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Post by LindaM on Apr 21, 2017 16:02:27 GMT -5
Once they have accepted different proteins and are happily eating their organ, heart, muscle and bone-in meals, you'll be switching onto a normal Frankenprey menu. That is your goal for them, yes? The Weekly Frankenprey Menu does a minimum of 3 different proteins, the more variety you can provide is always better, but at least 3 different ones at minimum. We do this because not all proteins are the same in nutrition. I'm gonna give the easiest example I can think of to show how some differ. Fattier cuts of meat provide more energy, but not all meats are fatty though. Frog Legs are a wonderful bone-in option for some ferrets, but it's a very lean meat compared to others. Same goes for something like Rabbit, it's a lean meat. Duck on the other hand is a nice, fatty meat. BUT NOT ONLY do these meats provide different levels of energy, they also have different levels of vitamins and minerals that they provide. Refer to this for more info: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/20361/importance-variety-nutritional-content-meatsAnother reason to create variety in your menu is that sometimes some ferrets develop food sensitivities to a protein that gets fed over and over all the time.
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Post by marietta on Apr 21, 2017 20:13:24 GMT -5
But you want to have multiple proteins in a week right? Not just different weeks for different proteins?
I found rabbit at the Asian market today. They didn't have that before. I bought one so we shall see how that goes.
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Post by marietta on Apr 21, 2017 20:34:12 GMT -5
I am aiming for frankenprey initially but I think I want to move into whole prey as well.
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Post by LindaM on Apr 21, 2017 21:45:15 GMT -5
Yes, at least 3 different proteins within the week, not single protein weeks.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 22, 2017 7:34:36 GMT -5
Good luck on the rabbit again, if they are hesitant, cut the new protein smaller and mix in well to a favourite. One of the reasons for doing a few proteins a week is making sure nutrition is covered and diet balanced on a weekly basis. Also, the wee shites will often get sick of a particular protein they think they've had too often(Suki- I'm talking about YOU here!!! lol) and refuse to eat it for at least 2 or 3 weeks :face: And adding whole prey is a great idea It may be another type of switching process though if they are like mine were
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Post by FireAngel on Apr 23, 2017 12:43:21 GMT -5
You have made some wonderful progress! Sudocream is a great option, it will help heal the wound and deter further bites. Rabbit is a great gentle protein. I hope they like it for you. Whole prey is the most natural a diet can get for ferrets so you will get nothing but encouragement from us to help you achieve that if it is what you decide on. Their menu should be as varied as ours is. If we ate nothing but apples for a week we would have some serious nutrient deficiencies and our bodies would be playing a constant catch up game as we switched to chicken for the following week. For this reason I try to feed something different in the evening then i did in the morning. Sometimes with whole prey though they will only have that particular thing that day. The next day is always something different though.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 24, 2017 8:39:21 GMT -5
Your's are lucky FireAngel What mine don't finish one meal is what they get the next!
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Post by FireAngel on Apr 24, 2017 9:49:04 GMT -5
lol well I have gotten the frankenprey portioning down to a decent science so the only time that really happens if for whole prey and I have enough of them eating it that typically it is gone in 2 meals if not the first.
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Post by marietta on Apr 26, 2017 22:08:37 GMT -5
Gave them some quail today. They ate some of it but I couldn't see who ate what because I was at work. I am going to leave the rest of it in the cage overnight to get them more use to it.
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Post by marietta on Apr 28, 2017 8:47:28 GMT -5
They seem to be doing pretty well with Quail. So now they are eating chicken, duck, rabbit, quail, and pork. They also eat heart very well and they love the liver and kidney puree. So happy things are going so well.
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Post by FireAngel on Apr 28, 2017 11:50:49 GMT -5
Oh that is great news! You are doing so well with them!
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Post by LindaM on Apr 28, 2017 13:23:36 GMT -5
It's wonderful that they are eating so well now, especially with such a variety already. You guys have come a long way, I'm so proud of you and the boys!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 29, 2017 9:15:38 GMT -5
I think it is about time to write out a menu based on what they are eating That way we can tweak it if needed
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Post by marietta on Apr 30, 2017 17:06:52 GMT -5
Wrote up a menu for the ferrets: I think I am noticing that they don't like duck as much as the other proteins. They do eat it just not as much. Save
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Post by marietta on Apr 30, 2017 17:17:15 GMT -5
Also I have a chicken head left over from cutting up a chicken I got from the Asian market. I'm not exactly sure what to do with it. Can I feed it to the ferrets?
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