|
Post by Sherry on Apr 6, 2017 22:39:50 GMT -5
Hi raebees I'll help you get there, never fear First however, I need you to give me a quick synopsis on exactly where they are at right now. How large are the pieces they are eating, etc.
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 7, 2017 0:21:59 GMT -5
Aftershock, thank you for all your help! I hope you'll still follow along with me. I'm sorry if my lack of participation brought this around. I know I've been awful about posting frequently, and I do want them to progress. 😞 Sherry, thank you for your confidence. We have progressed to slivers, no more. Both ferrets are reluctant to eat without meat being wet and drizzled in oil. We skipped the soup and went right to grinds, with slivers added in, and have slowly reduced not only the amount of water, but the amount of grinds, too. Chicken is better received, pork too, but beef is refused by one unless in ground form. At current, my small female eats maybe 6 to 10g average meal, my large female will eat 15g+ if she likes the protein and the pieces aren't too big. We follow the basic frankenprey menu substituting bone in for muscle meats and bone meal powder since both girls won't touch bone in without me holding the parts. Our organ nights have been comprised of 1/2 hearts, 1/4 liver, 1/4 organ blended into pudding on Wed, Fri and Sun because they both stopped eating as much dinner on Sunday without the hearts. This last week I've only been offering an oz to oz and a half of each protein per meal. There is almost always .5 oz or more leftover. We have had beef for three days now, as encouragement to eat it, and still, only Moxie will eat a couple pieces as she's licking off oil.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Apr 7, 2017 8:29:26 GMT -5
Okay- one more thing. Are you still hand feeding them other than the pureed organ soup? Just a head's up- we are going to be going at this hardcore So posting every second day at least right now will be mandatory. That way we can advance them. We are also going to be doing some "tough love"
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 7, 2017 11:57:47 GMT -5
No, handfeeding stopped some time ago. I've also dropped using the spoon to get Moxie interested. I believe I've been trying tough love a bit, Bella has refused breakfast and dinner yesterday because it was Beef and I didn't include grinds. She licked all the oil off but didn't eat any pieces. I'm offering chicken this morning to see if she'll go for it better.
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 7, 2017 22:56:00 GMT -5
Breakfast was a slump until I added egg midday. I've been struggling to find a good time to add some in, so I've been including it with meals. For whatever reason, adding the egg makes them eat almost all of the meat. Of the 1.5oz chicken leftover from breakfast, only .2oz remained after egg. The good news is both girls ate some chicken, but it took making it soupie to do so.
Tonight was organs. I offered 5 ozs and the plate was cleaned by both. I added a half oz for overnight, even though they normally won't eat outside of meal times.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Apr 8, 2017 8:25:54 GMT -5
Sounds like they aren't doing TOO badly What I'd like you to do is whip an egg with 1/4 c of water. This will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. Freeze half if need be. You are going to add maybe 1tsp drizzled over each meal like a gravy, for the moment. We will do that for 3 meals. Then I want you to mix half and half chicken and beef. Make the chicken bits larger(maybe 1/2" thick, and 2" long) Keep the beef the same size. Drizzle the lot with the water/egg mix. Let me know how they do with all of it
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 9, 2017 15:56:54 GMT -5
We've done the egg gravy for 3 meals 4/8 Am - chicken slivers + bmp 1.5oz chicken +1 tsp egg water None was consumed though interest was shown. Both girls licked at the plate but not enough to take any chicken. I did not add anything else to breakfast. Pm - pork slivers (about the same size as chicken) + 1tsp egg water (added a couple drops of salmon oil to the plate after first refusal) 1.65oz offered, all but a few grams remained by morning. Both walked away at the start, but after adding a couple drops of salmon oil, both are better than they have been. Bella ate 18g first go Moxie ate 15g! Bella probably consumed the rest, another 12g by morning. 4/9 Am - chicken slivers + bmp + 1tsp egg water (no oil) Offered 1.4oz chicken Bella ate 15g, Moxie ate about 8g, Bella didn't seem satisfied, she wouldn't settle for a nap and kept returning to the plate to attempt to eat more, though she really only licked the rest of the egg wash. Tonight is supposed to be our organ blend. Should I go ahead and give them their pudding tonight?
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Apr 10, 2017 8:39:18 GMT -5
It looks like they have decided they don't like chicken any more . Can you leave it off the menu for a week or two so they have a break from it? Otherwise do meals as per normal, but slowly increase the size. Make it half again as big around, and about an inch longer. If they don't eat what you have given for one meal, give exactly the same thing for the next meal. That way they learn they can't hold out for something else. Once they eat it, move on to the next item. This next stage is going to be about teaching them they need to eat what they are given(within reason), and YOU how to do tough love with them. If they miss a meal or two it isn't going to hurt them as they are young and healthy
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Apr 11, 2017 10:15:41 GMT -5
Updates?
