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Post by goingpostal on Jun 29, 2011 14:56:07 GMT -5
So we are down to only two ferrets now, Craven who is older than dirt and barely eats anything and Pandora my little girl who is also a very light eater, they are eating maybe 4 ounces between the two of them a day. Before with four ferrets they were going through large GP and rats in under a day so in a stroke of genius last time ordered larger stuff! XXL GP, XL rats, etc.
I gave them a large rat on Monday and took out a small piece leftover this morning. I don't think the quail will be such an issue since I have 6-8 oz birds and that's feathered and they love quail, but I don't want the other stuff sitting around 3-4 days especially in the summer. I'm debating seeing if I can sell the larger stuff to a snake owner and ordering smaller because I don't really want to thaw and chop rodents in half for the next forever (I ordered a lot, lol). But I know larger is better for calcium and stuff. I don't know if a small-medium rat or med. guinea is still ok for regular meals? They get each every 10 days or so in rotation.
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Post by Heather on Jun 29, 2011 16:51:47 GMT -5
Check to see what age it is...they will usually tell you that this size is between this time and this time for an age..and then base your decision on how far off maturity their prey is. I just chop my prey in half, never really thought about it  ciao |
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Post by goingpostal on Jun 29, 2011 17:00:22 GMT -5
Do you use like an ax or what? Because all I have is some cutting knives and they don't seem to go through spines great, I've chopped rabbits for them and it's been a bloody furry mess. And GP I gut for them so just chopping in half doesn't work. I wish I could get the cat to eat them. We've just worked up to feeding her frozen/thawed mice rather than live or fresh killed. She still won't touch a rat or GP though.
Rodentpro doesn't say what age medium GP are, small-med rats are about a month old, little older or younger. They aren't at sexual maturity but are past weaning.
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Post by Heather on Jun 29, 2011 17:08:38 GMT -5
I use a serrated knife. It cuts through spines like paper. I also do this frozen (doesn't make quite as big a mess either). I let the rats thaw for about half an hour then cut them in half. The rabbits (these are adults) I let them thaw for about an hour, hour and a half. The rabbits I gut while frozen too....the inners just pop out
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2011 19:01:39 GMT -5
You could always get more ferrets...  ;D |
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Post by Heather on Jun 29, 2011 19:18:53 GMT -5
What an interesting and intriguing idea  It does indeed mean that large food amounts don't need to be adjusted  ciao |
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Post by goingpostal on Jun 29, 2011 22:31:40 GMT -5
Ok, you guys find me a couple ferrets who come with a dowry to pay off the couple thousand in debt I've accrued in the last months because of ferrets! And with Craven up there in years and Pandora an absolute monster to new ferrets I think we are going to wait and not add more until this crew is gone and the credit cards are in the clear.
I do think I have a serrated knife my b/f got from his dad so maybe I'll try doing some cutting in half and see how it goes frozen.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2011 22:38:04 GMT -5
Ulu knives are great for getting through bones. Katt can get you them for fairly cheap  |
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Post by joclyn on Jun 29, 2011 23:12:54 GMT -5
what you need is a meat cleaver and a nice thick cutting board.
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Post by goingpostal on Jul 1, 2011 18:48:25 GMT -5
Well thank you Heather, I thawed a GP for a couple hours and tried out the serrated knife on it, went through so easily. So that'll work. Especially since I moved everything to my new stand up freezer and realized I have a LOT of guinea pigs left.
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Post by Heather on Jul 1, 2011 21:39:11 GMT -5
I'm glad it worked....sorry about the jabs about getting more fuzzes but it does usually work out that way around here ciao |
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Post by goingpostal on Jul 1, 2011 21:58:20 GMT -5
No worries, I wouldn't mind getting more fuzzbutts for sure, but my jobs a little iffy for the future as well so better to be safe, get my debt down and savings up rather than get over my head. I did put in a no more pets until no debt rule awhile back and have managed to stick to it so far. But man it's been a long time since we've only had two ferrets, it seems so lonely! How did I ever think 3 was a lot??  |
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Post by Heather on Jul 2, 2011 1:36:13 GMT -5
My house feels empty with just 10, I can't even imagine just 2 Like you, I've had to put a limit on it as out of the 10 I've only got a couple who are actually healthy and are not requiring medical treatment and medications. Both emotionally and financially I've had to put a slow on things for a bit. I will take in little ones in need but I'm hoping that things will remain quiet for now. I buried 5 wee ones, and my old cat this year, so I can certainly sympathize with your position. ciao |
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Post by katt on Jul 2, 2011 11:19:44 GMT -5
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Post by Heather on Jul 2, 2011 13:49:49 GMT -5
Ok, Katt how do I get one? I've seen them used before and they're great. I was seriously thinking of getting a skinning knife, but I think this would work better. I've got to hold though, my serated knife cut through a 10 lb rabbit without any trouble (had a greater time gutting the frozen bunny, not near as easy as a 5 lbs rabbit  ) ciao |
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