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Post by Heather on May 3, 2011 22:39:29 GMT -5
Poor wee Lily, they take the loss of their friends so hard I'm glad that Huck appears to be starting to thrive. I agree, you've offered everything to him. Now, it's up to him. You will probably still have to move slower with him, it's just the way he is. He's still doing really well. Well done. Remember, this time of year is very difficult for them to put on weight. It goes against their nature. I will be interested to see what his weight gain will be like in the fall, when the brats turn into little chub beasts ciao
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Post by sherik on May 4, 2011 22:49:27 GMT -5
I love them when there little fat chub beasts. While Huck is slow and steady everyone else is moving on quite while. Lily who I though was going to be like Huck is doing great. She loved the soup from the get go, but hated the chunks and would spit them all over you. Tonight I put some larger, but not really huge pieces of bone in the soup. Lily is the only one so far to eat one. I cut up a chicken wing. I heard crunching and turned and looked, it was sweet little Lily. I'm so stoked. Maybe I won't have to clean at least one of their teeth soon.
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Post by Heather on May 4, 2011 22:52:45 GMT -5
Congratulations...each tiny step is a step forward on a long journey Yay, Lily....nom nom girl ciao
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Post by sherik on May 5, 2011 22:30:37 GMT -5
So today I thickened the soup. I started with 2 cups of water to 1lb of meat. Now I am down to 1 1/3cups water. Plus I am not blending it as long to keep it chunky. I ran out of hearts, so I substituted with gizzards for today. Huck ate some, big step for my little Sh**. I am sure it will all be eaten by the morning. I hope anyway, otherwise I know they don't like gizzards. Come to think of it, Huck always seems very thin in the summer time. I don't think his weight loss is anything I should worry about. It probably seems to drastic, cause he is a fat little chunk in the winter. I keep trying with the chicken wing pieces, but so far only Lily ate that one.
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Post by Heather on May 5, 2011 22:52:01 GMT -5
Keep trying. They're coming along. That's a great drop in the water content. My guys love gizzards....well everyone except Yuri, who doesn't like anything really. He eats to survive. I would love to find something that really interested him Gizzards work as well as bone to clean teeth...not so much in the nutrition part but hey...you can't have everything ;D You go Lily, show them how it's done ciao
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Post by sherik on May 7, 2011 12:31:31 GMT -5
My poor babies... LOL.... Their soup is now the consistancy of commercial ground with a little water added. While they are still eating it, not as happy about it. I will stick with this mix for a while, until they are happy eating it like that. Then maybe I can try some of the commercial grounds that I bought. I have some venison and chicken commercial ground food. Still haven't opened it since I bought it. But soon as they are coming along quite nicely. I think they just aren't too thrilled with the gizzards yet. But I will pick up some hearts today if they have some. I did get some beef kidney, I'll have to thaw it and chop it up to smaller pieces, it is huge.
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Post by Heather on May 7, 2011 18:27:58 GMT -5
That's fantastic. Moving along nicely. I agree....leave it at this consistency for a bit, let them get used to it. One thing, if they outright reject the commercial stuff (and I"m not saying they will), mix bits of it in their regular soupy. Start out really small amounts and increase it until they will eat just that. You're guys don't like surprises, so they may not go for the whole commercial deal as it seems to taste different (different texture ). My guys won't touch commercial ground chicken but have no problem eating my ground chicken mix and I can't say it's the commercial mix because they love the venison and rabbit Watch the kidney...the smell sometimes puts them off. ciao
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Post by sherik on May 10, 2011 22:54:05 GMT -5
Well Huck is back to eating his cooked soup again. A little weight loss I was OK with, a little more, fine. But he has lost 8oz now. Too much!! He just polished off a whole plate to himself, so he was hungry, he even was standing in it to eat. Which for a ferret who cares too much about being clean is odd. He still is playing normal though. He took a cat down yesterday, which is normal. He hates cats..LOL. So until he has put some weight back on, I'm not going to even bother trying to get him to eat raw. Everyone else is doing great. The next time I get kits, they are starting are raw right away. This is a total pain some days.
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Post by Heather on May 10, 2011 23:19:29 GMT -5
I thought he was eating ok Is there possibly another underlying issue? ciao
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Post by sherik on May 10, 2011 23:42:00 GMT -5
He was eating OK... but then he gradually stopped eating the raw. He would sit and eat for a minute and that was it. I can't see there be anything medically wrong with him. His energy is good. I really wish the dogs didn't eat my list of weights.... I can't remember what he was at last summer. But it could just be that the soup is too thick for him still. Even though I reblended it at lunch for him. I'll give him the raw in the morning, and the cooked at night for the next few days and see.
