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Post by Heather on May 30, 2013 12:13:17 GMT -5
Name:Crystal HF Forum Username:AlbinoGirl
1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?
Ferret World.
2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to.
Mix between high protein kibble and raw. I would always like to leave kibble in a bowl.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?
Because it's the best thing for my ferret.
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switching your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as committed. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment?
I am willing to make this commitment for my ferrets.
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?
I have 2 ferrets: 1. Oswin - 3 and a half months - Female - No, health problems - 1.2kg - Had for 1 and a half month. 2. Binxi - 3 months - Female - No, health problems - 0.67 - Had for 1 month.
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Food 1. Marhsalls ferret food.
Treats 1. N-Bone Ferret Chew Treats
Health 1. Marshall Ferret Lax Hairball Treatment - Only used it once... I would much rather use pumpkin.
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?
No, I haven't ever tried doing it.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?
I'm a shy person and I do have OCD I like things to be done right... that is why I am here and looking for a mentor. My ferrets are very cute, fast, love to dook, Oswin can sit on my shoulder and she is Albino and Binxi I have never seen a ferret jump like she can also she is Chocolet. I did just go shopping and in my freezer I have Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Beef Fat, Lamb Kidneys, Chicken Heart, Chicken Gizzards, and a whole Cornish Game Hen.
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?
Daily.
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program (wave). In a little while your mentor (Yurei Avalon), our newest mentor, will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun (dance). Your mentor is here to help you on this journey. ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2013 19:35:55 GMT -5
Hi Crystal my name is Bethany and I'll be helping you switch your ferrets to raw with any luck! If you have any questions or have a problem and need an answer quickly you can email me at darkmoonnh@gmail.com or pm me. I'll post my into below so you can skip it or read it as you chose. For right now I'd like to know what you have on hand available for meat for them and if you've tried making soup for them. Since they're very young, you may be able to skip the soup stage entirely- that depends on your ferrets though. You should never try and starve them into eating a new food, always go gradually if they refuse it. Some ferrets will starve themselves to death out of stubbornness. Name: Bethany HF Screen Name: Yurei Avalon Location: NH, USA About Me: I’m 25; Someday I hope to run my own business as well as a nonprofit ferret rescue and education program. I currently live with my boyfriend Matt in a condo, which we hope to upgrade to a larger house in a few years. Once we have an appropriate house we intend to make the most excellent ferret habitat possible and look into getting privately bred ferrets, living as natural a life as possible. I currently work as a realtor. My favorite color is..... Silver My favorite food is.... Chocolate, followed by spicy things My favorite holiday is.... Halloween My favorite hobby is... Reading I like to listen to... Pretty much anything but rap and country. I collect... Ferrets! Model kits, Mounts/pets in WoW and MtG cards Something about me you might be surprised to know... When I was a sophomore in high school I won my town’s fall chili cook-off contest with the recipe my high school culinary program gave to me. It got me $100, a story in the local newspaper and to this day, that chili recipe makes everyone who tries it a believer. (Turkey Cilantro for those inquiring minds.) I became a mentor because... I switched my own ferrets using information and tips I found on this site and from other places on the internet. I know from painful experience what a poor or inappropriate diet can do to a pet and I don’t want anyone to have to see their animal suffer like I watched mine suffer growing up. I’ve also made mistakes in pet care in the past, and I feel that the best way to atone for them is to learn everything I can to make myself the best pet parent I can be so that it never happens again. And if I can help other people do the same, so much the better! About My Ferrets: I currently have 9 ferrets with no desire to have more for now as I feel I am at the limit at which I can handle caring for them all appropriately. I have 6 hobs and 3 jills, all of which are Marshall Farm ferrets and are all young. Most of my ferrets were eating kibble for several months and then were switched to raw. The three newest went straight to raw the day they came home from the store. My ferrets are very spoiled- they have 4 triple unit ferret nation cages and a couple of hundred feet of tunnel connecting them to each other as well as a ferret playroom. About My Natural Feeding Experience: Type of Mentor: I have fed kibble so I have experience judging quality of kibbles. I mainly feed commercial raw products right now and I also use raw, meaty bones and muscle meat. I am trying to secure myself a local raw meat supplier so I can begin to transition my group to a full frakenprey, non commercial, homemade diet. I also use freeze dried and jerkied meats. I have two ferrets that refuse to eat anything but mush, so it makes life challenging. My Specialty: I would have to say that I seem to find creative ways of getting ferrets to try new things when the normal process just isn’t working for a stubborn ferret. I’ve never fed whole prey, but I could certainly come up with ideas to help others who wanted to try get there. Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/11800/sanuks-switching-thread-yurei-avalon#ixzz2UpGK9ZGs
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2013 20:05:54 GMT -5
Aw, the ferret in your display picture looks like my little Binxi. Thank you so much for being my mentor. My ferrets will eat meat if I cook it but they are both just not into faw. My albino name:Oswin she eat raw chicken one time. I have been trying to get them into eating raw beef but they just won't do it. How can I get them to eat it? Should I take away there kibble for a night and see if they eat the meat?