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 11, 2017 10:42:35 GMT -5
Yes, Sunday we did organ pudding as we have been, they cleaned the 5.5oz plate by morning, even Moxie ate heartily. Monday AM 4/10 we had beef slivers with egg wash and they both ate about 15g combined, I watched both from a distance and several slivers (nail width, inch long) were consumed in full, not just chewed in half and dropped. PM was thrilling. I went for chicken one more time since it was already defrosted. I offered 1.5oz with a tsp of egg water and a drop of salmon oil on the edge of the plate. They ate almost all of it! Even my fatty Bella who is so stubborn about having to work for her food ate several decent size pieces in full! And Moxie was at the plate just as long as Bella, she kept returning for another bite! The only pieces remaining were a couple of the larger ones. I know this morning's meal might not be as well received, it seems breakfast isn't all it's cracked up to be, but I went to bed on a high last night after watching them actually eat their fill of something other than organs. That's about .2ozs leftover in the pic.
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 11, 2017 10:47:42 GMT -5
This morning is beef, normally, I slice beef into fairly small slivers since the texture is different and they're not as thrilled. But with current successes, I will be cutting larger slivers and see how they do. I plan on offering beef again tonight, regardless if they eat breakfast this morning. Would you suggest I make fresh or add to what they leave? Since the pieces are so small, I assume they turn a little faster than a larger chunk would so I haven't tried making them eat their leftovers yet.
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 11, 2017 13:24:09 GMT -5
Breakfast went better than I was expecting! Bella, of course, ate first but ate well. She did clean up all the egg water, so I added a bit more for Moxies turn (they usually eat at separate times, Bella's hungry at first glance but Mox needs time) and Moxie ate ok. 😂😂 I also feed our cat raw, and Moxie was being a pill so I put her on the dresser where the cats meal of beef was waiting. There was one, rather large chunk, maybe an inch and a half long, at least half an inch wide. I'd put a little egg water on the cats plate, too, so Moxie starts licking it up. I gently pushed the large chunk towards her, that silly ferret picked it right up, struggled with it for a second, chewing this way and that way, and swallowed! 😂😂 I'm dying because that was by far the largest piece I've ever offered and she took it like a champ!
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 11, 2017 15:36:29 GMT -5
I forgot that I weighed them yesterday. Even though Moxie is the smallest ferret I've had, I'm not as concerned since seeing and hearing about everyone else's tiny girls. But I am so dang happy about Bella! She was fat. Fat, fat, fat and I was extremely worried about her. At her highest, she hit 1680g (3.7 lbs). She was having trouble walking for longer distances, had little energy, didn't engage or play with Moxie at all, even picking her up was worrisome, I was afraid I'd accidently pop an organ!
Mox monster is 785g (1.7 lbs) and Belly Bell, my fatty patty, is down to 1480g (3.2lbs)!! I know now that I was encouraging too much food on them, being unused to how little raw they need and not having a mentor for the first month and a half. I also know, now, that hand feeding is addictive and my Bella looooooves hand feeding 😂
Bella is my defensive lineman, she'll spot Mox from across the room and chase her down and just bowl right over her 😂😂😂 She has so much more energy, she can sleep comfortably the way a ferret should sleep, head touching bum, she can clean herself again.
I knew she had put on weight, it happened so quickly, though, it seemed like I couldn't stop it. The only thing that helped was making the pieces bigger. She still acts "hungry" but I know she's not, she just likes food, and she may always have that hankering for an easy meal. Thankfully, mommas learning, and momma ain't gonna fall for it no mo'! Belly bell's gonna be a proper ferret whether she likes it or not! 😂
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Apr 12, 2017 9:22:27 GMT -5
OMG you have all achieved a real breakthough :boing: :goodjob: Okay, you are going to aim at the bigger pieces(same sized as she ate) ONLY and do it with the wash. After all- they do realize it is food, and are just being stubborn. As time goes on, what you will do is water that down more and more until it is just water and no egg. And if they are being stubborn wee shites, just add enough new to make up almost full meal for now. Are you weighing how much you are giving them, and then how much is left over by next meal time?
|
|
raebees
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
Yes, i am contagious. 😂😂
Posts: 219
|
Post by raebees on Apr 13, 2017 4:24:01 GMT -5
Yes, I am. It was contributing to my paranoia about Moxie eating enough but now I've found, since they have been eating better, weighing it after helps me see just how much meat they ate for all the licking they do. The good news is half of the chicken chunks I put out were eaten, though the size was really offputting for both. Bella had to return to the plate a few times but she eventually ate a few decent sized pieces. Movie took a little longer but she swallowed every piece she picked up.
|
|