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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2011 19:54:12 GMT -5
sounds good, let me know how the beef goes As for Dids turning yellow... How yellow are we talking? Is it his whole coat, parts of his coat, his eyes? His skin? I was talking to my vet on Monday night after Olivia's test and she was telling me how one of her ferrets has liver disease and how she walked in one day and her ferret was completely yellow. So yellow can be jaundice, a symptom of liver disease, but I do believe it can also be a coat change thing in lighter colored ferrets. Could you post a picture?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2011 22:16:09 GMT -5
Just wanted to clarify - ferrets CAN experience a yellowing of the coat. It is caused by the natural oils in their coats and is more common in male ferrets. If it's just Did's coat that is yellow, that's probably all it is. However if his skin or eyes are yellow, this can be a sign of jaundice and should be checked by a vet. As for the switch - the one meal organs sounds like a plan for the next week Will the soup be 6oz liver and 6oz kidney for that meal since you won't be feeding soup for the rest of the week? Were you able to visualize baby legs eating beef or are you doing the 3 meals test?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2011 19:40:17 GMT -5
Also brushing Dids will help spread the oils around and get rid of dead fur and should help get rid of the yellow colour Any updates on the switch?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2011 10:21:35 GMT -5
I can post of pic of Dids but its really just around his ears, face and the base of the tail. I'm not too worried about him because those are the only spots. He has often had these yellow colored spots but it seemed to be going away since the switch but then it came back a little.
His skin is pink and his eyes are still dark.
OK BABY LEGS HAS BEEN AMAZING THE LAST TWO DAYS.
He ate heart pieces last night, this was the first time i was able to visually verify. Like said before he normally only eats after the other two are sleeping. Then this morning he ate a few pieces of beef!!!! SO PROUD!!!
YAY! I'm so glad. I'm going to try and feed them 3oz/3oz with 2oz hearts tonight for dinner and see if they eat it all.
if not i might break up next week organ meal into two servings but in the same day so they get 6oz/6oz in the whole day.
Yes next week i do PLAN on giving 6oz/6oz in one sitting but that seems like alot for them so depending on how tonight goes will effect next weeks meal.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2011 13:48:10 GMT -5
In that case I wouldn't worry about Dids Hurray Baby legs it sounds like he's really coming around!!! Now you just have to make sure he keeps eating the beef and heart slivers (and that everyone else does too) and then you can Slowly increase the heart sliver size. It's also good to have more than one source of hearts. I.e. Chicken and pork hearts or beef hearts. So that would be something to try too now that they are all eating the heart slivers. 6oz/6oz organ in soup form really is a lot for one meal because you've got the the extra water for the soup so you will probably have to break it up into 2 meals. If they get to the point of eating whole organ chunks, then they can eat it all in one meal. If you do feed it in 2 meals, just take out one of your other muscle meat meals. Keep the number of bone meals the same for the week. Otherwise, I think you should give baby legs another week to make sure he's still eating the beef and pork properly, give the organ day a try, and then think about adding another protein
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2011 13:43:29 GMT -5
sounds good!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2011 18:17:02 GMT -5
But if you still wouldnt mind posting what they have eaten for meals since the last time you posted, each time you post that would be great It helps me make sure everything is still on track Also what size of meat chunks are they all eating now for all of their meals? I.e. how big are the pork chunks, how big are the beef chunks, how big are the chicken wings pieces and how big are the heart slivers and the organ slivers (I think you said you put some in their soup)?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2011 22:20:59 GMT -5
And for the sizes there's now a "sticky" with standardized meat sizes posted on this section of the forum (mentoring section) so if you could use that to let me know what sizes they are eating (it defines what a sliver is, what a chunk is, etc). That would be fantastic we are re-vamping our mentoring program for new switches, and will be applying some of the changes to our current threads to help better serve our mentees I will keep you updated on any changes I require from you but for now keep up your meal reports and the new size standards will be super helpful
