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Post by bitbyter on Sept 1, 2012 10:27:06 GMT -5
Pulled the kibble at 7:30 this morning and just fed them their soup. Wilma ate all of her's and Socks ate half her plate. Each plate was about 2.5 ounces. I have left Socks in the cage with the rest of her plate so hopefully she will eat it. I'm thinking that she just doesn't eat as much as Wilma as she seemed to eat until she was full.
This evening I'm going to try a slightly thicker soup and tomorrow I'm going to make a turkey soup so I can start alternating their soup proteins.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 1, 2012 12:36:38 GMT -5
That's entirely possible. Some of my smaller females only eat a couple ounces a day. What we need to aim at now is getting them used to some texture as well, rather than a smooth puree. As I'd mentioned earlier, what you need to aim for is a sort of wet ground meat texture, then we can start slipping in some slivers of meat.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 1, 2012 13:41:37 GMT -5
I think I'm going to do a few more days of the chicken soup to use up what I have frozen and then when I make the Turkey I'll double grind it instead of putting it in the processor.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 1, 2012 14:33:43 GMT -5
Sounds like a plan
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 2, 2012 11:53:54 GMT -5
Afternoon Sherry, During transitions from kibble to raw / whole prey do ferrets sometimes reject their kibble? This morning Wilma was sleeping on top of one of the food dens and Socks was trying to chew the dry remnants of the soup off of one of the plates. From what I remember of the kibble dish they don't seem to have eaten much of it. As soon as I gave them fresh soup they both dove in, Wilma with a bottle-brush tail and Socks with a bottle-brush body. (I'll post a video soon).
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Post by Sherry on Sept 2, 2012 15:49:47 GMT -5
That is a FANTASTIC step And yes, once they accept raw as food, many actually far prefer it. I think you can likely remove the kibble entirely now Just make sure there is enough soup in there to last them. You may have to put it in more than twice, depending on how much they eat, but I really think they are ready for that step. This will help them accept more of a ground meat texture as well. In the interim, they are going to eat a LOT, so be prepared Also, during this phase, you can try offering them tidbits of meat slivers to see how soon they'll accept them. Sometimes you can actually skip a step or two.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 2, 2012 16:33:41 GMT -5
So during the week when I am working how much should I be giving them in the morning and evening? I have been giving them ~2.5 ounces of thick soup puree, adding a bit of water plus a tsp of pumpkin. Wilma tends to eat all of it in one go or leave a bit and comes back to it sometime later. Socks only seems to be eating a quarter to half of it at most at one sitting. I'm most worried about her as I don't want Wilma to eat what Socks has left for later.
Later tonight I am going to chop up a mouse or two and see if I can get them taking that via hand feeding.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 2, 2012 18:15:50 GMT -5
It may be a bit wasted, but try leaving out about 4oz for them during the day, and see how they do with that. Since neither show any signs of insulinoma(and you'd know by now if they were), it's not going to hurt them to be without for a few hours.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 2, 2012 18:38:39 GMT -5
I take it that's 4 oz each?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 2, 2012 19:02:13 GMT -5
Depends. You say you are doing 2.5 oz right now. Is that in total, or each? If in total, then 4-5oz in total. If each, then 6-8 oz
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 2, 2012 19:49:40 GMT -5
Yeah it's been 2 to 2.5 each so I guess I'll be putting that chicken and turkey I just bought to good use.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 3, 2012 10:33:43 GMT -5
Well chopped up mouse is definitely not popular. They wouldn't even lick it and when I tried to scruff and stuff Wilma she would just spit it out each time and try an block me with her paws. Silly Beast!! This is your natural food!!
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Post by Sherry on Sept 3, 2012 10:38:37 GMT -5
Not to worry- they'll get there ;D Mine wouldn't touch mouse until they'd been on raw for about a year. Now it's their favourite.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 4, 2012 8:23:20 GMT -5
So I think when I adopted Wilma I unwittingly actually got a pot belly pig in ferrets clothing. Last night she ate 3 ounces of soup in one sitting and then I believe she polished off what Socks left later in the night. This morning she was sleeping ontop of the feeding dens again.
I gave them each 3 ounces again this morning and seperated them (Wilma caged with soup), Socks uncaged with soup and they both dove in right away. I really don't know what to do about Socks as she only seems to eat about an ounce at a time and Wilma seems bottomless. I don't want Wilma eating what Socks has left and depriving Socks throughout the day. Any ideas other than alternatively caging them every other day?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 4, 2012 10:11:18 GMT -5
Put in more soup? ;D Actually, it's time to start getting the texture in there for them. That will actually slow her down a bit. Looks like Wilma has hit her appetite increase a bit early!
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