has a tendency to be a bit paranoid. Not sure what's going on with the little guy, could be nothing.
He will be going to the vet Wednesday instead of two Friday's from now.
Sorry..
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Post by Heather on Mar 1, 2016 0:39:58 GMT -5
Upper respiratory infections caused by stress is often a problem with baby farm ferrets. It's the overcrowding during shipping, the stress of their rushed surgeries with minimal anesthetics, the being removed from their mom and sibs far sooner than needed and not allowing them to reap full benefits from mom's immunity sets these little ones up for upper respiratory infections and other viral infections. This is why we suggest keeping them away from their new family for a minimum of two weeks. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 2:05:18 GMT -5
Upper respiratory infections caused by stress is often a problem with baby farm ferrets. It's the overcrowding during shipping, the stress of their rushed surgeries with minimal anesthetics, the being removed from their mom and sibs far sooner than needed and not allowing them to reap full benefits from mom's immunity sets these little ones up for upper respiratory infections and other viral infections. This is why we suggest keeping them away from their new family for a minimum of two weeks. ciao Thank you! He's absolutely being kept away. Lol, I even went the extra mile and didn't even bring him in my house yet. An upper respiratory infection would require antibiotics, right? Oh well, we fully intended on having him checked out by the vet before bringing him here anyway, he'll just go a few weeks early. No biggie!Thanks again!
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Post by dorena261-Natalia on Mar 1, 2016 3:28:36 GMT -5
just take your time with reports, their health is in the first place. about the soup, small improvements are still improvements, right? girls eat less than boys so don't expect Paisley to eat a lot like the others. it's normal. in general (and with ferrets and their food, we ALWAYS speak in generalities), adult males eat 2-4 ounces per day, adult females 1-3 ounces per day. kits of either gender eat 2-3 times MORE food than an adult. they all eat more when they are in the fall and winter mode, less in the spring and summer mode. in fact, ferrets can lose up to 40% of their body weight in the spring. other factors can play a role in their eating habits also, such as stress, excitement, temperature, or attitude (“I just don’t feel like eating chicken today, mom”). being familiar with your ferret’s eating habits at any given time of the year is important in keeping track of their health. this is one of the reasons we always recommend that you keep a food journal to track appetite, poops, activity, and weights. MOST ferrets are self-regulating and will eat only what they need. this is not to say that there are NO obese ferrets, but as a rule, they eat what they need to survive and no more. a good guideline when feeding is to try to make sure there is always a bite or two left over when you feed the next meal. you can try to offer Maverick, Bandit and Durango few slivers before the soup. one way you can try is to cut meat REALLY thinly and try and get it into their mouth to chew. the easiest way to do this is to freeze a piece of meat and let it thaw for 1-2 minutes. then you can use a vegetable peeler to slowly shave a very thin piece off. you can cut the shaved piece into narrower strips if you need to. To get them to eat it try dipping one end in oil theyy like, egg or just warm water, and slipping it into their mouth while they're licking it, or dangle it just a little above their head (as Poncesmom said) so when they licks it it goes into their mouth. take them in your lap, hold them gently and give them piece of meat in their mouth. the simplest way to teach them to eat slivers is to start mixing in teeny tiny bits of meat into their soup. they will probably spit some out at the beginning, but they will also (accidentally) chew and swallow some of the bits and realize that they're totally edible. once they are consistently eating the soup with the tiny bits of meat, you can slowly start increasing the number of bits and their size. i was laughing so hard with Durango hiding the bowl! occasionally a piece of meat, or two, will get stashed well enough and missed. these pieces continue to dry out and become fairly odorless, making what we call ‘ferret jerky’. most ferrets can’t resist this and will eat really nasty looking stuff with relish. if they’re eating it, it’s either not too far gone, or it has been successfully stashed and jerkified. most ferrets love to eat from the plate more than from the bowls. don't know exact reason but probably bc when they dive into a bowl, they don't see around them from the bowl edges and are afraid that someone will take their food. when they eat from the plate they see everything and are more relaxed. another thing, they can easily mess their whiskers when eating from the bowl and that's not nice! LOL
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 2:36:50 GMT -5
These are my report cards, they're only half done. I had said I would post them today. Didn't want to not post something. I came home from work today to find no power, it has only been on for a little over an hour, I am unable to post pictures easily from my phone, and getting weights in the dark or by flashlights was a bit difficult. Anyway, I will update post tomorrow with pics and weight. I'll also get a weight and pic of Granger as well.
