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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 7, 2018 15:22:02 GMT -5
Check out one of the switching threads and see if you can make a menu and post it here. I am guessing you have a scale as you already know Charlie's weight and the amount he has been eating.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 7, 2018 15:25:43 GMT -5
Check out one of the switching threads and see if you can make a menu and post it here. I am guessing you have a scale as you already know Charlie's weight and the amount he has been eating. Yes, I have a scale because I weigh all my food too!! Should he be eating a bit more? I read 2-4 oz but on here I read 2-5 oz. Is that per day or per meal? I know they will vary from ferret to ferret.
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 7, 2018 15:35:47 GMT -5
Each ferret is different and the season can cause changes as well. My two ferrets get between 3 and 4 ounces each feeding. With some raw bone-in food it gets challenging to be exact! LOL So my two each about 6-8 ounces a day; each eating about 3-4 ounces a day. With some people on here being in England, they have some ferrets that are huge which, of course, need more food. As long as there is a little food left when you give Charlie his next meal, you know he is getting enough. A bare bowl indicates he needs more to get to his next meal.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 7, 2018 15:40:56 GMT -5
Each ferret is different and the season can cause changes as well. My two ferrets get between 3 and 4 ounces each feeding. With some raw bone-in food it gets challenging to be exact! LOL So my two each about 6-8 ounces a day; each eating about 3-4 ounces a day. With some people on here being in England, they have some ferrets that are huge which, of course, need more food. As long as there is a little food left when you give Charlie his next meal, you know he is getting enough. A bare bowl indicates he needs more to get to his next meal. Ok, so I could offer a bit more, however, sometimes he will take some pieces and hide it in his towels. So I figured he is done eating. He does come out to play then goes back and eats it later.
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 7, 2018 15:43:51 GMT -5
A feeding den might help with the food hiding. The hiding is a definite ferret behavior but limiting meat hiding is usually important to the ferrents to limit! When my boys sneak some away muscle meat it usually becomes jerky but the bone-in pieces tend to smell. These are my boys' feeding dens. Some people use boxes or other arrangements.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 7, 2018 15:47:32 GMT -5
A feeding den might help with the food hiding. The hiding is a definite ferret behavior but limiting meat hiding is usually important to the ferrents to limit! When my boys sneak some away muscle meat it usually becomes jerky but the bone-in pieces tend to smell. These are my boys' feeding dens. Some people use boxes or other arrangements. Oh so that's how you know how much they both eat!! I wondered how people with 2 or more ferrets keep track of how much they all eat. Some will eat the other's food. And they don't come out of there with some food to hide for later?
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 7, 2018 15:49:56 GMT -5
A feeding den might help with the food hiding. The hiding is a definite ferret behavior but limiting meat hiding is usually important to the ferrents to limit! When my boys sneak some away muscle meat it usually becomes jerky but the bone-in pieces tend to smell. These are my boys' feeding dens. Some people use boxes or other arrangements. Oh so that's how you know how much they both eat!! I wondered how people with 2 or more ferrets keep track of how much they all eat. Some will eat the other's food. And they don't come out of there with some food to hide for later? LOL - I wish! They move between each bowl and eat at different times. I know if there is still food left then they both had their fill.
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 7, 2018 15:50:45 GMT -5
Actually, very little food leaves there and they like their 'den' and feel like they are hidden.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 7, 2018 15:54:47 GMT -5
Actually, very little food leaves there and they like their 'den' and feel like they are hidden. Oh, so their heads only really fit in there!!! That's cool! I'll have to try that! I'll slowly start increasing his portion sizes too.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 7, 2018 20:47:55 GMT -5
So I gave Charlie his meal for tonight. I gave some chicken with bone in and didn't really eat the bone but left the pieces there. I chopped the bone up into smaller pieces for him. So I took half the meal and mixed it with beef because I know he likes that. He's picked out the beef and ate some of the chicken as well. Oh and another question! So these bone in meals how do we know how much is suppose to be bone and how much is suppose to be meat?