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2013 21:06:52 GMT -5
Ok, first thing you can try doing is soaking some kibble in water and mashing it up with a fork into a thick, stew like mash. (Or using a blender/food processor) You can gradually add some ground up raw meat to this mix, slowly increasing the ratio of meat to kibble to get them used to it. I'd recommend starting with chicken, turkey or pork before beef as the taste is milder and usually more easily accepted. You can take their kibble away a couple of hours before hand, but don't make them go all night/day without food, it is dangerous.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2013 23:44:41 GMT -5
Okay, I will try that thanks for the help.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2013 14:09:29 GMT -5
This is the only way I know how to get a hold of you... I keep seeing people on Facebook saying they are on the soup still... What is the soup? I do want to change them to a raw diet but you haven't really said anything to me about switching them. I did try water kibble and some meat but they didn't like it... only one of my ferrets like to nibble on chicken but doesn't really eat it just nibbles. They are still on the Marshalls food so please help when you can. I want the best for my ferrets and I will be on here every day two times a day more if you need to talk to me about my babies. Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2013 15:32:03 GMT -5
My email address is posted in my first post of this thread, there's some instant messaging profiles listed on my profile, or you can use the private messaging system here or talk to me on facebook, my name on there is Bethany Dubeck. Hopefully one of these works for you if you need to get in touch with me.
Did you try mashing the kibbles up into a soupy mixture with water and add in some mushed up or diced meat? Basically, if they're not going to try it on their own you have to make them, albeit gently. Wipe your finger in the soup mixture to get a little on your finger and wipe it off on their nose, or alternatively scruff and dangle them long enough to get them to yawn, then wipe the stuff on their tongue. The idea is to force them to taste it. Do this several times a day, every day over and over. Gradually they should start eating from the bowl themselves. You can also try offering it smeared on your hand or from a spoon when you have time. If they think they are getting a treat, they're often more eager to try it, even if it's just their plain old regular food.
We generally like it when people post on here at least once a day, that way you can say to me "that didn't work" and I can give you something else to try. So, try this method with the dabbing on tongue or nose, and let me know how it goes by tomorrow.
Soup can mean anything from wetted down kibble to a mix of water and meat blended up. Also, do your ferrets have a treat they like such as ferretone or salmon oil? These are great things to use as bribes for initial switching by mixing into soup to make it more palatable.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2013 16:09:32 GMT -5
Hi, Bethany. Sorry, I didn't see your email there. * I tryed mixing kibble and chicken together and they wouldn't eat it. I tryed there kibble and beef and still they don't want it. I had fresh ground beef not cooked and scruffed them both and tryed them with it but they both wanted nothing to do with it and my Binxi just kept twisting her butt around and I didn't want to hurt her so I put her down. I tryed leaving the ground beef in a bowl over night with a bowl of there kibble and they both didn't eat any. Maybe they just don't like beef? I have some different food for them... Chicken breasts. Chicken hearts. Chciken giblets. (Oswin/Albino likes the this to nibble on) A fresh cornish game hen. Beef hearts. Beef livers. Lamb kidneys. I don't have chicken wings right now but I'm going to the store tomorrow I'll pick some up. I have ferrettone, ferretlax, ferretvite... but I do not use them and I have Marshall ferrets and they hate/do not like the treats from them. I have tryed to give it to them but they want nothing to do with it so I'm happy about that I don't want them to like that stuff. I'm also going to try switching there kibble I had some Orijen kitten food for my cat and my ferrets were eating out of his bowl and they seemed to love it and it's better then the Marshalls food. I do want them on a raw diet but I would also like a high grade kibble in there room just in case they want it. Thanks for your help and I will be in/on here every day from now on.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2013 17:47:13 GMT -5
Most ferrets won't willingly touch raw unless they're babies. Carbs have been proven to be addictive. Can you blame them? How often to you find yourself craving a burger and fries? Their kibble is the same way, though Orijen is a great brand at least.