Cowboy Weight:2lbs 10oz Cowboy is not eating any raw at all yet. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, still extremely stubborn and uninterested in soup.
Maverick Weight: 2lbs 9oz seems to really enjoy soup, slightly receptive to small slivers while being hand fed. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, soup offered twice a day. Very receptive. Unable to remove kibble at this point because he is caged with Cowboy and Hoss.
Bandit Weight: 2lbs 12oz Seems to enjoy soup, will eat a few small slivers by hand. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, soup offered twice daily. Very receptive. Unable to remove kibble at this point because he is caged with Cowboy and Hoss.
Durango Weight: 2lbs 10oz Durango seems to be slightly interested in soup, seems more receptive to chunks. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, soup offered twice daily. He is also caged with Cowboy and Hoss.
Paisley Weight: 2lb 3oz receptive to raw, not much interested in slivers. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, soup offered twice daily. She is also housed with Cowboy and Hoss.
Hoss Weight: 3lbs 10oz Hoss is slightly receptive to soup, will still only eat if off of my finger or a spoon. stools are normal activity level normal Currently still eating his kibble, soup offered twice daily. Working on graduating from spoon to plate.
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Post by dorena261-Natalia on Mar 2, 2016 5:17:35 GMT -5
i assume you couldn't work with them with no power and you could try today? i know it's awful situation when you're without electricity and you're so used to it. i tried several times and never want to try again hope they're all feeling better, especially Granger
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 22:13:23 GMT -5
I've updated my report cards with weights, going to get pictures here in a few. Everyone is very wired right now...not holding stil for pics lol.
Natalia, I did not get to work with them last night due to the power outage, poor guys pretty much slept all night because it was dark. Lol, I tried to wake them, they only came out for a bit and went back to sleep.
I wasn't able to work with them as much as I'd like today, I had a very busy day. Had to take one of my cats to the vet this morning, had the cable people here rewiring our entire house so the babies had to be caged while they were here since they were in and out of room. Also Granger had his first vet appointment today.
Granger is doing well, vet said he looks good for the most part. Think she believes he has a slight respiratory infection but didn't sound too bad. We were concerned about possible prolapse...she said it was "bulging" but not a full prolapse at this point so we're just keeping an eye on him. He's so stinking cute! I can't take it! He's so lonely though, and he's going to have to be seperated from everyone else until he gets a bit bigger, don't want him getting beat up on. Were seriously considering getting another baby close to his size...tell me I'm crazy! 8 ferrets!
Not much to report today.
Maverick, Bandit, and Paisley still seem to enjoy soup. I tried adding some slivers to their soup and they ate a few bust mostly ate around them?
Durango is receptive to soup but seemed more content eating everyone's left behind slivers lol.
Hoss seems to like plate better than a bowl, I was able to start him off with a spoon and have him take a few licks from the plate before he realized what was going on and wanted spoon back.
Cowboy, still very stubborn. I was however able to get him to eat about 3 spoonfuls of soup by adding 4 drops of oil to it...is this okay? I thought I could maybe slowly decease the amount of oil and maybe convince him soup is okay that way? If this is acceptable, I'd say I'm on to something here and may have made a lot of improvement with him!