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2011 13:41:06 GMT -5
All their food is medium to large chunks most of it is larger than 1" cubes. baby legs was getting smaller ones a few days ago but he is up to large chunks of pork and beef just like his cagemates. Hearts are bite sized and the kidney/liver are bite sized. I'm sorry i didn't even realize i hadn't posted their food in over a week!! I forgot because i pretty much get on here and say what isn't typical behavior and since baby legs has been doing so well i kinda forgot everything was going so well SORRY AGAIN! (am/pm) Monday Oct 31- 3.0 oz game hen / 3.0 oz pork We have been giving hen on sunday for the bone in meat and its around 6oz but we gave them pork in the morning because it was left from the night before. They got what was leftover from sunday night. No leftovers from the morning hen. The evening pork went well it was the second day we got to watch baby legs eat the pork. - organ soup and pumpkin in the evening. Tues Nov 1 - 7oz chicken AM/PM They eat great on the chicken as usual. organ soup and pumpkin in the evening Wed Nov 2 - 4oz beef / 4oz chicken This was the first day we got to see baby legs eat beef by hand feeding. organ soup and pumpkin evening. Thurs Nov 3 - 4oz chicken hearts / 5oz chicken First time we were able to watch baby legs eat heart pieces in soup with pumpkin in the morning. Chicken is gobbled up but still leftovers. Fri Nov 4 - 4oz beef / 3oz kidney 3oz liver soup with 2oz hearts. Beef goes well! Baby legs ate beef all by himself the other two eat plenty! The soup is almost half gone before bed and no leftovers in the morning. Sat Nov 5 - 6oz chicken wing / 4oz pork The chicken goes well for all three. No soup today because waiting on the 6oz/6oz next friday. Pork again we watch baby legs eat a few pieces, we still hand feed some just to make him get used to it. Sun Nov 6 - 12oz game hen 12 oz is about 1/2 a hen. They are all eating well just like the chicken. Mon Nov 7 - 5 oz chicken / 5 oz pork Chicken goes well. 5oz felt like too much when i cut it up but it was all gone in the morning, so i know baby legs had his fill that night. We have been increasing the amount of pork/beef for some time. It started around 2.5-3 and almost always leftovers. Now we have went up in weight will no leftovers. Tues Nov 8 - 10oz chicken. chicken is going well so far today. The real test will be thursday and friday during heart and organ meals, cross your fingers!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2011 23:09:31 GMT -5
Thanks That is fantastic they are eating such nice big chunks! You really don't have to go bigger than "large chunks" if you don't want to. If you do want to work your ferrets up to say eating whole chicken wings, you definitely can, but I find most just prefer their food cut up and won't eat it if it's too much "work" ;D so you could leave chunk sizes as are now, or a little bit bigger. That's great that they are up to bite sized pieces with the hearts and organs too. I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for the organ soup meal and the heart meal. Just don't increase the size of the heart pieces for that meal and they should do just fine The meals you posted all looked good, but I did notice you said there were "no leftovers" the next morning on a few of them. This means you need to add more meat to these meals. There should ALWAYS be just a few leftover pieces the next day. This way you KNOW they had the option of eating more, but didn't so they were full. If they eat it all, you can't be sure if they were full, or just ran out of food. As for posting meals, I'm going to implement part of our new system for you, if that's okay with you. It just means you don't have to post meals everytime you post, but instead post them once each week at the end of the week. So: Please copy/paste this very short questionnaire into your switching thread every Sunday/Monday.
1. Ferret's name: 2. Ferret's weight: 3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 4. Stools on various proteins. 5. Activity levels: 6. Weekly menu:
Example would be:
Vincent, 3lbs 2oz(1417g), small chicken wing chopped into 2" pieces, bone and all. Stools good colour and consistency. Played as per normal.
Willow, 1lb 4oz(567g), 2 tbsp commercial raw turkey, hand fed. Stools good colour and consistency. Very hyper when up, playing for 2-3 hours at a time.
Mr. Frodo, 4lb 4oz(1928g), 1/4c pork slivers mixed with soup. Stools slightly loose, somewhat seedy, and pale in colour. Somewhat more tired, plays for 30 minutes, then finds somewhere to sleep. Flat ferreting more often.