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Post by Heather on May 11, 2011 1:10:11 GMT -5
Whatever you need to do to get him back on track. It indeed could be that you thickened it up too fast for him. He was eating well but it may be nothing other than his own humour that may be impeding his progress (not knowing what is his stumbling block is) It may not necessarily be the thickness of the soupy but the day. I would definitely try and see if watering it down a bit might help ciao
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Post by sherik on May 18, 2011 22:01:40 GMT -5
So Huck is eating kibbles.... LOL... not what I wanted, but he is eating well and putting his weight back on. He really enjoys his plate of raw in the evening. He thinks it is a treat. It seems to be the only way I can get him to enjoy the raw is by letting him have his kibbles in the day and raw at night. He is eating it thickened too. But I don't want to pull the kibble from him just yet. He likes to make small changes, really really slowly. Little turd!! Everyone is still the same, I can't seem to get them to progress past the soup stage though. Fog may be about the best, he atleast is eating small bone in pieces. Lily was, but not anymore. It is almost like cause Huck is the alpha that they copy him. If he eats they eat. Strange!! Of course they eat more. Haha!! What I am hoping that eventually Huck will be eating chunks and they will all go along with him. Just a guess though, I'm not sure what goes through those fuzzy brains of theirs.
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Post by Heather on May 19, 2011 0:33:40 GMT -5
I'm sorry that Huck decided that kibble was indeed part of his diet. He really doesn't want to let go of that last piece to make that leap across. I'm not sure about the complex workings of a business. I do know that if one is picky, and if the others look to them for cues, they all seem to be a bit more difficult to deal with. They may yet look to Fog for cues too, and as he's eating the best you might get them to progress faster than what Huck wants. Unfortunately, Lily's reaction is fairly standard when dealing with bone. Ferrets are a lazy chew and all you have to do is watch a ferret eat a ground commercial raw and actually spit out the bone shards Have you tried some commercial grinds? This would balance your diet without forcing the whole bone eating issue to the foreground. It's just a thought and if you don't want to get there that's ok ciao
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Post by sherik on May 23, 2011 23:16:34 GMT -5
With Huck.... he just might not come around. I don't know with him. Atleast he is eating a good kibble. Before all I could get him to eat was purina one kitten food. Now he is eating EVO, and at night he is eating his raw soupie with bone meal mixed in. But as soon as I try to feed him just raw, he does the whole I am not touching that thing and won't eat any raw at all. I've started adding gizzard chunks in the soup for the others, which they all eat really really well. Fog is really into his rehydrated Wysong too. Lily is a chub butt. She just can't seem to get enough raw soupie. She eats for 5 min, stops for 5 min, eats another 5 min. She will do this til the whole plate is gone, to herself. Then she is so full that she just lays there, with this big full belly of food. She is a funny one. I thought they were supposed to stop once full.... but not her, she will keep eating if it is there. With the new kits. Should I just take away their kibbles and give them chunks? They took to the Wysong right away. I was just afraid of stressing them out too soon. They were eating a pretty poor diet in the pet store, living world ferret food. Never even heard of it before. And I noticed with the change of food, that Sunny has really soft poops, explosive all over the corner he picks. But it looks just like a regular poop, if that makes any sense. I tried them with some commercial ground, but they turned their noses up at it. They are pretty small, I don't think they are the age they are supposed to be. Maybe 2 or 3 weeks younger, so I was hoping it would be atleast easy with them.
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Post by Heather on May 24, 2011 1:02:06 GMT -5
The kits should be an easy switch. Do they like their soupy? Minion liked all his food (to start with) to be in his soupy. It didn't have to be buried just in his soupy. Now, he's not fond of soupy (that's for baby ferrets ) He would eat nothing but prey if I let him. He's not really fond of chicken, he will eat it but he would sooner have pork or lamb, chunked. Babies just enjoy things they can sink their teeth into. Did you make the commercial ground like the soupy? or just as it was? You might want to make it like your soupy. I'm glad to hear everyone else is eating their soupy for your. Lily is acting very much like a newly switched fuzz. They eat and eat...it's like their bodies can't get enough. At about 6 or 8 months into it they settle down and start eating more normal amounts. Oh, Huck what will we do with you If he's eating his raw soupy and he's eating his high end kibble you're at least a bit farther than you were before. I would keep trying him. You know for him to be in his comfort zone he can't feel he has to switch. He's got to think it's his idea. Stubborn little fuzz. Will he eat chunks in his soupy? ciao
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