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Post by Heather on Mar 4, 2011 1:13:19 GMT -5
Perhaps, Zoe needs a dose of low level pred. to keep her stable. It does sound like she's doing very well though. Many people only feed their guys 2x a day. Often it's enough to last them from one feeding to the next, though. All my carnivore furbabies eat natural raw diet. At the moment 10 fuzzes, 3 cats and an irish wolfhound. It can get expensive at times You could see if your little one will kill and eat a pinky. If they don't eat it after killing it, then you could play tug with it. I'm a little squeemish about playing tug with the mice babies when they're living. It's just me, I have no great love for rodents, I view them as food, I'm just a softy. Maybe, you could try and add some of the chunks that are left in the blender into your soupy? They might eat it that way? ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 4, 2011 14:18:58 GMT -5
I tried feeding small chunks today, with very little success. I did the scruff and stuff. I got a couple in Huck. I got a piercing on my finger from Sid. Then I had enough as my finger was bleeding all over the place. And hurt, man he has sharp little teeth. He really did not want that chicken. I've been trying to grab a pinkie from the nest, but with 4 very protective female mice, was unable to yet. They are funny little critters. Only one had babies, but it seems that 2 of them are nursing. The real momma is never in there, but the little white one is always sitting on them. Weird!! They have to be atleast 5 days old, how did I not know this. The last time you could hear squeaks. There is like 12 or more, so maybe there is 2 mothers. Oh well!! Food for ferts.
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Post by sherik on Mar 4, 2011 17:47:58 GMT -5
I did it.... I got a pinkie out of the tank. Indy ate the whole thing. I had to hold him there with it up to his mouth, but he ate everything. I am going to buy some frozen pinkies this weekend.
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Post by Heather on Mar 5, 2011 0:55:42 GMT -5
Sounds like the pinky adventure was a success. Ouch...yes, those little teeth do hurt...a lot . What if you stuck some really tiny pieces in their soupy and fed it that way? Mice?? I raise my own for my guys too....cannot for the life of me figure out at times who the real mother is. There is often a momma and a nursemaid. My boxes usually consist of 6 momma fuzzes and 1 male. Nursing duties are shared among all the females and even sometimes the juveniles share babysitting duty. This is a photo of one of my mouse groups nurseries. There are varying ages of baby mice and there is always an adult mouse or two in the nursery looking after the little ones ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 5, 2011 14:05:12 GMT -5
Wow... that is alot of mice. If my partner seen I had that many mice I might get into trouble, cause I would be found out that I want to feed them to the ferts. I only used Huck to kill them, everyone else sucks at it. But still no one eats them, YET!! He killed Indies pinkie in 1/2 second, he is so fast and enjoys it, or it seems like it to me. But I plan on buying some frozen ones today, I won't get in trouble if they are already dead. Is it normal for them to only want to eat once a day during the spring? They don't touch the food alot during the day, it does eventually get eaten though, just slowly. But at night time, they gobble it up like they haven't eaten in a week. I've also noticed that they like the soup thicker now. I accidentally watered it down too much this morning, and no takers. So I added 2 more ice cubes to it, and then Lily and Indy ate some. I still have to round everyone else up to eat after. They are just busy playing right now. They tend to eat better when they've had a good romp, maybe that is why they eat best at night? They get to run around the house 4-5 hours a day. But they have their own room now, so they only time they see a cage is bed time, or if no one is home. Except Zool, my old man, he never goes in a cage. His back end doesn't work so well and in a cage, he messes all over himself and everyone else for that matter. I will try just putting little chunks in their soup instead of forcing them to try it. My fingers will appreciate it. Plus the soup i made last night is chunky, haven't tried it with them yet though. I was lazy and didn't want to grind it first and just put it in the blender.
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Post by sherik on Mar 5, 2011 21:33:21 GMT -5
I bought some frozen fuzzy mice today. They didn't have pinkies left. Indy ate 2 with my help. The others won't touch them. I chopped one up and mixed it with the soup. But they just spit it out. Huck ate his first chunk of chicken. Then he gagged like it was poison. My guys are royal PITA's. I wish they would hurry and eat like they should. Grr!!