Whatever meat you use, and I recommend boneless to start, you probably need to toss it in a blender or food processor to grind it into mush. DO NOT put bones in your blender/processor! You'll burn out the motor! alternatively, you could buy a trial sized bag of a commercial ground product such as NVI if you wanted.
Anyhow if you can, grind some boneless chicken up, mix it with a little hot water and offer it up, if they snub it wipe it on their nose/tongue. You ideally want to do this several times a day, depending on your work/school schedule. It may be easier to start on a weekend if you're busy during the week. Basically start by removing their kibble as early as you can in the morning. Take it away for 2-3 hours to put an edge on their hunger. This means cleaning up spilled kibble or cached kibble if you can as well so they're not snacking. Offer the meat mush. If they won't try it, wipe it on the nose/tongue. If they still won't, leave them with the food and leave them alone for a while. Come back a bit later and do it again.
If they still haven't eaten after a few hours, let them have some kibble so they're not starving. Let them eat, then take it away. Again, in a few hours offer them a fresh, warm batch of soup and wipe it on their nose or tongue if they won't try it. Some ferrets convert to soup in a day, some take a few days to start liking it, I had one take two weeks. Persistence and forcing them to taste it is key. The fresh meat tastes so much better than the dry kibble once they try it, they're usually very happy to go over to soup.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2013 23:38:02 GMT -5
I do have a blender I did put less then half a steak in there food blended and then another bowl with half a chicken breast no bone blened it and Oswin had eaten a very little out of the chicken one but both would not try the beef. They both seem to really not like the beef. I also did keep a bowl of dry kibble in there as well. I tried sticking my finger on the side of there mouth and making them tast it a bit and they both didn't like it other then Oswin liked the chicken a little. I left chicken gizzards by there food last night and someone I have guessed Oswin had eaten one of them I was so happy. I'm going to keep trying them on the soup and I'm going to try and take away there food two times a day for about three or four hours. Also, play time will make them want food. I'll will look back in tomorrow and keep you up todate on the fuzzies. Also, they do love eggs I was also going to try them with a Quil egg I heard they can eat the white parts of the egg is that okay? Thanks again for being my mentor!!! (dance)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2013 6:34:13 GMT -5
You need to take the kibble away while you offer the soup, if you do not they'll just hold out and eat the kibble and not even be interested in the new stuff.
That's great that one of them tried the soup! Beef is a lot harder to get them to like, I'd really just stick with chicken for now. Eggs, be they chicken, quail or otherwise are excellent for them. You can feed the whole egg, but if feeding whole eggs not more than 2-3 a week, if just yolks then you can feed more. The egg white can cause problems if they eat too much of it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2013 0:40:33 GMT -5
I stoped trying them with the beef for now. I'm going to try and take away there food and have it just raw chicken with a bit of kibble and see what happens. Do you think maybe I should try cooking the meat first them try raw or no??? Ps, I love the Doctor Who reference.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2013 6:01:46 GMT -5
No, cooking food takes away a lot of the nutrients, which is why kibble has to be so fortified with vitamins and whatnot. Plus you don't want them getting used to having their meals cooked.
Don't take their kibble away all day mind you, just for a few hours at a time.
Just keep offering chicken mush/soup, keep dabbing it on their nose or tongue, sooner or later the others should come around.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 0:50:28 GMT -5
I keep making the soup and Oswin will have some but not a lot and Binxi doesn't like it at all. I only took away the kibble for four hours and not much was taken just maybe about 10 mouth fulls. Both will not eat raw chicken breast by it's self... I haven't tryed them with the beef again yet. Is there anything else I can try other then the soup? Is there any meat that I can get that a ferret might like the best?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 6:49:29 GMT -5
You could maybe try some pork, my ferrets are crazy for pork. And lamb. But my ferrets didn't like most meats until I force fed them for a while to make them taste it,
Are you serving the soup cold or warm? If cold, warm it up by adding some hot water. That releases the smell and will make it more enticing.
Do they like raw eggs? Have you tried offering them a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO or EVO) before? You could see if they'll lick that off of your hand willingly. If they like it, or the raw egg you could try mixing some in with the soup to entice.
You can try offering small pieces of plain old meat, but most ferrets don't willingly try meat chunks right off the bat, though a few will. Have you tried crushing up any kibble into a powder and mixing it into the soup to make it taste more familiar to them? You can toss some in a ziplock bag and abuse it with a hammer to achieve that.
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