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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2014 22:40:58 GMT -5
Hello, Today I made my first batch of Ferret Soup! It went well, both my girls had some. I had to help Mia along, however Bella just dove in! I know we feed the raw twice/day, how much should they be eating per serving? Here is a pic of what it looks like. I used 8oz of chicken with the skin, 2 chicken hearts, one chicken liver and 1/2 tsp of egg shell and of course water. Also should I include the skin, as it seems to become stringy and chunky.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 10:51:45 GMT -5
I'm soooo excited!! Yesterday all my girls ate was the soup! NO KIBBLES!!! Now I'm not sure how long could I leave the soup in their cage for? How much should they eat of the soup? Should I still be giving them kibbles? I'm thinking no since it's going so well. Mia is going to the dish and eating it on her own now! Sorry about all the questions. Before I went to bed last night I put kibbles back in their cage so that they would have food through the night....this morning I got up to both their water and food dish flipped over! I guess they wanted the soup!  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 12:01:03 GMT -5
I'm soooo excited!! Yesterday all my girls ate was the soup! NO KIBBLES!!! Now I'm not sure how long could I leave the soup in their cage for? How much should they eat of the soup? Should I still be giving them kibbles? I'm thinking no since it's going so well. Mia is going to the dish and eating it on her own now! Sorry about all the questions. Before I went to bed last night I put kibbles back in their cage so that they would have food through the night....this morning I got up to both their water and food dish flipped over! I guess they wanted the soup! Yay! Congrats on the great start! I'm still learning about raw, but I'll try to answer some of your questions until more experienced ferrents get on here  Soup can be left out 6-8 hours. How old are your girls? Kits (under a year old) are tummies with teeth and will eat you out of house and home! Adult females, on average, eat 2-3oz per day. In the beginning, give them as much as they will eat! If there are a few bites/licks left, or if they are trying to stash, then they have had enough (for that sitting at least, haha!) If your blender will blend the skin-that's great! (I usually had to slice the skin into slivers) Skin and fat equal energy so yes you should be giving that. If they are eating the soup on their own (from a plate or dish) then I don't see why not! (no more kibble) That is so awesome! Congrats again! From my experience, if you haven't already, get a scale. It will save your sanity and worries along the way. I weigh my ferrets once a week and have it written down in a spreadsheet (I have 5 ferrets in total). You want to make sure they are not losing in the beginning. I use the same scale to weigh their food too. I got a kitchen scale that weighs ounces up to 7 lbs. To weigh the ferrets, I put a mixing bowl with a blanket in it on the scale, set the scale to zero, and place a baby in the bowl! I hope that helps for the time being! The best of luck to you and your girls on this journey! I look forward to reading how things are going!! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 12:22:11 GMT -5
Thank you so much for replying! I do use a kitchen scale and bowl to weigh them, it's much more accurate then weighing them on an adult scale while we hold them. I just weighed them both and they have both gained! Bella went from 1.7 lbs to 1.12 lbs and Mia went from 1.06 lbs to 1.09 lbs! I'm quite happy about that because I've just started on Saturday night with diligently focusing on the soup recipe. Bella is 4 and Mia is 2. Bella is a bigger eater than Mia, which is surprising. However Mia sure is starting to pick up her appetite! When I got them their previous owners had them on Ensure and baby food! I took them home and they went wild for the kibbles! Thanks again for your quick response! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 14:06:14 GMT -5
They gained weight-that's awesome!! I would think you're safe to fully pull kibble; but I consider myself a newbie still so maybe wait for someone else to chime in  If the girls still have access to kibble, make sure there's a 3 hour window between the raw and kibble otherwise they will get an upset tummy. Are you able to tell, or do you weigh, how much of the soup they are eating? |
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Post by Heather on Dec 8, 2014 22:30:29 GMT -5
If your little girlies are eating enough of the soupy on their own remove their kibbles. Start adding sliver chunks to their soupy. You can also try them to see if they'll eat a chopped up wing, they probably won't but you never know. I've had a couple of ferrets who switched better onto frankenprey than soupy...it doesn't happen often but it is entirely possible. Each ferret does their switch on their own timetable
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 22:35:55 GMT -5
