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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 9:23:14 GMT -5
I'll let the more experienced ferrents give you more details, but there's a systematic way to transition the ferrets to raw. Its much healthier and more balanced for them, and has nothing in it that you won't be able to see plainly on the package. They also have more energy, just ask my old guy Marty!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 9:36:10 GMT -5
holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/16051/abbeytheferret6s-switching-thread-abbylee22Here is a little reading from the mentor I had. (1st page where it talks about whole prey, grinds, frankenprey etc) People will come on today and talk to you I am sure. oh yes some of us felt overwhelmed and nervous at times--but you will soon get over it. You r a step ahead. You do not have to go thru soup stage because she is already eating chunks.
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Post by FireAngel on Aug 7, 2015 9:56:22 GMT -5
Hi and Welcome to the HFF! :wave3: I'm sorry you are having such troubles with your little girl. What's her name? She is 5 months now yes? What is her new friends name and how old re they? I have no idea who led you to believe raw diets are not recommended for ferrets but shame on them! A ferret is an obligate carnivore, they are not meant or made to digest ANY plant materials. A balanced raw diet is the best thing you could ever do for your little beasties. You already saw that she got healthy when you did it for her before, so I'm sure you understand this. There is a ton of information here with lots of very helpful and knowledgeable ferrents to assist you with the diet transition. If you have kits they are going to eat a lot more then adults do and even on a raw diet we recommend free feeding,(so making sure they have enough at each serving to last them until the next meal time). Ferrivite and Ferretone are not recommended because they have things in them that are not meant for ferrets. If feeding a balanced diet then extra vitamins are not needed and ferretone has n additive in it that is shown to cause cancer so we recommend a salmon oil (straight salmon oil nothing else added to it.) here are a few links to help you get started, Intro to Raw , Picture chart Steps to Raw. Please feel free to ask any questions you have and we love pictures by the way!
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Post by ferretlover1 on Aug 7, 2015 10:18:15 GMT -5
Yes she is now about roughly 5-6 months old and her name is snowball her new buddy is blizzard and he was born 5/10/15 he is fat and loves hard food lol hard to get him to even eat raw food. I got her from a lady who had bought her from a “back woods” breeder as I'll call it they had them at a place where you can buy sell and trade animals a few hours from me and she wasn't sure what age she was but her teeth were still coming in and I'll say when I got her she was at most 7-8 weeks old and was way under weight she wasn't sure how to take care of her so I drove an hour to get her and got her up to par then got blizzard for her yo play with and he is fixed she unfortunately is not the vet gave her the first round of shots and was supposed to do another round this week but I rescheduled because she's been not eating and didn't want to have her like this while getting shot they make them have shots before they will fix her so now I'll have to wait to get her back up to par on health to have the shots and then have to wait 4 weeks to have her fixed as to their recommendation so now I'll have to hope she does not go into heat before I can have her fixed.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 10:39:28 GMT -5
I approved your account this morning.
I'm sorry that Snowball is not eating. Can you tell us if she is pooping and what they look like? Could she have eaten something foamy or rubbery? Are her ears/nose and paws nice and pink? How hot is in it your home? Was she around any new ferrets recently? When did Blizzard come home?
Green poop is also a sign of stress. However, a new ferret can carry ECE (green slime disease). Blizzard wouldn't show signs of it, but Snowball would. It seems to show up after a week or two of being around the new ferret. Snowball would sleep more and eat less. A vet visit and a course of antibiotics will clear that up.
I would vet her and soon. If you are sure that she hasn't eaten, she needs to see a vet.
As for raw feeding, I live in the country. That's a common misconception. Feeding raw builds a bond with them and they are gentler and more likely to give you snuggles and kisses.