I will update with picture later tonight/early tomorrow morning. I have to wait to catch everyone a little sleepy for them to hold still long enough for me to get pics lol.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 7:14:59 GMT -5
Good Morning! So how many times during your power outage did you walk into a room and flip the light switch, lol. The report cards look good overall. Everyone is making a nice steady progress even if it doesn't always look that way. You can put a little sugar on Granger's possible prolapse and that will help it go back in. Keep an eye on him though and you might need some more eggshell powder in his soupie. Each ferret has different needs for their bone requirements. Granger may need a bit more and he is very young. Another baby! Oh boy. Granger will enjoy that. Just keep in mind that you'll have some vet bills along the way and 8 can be a handful if you need to travel or get someone to babysit. You might also end up with several play groups if someone doesn't get along with somebody or somebodies else. I certainly don't want to discourage you from giving a fuzzie a loving home though. If you'll allow me one small note though. Ferrets bond to their families and friends. Think hard before you bring someone else home. It's very traumatic for any ferrets if their Ferrent finds that they simply have too many and want to rehome them. I'd have 8 if I didn't have a husband who says No! It's Friday so it's quiz day. I'll ask dorena261-Natalia to give you a small quiz based on what we've learned so far. Hugs to all.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 8:03:09 GMT -5
I'm glad to hear reports look good. I don't always feel like we're making progress lol. But every small victory is huge for me!
The sugar for Grangers possible prolapse, do I make a pasty consistency? Or how do I apply it?
As far as the new baby, I'm on the fence. Granger would benefit from a play mate. And our poor Paisley is so much smaller than all the boys, she so docile and gets pushed around at times. They all play so rough with her. She really enjoyed having Ellie around because they were a good size match and able to play. They bonded rather quickly. Those are the two biggest reasons we would consider adding an eighth. We've already had a few experiences with just how expensive our guys can be. We've had surgery and on going care with Bandit, surgery and care and trying everything under the sun on Ellie, and now Maverick may end up needed some more testing and such. We also know that as our group gets older, well more than likely be facing many more medical bills. We are saving for that now. Getting rid of any of these guys would never be an option for us. They're like our children and they will be with us for their entire lives. Our group has always been very accepting of others, we've slowly added on every couple months since June, so i think they're still open to the idea. I do realize we could run into a situation where someone isn't accepted, that's fine. We would just have two groups. I don't know if it's true, I've read that if the ferrets are younger they're more accepting of new additions to their buisness, all of ours are under a year...but getting close to their first birthdays.
My first quiz! I'm excited!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 8:16:27 GMT -5
It sounds like you've thought it through very nicely. I do think Granger would love to have a friend his own age. I know Dorena is busy so if she doesn't get a chance to post a quiz today then I will post one later this afternoon. For the prolapse put a bit of water and make a little paste. Apply it to his bum and then hold him for a few minutes so he doesn't try to lick it off. gfountain just did this for her Slinkee so I tagged her for you. Every small step forward is a Victory and you should be very proud of yourself and the little ones. :thumbsup:
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Post by gfountain on Mar 3, 2016 8:25:25 GMT -5
Actually, you don't need to make a paste. Just dampen your finger and dip it in the sugar. Hold it on his rear for a few minutes and then brush off any loose crystals before you let him go.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2016 9:23:46 GMT -5
Actually, you don't need to make a paste. Just dampen your finger and dip it in the sugar. Hold it on his rear for a few minutes and then brush off any loose crystals before you let him go. Thanks Gina :wave3:
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Post by dorena261-Natalia on Mar 3, 2016 11:49:25 GMT -5
YAAAAAY, a quizz time! so, let's start with one... 1. is it better to use lean or fatty meat in ferret's diet? and why 2. what is the good source of Taurine? 3. does freezing or heating degrade Taurine? 4. If you supplement with Taurine powder, what is the recommended dosage per ferret? 5. for what reason is liver only 5% of the total diet per week? 6. What protein is high in Iron and Vitamin B? 7. is there a chance that ferret get E. Coli from raw meat? 8. about how long is a ferret's digestion time? 9. is it a good idea to cook meat for ferret? and why 10. How much can a ferret's appetite and weight change seasonally? i hope 10 Q's is not too much for you
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