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Post by LindaM on May 10, 2017 20:15:36 GMT -5
Sorry for the late response, things have been a little rough since my doctor's visit yesterday.
So, for rabbit, they can pretty much eat all the bones, same as for other whole prey types like quail, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, etc. Duck bones on the other hand do have some that are a bit too tough for most ferrets and they may not wish to bother with them, like any weight bearing bones, ie. thigh bones. They can have duck wingtips, necks, and ribs without issues usually. For bones that are too big for them, they'll commonly just shear the meat off of it and refuse to touch the bone. Since yours are new to eating bones though, they may just do that with some of the slightly tougher bones anyway and you may need to segment pieces a little more for them and/or crush the bone up until they have built up their jaw strength (some bones do seem to require smashing all the time, like turkey necks which are rather tough).
You can see if the boys will take to a size like that right now (sometimes it can intimidate them), or they may need to be worked up to that size over some time. Something to consider is that these will be new proteins that they haven't discovered is food yet, so they may be picky with it at first, and you might need to cut up some small slivers to mix in with the chicken that they already see as food.
Do the boys have any issues eating their heart or organ meals separately ie. heart meal (only hearts), and organ meal (1/2 liver & 1/2 other organ) and then one meal of heart and organ (1/2 heart, 1/4 liver, 1/4 other organ)?
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 22:16:56 GMT -5
I have not tried just heart or liver and Ijust picked up Chicken kidney. I will defrost and try as we are on our last of the mince I made.
They picked off all the meat and marrow from the chicken neck and left 3 vertebrae and did not eat them. Could it be that they were too tough? I have chicken wing tips I can break the bone is that softer? What do you suggest?
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 22:58:06 GMT -5
Also Benji has had some green with a bit of mucus in his poops is that normal detox poop?
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Post by LindaM on May 10, 2017 23:38:19 GMT -5
The necks are likely a bit tough, they've only recently tried out some meat chunks, they need to build up jaw strength. Refer to those two links about how to segment and crush bone I linked to before, that should help them get started on building jaw strength. Chicken wing tips would work well, though if they seem picky about it, smash up the bone and open it up a bit to help get them interested, especially since it sounds like they like the taste of marrow.
So usually green poops scare the crap out of us too, considering green poops could be A) ECE, or B) food that was passed through the digestive system much faster than normal (usually occurs when eating something they shouldn't have). But in this case I'd say it's going to be detox stools, those are all over the place in colors and consistencies. Just keep an eye out for any troubles that could point to it being something else, like not wanting food/water, lethargy, etc.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 0:04:10 GMT -5
Poops are now black as they ate liver last night! Benji is my rock star he eats whatever I give him! Freddy is my picky baby, he ate the liver and heart but pieces of chicken had to be mixed in. I know this is normal but frustrating. Milestone.. Freddy ate a chicken wingtip albeit cut up he ate it bone and all. Benji scarfed down his wing tip whole with crushed bone. Gave them Kidney today as they were both hissing at my feet when I was cutting it up getting it portioned to freeze so i put some in their bowls and fed them. They both ate it!! I still have to cut and portion the duck and rabbit i bought, but that is tomorrows project when I am off. Todays so far they have eaten a wingtip each and about 0.5oz kidney and about an oz each of chicken thigh. yesterday they had 2oz mash, 1oz turkey heart, and 1oz liver with some chicken thigh mixed in. is this enough food? They have both gained weight. Going to do a weigh in tomorrow. Sometimes they act as though they are hungry but then when given food they dont always eat it. Benji is 10 weeks and Freddy is 7months. So sorry I did not post earlier. My kitten (just turned a year) had a seizure while posting this  |
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Post by LindaM on May 13, 2017 0:27:06 GMT -5
You're totally fine, no need to apologize at all, we all know life happens. I've had a bit of a hectic week myself, got diagnosed with basically Hypertension Stage 2 (high blood pressure) on Tuesday, and I had to take Apollo to the vet today and it ended up that he has a bacterial ear infection I need to take care of over the next 2 weeks. So I may end up being a bit slow in responding myself. Is your wee kitty cat okay though?
It sounds like the boys are doing very good. Yes, organ meals will result in some nasty tar-like poopies. Usually it's a good idea to plan out your menu so that you follow up organ meals and heart meals with a bone-in meal for the next meal. This can help firm up those poops again.
As for eating enough, do you still have a few bites remaining in their food bowls by the time you change to the next meal? If so, then you should be good, if the bowls are licked clean, someone might not be getting their fill of food. Was the 4oz of food yesterday between the two of them, or per each one of them?
Don't be frustrated, you guys are doing great! You and the fuzzballs! So let's recap, they are eating muscle, hearts, organs, and bone-in now, yes? Even if it still takes a bit of mixing with chicken, they are still eating all 4 of those types, right? Do you want to give it a shot in creating a weekly menu? As you guys progress and they accept more proteins, that menu will continue to be modified, so that it gets properly balanced out with enough proteins.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 14:10:24 GMT -5
Th kitten is fine when she threw up she triggered the vasovagal response and caused herself a seizure. Just scary not harmful or anything to worry about. As for making a menu that is my goal today. I came here to find others menus and start from there. I'm still a little overwhelmed with all of it but I am sure one day I will get the hang of it all and be good. :-) Right now they will eat: Heart (turkey and chicken) Kidney (chicken) Liver (Beef) Chicken (Thigh, neck and wingtips) Rabbit (Meat and some of the bones) I am going to give them Duck for lunch. As for having a bite left over sometimes yes and sometimes no. I usually shoot for 2oz each meal and it seems to have been working well thats a total of 6 oz of food through out the day and I know they are gaining weight because I think Freddy is getting too fat  |
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Post by LindaM on May 13, 2017 14:37:17 GMT -5
So glad to hear kitty cat is fine.  Don't worry, you'll do great, and since they are eating all the basics, you have enough to start your first menu. Try to do a bone-in meal after any heart or organ meals, that's helpful for the poopies. Let me know how they do with the duck today. As for the food amount, is that a daily 6oz per ferret, or is it for both of them? My two 8-month old boys eat around 4oz of food each per day, excluding the occasional odd day where one of them wants a bit extra. If you dangle Freddy does his tummy bulge out at the sides or not? If not, he's fine. What is his weight? Anywhere near 3lbs is usually a healthy weight for males, but of course it can differ depending on their build. On raw, ferrets will rarely ever overeat, if at all even. It's a very rare occurrence, since they regulate themselves on raw very well, and even more so when they are eating food that requires them to work for it like chunks or bone-in meals compared to soups and grinds. When switching onto raw at first though, some ferrets will lose fat and then build muscle, but some will start building muscle before losing fat, so those sometimes appear a bit overweight at first.  |
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 17:48:45 GMT -5
Benji is 753g Freddy is 1509g  Thats 6oz each but Im pretty sure that Freddy is eating less and Benji is eating more because Freddy with finish with a few bites left and so will Benji but then I will look back and it then all gone but it appears Freddy hasn't moved and Benji is up and moving about. Benjis poop appeared to have bone pieces in it. is this normal? |
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Post by Aftershock on Jul 15, 2017 15:44:21 GMT -5
Hey there @freddybenjimama! How is your switch going? : )
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Post by FireAngel on Aug 22, 2017 21:50:20 GMT -5
@freddybenjimama Are you still looking for a mentor and how is everything going with the little ones? What are they eating now?
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