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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2011 11:32:40 GMT -5
Are chicken livers sufficient as their organ intake or should I try other organs as well? It's pretty hard to get hold of any organs here apart from liver and kidney.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 26, 2011 21:53:07 GMT -5
Liver will certainly suffice as a main organ meal. If/when you can find any other organ, then mix a bit in with the liver. Not sure if you have any specialty pet stores near you? Sometimes you can find things like dehydrated lung, etc in them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2011 6:25:58 GMT -5
Good morning! You can't really get meat in pet shops here I might go round a few butchers and see if they'll let me have the organs they pull out of the chickens they sell. If I could only get hold of liver, is that enough or do they really need more variety in the organs they eat? Are there any supplements that I need to be giving them? I was looking at homemade cat food recipes last night and people add a lot of things to them I was wondering if it's the same for ferrets. They were adding taurine, I guess just to make sure they were getting enough and also fish oils to replace what they would get from eating the eyes of an animal. Do I need to get some kind of fish oil? I have ferretone but that has vitamin A in it and I don't want to give them too much of this as I heard it can harm them.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 27, 2011 9:35:03 GMT -5
You can't really get meat in pet shops here What I was referring to would be in the treat section of the pet store, if they have it. Since the bits are small, they'd use them as treats for dogs and/or cats If I could only get hold of liver, is that enough or do they really need more variety in the organs they eat? Yes, the liver by itself is fine. Since you said you can sometimes get kidney, just add a small chunk of that ever 2nd or 3rd week. They were adding taurine, I guess just to make sure they were getting enough and also fish oils to replace what they would get from eating the eyes of an animal. If you can't get enough heart meat to make a full meal at least once a week, then yes, add a taurine supplement. For fish oil, I either use salmon oil or small marine fish oil. I mainly use it to help them with the itchies, especially during shedding season. But you could also use extra virgin olive oil for that as well, if you can't find the other. It also helps with the skin, coat, nails, etc. Actually- here's a link to supplement usage, and what they are for holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=healthresource&action=display&thread=199
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2011 7:55:44 GMT -5
I just found a website that sells everything I will need and it's really cheap! rawtogo.co.uk/ProductsandPrices.aspxHurley ate the tip of a chicken wing yesterday for the first time. He wouldn't touch it at first but would only lick it so I scruffed him and stuffed it in his mouth and he started chewing on it. I'm so proud of him!
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Post by Sherry on Apr 28, 2011 9:34:15 GMT -5
Oh, that's fantastic!!! Go Hurley!!! That's a major first step to eating bone And that looks like an awesome site- congrats!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2011 9:50:26 GMT -5
My order of rabbit arrived today, I've got some small bone in meat chunks to give them tonight. I have a feeling they're going to love rabbit
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2011 10:24:14 GMT -5
Ooh I've just noticed that all the minces on that website have 10% bone and 10% organ in them already! That will make things a lot easier!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2011 15:04:08 GMT -5
I'm still having problems getting them to eat raw. They will eat a few mouthfuls or they will eat it when I sit them on my lap and feed it to them but if I leave them to it they eat barely anything. I've kept the raw in their cage all day today and only a few mouthfuls have been eaten. I think they're just holding out for the kibble because I know they're hungry.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 29, 2011 22:57:58 GMT -5
Yes, they are. However, you also have to be sure they are eating enough. And that involves hand feeding usually, til they start taking to it on their own. And they can be stubborn little sods It took 6 weeks of hand feeding Boris til he started eating on his own Ok. Have they eaten any stage of the raw on their own? Puree, mush, anything? What you may have to do is while spoon feeding, keep lowering the spoon toward the dish, until it's resting there. Often, they'll wind up moving off the spoon to the mush right beside it, then on to the rest of the plate.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2011 4:52:10 GMT -5
They will eat freeflow chicken/beef mince on its own. The kind of mince that's in little tube shapes but the mince that is just whole ground animal from the butchers which is sort of sloppy and slimy, I have to make them eat. If I hold them by the scruff with their head over the bowl they will eat but they will stop when I let go. If I sprinkle some dried chicken on top or a couple of drops of Ferretone they will eat a bit on their own.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 30, 2011 12:49:52 GMT -5
Instead of scruffing, try just keeping them on your lap, and either finger feed, or(preferable) use a spoon. See how much they'll eat that way. Boris and his breakfast ;D When he's being difficult, this is how I get him to eat.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2011 14:41:32 GMT -5
I put their ground rabbit in the cage today and they all started eating it with no spoon feeding. They were doing that scrunched up nose face they do when they are really enjoying something They didn't eat much before they decided it was time for another snooze but I am hoping that was just because they aren't that hungry yet. Typically, how much raw meat do they normally eat in one sitting? They seem to spend ages eating kibble when they're hungry, do they eat less raw meat because it's got more nutrients in it?
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Post by Sherry on May 5, 2011 18:02:28 GMT -5
Oh, definitely! Once they settle to an amount, you'd be surprised at how little it actually is It also really varies on how much they take in one sitting. I always leave enough meat in the cage for nibbles throughout the day/night, since most ferrets don't eat everything at once anyway. They aren't built that way. One example is the differences in two of my groups. I'd put in two chicken wings for one group of 4, and they'd be pretty much polished off by next meal time. But another group of 3 girls wouldn't even finish one wing in that same time period. The difference is in the first group, I had two males(2lbs and 3lbs), and 2 two pound females. In the second group, the largest is 1 1/2 lbs, the smallest is barely a pound. Size, gender, age, health, activity level. It all plays a part in how much they will eat. And that's fantastic that they took it on their own!!! I'd certainly leave the dish for several hours for them to have the opportunity to finish it off.
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Post by Sherry on May 17, 2011 13:49:29 GMT -5
Hi- any updates?
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