Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 19, 2017 14:09:54 GMT -5
Good to know.
I'm just concerned that I haven't seen him eating, and he's sick. Paint shoves his face in the bowl the second I put in in the cage. But, I don't think either have been really behaving like "tummies with teeth". It might be the infection though. When I mentioned their lack of appetite to the vet, she wasn't overly concerned since I just got them and am changing their food.
I'm a worrier. Just in my nature. If you say once or twice a week is fine, I'll stick with that.
I have not offered egg yet, and do not know the rules or benefits. What are they?
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Post by LindaM on Sept 19, 2017 15:12:50 GMT -5
I figured you might be, you seem like a careful momma, which is great when it comes to fuzzies, but they may well give you gray hair, LOL. Doing once or twice should be fine for weights, we just want to see if there is anything big happening in there.
If you are really concerned over whether or not he is eating, you can always sit with him in your lap and offer some soup by method of spoon. That way you can be sure that he is actually getting some food in that tummy. This may also be a good bonding exercise for the two of you.
Since they are still new to you and their new environment, yes they can be a bit distracted to be too concerned over food right now, but they should still be eating something. They may get more ravenous over it as they get more relaxed and used to things though.
Eggs! Eggs are great.. we use these as a natural hair prevention vs nasty Ferrelax. (Rant Incoming: Marshall's... throw it all away, all of it and then burn it. Should you have any that is. Marshall's products, as well as many commercially marketed and sold for ferret items... are best avoided as they tend to be very unhealthy if not deadly in the end.) The lecithin in the yolk breaks down the fats that bind hairs together and allows the ferret to successfully and easily pass them out of their systems. This is very important, as unlike cats, ferrets cannot yack up hairballs, instead they become bezoars which lead to life-threatening blockages that will require surgery.
So, how to feed eggs.. you can do chicken eggs or even quail if you can find some. Eggs should be given raw, you can whip together the white and yolk, or offer the yolk by itself, but never ever give only egg white to them as over time it can lead to a biotin deficiency in the body. Now, there is a general limit we like to adhere to. 1 raw chicken egg per ferret, per week. Double during the shedding season. Or if you do quail, you can do 3 per week, or 5 in shedding as they are so small. I let my lot crack open the quail eggs by themselves too for enrichment experiences.
Egg can also be used as an incentive to introducing new foods, or for enticing them to munch on different sizes as you increase sizes. They need to like it first of course, but after that it works just as good as salmon oil offered as an incentive.
Speaking of.. do you have any salmon oil? I've used Grizzly and Alaskan Naturals, both work great. And just in case you don't know yet, the limit of oil is 1tsp per ferret, per week. The oil is a lovely treat, incentive, and great for their coats.
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
|
Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 19, 2017 18:12:29 GMT -5
Nice! Yeah, I'll give Ratchet some soup on a spoon tonight to make sure he gets something with his meds.
No worries, my dogs already give me greys. The things they get into and do.
I'll offer some egg tonight to see if they like it. Their coats are very oily and brittle, so they could definitely use some.
I have some salmon oil coming in a shipment from amazon. I tried to find it locally without much luck. I also have a bunch of plastic Easter eggs coming so I can make some crochet eggs for them to play with.
Just picked up the bowl from this morning, there was 2.5 oz left in the bowl. :\
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Post by LindaM on Sept 19, 2017 18:52:44 GMT -5
If they seem unsure about the egg, you can just try to do some Grab'n'Dab to get them used to it. Same goes for the salmon oil once it arrives.
As for where to find something like that locally, your best bet would be at a pet boutique/holistic pet supply store, the general pet stores don't really carry any and will overcharge the heck out of you. In Utah, I make the drive up into the city more to go to our local. So sometimes they can be a bit of a drive and very sparsely strewn across the map. I've come across 2 or 3 myself in Utah. Thus if ordering online is easier for you, stick to that. I have other items I need to buy monthly from our local, so it's worth the drive for me, and the owner gives the most competitive prices I've come across, often beating other places or even beating online prices and she orders items in for me specifically.
Hmm, not a ton eaten.. but some definitely eaten. Has the soupie started making a scaly top layer? I recall mine never wanted to touch soup if it made a hardened top layer, spoiled little snooters.
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 19, 2017 19:12:45 GMT -5
It had a film on it by the time I picked it up. But the soupie they were given was only 2 days old, and has been in a sealed tupperware in the fridge until given. I just made a fresh batch and spooned it into containers, 4 oz each. Amazon is easier for me for a lot of reasons. So hopefully it comes in soon. I'd love to clicker train them with it. I'll let you know how the egg goes, I'm going to give it to them as a reward for letting me scruff and medicate them. I started a notebook to keep track of how much and what they're given, and how much they're eating. Edit: Egg seemed to go over well. Ratchet was shoving my fingetips in his mouth to eat more. Paint wasn't as thrilled, but they both willingly licked it off my fingers. I also spoon fed Ratchet a little. No resistance to the food. Munching faces imgur.com/gallery/8ZWvt
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Post by LindaM on Sept 19, 2017 22:04:46 GMT -5
AWWW! Them faces mommy! I am so glad that you were able to make sure Ratchet is indeed eating and that the egg went over well. Raw egg can be a great enticement to use later on if need be.