They gained weight-that's awesome!! I would think you're safe to fully pull kibble; but I consider myself a newbie still so maybe wait for someone else to chime in If the girls still have access to kibble, make sure there's a 3 hour window between the raw and kibble otherwise they will get an upset tummy. Are you able to tell, or do you weigh, how much of the soup they are eating? Right now I'm not weighing their food, I'm just giving it to them as they want it. I need to get some weight on them. I'm making another batch of Soup tomorrow so I have it for the next day, so this batch is from Saturday so it's going to have lasted for 4 days. (dance) |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2014 22:41:34 GMT -5
If your little girlies are eating enough of the soupy on their own remove their kibbles. Start adding sliver chunks to their soupy. You can also try them to see if they'll eat a chopped up wing, they probably won't but you never know. I've had a couple of ferrets who switched better onto frankenprey than soupy...it doesn't happen often but it is entirely possible. Each ferret does their switch on their own timetable ciao Thank you for your response and expertise Heather, much appreciated. The batch of soup is going to have lasted 4 days, all I made was a single batch...is that ok? Did they eat too much or not enough? I've tried the chopped up wings and there was no interest, so I'm going to give them more time on that. Last night I left Kibble in their dish so they would have something to eat throughout the night, and I got up this morning to both food and water dish flipped over! lol Should I not leave any food throughout the night? I would imagine it would not be good to leave soupy in their cage all night long??? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2014 16:09:47 GMT -5
Hello  I'm from Ontario Canada too Congratulations on the soup success! From what I've read the soup is only good for up to 6 hours, but adult ferrets can smell when the food is bad and won't eat it. Baby ferrets though don't make that distinction. They might take the chopped up small wing pieces if you put them in the soup. The smaller you start he easier it will be for them. I stated with putting pieces the size of small peas into the soup mixture, but if they don't want that you can try something even smaller. And make the chunks larger gradually. Since they were fed babyfood before it probably made the soup easier for them to understand.  If they don't have insulinoma, then they should be ok without having kibble for the night. Eating kibble and raw too close together can cause them stomach problems, such as bacterial overgrowth, because the two kinds of food are digested differently at different speeds. Did you sign up for a mentor yet? Good luck with your progress |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2014 9:31:31 GMT -5
Hello You're from the Toronto Area, I'm up North in Timmins. I left their soupy in their cage last night and got up at 5 am to check and it was gone, so I gave them more, but I get up a while ago and it's still there, so it almost seems like they didn't eat last night, but they had pigged out on it all day, especially Mia! Usually Bella has the larger appetite. I made a fresh batch of soupy yesterday and left it a little thicker. What is a Mentor? :thankyou: |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2014 14:20:46 GMT -5
A mentor is an experienced ferret knowledgeable person, who really understands the raw diet, and helps less experienced ferret owners transition their pets onto a species appropriate diet. They guide you and advise you depending on your individual requirements during the food switch. Because if done incorrectly the raw diet can be dangerous, for example if some nutritional element or vitamin is left out by accident, or if the ratios of things in the diet are off. Also some adult ferrets have a hard time accepting meat to be food because they only ate kibble from a young age. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/61/sign-mentoring-program This is the page where you can sign up to paired with one. It really helps because you get one on one attention, and the mentor learns about your fuzzies in depth, to help them along faster. There is a survey to fill out and some requirements, like having a scale and the right meat, it says it all there. And while you wait for a mentor to be assigned, a switching thread like this works, you can write your progress, and people usually drop in to help. Best of luck with the soupie eating  ? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2014 15:34:57 GMT -5
Perfect! Thank you so much! I could definitely use a Mentor as I'm so new when it comes to Ferrets!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2014 17:20:11 GMT -5
You're off to such a good start. Congratulations. (dance)
Since Bella and Mia are doing so well, and they like the soupie, why don't you try leaving just slivers in their cage overnight. Or you could smash some wings and leave them.
They turned their kibble dish over, so they seem to be saying "Mom, we need real food".
Cut the slivers long and thin, add a little warm water to the dish.
You can leave some smashed wings also, but it usually takes a little coaxing and hand feeding. Your girls may not need that though. Bone In meats can be left overnight or out for up to 12 hours.
Keep in mind though, that with each new protein, we usually have to teach them that this new stuff is actually food. Hand feeding and coaxing go a long way towards a successful switch.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2014 20:45:03 GMT -5
Thank you! I'm surprised at how quickly they are adapting to the raw diet. (happy dance)
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