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Post by marietta on Apr 2, 2017 20:39:32 GMT -5
Egg yolk is the important part correct? Even though I whip it up Alvie won't eat the egg bc of the texture of the white part. He starts licking it up until he encounters the jelly like part of the white.
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Post by LindaM on Apr 2, 2017 22:01:57 GMT -5
You can give the yolk by itself if it's putting him off of eggs to encounter it like that (it's just the white should never be given alone). I've noticed the same happen with Loki a few times too. He tends to prefer just getting the yolk, but Athena doesn't seem to mind very much.
Do you keep all your eggs in the fridge or some on the counter? Room temperature eggs seem to have this issue less than refrigerated eggs, at least that's been my experience with it.
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Post by marietta on Apr 2, 2017 22:14:48 GMT -5
Bone is going well. Tried to spoon feed pureed liver and kidney tonight. Albie ate a few teaspoons but Gwin wouldn't. I just kept dabbing some on his mouth throughout the evening. I left the bowl of puree in there cage in hopes they will eat more.
Also gave them a bit of egg tonight. Gwin eats that fine but Albie won't really eat it. I think it is the texture of the whites he doesn't like so I will probably just give yolk next time. Yes I keep all my eggs in the fridge.
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Post by LindaM on Apr 2, 2017 22:19:55 GMT -5
Yeah, the white tends to gather into a thick, jelly-like clump when refrigerated, but it's much thinner and runnier when at room temperature. You could try to let an egg get closer to room temp by leaving it out for a bit before whipping it up for them and see if he's okay with the texture then, otherwise just yolks should be fine too.
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Post by marietta on Apr 3, 2017 7:46:59 GMT -5
No luck with leaving the purée in overnight. I am hoping I can get them to eat more of it next time. I'm nervous they are going to start missing the nutrition they need from those. I feel like I'm trying to get kids to eat vegetables 😋
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2017 8:34:05 GMT -5
It is EXACTLY like getting kids to eat veg they don't like As for nutrition- a sick ferret can go up to 5 or 6 months on jarred baby food alone before nutritional deficiencies show up- so we have time yet The only exceptions to this are tiny babies who need calcium and taurine desperately for bone and brain development.
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Post by marietta on Apr 3, 2017 12:43:22 GMT -5
That is good to know that it takes that long. I know they aren't babies but at least they are eating bone and heart so they are getting their calcium and taurine. Should I stick to trying to feed liver and kidney once a week or should I try to spoon feed a bit more often to get them use to it because they aren't eating much of it?
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Post by marietta on Apr 4, 2017 8:32:30 GMT -5
Weekly Info
Albie Weight: 1120g
Gwin Weight: 1250g
Between them they are eating about 4-6 ounces per day.
They are on cornish hen with bone in. They are eating heart once a week (Following sample frankenprey menu). Trying to get them to eat liver and kidney puree. Gwin is more receptive to egg than Albie. Going to try just egg yolk with Albie next time. Stools seem to vary between more formed and watery.
They both seem to have normal activity levels if not having more energy than normal.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2017 9:44:15 GMT -5
If you are getting very little liver/organ into them, then try a few times a week. If absolutely essential, mix it in with all their other muscle meat meats, kind of like coating the meat to get the taste into them.make up their full weekly portion, use that to coat, and then spoon feed the rest as a meal. The more they have to taste something, the more they will come to accept it It can be difficult. If this doesn't work I have one more trick up my sleeve As Cornish hen is going well, let''s try a different protein What is easily available to you?
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Post by marietta on Apr 4, 2017 13:03:18 GMT -5
I have to go to the Asian grocery store to look again. I can't remember what they have there. I think they have rabbit, duck, and your more everyday stuff like chicken, beef, and pork. Unfortunately the packaging on the meat there doesn't tell you much about the quality of the meat. I may be ordering more from Hare Today I am not sure. I know they have a lot of options. It is just expensive to ship and I don't have room in my freezer to order the 50lbs at once that they suggest to cut down on shipping cost.
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Post by LindaM on Apr 4, 2017 14:10:44 GMT -5
Are you in the States, Marietta? I can't recall right now. Asian stores are regulated for food quality and safety here. While I myself would be too fussy to eat meat from there (considering I always shop premium meat for our personal use anyway), it's still considered safe for human consumption, and thus should be fine for the ferrets. It tends to work out much cheaper for us to go there instead of doing an online order, that shipping cost and required limits can really hurt the wallet, especially if you have more limited freezer storage space.
I've noticed some of the Asian stores don't label the meat packages very well, the one store I go to just sticks on a label saying "Meat", and you get to play the guessing game of "Identify that meat piece" since only some of the items get a label or poster stuck on the freezer itself to correspond to the item. But some of the Asian stores actually label items quite nicely as to what they are, either on the package or the freezer and sometimes includes a picture too. So sometimes it's worth the drive to the one that's a little further away from us, I've been pleasantly surprised when shopping around for different places. And I've only ever really had to deal with checking for salt in products that require "tenderizing" like pork, or certain types of fish or dried meats, which I just end up avoiding. Instead I get the ferrets pork from the butcher directly where we buy our personal meat to avoid tenderizer solutions.
Proteins that are usually pretty easy to get at the Asian stores would be rabbit (leaner meat), duck (fattier meat), quail (nice for bone-in) and frog legs (leaner bone-in). They tend to also provide a decent range of organs such as hearts, livers, kidneys, uteri, etc.
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Post by marietta on Apr 4, 2017 20:45:26 GMT -5
Yes I am in the states. Thanks for the info Linda. I really would like to do quail but I can't remember if the only Asian market around here has it. I am also thinking I want to do whole prey at some point so I will probably have to order online at some point since I don't have a reliable local source for that stuff.
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Post by LindaM on Apr 4, 2017 21:33:48 GMT -5
Check the freezer sections in the Asian store, nearby the ducks and chickens usually, for packs of jumbo quail.
I'd also check their rabbit and duck selections, those could be whole prey options I believe, as some of our Asian stores sell them whole and just skinned/defeathered but still including everything else last I asked. Some might sell the rabbits still whole but without head or feet though, most of the time the duck is entirely whole, head and all, haha. You'd have to ask if they've been gutted or not at the store you go to though, some places will remove just the intestines but leave other organs intact, others remove all of it.
You could try and see if anyone can provide you with some at a farmer's market or the like too sometimes.
Other than that, online yeah. Hare Today has whole prey options, and you can do Rodentpro as well I think.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 5, 2017 10:09:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the info Linda Being from Canada, I know all our stores and markets are regulated but wasn't sure about the ones there.
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Post by marietta on Apr 8, 2017 16:21:35 GMT -5
Sorry it has been a few days since posting. Things have been crazy. They are doing well on the Cornish hen with bone. They end up eating the entire hen by the end of a week. They are doing ok on hearts. I have to cut them in half and put a little bit of soup on it. Then today I tried liver and kidney soup and they ate more than they have in the past but not all of it so I am leaving it in their cage to see if they eat more of it later after they have some time out of the cage.
I can't find quail locally at this point. The Asian market doesn't have it so I bought a duck. I think it is fully intact except for the head and feet. So I am not really sure how to cut it up with all the guts inside. Also how do you go about introducing a new protein?
I also found another kind of hen. It looks slightly bigger than the Cornish hens at shoprite and a lot cheaper so I am hoping it won't be too big for them.
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