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Apr 7, 2018 23:12:03 GMT -5
Concerning chicken: what I do, anyway. I cut wings into 3 sections. I give my doggie the drummette as it is too dense for my ferrets as are chicken legs and thigh bones. I break and cut ribcage section away from the the lower part of back(the part near tail). I like using the lower part and cut it in half--- vertically to make 2 sections. I am not sure how people feed the rib cage as i just use lower half. I do not know if they just give that part as is or cut it. SO when u feed wings or backs, you might want to add some bits of thigh meat. I would not put enough for them to make a meal of bits or they might eat that and not the other. Stools will lack moisture and be dry if meals are too boney. You can gage by that if you need to add a little more meat to your boney pieces. The reason i say thigh meat, it has more taurine--necessary for healthy heart and eyes in ferrets. Although other is ok too. I do not know if your area has Asian stores---but if so, you can buy frozen quail there. Online, you can order rats and mice. This may be a little expensive though because of shipping. I do feed ribs of rabbit. like I cut ribs in groups of two or threes. I always put extra rabbit meat wth that. I have fed mine squirrels before too. My neighbor gives me those from time to time. Do not know if you have read this info but it is very good holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 8, 2018 10:52:01 GMT -5
So I gave Charlie his meal for tonight. I gave some chicken with bone in and didn't really eat the bone but left the pieces there. I chopped the bone up into smaller pieces for him. So I took half the meal and mixed it with beef because I know he likes that. He's picked out the beef and ate some of the chicken as well. I have found that I need to leave the bone-in pieces longer for my two as they also eat the meat around the bone. They like it a bit warmer I guess. Bone-in pieces can be left out longer, about 12-24 hours. When I leave it longer it is gnawed pretty good and only some of the knuckle pieces seem to left in their feeding dens.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 8, 2018 18:00:11 GMT -5
Concerning chicken: what I do, anyway. I cut wings into 3 sections. I give my doggie the drummette as it is too dense for my ferrets as are chicken legs and thigh bones. I break and cut ribcage section away from the the lower part of back(the part near tail). I like using the lower part and cut it in half--- vertically to make 2 sections. I am not sure how people feed the rib cage as i just use lower half. I do not know if they just give that part as is or cut it. SO when u feed wings or backs, you might want to add some bits of thigh meat. I would not put enough for them to make a meal of bits or they might eat that and not the other. Stools will lack moisture and be dry if meals are too boney. You can gage by that if you need to add a little more meat to your boney pieces. The reason i say thigh meat, it has more taurine--necessary for healthy heart and eyes in ferrets. Although other is ok too. I do not know if your area has Asian stores---but if so, you can buy frozen quail there. Online, you can order rats and mice. This may be a little expensive though because of shipping. I do feed ribs of rabbit. like I cut ribs in groups of two or threes. I always put extra rabbit meat wth that. I have fed mine squirrels before too. My neighbor gives me those from time to time. Do not know if you have read this info but it is very good holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/ Thank you! That is very helpful!! Charlie seems to be taking well to switching. He has been getting raw since he was little and I have been giving him raw but was nervous about the bones. But I left the chicken in that he didn't eat last night and it was gone this morning.
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Post by Charlie on Apr 8, 2018 18:03:33 GMT -5
So I gave Charlie his meal for tonight. I gave some chicken with bone in and didn't really eat the bone but left the pieces there. I chopped the bone up into smaller pieces for him. So I took half the meal and mixed it with beef because I know he likes that. He's picked out the beef and ate some of the chicken as well. I have found that I need to leave the bone-in pieces longer for my two as they also eat the meat around the bone. They like it a bit warmer I guess. Bone-in pieces can be left out longer, about 12-24 hours. When I leave it longer it is gnawed pretty good and only some of the knuckle pieces seem to left in their feeding dens. Yeah, he did eat it by the morning! But now another concern is not with the prep in making up his meals, as I know to clean my surfaces after cutting up poultry, etc. It's with the raw chicken meat in the cage!! He doe stake it and hide it in his towels. Right now, it's not a problem but in the summer when it gets warm out and the flies are around, this will mean I will have lots of flies int he house! Keeping stuff like that out attracts the flies! Usually if I have bought chicken and put the empty container in the garbage, if I don't put that outside right away I get flies in the house. Now with keeping raw meat in his cage, how do I avoid that??
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Post by mermaidsirena on Apr 8, 2018 20:39:36 GMT -5
Yeah, he did eat it by the morning! But now another concern is not with the prep in making up his meals, as I know to clean my surfaces after cutting up poultry, etc. It's with the raw chicken meat in the cage!! He doe stake it and hide it in his towels. Right now, it's not a problem but in the summer when it gets warm out and the flies are around, this will mean I will have lots of flies int he house! Keeping stuff like that out attracts the flies! Usually if I have bought chicken and put the empty container in the garbage, if I don't put that outside right away I get flies in the house. Now with keeping raw meat in his cage, how do I avoid that?? That is a very good question. I live in Florida so when it gets that warm we have the air conditioner on. I know others will jump on who have suggestions. Some suggestions I can think of right now would be to tie down the bone-in meat to the feeding den. This way it is in one place and not stashed. Also, feeding at certain times so your ferret is hungry and will eat when you place the meat down. I put uneaten boned meat in a ziplock bag and in the freezer until trash day - but this if fairly common practice in Florida as our trash cans get very hot and raccoons find them fun to play in!
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