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Post by sherik on Mar 13, 2011 15:39:24 GMT -5
Everyone is doing really really good now *touch wood*. Huck believe it or not is the best at eating the chunks. He grabs them and runs off and eats it. I'm going to try the ground up bone again in their soups, and see if Huck spits it out again. They really need to get some bone in their diet. I don't want any defficiencies(sp). Zoey was eating a few chunks on her own today. I haven't had to spoon feed anyone in days now. I assume that when they are pooping they are eating. Weights are all pretty much the same. They are playing more than usual. Zoey was clucking all over the place this morning. Of course the video camera battery was dead. My old man is responding well to the prednisone, he's not on raw though, his is cooked with supplements. He;s 10 and been through so much, and does really well with the cooked version, so I don't feel the need to stress him out. I am also going to get some quail today for them. See if they eat the bones. The quails are so small, so it might be a good way to start with whole bones. We'll see anyway. I think I figured out how much they will eat now, so I am not feeding the dogs the left overs all the time. They get 5 cubes in the morning. 2 to have something to nibble on in the afternoon. And 6 at night, so they have a little left to nibble when I'm sleeping. Which is just under a pound of food a day for 6 fuzzies.
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Post by Heather on Mar 13, 2011 19:46:41 GMT -5
Sounds to me like your guys have finally got it. I think your idea about quail is great, better than the usual of feeding wing tips. My guys treated the wing tips as stinky toys that you stashed and stole from one another by invading each others hideys. They didn't often eat them. Quail....that was a different story. That was a food worth fighting for ;D There would be all sorts of hissing and screaming from the ferret room during these feeding sessions. I'm glad that you've figured out how much to feed...you want to work on my brats ;D ;D I never get it right in the spring. ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 14, 2011 20:09:55 GMT -5
I wouldn't say they have it. Not quite, but getting there for sure. The ground bone didn;t go over very well. Good thing I didn't actually add it to the batch of soup I made. I made it separately. I ran out of egg shell powder, that is why I wanted to try the ground bone. Let's say I had 6 very hungry fuzzies this morning. They ate like they were starved for a week. I'm still having problems getting them to eat chunks. Sometimes they eat it very well, other times won't and they put the chunks aside. I'm going to chop up one of the quails I bought for dinner tonight and see how they do. I'll pour soup on it. I'm so proud of Huck though, he was such a pain and now he eats really, really good. I'll just have to keep brushing teeth for the time I guess. Every monday I've been cleaning their teeth cause they are just eating soft food.
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Post by Heather on Mar 14, 2011 20:47:16 GMT -5
Sometimes the most resistant turn into your hardest core raw feeders. What would happen if you put small amounts of the ground bone? If they were that hungry, would they not take the chunked meat? I look forward to hearing how your adventure goes with the quail. Fingers are crossed. ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 14, 2011 22:34:05 GMT -5
My ferrets are butt-heads. They wouldn' eat the chunked meat if they were dying. I'll just have to work up to it. They will eat the chunks if they are long and skinny. I guess I'll have go from there. Huck ate a piece of quail drizzled in soup. They all love the soup, that is not a problem. If I fed them nothing but soup they would be happy. But I don't think that is good in the long term. I'm just going to have to keep trying. I know they will get there. I guess it just has to be on there terms. Or I'll have to start force feeding. It is like they forgot how to chew. Grrrr... I put the quail in their cage drizzled with soup. We'll see if anyone touches it.