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Post by Heather on Mar 5, 2011 21:54:09 GMT -5
I think you and your guys are doing awesome. The soup is getting thicker. Yay Indy way to go You can put you little rejected mice into the blender and get them to start getting used to the taste that way. ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 6, 2011 12:22:22 GMT -5
If there is such a thing as withdrawl with kibbles yesterday was the day. They were desperate to find any kibble that may have fallen behind the cage, in the wheel under the cage, maybe there might be some crumbs in the floor boards. They were just frantic yesterday and today so far too. It's been a week without kibbles now. They do not eat what I leave in the cage at night now. So I make sure they go to bed with full bellies, even if I have to spoon feed every single one of them, as was the case last night. That and there soup has little chunks in it. If I feed off the spoon they eat the chunks. Except Huck, he flings it out of his mouth everywhere. I have to steam mop their room today because of him. So far I am not noticing any weight losses. I will check this afternoon to make sure. Right now they are playing crazy ferrets.
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Post by sherik on Mar 6, 2011 17:24:32 GMT -5
I must admit that when I first starting feeding the raw I was pretty sure that it wouldn't work. That none expecially Huck would never eat it. Well it is working. While Huck is still proving to be very difficult for me he does eat easily from a spoon, even eating some little chunks, he doesn't really chew them, and if they are too big that he has to chew them, he flings them across the room. But I have 3 chewers now. No bone, but Fog was chewing on some cartlidge today. Most of the chunks are basically just the skin that wouldn't blend very well, cause I am not grinding the meat anymore for that purpose to make it chunkier. But I can get Siddy to eat fairly large pieces of chicken skin and chew it, if I hold him and feed it with a spoon, and Fog and Indy eat the chunks of skin just by giving it to them. Zoey does seem to need the pred, even though her BG is pretty good. Her appetite has picked up again. I see her licking the air today when it is food time. So I gave her some little tiny pieces of chicken skin and she ate it no problem, as long as it is small. Now just have to get Lily and Huck eating it without flinging it everywhere. Then I will cut up some bigger pieces. I ordered some bulk frozen pinkies and fuzzies from some place in Canada, can't remember right now. But way cheaper than the pet store, I think 30 cents a pinkie if you order more than 99 of them, where as the pet store is $25 for 20 fuzzies or 25 pinkies. I thought Lily might be looking thin, well she is, but her weight is the same. Muscle maybe. She's always been a tubby little thing. She plays more now with the raw I've noticed. She used to be quite the loner, but she actually plays now. When I used to let her out, even as a baby, she would wonder around a bit a then go upstairs and hide under the cedar chest. I think she was allergic to something in the kibbles as she always seemed sick, and she would grind her teeth when she ate kibbles. But she is great now.
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Post by Heather on Mar 6, 2011 21:06:12 GMT -5
I always had the greatest confidence in you and your furbabies . I think you're progressing fantastically ;D I find that my guys, in the spring, start looking very lean but when I check their weight, often they've only lost a few ounces. That's fantastic about Lily and yes, I've heard about personality changes that occur on raw. Sometimes things like edgy, scared of their shadow types suddenly becoming confident. Biters who suddenly calm out (wish Fun-Go was one of these). Allergies and sensitivities to grains is often considered to blame. That is an excellent price for pinkies, well done ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 7, 2011 23:52:45 GMT -5
The reason I didn't think it would work is Huck. You don't know how many top of the line kibbles I tried with him with no success. It took him a year to finally eat cooked soups. He still is a pain though. Only eats at night time on his own. But he does atleast eat the little chunks though. I was watching him tonight. If he gets one in his mouth he walks a little bit away from his bowl and chews it, then cleans his whiskers and goes back to eating. Still has that thing about cleaning his whiskers. What is funny about him is, you have to bring the food to him. I see him sniffing and licking the air like he wants it, but won't go to it. If I dip my finger in the soup he licks it off like it is a treat. So I give in and put the food in front of him. My spoiled little brat. He is my fav, if you haven't figured. I shouldn't have one, and I love them all the same, but he just is special. I still find they are frantic for kibble or any kind of cat food though. I caught Lily eating the cats wet cat food tonight. Something she never would have even sniffed twice before. All of the ferret kibble is gone now. Not one piece left in the house. I don't ever see Siddy eating, but he's gained 2oz, so he must be when I am sleeping and at work. They eat everything but the cartlidge. If everything keeps going well this week, I am going to start putting some bigger pieces in the soup on saturday. Maybe some chopped up heart and gizzards too. I know Indy LOVES chicken hearts. Zoey is eating well again, so I am going to keep her on a low dose of pred once a day.
