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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 13:22:33 GMT -5
Hi there everyone! I joined the forums a couple months ago when my husband and I brought our first ever ferret home. After we brought him home I immediately joined a couple ferret groups on Facebook and this forum here. It has been incredibly helpful reading through everything and after much thought we have decided we would like to try and switch our boy Mowgly over to eating raw. Unfortunately we did get him from a pet store and he is a Marshals ferret, so he has been eating kibble all his life. He is about 8-9 months old right now. Throughout the past week I have tried offering him small pieces of cooked or raw chicken and he just has absolutely no interest in it. I have even left some in his cage over night to see if he would eat it then and he wouldn't touch it. So what I'm really hoping is that you guys can help us start him on the raw diet journey. I have read a bunch of methods such as blending the meat, mixing it with kibble, taking away all food entirely and just leaving meat in the bowl until they eat it, etc. But what method has worked best for you and your ferret? I know this will take some time, but how should we go about it and what is the best meat to start with. Thank you in advance! 
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 13:25:13 GMT -5
Oh, I would also like to mention that we aren't looking to feed whole or live prey.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 14:42:32 GMT -5
Hi and Welcome to the HFF  Congratulations on Ferrenthood and Mowgly. Don't you just love him? Ferrets are so sweet, smart, funny and loveable. They capture your heart in such unsuspected ways. Ferret Math is very contagious on the forum and you may just discover that you think that Mowgly needs a friend. We have a Mentoring program. You can sign up for a Mentor to help walk you thru a switch. You can also look and follow along with some of the Member/Mentor switching threads to see how the process begins and moves along. You can't post to those, but you will pick up alot of info. Your little boy is still pretty young. Ferrets imprint on their food somewhere between six months and a year. So, we have to help them understand that this new food is food. That means some hand feeding, coaxing and persuasion. Start off with the raw soupie recipe. This is balanced with the proper nutrients and will give him everything that he needs until he is ready to move to the Frankenprey menu. The raw soupie recipe is: 8oz of raw chicken thigh 1-2 chicken hearts 1/2 chicken liver 1/2 tsp of dried eggshell powder. Simply save up some eggshells, let them dry out for a day or two and the grind them into a fine powder. This stores well in a tupperware dish on a shelf. I use a small clean coffee grinder that I bought just for eggshell powder. You will blend all this up. The soup will be thick and you can freeze it in ice cube trays. Then you can pop one or two out and add some warm water. They will probably prefer it to be thinner in the beginning. The idea is to slowly increase the thickness and then when they are eating the soupie, start adding tiny slivers of chicken. Once they are eating the slivers, you will decrease the amount of soup and increase the size of the slivers. Then it will be time to move to the Frankenprey menu. The key to success with the raw soupie will be sitting with Mowgly. Have a towel and a spoon ready. Sit Mowgly on your lap and dab some soup on his mouth. He will have to lick it off. Then take a little on the spoon and offer it to him. If he jumps off your lap, gently pick him back up and put him back on your lap. Offer the spoon again. If he happily eats the soup, you can try lowering the spoon to the dish and sit him next to the dish. (Plates are better than bowls. It's an instinctive thing, they can see around a plate but a bowl cuts off their line of sight). This may take a few days of trying. You can try the soup in the morning and evening. One note of caution: You want to remove the kibble a few hours prior to serving the soup. Mixing raw and kibble can cause stomach upset. The kibble digests at a different rate than the soup. With a particularly stubborn ferret, we will sometimes use a sprinkle of kibble powder over the top, but try it without the kibble first and give the soup a fair try first. Good Luck and don't hesitate to ask questions. If you want to start a switching journal, you can create a thread and intro yourself and Mowgly. Post a picture of him from above and a dangling picture. List everything that he eats, including treats. Then all of the Mentors will pop in and offer advice. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2014 17:34:08 GMT -5
Thank you for all the information. I've been looking around the forums quite a bit for all the information I can get. Will probably make a switching thread soon as well! I did have a quick question that I can't really seem to find anywhere though - do I keep kibble available over the raw food as well, or take the kibble away and just offer the raw in the morning/afternoon/night or so? Thanks for the help, it's just a lot of information to take in and sift through lol. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2014 18:37:55 GMT -5
