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Post by katt on Oct 18, 2011 3:18:51 GMT -5
Awesome. Yeah you have to be careful about the amounts. lol You have to really sneak it up on them. Slow and steady is often much more efficient and makes for a much faster switch than trying to force them forwards too fast. Obviously some ferrets will move in leaps and all ferrets have different spots of the switch that they progress through faster, but in general slow, steady, and sneaky's the way to go! Let me know how he does with tonight's soup, it sounds like he's already doing a bit better.
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Post by katt on Oct 20, 2011 0:25:42 GMT -5
Any updates?
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 20, 2011 13:25:23 GMT -5
Soup is thicker, and minced chicken goes down fine. I haven't found ground chicken yet, but I will keep looking. So I've been keeping the chicken size the same while increasing the thickness. Sometimes it's hard to tell if he doesn't want to eat the food or if he's just full. I have the most success when I leave food overnight, as there's almost always an empty bowl in the morning. That's about it! I've also been reducing the ferretone to a few drops on top of the soup (as opposed to squirt mixed throughout) and that's been working.
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 21, 2011 18:32:07 GMT -5
I found some ground chicken! ...what do I do with it? I also picked up a new batch of chicken breasts, so let me know if I need to do anything different this time around -- otherwise I'll just make the chicken pumpkin paste I've been making.
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 22, 2011 13:47:33 GMT -5
I added the ground chicken instead of minced and he didn't really take to it on his own. He eats it when I feed it to him, but that's it. He may have eaten some overnight, but I don't see the bottom of his dish like I usually do.
I feel like he's just not eating very much, overall. I wonder if my timing is off. I originally thought that maybe it was sitting out too long, so I've been keeping it pretty fresh -- but this is creating a lot of waste. What's the usual routine? Two big bowls in the morning and night, or small bowls every couple of hours?
It also just occurred to me that it might just be that the food is more dense now -- he looks like he's eating less but there's more substance to it. Could that be it?
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Post by katt on Oct 23, 2011 4:15:38 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Oct 23, 2011 4:35:41 GMT -5
Soup is thicker, and minced chicken goes down fine. I haven't found ground chicken yet, but I will keep looking. So I've been keeping the chicken size the same while increasing the thickness. Sometimes it's hard to tell if he doesn't want to eat the food or if he's just full. I have the most success when I leave food overnight, as there's almost always an empty bowl in the morning. That's about it! I've also been reducing the ferretone to a few drops on top of the soup (as opposed to squirt mixed throughout) and that's been working. That is great progress. Rather than thickening the soup at this point, go ahead and increase the amount of chunks that are mixed in instead.
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Post by katt on Oct 23, 2011 4:47:46 GMT -5
I added the ground chicken instead of minced and he didn't really take to it on his own. He eats it when I feed it to him, but that's it. He may have eaten some overnight, but I don't see the bottom of his dish like I usually do.That's okay. I feel like he's just not eating very much, overall. I wonder if my timing is off. I originally thought that maybe it was sitting out too long, so I've been keeping it pretty fresh -- but this is creating a lot of waste. What's the usual routine? Two big bowls in the morning and night, or small bowls every couple of hours?General rule of thumb for "expiration dates" on raw: soup typically lasts 8-12 hours, ground meat about 12 hours, raw chunks 12-24 hours, raw meaty bones 12-32 hours (varies by how thick the bones are, how much meat is covering them, etc), and whole prey lasts 24-48 hours. Here is how I run my feeding schedules, and you will find that most people use something similar. Feed in the morning (leave food in cage all day), at night see what's left over. Remove any bad stuff but leave any leftovers that are still edible. Top off with fresh meat for dinner. Repeat this process every 12 hours, taking out old meat, leaving in "good" leftovers, and adding in new meat. Clean the feeding den (if you use one) at least every 2 days if not daily. Right now on a mostly soup diet, you just need to replace the soup twice a day - in the am and at night before bed. Also, it's normal to not always see them eat a lot. My boys do most of their eating during the night after I have gone to sleep, and then they will sometimes eat a bit in the early morning (I know bc sometimes they wake me up banging the food dish around lol) and then in the afternoon while I'm at work. They eat more at night than in the afternoon - they sleep most of the day. It also just occurred to me that it might just be that the food is more dense now -- he looks like he's eating less but there's more substance to it. Could that be it?Absolutely. Think of how much water was in the food before, now he is getting more meat per ounce of soup. He may also just not like the thicker soup as much. That's okay, just stick with it. If you notice he is losing a lot of weight, and becoming lethargic then there may be need for concern. But as long as he is alert, playful when he's up and about, active, etc just keep an eye on him.