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Post by Heather on Mar 8, 2011 0:21:29 GMT -5
Sounds to me that things are progressing well. Each one is going to find their way...it's just a matter of timing. Your Siddy, reminds me of my Loki Bears. He never seemed to eat, but he was getting fatter and his coat was just gorgeous. I think I was almost 6 months into the switch, the other guys he had come in with were eating with gusto, but Loki would sidle up to the feed dish, lick his lips, waggle his head from side to side and then walk away. Again and again I watched him to this. One night a couple of the brats got into a free for all, after lights out and I went barging in to see who was beating the crap out of who.... what do I find...a Loki Bear gorging on frozen mice. It just goes to show you never know . It was almost like it was what he was waiting for, because from there on in, I saw him eating all the time. As far as favs....we all do it. It's not always the easiest fuzz to deal with or the cutest...we just do. It's normal Keep me posted Good luck ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 9, 2011 23:25:12 GMT -5
So.... I am wondering what is the next step? Do I stop making sure they eat and just put the food in the cage. Well I basically only make sure Huck eats, and I will always make sure Zoey eats anyway. But should I just put the food in the cage in the morning at the usual time? And just keep and eye on Hucks weight so I know that he is eating on his own. I don't ever seem to have to worry about the other 4, just put it in and they almost always eat right away, and I'm sure after too as the food is always gone or nearly gone. If they eat it all, I usually put in a couple more cubes at lunch to hold them over til night time. Spoon feeding Huck is getting old. He knows it is food, atleast I am hoping he does. I'm hoping that he will eat on his own if I don't spoon feed him anymore. How long does it take for them to drop weight if they are not eating. I am guessing a couple days with their metabolism. I just really don't want him to get sick, I already have a sick old man right now. One is enough to deal with, especially when I don't think my old man is going to be around much longer.
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Post by sherik on Mar 11, 2011 15:29:16 GMT -5
I think I may have higher expectation than my ferts do. I don't think they need to eat as much as I think. Lately between 6 of them, they eat prolly under a pound of food, and no on is losing weight. The definatley look slimmer. But not losing weight. Muscle weighs more than fat. So I think they are all getting very muscualar. I'm going to start cutting small cubes of meat this weekend and see if any eat it. Maybe ounce sized pieces to start with and mix it with their soup. They are all eating the long chunks of skin and fat in the soup. I've lowered Zoeys dose of pred and giving it twice a day. She is eating very well again. Huck eats very well every night on his own. I am sure he eats when I am at work too. He always feels full when I come home at lunch and let them out for an hour and a half. Sid is another story, he threw a temper tantrum this morning cause he didn't want to eat. He threw his bowl of soup everywhere. Then he cleaned it all up though. Little sh**. I just probably worry for no reason, because before he would easily eat a full plate of the soup. Now he doesn't eat as much.
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Post by Heather on Mar 11, 2011 17:36:41 GMT -5
Remember too, it's spring. They're going to be slowing down big time. I can't believe how little my guys are eating and if I didn't go through this OMG moment every spring I would be nervous. My guys have slimmed down, but weight wise have only lost maybe an once or two. I've had some of the big PVs who used to loose close to half a pound of weight in the spring and give me a major heart attack every year. The other thing that you're going to be seeing too, is the difference between kibble chunk and raw slim. That too can be bothersome until you get used to seeing it. I always have difficulty transitioning, feeding too much in the spring and throwing out (well feeding it to the dog) a whole lot of ferret food until I get the amounts right. It is difficult and I've spoken with old time breeders who say despite how long they've been looking after these little ones, spring still gives them a jolt. What a naughty Sid. They're so much like 2 yr olds. You're doing great.... Really ;D ;D ;D ciao
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