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Post by vhoey39750 on Mar 30, 2011 23:48:36 GMT -5
For the last few days I have been trying to get them to eat a combo of ground mixed with small chunks of chicken meat. This has been slow going. I did notice that my one ferret seems to love chewing on the skin.
There have been some interesting developments though. There were two days where they were hungrier than expected and so ate all their breakfast before I got home from work. I guess they were so hungry that they finallly started eatting the chicken wing and drumbstick that had been sitting untouched for days. Today i found a good portion of the half dried out meat eatten off the chicken wink and a chunk missing off the dried out wing tip. Is this development solely because they got hungry or was it also because they liked that the meat had dried out? also, how can I get them to eat more meat this way? Would it be dangerous to cut back on their food a bit to make them hungry enough to go for whole chicken parts?
I have also started to add olive oil to their food. One or both of my ferrets have started shedding. I haven't found anything exclusively on what to do about this. I don't know if I should get a true hairball preventative or if olive oil is enough. Also, how much oil should I give per day? Should I brush them to get the hair before they groom themselves and if so whats the best type of brush?
Vanessa
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Post by Sherry on Mar 31, 2011 1:43:42 GMT -5
You can certainly try just putting in wings for 2-3 days. Make sure to slash them to the bone really well though, so they have something to grab on to. I'm thinking it's because they were really hungry as to why they ate the dried out wing. I'd not do that too often, though, as the bone can become brittle. Not a good thing For the shedding, by all means, brush them daily right now. Also, try to get some pumpkin into them! It works like a charm for pushing through the fur. 1/2 tsp per ferret per day should do the trick. Olive oil is also good for "lubrication"
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 3, 2011 15:02:54 GMT -5
Hi Sherry, there has been lots of progress in the last few days. I have been feeding them chicken parts for the last few days. This has been going better than expected! They are enjoying the meat so much that last night when i also put some commercial ground down because i was concerned they werent getting the other important parts, they ignored the ground till after they had finished the piece of bone in chicken breast i gave them! Also, they are using their molars now and are eating some of the bone! Also, they have basically finished the chicken carcass at this point. Just one wing left. I am wondering what I should buy next? Should i get another chicken and other things or just focus on other animals?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2011 21:07:33 GMT -5
I'd pick up another protein, and swap them off every other night for a week They are doing amazingly well! You can go with whatever you can get easily locally.
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 3, 2011 23:13:46 GMT -5
When you say another protein, do you mean another part of the chicken I havent fed yet like heart, liver or stomache or do you mean I should get a different type of animal like pork or beef?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2011 9:53:18 GMT -5
Sorry, yes, a different meat entirely, like pork, beef, turkey, etc. You can also start trying with the heart and/or liver as well.
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 4, 2011 20:45:06 GMT -5
Today was productive. I went out forraging for animal parts at reasonable prices. I came home with a chicken carcass, chicken hearts and liver, a chicken kidney, a cow stomache and pork chops. I put a couple hearts in their bowl a couple hours ago and they have yet to try to eat them. I am guess well see if they get hungry enough to try it later on. Do u have any other tips for getting them to try new meats?
While out forraging someone told me that it was important to get free range and hormone free chicken. They said the free range was important because they said otherwise the bones are too brittle from not being used and will injure the ferrets when they eat them like when they are cooked. What are ur thoughts on this? Also, how important do u think it is to feed hormone free? Will they really have a big impact on ferrets health?
Also, should I be attempting to follow a feeding schedule at this point or...? And if they refuse to eat something new do i give in and give them chicken after a few hours or do i just make them go hungry to eat it?
Thanks!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2011 21:27:48 GMT -5
While out forraging someone told me that it was important to get free range and hormone free chicken. They said the free range was important because they said otherwise the bones are too brittle from not being used and will injure the ferrets when they eat them like when they are cooked. What are ur thoughts on this? Also, how important do u think it is to feed hormone free? Will they really have a big impact on ferrets health? Let's deal with this first. Raw is raw, is raw! I've had no problems in over 3 years of feeding raw with non free range chicken bones. Someone is yanking your chain Store bought chicken is not as nutritious as free range organic, no. But the bones will cause no more problems than the free range. With the hearts- try chopping them up for now. You can also mix it in with whatever it is they are now successfully eating For other proteins, do the same thing. Just chop the new meat slightly smaller than what they are eating, and mix the two together. Ferrets are essentially lazy eaters, so the idea is they will eat a piece that is smaller first(the new meat) especially since it's got some of the blood from the old meat on it from the mixing. You can start a feeding schedule if you like now. It will make it easier on you later on. The only problem is in a normal schedule, there will be a good bit of consumable bone in it, and right now your's don't have the jaw strength for bones. Think about weight lifting. You can't go from lifting 30 lbs to Olympic weights overnight Same idea. They build up jaw strength with muscle chunks, then wing tips, then smaller wing bones(or cornish hen/quail) before they can handle something like the large bone in the drumettes of the wings
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 4, 2011 22:36:43 GMT -5
I haven't had to cut the meat up into small chunks or slivers in almost a week. Thet have been getting chunks with some cuts into the meat for them to grab on. Yesterday they had a wing and they ate almost the whole thing including much of the bone. I actually think the reason they didnt finish it was because the bones fell through the floor of the cage. (i have a clean living cage which has a plastic floor with small holes in it for dirt and debrise to fall through. It is not uncomfortable on their feet like wire mesh in case you were wondering) anyway, so do you think I should go back to cutting up small chunks and mix it with the heart chunks or should I stay with the bigger pieces so they dont loose momentum on that end?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 4, 2011 22:40:07 GMT -5
Oh no! By all means stay with the larger pieces ;D You might have to adapt the floor for them so they can get smaller pieces, since that's wht they have to tear off in order to eat enough(lino, tiles, etc do the job well), but certainly keep them with larger pieces Since they are doing that, try them with something like a whole pork chop. You can always cut it up if they won't take it whole
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 4, 2011 22:58:23 GMT -5
wooohhh! So I just put the girls back in their cage after having 2-3 hours of play time. They werent interested in the heart but were clearly hungry because they were licking their food bowl. I took the hearts and cut them up into about 4 pieces each and squirted some ferretone on them. That made them eat it. Thelma really dug in eatting 1.5 hearts in a few mins! Yay!
