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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 15:13:21 GMT -5
Hi. I recently got my 5 month old female ferret to start eating whole prey. When she started on small hopper mice, she would eat the whole thing and leave nothing. But now that im giving her whole adult mice, rat pups of the same size, and baby chicks...she is only eating the "top half". She will eagerly eat the head and front arms/wings and part of the torso. Always leaving the lower half of the animal. So im worried that she may not be getting the necessary nutrients from not eating the part where most of the organs are. Has anyone came across this problem before? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.  |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Aug 22, 2016 16:13:43 GMT -5
Oh yes, my abbey does it, so i gut the mice.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 16:27:30 GMT -5
What do you mean? Just chop them up?
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Aug 22, 2016 16:50:14 GMT -5
Gutting means removing the stomach and intestines of the prey animal. This is where all the foul-tasting plant matter and poop in the prey is contained, and many ferrets won't eat the bottom half unless the entire digestive tract has been removed.
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Post by msav on Aug 22, 2016 18:30:44 GMT -5
Or you can leave the bottom half in there until they are hungry enough to eat it.
It is like someone eating the skin off all the pieces of the fried chicken first until they are full, If there is no more skin and they are still hungry they will eat the rest after eating the best part first. (or buy more fried chicken)
Tough love if you let them walk all over you they will continue to walk all over you your entire life. and Yes ferrets are that smart. Don't underestimate them
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 19:35:36 GMT -5
Or you can leave the bottom half in there until they are hungry enough to eat it. It is like someone eating the skin off all the pieces of the fried chicken first until they are full, If there is no more skin and they are still hungry they will eat the rest after eating the best part first. (or buy more fried chicken) Tough love if you let them walk all over you they will continue to walk all over you your entire life. and Yes ferrets are that smart. Don't underestimate them Thanks. But how long is it okay to leave a half eaten mouse in the cage before it goes bad? |
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Post by Heather on Aug 22, 2016 21:54:48 GMT -5
If they're only eating heads then they're not hungry enough. Just leave them with the bums, they'll usually stop being little zombie ferrets when they realise there's no heads coming in the near future. If I'm having real trouble with them eating the whole mouse, then I will pick them up and stick them in the fridge and feed later
ciao
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Post by msav on Aug 22, 2016 23:57:24 GMT -5
Or you can leave the bottom half in there until they are hungry enough to eat it. It is like someone eating the skin off all the pieces of the fried chicken first until they are full, If there is no more skin and they are still hungry they will eat the rest after eating the best part first. (or buy more fried chicken) Tough love if you let them walk all over you they will continue to walk all over you your entire life. and Yes ferrets are that smart. Don't underestimate them Thanks. But how long is it okay to leave a half eaten mouse in the cage before it goes bad? depends on the temperature in the house but usually 2 to 3 days. If it starts to smell it gets tossed. |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Aug 23, 2016 5:53:03 GMT -5
While whole prey will be out ok for couple of days,do not make a ferret wait out this long.
If u did want to gut, make a snip into abdomen in upper area. Cut the skin part all the way down to genitalia. After this,I reach in with the scissors and pull wad of guts out.
Tip:
Bending rat or mouse to make gut pertrude forward for easier access.
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Post by bitbyter on Aug 23, 2016 6:23:00 GMT -5
yup, wait them out and feed a bit less. They are only eating their favorite bits and conning you into bringing more.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 23, 2016 9:57:05 GMT -5
I would just leave the back ends as well as cutting down on the number you are feeding You may actually be giving them too many. |
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Post by raynebc on Aug 23, 2016 13:27:46 GMT -5
My ferrets are picky like this with mice, so I have to remove the fur, guts, chop up the body and mix with egg (their favorite treat). It's the single greatest amount of prep I do for any one meal, but they usually eat about 3 out of the 4 mice (and the egg).
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Post by Heather on Aug 23, 2016 15:03:04 GMT -5
Oh,wow...that doesn't leave much of a mouse :bow:
ciao
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Post by raynebc on Aug 24, 2016 13:24:20 GMT -5
I haven't tried leaving fur on for a couple weeks, I guess their next mouse meal could have furry chunks in it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2016 14:32:48 GMT -5
My ferrets appear to be opposite. Mice are the one thing I can guarantee every single ferret will eat. With gusto.
I do often buy nude mice though as they do seem to prefer them, they eat the furred ones just as well though :-)
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