Hm, the film on top might dissuade some of the from eating the soup when it has that, mine were like that. Even though technically the soup is still fine at that stage unless it's been in their bowl for more than 8 hours (also in the fridge the soup can easily last 3 or so days). Just so you are aware, I'll list below the timeframe for raw to be left out for the ferrets. If your home is very warm or humid, these times may need to be lessened some. We keep our home at 72-74 year-round, and have never experienced any problems with the listed time frames.
Soups: 6-8 hours Grinds: 8-12 hours Chunks: 10-24 hours (depending on size eg. the bigger the chunks are, the longer they'll last) Bone-in Meats: 12-24 hours (again, depending on size) Whole Prey: up to 48 hours
If you make a large batch of soup you can freeze it in ice-cube trays or small containers as well and defrost as needed. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter, do not use the microwave or hot water, warm water should be okay though.
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 20, 2017 5:33:42 GMT -5
Awesome! Thank you!
The boys ate all 5 3/4 oz of dinner last night. Their bowl was licked clean so yay! I gave another 4 oz this morning. So we'll see how they do. If they eat all or most of it, I'll try slivers or tiny bits of chicken again tonight.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 20, 2017 18:47:43 GMT -5
Let me know how it goes! It sounds like they are eating good so far. If you struggle and want to try it, you can whip up a bit of egg together and get some tiny slivers of meat, dip into the egg and offer to the fuzzies by hand. It may or may not take a few tries before one might try to eat the sliver like that, some try to be little snots first and just lick off the egg wash. If they seem to go with the latter approach, you can always pop a piece into their mouths and see what happens, some will chew then, and other just spit out, LOL.
PS. With bowls licked entirely clean, try to offer a wee bit more food their next feeding. The concern with an empty bowl is usually that someone might not have gotten their fill, whereas if there's just a bite or two remaining at the time of meals being changed, that it is likely everyone got their fill.
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 20, 2017 22:10:05 GMT -5
Slivers did not go well. Both boys licked the wash off, or chewed the piece for a second and promptly spit it back out. I have it a few tries but they both got distressed so I let them go. Handling sessions are still pretty short, and I'm already having to give meds.
They ate all their breakfast, so I have them about 6oz of food I know they will eat, and 1 oz of slivers to see if they will touch them. I'll let you know how that went on the morning.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 20, 2017 22:41:55 GMT -5
Well, if they truly wish to be little snotters, there are other methods of moving on from soup, even for the slowest of transitioners. You can start by making your soup chunkier/less well blended or see if you can maybe mix a bit of ground/minced chicken in with the soup. Just a bit... and then we start increasing the ratio of that v soup as we go along. Or, you can also try a bit of ground chicken with a bit of warm (not hot, it'll cook) water added to it, makes a bit of mush and see if they'll have at that.
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 21, 2017 5:43:24 GMT -5
I got a plesent surprise when I picked up the bowl this morning. A few bites left, and they ate most of the slivers! I put a full oz of slivers in there, so I'm very happy that there was only .25oz of food left in the bowl this morning!
I gave 4oz of soup and 2 oz of slivers this morning. We'll have to see if they eat them without the egg. Poops are getting much more solid and not so runny now, thank goodness. Hopefully that continues to be the case!
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Post by LindaM on Sept 21, 2017 14:16:59 GMT -5
That is wonderful news! Little stinkers know it's edible, so let's see how they do without enticement, yes. Speaking of poopies.. Have you had a look at the Poop Chart? It's good to make yourself familiar with it. I'll link to it below. Also, raw poopies are wetter/softer usually than kibble poops, and of course smaller and not as hideous smelling. Also, raw poops can vary between proteins and can be interesting when you offer whole prey if you ever wished to do that too. Ferret Poop Chart
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
|
Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 21, 2017 21:42:47 GMT -5
They are all the slivers today. Just a few bites left in their bowl. I'm a happy momma!
Tonight I gave 2 oz of soup, 3 oz of chicken slivers, .5oz of heart slivers, and .5oz of beef slivers. I tried to pop the new slivers their their mouths but they wouldn't have it. We'll have to see what they ate come morning. They don't seem to like to eat with an audience.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 21, 2017 22:17:14 GMT -5
That's great to hear! Did you check that they're not perhaps also stashing food? Ferrets can and will stash, that's just instinct for them, lol. But so long as they go back to their stash spots and eat the food, it's all good. ^^
Since they are so accepting of the slivers, lets try and wean them off the soup and onto the slivers entirely. I'm glad that you're also taking this opportunity to sneak in some heart slivers. It's going to be important to get them eating their heart and organs as well once they no longer get the soup. And don't feel down if they end up not eating the beef slivers or sniffing them out and avoiding. Beef tends to have a strong smell and taste and they may choose to avoid it for now, but we will get them eating it too.
For curiosity sake, have you tried seeing what they'd do with something like a chicken wing yet?
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Kaitlyn
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Occupation: Wife, Dog Enthusiest, Ferret Lover, and Gecko Chew Toy
Posts: 170
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Post by Kaitlyn on Sept 22, 2017 5:40:18 GMT -5
They ate almost everything. A few bits of beef left, but they definitely ate some.
My boys aren't really stashers so far. They've stashed their favorite bell balls, but that's about it. I've been checking all the hidey holes for stashed food, and so far, no one is stashing food.
I gave all slivers this morning with a few bigger chunks to see how they do. There's a little beef in there as well, because it was leftover.
I haven't tried a chicken wing yet. Maybe I'll try tonight. Should I smash up the bones first?
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