How many hearts would a ferret typically eat in a 'heart' meal? I just need to divide the meat i bought into meal sized portions for freezing.
Also, if u could still answer my previous question about cutting the meat up into smaller pieces while introducing new tastes because maybe the other meats wont be as easy. Thanks!
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 4, 2011 23:59:20 GMT -5
I see that you answered my question. I was probably composing my msg while u were replying. Thanks!
So i have been thinking about putting a piece of lino on the bottom too since ive noticed pieces of food they were in the process of eatting fall through the cracks. Seeing it is kinda funny. They start sniffing around wondering where it dissappeared to. Anyway, they keep removing the food from the bowl to go eat it. Ive noticed they like eatting while faved into a corner. Weirdly, they like eatting with their heads stuck inbetween the cage and the side of the litterbox. I dont get that because they arent supposed to want to eat near their toilette. Do u know why this is? Also, ive come across some posts mentioning a feeding den. Would this solve my problem and what would one look like? Thanks!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 5, 2011 11:52:09 GMT -5
They are likely eating there for privacy For a feeding, you can use something as simple as an empty soda box, or make one from a rubbermaid tub. I use the rubbermaid tub because we generally don't drink a lot of pop. With those, you just toss them when they get to mucky. I'll send you the link to feeding dens when I get home tonight. It might solve the problems. Mine don't often like to eat together, so one will eat in the den, while the others take their meat to separate areas of the cage
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Post by vhoey39750 on Apr 6, 2011 23:37:10 GMT -5
Hi Sherry! So in the last couple of days my ferrets tried and ate some new meats. They ate chicken heart and pork chop. I am trying to divide and bag my meat into day or two day portions for freezing. I'm thinking my ferrets each eat about 2 ounzes of meat a day. I read your post on how an ounce of beef heart is about half the volume of an ounce of chicken meat. I have two questions regarding this... How many chicken hearts would be an ounce? I was thinking 3? Also, when feeding chicken back, shicken neck or some other part that has a lot of edible bone in it, what volume do you think would equal an ounce? Would they still eat two ounces of bone in meat or do they tend to eat less of this type of meat?
Also, I took a look at their teeth tonight and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Both my ferrets are under a year old and yet the kibble they used to eat had caused their molars to get so encased in tarter it actually looked like the teeth were decaying due to their grey brown colour. I was hoping it was just tarter and not decay and I guess this was the case because by eatting the bone and finally using their molars, they scraped off every bit of discusting looking tarter. Their teeth look pearly white now!! Yaaayyy!!
I looked into feeding den options. I dont like the idea of using a cardboard box and so hope I can easily make one with a plastic box. What I'm wondering tho is whether it will do any good at preventing my ferrets from taking the meat once they have chewed it off the curtain clip and go eat it somewhere in my cage where once only the bone is left, it will fall through the floor. Basically, what is the likelihood the ferrets will eat exclusivly in the box vs moving the food elsewhere in the cage once able?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 7, 2011 10:27:26 GMT -5
You can train them to eat in the feeding den simply by putting them back in every time they come out. Obviously, this is easiest done out of cage Sooner or later they get the idea that they are supposed to eat IN the den. The problem I have is the only dens I use IN the cage are too small for more than one ferret at a time. So while one is standing with their head IN the den(mine don't put their whole bodies in, just their head/shoulders ), others are eating in other corners of the cage. Generally they simply tear off bits just big enough to chew and swallow quickly before heading back for more. As to how many chicken hearts would make an ounce? Not a clue, sorry ;D I used approx 1lb for 9 ferrets. Also- if they really like something , they'll eat more of it than they will something else they aren't quite as fond of Just like us ;D Start with giving them 2-3 each, and adapt from there. If they eat all of them, then give another 1- 2 each. If they leave too many, next time give 1-2 each, and work up. I also leave their meal in there til the next feeding time, so you do want some left over for nibblies.
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