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Post by Heather on Mar 14, 2011 22:52:56 GMT -5
Stick with the long skinny pieces. It's a starting point. You're guys like the whole lets sit on it for a bit. Let them, sneakily, widen their meats over time but give them some time with the little pieces. Isn't it weird how they have no problem crunching kibbles but suddenly they don't have any teeth when it comes to bone The thing is that they probably don't have the muscle strength yet too. Unfortunately, ferrets are a lazy chew. If they don't have to, they won't I wouldn't start force feeding yet, except maybe stuffing a piece of meat here and there. ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 15, 2011 14:30:50 GMT -5
OK, I will stick with the long skinny pieces until I know they will easily eat them. Then I will start making bigger pieces, until they atleast chew them. They seem to just swallow the skinny pieces and don' really chew. Every once in a while there is a bigger piece that aleast Indy and Fog chew. But they are the babies, both under 8 months. Sidney nearly choked last night when I tried a chunk with him, he just swallowed it and didn' chew. Then he made noises like he was going to throw up. He seems OK now though.
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Post by Heather on Mar 15, 2011 18:37:14 GMT -5
Huck seems to be a sensitive little fellow. Have you tried maybe rubbing a bit of RR in his ears to help him deal with his new cagemate and what you did to his food ? Poor wee lad. He will get over it, this too will pass. Some are as you've noticed much more sensitive to change. It looks to me that everyone is working around it. They've taken a small step back (needing you to feed them a bit) but it seems that they're accepting the change to their soupy without a huge amount of resistance. You're doing good...really ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 15, 2011 23:33:41 GMT -5
Is there a time limit on this? LOL. Am I doing something wrong? 2 months seems like a long time. Or do I just have overly picky ferrets. They haven't had kibbles in going on 3 weeks. I don't get why it is taking them so long to switch to eating more solid food. I thought they would have been there by now. Should I put lots of thin pieces of meat in their soup? I don't know if I am doing it right. Why oh why, do they love to torture me so. Huck is actually doing good. Sid is the one who is doing bad. Funny, the best eater turn to the worst eater and the the worst eater, well he's alot better.
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Post by Heather on Mar 15, 2011 23:42:09 GMT -5
Don't beat yourself up Really. No there's no time limit. I've got a student that has been switching her guys under my banner since we opened ;D ;D I'm not pulling you, you're doing awesome. There is a big difference between switching solo's and switching businesses. When you're switching solos you only worry about one problem at a time. You're dealing with all your guys ups and downs at once. They're progressing....really. You can try adding more pieces. If you think they'll go for it....go for it. ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 18, 2011 21:43:17 GMT -5
It seems I always have one ferret that has to be a pain. They can't all be good eaters everyday. Sid is eating well again. Huck is back to being his usual, you gotta spoon feed me self. I have never met a more stubborn ferret. Fog is now my best eater, eating soup, little chunks, and even some cartlidge I heard him chewing on. Zoey is looking the best she ever has since I got her 3 years ago. She still never gets any muscle on her, I hope the des helps with that. But her coat is soooo shiny and soft, she is active and playful. It is really great. I'll keep working on Huck, and then hopefully one day we will advance to whole foods.
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Post by Heather on Mar 18, 2011 22:04:08 GMT -5
Sounds like your guys are doing really well. Huck is just Huck, he wants your attention and he knows he can get it if he doesn't eat No, all kidding aside, they are doing great. I'm so glad that you're seeing the benefits. I find that my adrenal furkids have a huge benefit over kibble fed fuzzes and though they do eventually crash, they seem to have a much better chance at being able to fight it ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 21, 2011 18:42:16 GMT -5
So out of 6 ferrets. I have 3 that eat when you feed them, 2 that eat well when you dab their noses with the food, and Huck, LOL! The 5 that eat well all eat the little chunks, but Lily and well Huck. Haha! Plus I don't have internet right now, and this phone typing is kinda hard, which is why I haven't been on often.
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Post by Heather on Mar 21, 2011 22:44:28 GMT -5
I can't believe you have the patience to type on your phone When do you think you will be on line again? Keep me in the loop and post a quick line if you have any questions. Start posting regularly once you get on line again ciao
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Post by sherik on Mar 21, 2011 23:26:49 GMT -5
Well it's a smart phone, so not too bad as it has a tap keyboard. It's just new, so i'm learning. The net will be back hopefully wednesday the earliest. My modem packed it in.
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