|
Post by jenpettit on Sept 13, 2011 19:24:32 GMT -5
Well they are eating chicken, pork, rabbit, beef, and now turkey! They seem to be blowing through all the protein I give them. So I am going to have to wait on the quail. I can't seem to find it in the grocery store, but I can order it through the same place I get their ground meat. I will just have to wait a few weeks.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 13, 2011 19:56:17 GMT -5
Oh, that is FANTASTIC Alright- remind me, have they tried liver or heart yet? If not, let's get them on it. We also need to get them eating more bone in meats for their teeth, as well as calcium needs. How many meals are they eating of the commercial raw per week now? And how many bone in meals like wings?
|
|
|
Post by jenpettit on Sept 14, 2011 23:40:10 GMT -5
They are eating 2 meals per week of heart, 2 meals per week of chicken wings, 2-3 meals a week of meat chunks, and the rest commercial raw. No liver yet. I have noticed the last 2 times I fed chicken wings they didn't eat much of the bone. I don't understand why. Every other time they ate almost the whole thing. Also the only heart I can find is beef heart. For some reason the grocery store stopped selling chicken heart. Can I feed beef heart?
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 15, 2011 8:57:53 GMT -5
Any heart you can find, and they will actually eat, is good As for not eating the wings like they did- they've found other meats to be easier, and ferrets are lazy by nature when it comes to food ;D Persevere with the wings, and if you have to smash up the larger drumette bone with a hammer or a cleaver. Time to pick up some liver then, and get them started on that! I've found chicken liver is the most readily accepted. With beef liver, I had to make a puree with it, and add in some heavy cream(1 tsp per ferret) to get them to eat it If you can manage it, you'll also want to feed another organ. Brain, lung, spleen, reproductive organ, etc. If you can find freeze dried lung treats in a pet store, you can use those as well. They seem to go over well with most ferrets. You'll want to feed about 2oz of liver a week, and either the equivalent of a different organ with it, or alternate weekly. Don't be surprised by black, tarry, loose stools! But if it's too bad, you can split the organs up over the week.
|
|
|
Post by jenpettit on Sept 18, 2011 22:11:43 GMT -5
Ok well I am going to try chicken liver tonight. I cant seem to find any other organ at the stores but I will see if I can order it. Also, I am going out of town this weekend and my friend is going to come over and check on the ferrets once a day. I know once a day is probably not the greatest but it is the best I could do. I was wanting to feed them freeze dried. Can you recommend any?
|
|
|
Post by jenpettit on Sept 18, 2011 22:15:22 GMT -5
Also if I can't get freeze dried would it be ok just to give them kibble for 2 days? I don't want to screw their stomach up and I most definitely don't want to screw up all the hard work to switch them!
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 19, 2011 8:19:01 GMT -5
Unfortunately if you do kibble, you may wind up retransitioning again. But it shouldn't take as long As for freeze dried, make sure you try it with them first! If they've not had it, they may wind up on a hunger strike. As for what kinds- stella and chewey's, wysong archetypal 1, and afs are all good. Since your friend is only coming in once a day, any way to remove ramps, etc? Not sure what kind of cage you have, but mine tear the covers off the FN ramps. And leaving them exposed is NOT a good thing, especially without supervision. Legs can go through and get stuck. If you have an FN, just put both shelfs in the bottom section. One shelf in the lowest position, other shelf in the top position on the opposite side. That way, you don't need a ramp between the two levels. They can play and eat on the top level, potty and sleep on the bottom.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 28, 2011 14:45:21 GMT -5
Hi- any updates?
|
|