Weekly menu was:
Monday: chicken legs Tuesday: Commercial raw Wednesday: Soup with pork slivers
Etc. Just write what you actually fed them.
Does that sound okay to you? The weights, stool reports and activity levels just help me keep a closer eye on your little guys and make sure Mr. Baby legs continues to eat enough This way you only have to report any difficulties you have with anyone the other times you post during the week. At this point, you definitely don't need to post every day/second day as long as there are no issues but I will ask that you post that report every sunday/monday and do try to post one more time throughout the week (or more if you can/want to) Do let me know how the organ and heart/meals go and I'd also like you to think of one more protein to add once you've tried the heart and organ meals. You do technically have four (cornish hen, chicken, beef and pork) so one more should give you a nice variety throughout the week and will give you more flexibility in changing up your menu if there are meat sales, they are out of something, etc. Sorry for the super long post there Everything is looking GREAT so far, give your ferts and yourself a big pat on the back
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2011 18:07:39 GMT -5
All this sounds fine. It will make it a bit easier now that there is a better template than the one i have been creating. Baby Legs ate really well on beef again today. So next week should be a good time to introduce something new, heck by this point they may not even notice . I think we have some beef brains, muscle right? Thanks, it has been a challenge so far but we couldn't be happier.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2011 21:08:57 GMT -5
Fantastic good boy baby legs! Beef brains actually count as an organ, not a muscle meat, so only 2oz per ferret should be fed per week, and in place of the kidney. Or you can go 1oz kidney, 1oz brains. Brains are also a fantastic source of taurine, so they are definitely great to feed as they can never have too much taurine. What were you thinking for the new protein?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2011 12:35:10 GMT -5
Heart meal was yesterday. 4oz, there was prolly about 1oz left. I don't think baby legs ate much if any. He did stash about 6-7 pieces, they were gone but either ferret could have eaten them. So i added another 4oz of hearts to their organ soup i made today. Cici and Dids went right to the hearts no problem. 3-4oz of hearts between the three of them seem like enough? I made the bags kinda small for now because i figured they wouldn't be eating it all at once anyway. I did increase the amount per bag for when they start to take to the hearts better. I just fed half the organ soup and it was gone in seconds, thinking maybe i should have gave them the whole thing!!! But they went to sleep right after the meal so its ok i will feed the rest tonight. I'm going to cut up a few pieces of hearts to put in the soup as well. Next protein ... i suppose turkey if that is far enough from chicken and hen. I will post the new system on sunday. starting from yesterday. Then continue with the weekly post unless something isn't going to plan. I feel like we are definitely getting there!! I'm so proud of my babies, even baby legs
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2011 21:21:38 GMT -5
Sounds like they did great! That should be enough hearts for now, if they are leaving 1/4 of it for leftovers, there's no point giving more until they are eating better but definitely compensate for it like you are by giving more with the soup, until they are eating them better As for Mr. Baby legs, it sounds like he is so close but not quite there. You have actually seen him eat hearts so I suspect he does eat some, but just not as well as the others. What you could do for the heart meal next week is take away the last meals food and wait an hour or two before giving the hearts. let baby legs build up a little bit of an appetite. Otherwise keep hand feeding, try oils, any thing you can to get him to eat that heart! That's awesome about the organ soup! I'd say you can definitely give the whole soup (6oz/6oz) as one meal next week and see how they do. Turkey is different enough than chicken to be another protein. It will mostly count as a muscle meat. Even if you do get say turkey wings, the bones are too thick to be a bone-in meat, since they can't eat them. Turkey necks, are bone-in IF your guys can eat the neck bones. Mine can, but a lot do have trouble with them. So mostly you would feed the turkey as muscle meat meals unless you can get them eating turkey neck bones.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2011 21:26:27 GMT -5
Or if you were looking for another bone-in protein (since most of the weekly meals are that) duck is a really good one. We can get utility grade whole ducks here for $8-10 and you can chop the whole thing up and it lasts quite a few meals. Lots of edible bone.
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