Taking away the kibble for 2-3 hours before offering the raw is recommended but only if you KNOW your ferret is healthy and does not have insulinoma. Make it a little watery at first. Leave it out for at least 45-hr to get room temp. Sit on the floor with her and dab your finger in the soup and then on her mouth. Hold her and let her taste the soup. Then dip a spoon into the soup and put it to her mouth. If she turns her head or tries to get away, gently put the spoon in front of her again. You want to be with her and you want her to know that she should have at least a few tastes. It's rather like feeding a baby.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2014 19:34:33 GMT -5
Thank you! I have been taking away the kibble a little more than 3 hours away before feeding. Mowgly seems to have no problem with the soup now the moment I put it in the cage he immediately laps it up. So I'm guessing that's a good sign towards progress. We just brought home our new little girl, so I'll be completely starting new with her and will try the method you suggested. I know she was previously on kibble so it's going to be starting from the beginning again. But she's still young and about 4 months old, so I hope she takes to it well! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2014 20:07:35 GMT -5
Mowgly...what an cute name  I have just switched over with 2 of my ferrets and my 3rd. hopefully soon (he's more stubborn & sick right now). All my 3 are now 'seniors'...I miss ferret babyhood. I'm new on here & to raw feeding so I can't really give you information but I have had so much help on here. One thing I learned that was really helpful to get them to try it...is to add a couple drops of fish oil (*ask someone here the amounts of oil that are ok...being a baby still.. maybe fish oil isn't advised?* I'm not sure.) Also mine were already familiar w/fish oil as a favorite treat. Wishing you the best, hope he takes to it soon.  P.S. Take lots of baby photos, I wish I had. Can we see him? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 12:41:09 GMT -5
These are the first 2 ferrets my husband and I have had in our home. They are wonderful pets and even though we've only had Mowgly for about 2 months, we're hooked! Of course! We just picked up our little girl Mable on Saturday and today she had her first taste of the raw soup. I only had to dab it a couple times on her mouth and then she instantly went for the spoon and started to lick it all up. Much less stubborn than Mowgly was! They are pretty hard to get a picture of because the moment I open the cage they want to come out and play lol. But here's a couple! The lighter one is our boy Mowgly and the darker one is our girl Mable.    |
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Post by gfountain on Dec 1, 2014 14:45:06 GMT -5
Mable is 4 months old; she's a 'tummy-with-teeth'. She will most likely eat anything you give her (and as much as you give her), so try giving her a chunk of meat or a chicken wing. The sooner you get her on raw, the sooner you'll see the changes in her and the healthier she will be. Also, having one raw eater means you might be able to use peer pressure to get the Mowgly to eat it sooner.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 15:04:34 GMT -5
Mable is just darling and I am so glad that Mowgly has a friend now. (dance)
There is nothing like watching them play together and it's so sweet to see them bond. It will be easier on you also, you don't have to worry about Mowgly being lonely or bored, while you are away from home.
Funny thing about girls, she will rule the roost. She's going to have Mowgly wrapped around her little paw.
Like Gina said, she is a Tummy with Teeth and will eat anything that you give her. Mowgly will see that and follow.
Don't hesitate to ask questions and post more pictures. lol
:wave2:
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2014 13:33:35 GMT -5
Haha thank you both! I did give them some chunks of chicken and Mowgly kind of followed her lead and they both ate them all up. So we've already graduated from the slurry. I tried giving them a chicken wing today and they started eating off of it until they got to a bone and then just left it alone and picked around it. Should I try to crush up the bone a little bit with a tenderizer for them the next time I give them a chicken wing? I'm not sure they know you're suppose to eat the bone as well, just yet. It is very cute to see them romp around the house together. It didn't take them long at all to start snuggling up. Mowgly's favourite spot in the cage is his hammock, but I saw him jump off the hammock to go lay with Mable under some blankets the other night. They are so cute together. I'm glad he has a friend now too. |
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Post by gfountain on Dec 3, 2014 13:52:39 GMT -5
If you can carefully cut those little wing bones lengthwise (easiest with kitchen shears), it will expose the marrow. I have a feeling that once Mable gets a whiff of that, she'll crunch away and with any kind of luck at all, Mowgly will follow her lead again and that will be that! You'll have bone-crunchers!
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Post by RedSky on Dec 3, 2014 14:07:27 GMT -5
Aww, they are both so cute, and I love the names especially Mowgly. I'm so glad that he has a friend now and they are getting along so well. I have been warned about ferret math and how they are like pringles. How are you finding it? Tempted for a third yet? I've heard 3 is a good number... haha I'll stop now.
Sounds like you have good advice and that your instincts are right on with breaking the bone up for them at first. Splitting it length ways sounds like an art form to me, so good luck with it and be careful. It does seem to have better results than just breaking the wing bone up though, although that works for many too.
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