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Post by katt on Oct 23, 2011 4:52:31 GMT -5
So you tried feeding the ground meat on it's own, in the soup, or both? I'm a little unclear, sorry... If you fed it in the soup only, then try it on it's own with a little ferretone and pumpkin mixed in and see what he thinks. If he doesn't seem to like the ground chicken in the soup, don't worry. You can use it to blend into the soup (rather than just mixing it in - hope I'm making sense here lol) so it doesn't go to waste. Then keep adding the chunks to the soup like you were before and slowly increase the amount of chunks in the soup. What's the current chunk to soup ratio that he will eat? Umm....let's see...if you took a big cereal spoon of the soup about how many chunks would there be in the spoon? Or if you have a better way of describing it feel free, I just need an idea of how many chunks are in the soup.... ;D
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 24, 2011 22:40:16 GMT -5
Okay, here's what I've been up to and having the best success with: I take the original "soup" (chicken pureed with pumpkin, eggshells, a little water) and I add the ground chicken. He's been eating that, even though it's been in smaller amounts.
I tried adding thin chicken strips (like what Sherry describes as "chicken spaghetti") but he didn't go for it at all. So today's meal has been the soup, ground chicken, and small (kibble sized) chunks. I'd say it's about 1/4 chunks, 3/4 mushy stuff. He's been nibbling on it, so it looks like this is working. There's still ferretone in there for now.
When he wakes up, I'll offer him the ground chicken by hand to see what he thinks. Haven't tried that yet.
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Post by katt on Oct 25, 2011 0:14:08 GMT -5
Okay give him a few more meals on the soup and as he gets a little more comfortable with it, start to increase the chunks by just a little bit. I know it can be slow going at times but he is starting to make progress. Just keep it up, you are doing a great job. Let me know what he thinks of the hand fed ground raw. You might try to mix/dribble a little oil, ferretone, or pumpkin in/on it too and see if that entices him at all if he doesn't take it hand-fed plain. Feel free to experiment - different techniques work with different ferrets.
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 25, 2011 1:09:55 GMT -5
I tried the hand fed ground -- oh man, he hated it. It went everywhere. Pretty hilarious. I tried it straight, then I tried putting ferretone on it. No luck! But he *is* eating it in the soup, so it isn't going to waste.
Okay, I'll keep up with what you suggested... i'll see how he does with these kibble sized chunks and then increase the amount and we'll go from there!
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Post by katt on Oct 25, 2011 3:12:19 GMT -5
What a Brat you have on your hands! ;D That's pretty funny I have to admit. How does he respond when you try to hand feed him chunks? What about soupie sized chunks? Does he eat it any better that way? I mean you want him to be eating it on it's own obviously, but if he responds well to hand feeding you can use that as a tool to help push him along. Something else that's worth a try is to warm up the soup/meat mush a little. Start with only a small amount so you don't waste good soup of course. And keep in mind that once it's been heated the soup will not stay fresh as long - I'd swap it out after 4-6 hours. Anyways, some ferrets don't care for warm soup but some go absolutely nuts for it. You can heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds, though this tends to cook it. Another method is to put the soup mush in a sealed container (like a ziplock bag or small tupperware and set the container in a pot/bowl of hot water for a few min. When the water cools down replace it with more hot water until the soup is warm. Really it's good to offer meats in a variety of ways. So you might offer norm thawed meat one day, frozen meat another, and warmed meat another day. This keeps them stimulated. Kind of how you might prefer a frappachino one day, and a hot tea another. Keeps it interesting. Anyways, something that might be worth a shot if you feel like giving it a try. I wouldn't necessarily heat every meal though, unless you want a very spoiled, high maintenance ferret on your hands...oh....wait...you already do!
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Post by michelleapalmer on Oct 25, 2011 13:52:02 GMT -5
Empty bowl this morning! I'm feeding a little less so that he can't pick and choose what he eats; I think the sneaky little b*stard has been eating all the soup around the chunks and was totally satisfied! hhahahaha I say that lovingly, of course!
He's doing well with chunks, it looks like! I added a few more so we'll see what the bowl looks like tonight. And you're right, it does seem like he eats more at night.
When you say, "How does he respond when you try to hand feed him chunks?" do you mean plain 'ol dry-ish (or with ferretone) pieces of chicken? I haven't tried that yet... but he's doing super well when they're part of the soup.
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Post by katt on Oct 25, 2011 17:05:24 GMT -5
I mean a piece of raw chicken meat right off the chicken. lol Or right off the breast from the store would be more accurate... Plain, nothing on it. And if he doesn't take it plain, try it with oil or ferretone on it and see if he takes it that way. I'm just interested to see if he'll eat the chunks without the soup ifyou hand feed. Either way we can start decreasing the amount of soup in his food now so it's more chunks than soup. Let me know how he does tonight. I'd have to agree that it sounds like he was being sneaky. Many ferrets like soup over other foods so if it's available they may gobble that up first and spoil their dinner. Silly things.
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