Please keep us posted.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 10:41:13 GMT -5
I don't know how to add pictures yet haven't quite figured that out yet. But yes I even had snowball with me at the pet store before and another ferret owner was there and she went off on me when I stated that I was feeding her raw chicken and beef in the U.S. it is not a common practice to feed ferrets a raw diet and most vet especially ones around here do not recommend it at all they say its unhealthy and dangerous because of parasites and things. But yes now that I know she is eating raw meat I will keep her on that from now on but all I can read online is beef and chicken are safe but not pork and from this site its saying they need at least 3 different things so I'm going to call around and see if maybe I can find a pet store who sells frozen mice or something that she could eat also I would buy feeder rats and things live and just kill it before I feed her but not sure if that would be safe and not get her sick.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 10:45:05 GMT -5
To add pictures, upload the picture to an image hosting site like Imgur or Photobucket. They will usually give you a link on the page with the picture saying "BBCode" or "Message boards and forums" copy that, and paste it into your reply. Another option is to right click on the picture, and click "Open image in new tab", copy the link, click the picture icon above the text box for replies, and paste the link.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 10:48:03 GMT -5
Blizzard came home three weeks ago and she is pink and seems healthy wanting to play and everything until u feel her and know she's way under weight. I gave her raw chicken a while ago and she ate it all up until she was full and was just a little bit left on plate yayyy so I now know she will eat, just not the mash from hard food or the hard food. I'm beginning to think this is her showing herself to me and letting me know that she wants meat and I shouldn't have weaned her off meat.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 11:05:26 GMT -5
Ok she ate chicken about an hour ago and just made her fist poop since eating it and it was darker colored more like its supposed to be not as green but was more runny more like water consistency versus the poop she was having which was green and a little runny but not like just now that was real runny. I called the vet and they said they would send a message to the doc and get back to me obviously its not a concern for them like it is me, didn't even offer to make an appointment I called around three hours ago and no call back yet. But its the only place that will take ferrets around here so I guess I'll have to be stuck on my own with fixing her up until I can find a better vet office further away. I do keep fishmox (pet grade antibiotics) handy and can also find other antibiotics if need be does anyone know if I could give her that? And they stay in my room which stays about 75°. But she is nice and pink in all areas just to skinny and wouldn't eat but is now eating raw meat ?. I don't know if her poop is like that because she had not eaten and would only eat the paste and is just now starting to eat again but this whole time she has been drinking water just haven't wanted to eat.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 12:21:14 GMT -5
I'm glad she has finally eaten something. We have a vet list, two actually. All the vets on the list have been approved by our members. holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/6/list-vet?page=4holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13638/vet-country-stateYour vet means well, but it's very uncommon for a ferret to get parasites in a domesticated situation. Vets receive little education on ferret diets and the studies are paid for by pet food companies. Additionally, Vets can make money by selling pet food in their office. I can't answer the question about your antibiotics because I wouldn't know how much to give her. I'll tag unclejoe for you.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2015 2:46:45 GMT -5
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Post by Ashley on Aug 11, 2015 17:48:11 GMT -5
I got a ferret from a lady who didn't know how to take care of her and was under weight so when I received her she was approximately 7-8 weeks old to young to have been taken from mother, now she is approximately 5 months old but anyway onto the point. I fed her raw chicken and beef along with Marshall chicken flavor ferret food and she did great gained weight and so on, last month she had her shots from the vet and then received fleas bad from animals outside as I take her out with me washed her and gave her 0.2ml of cat flea meds the vet said to use this was about two weeks ago. I got another ferret to keep her company and he was a Marshall ferret so he was health wise ok that was about a month and half ago. Now all of a sudden the past two days she is refusing to eat and lost a lot of weight does not look good, still active and will eat the paste I give her 8in1 but won't eat food I am not giving her raw meat as I'm afraid it won't be good for her as she has upset tummy also (green poop) so its moving to quick when goes through system. I separated the two last night and made a mash with the ferret food over night she ate no food but ate the paste. The other ferret was picking on her didn't know if he wasn't letting her eat that and her not being ok is why I separated them. But she's still not eating I don't know what to do any advice?
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Post by Ashley on Aug 11, 2015 17:50:48 GMT -5
I got a ferret from a lady who didn't know how to take care of her and was under weight so when I received her she was approximately 7-8 weeks old to young to have been taken from mother, now she is approximately 5 months old but anyway onto the point. I fed her raw chicken and beef along with Marshall chicken flavor ferret food and she did great gained weight and so on, last month she had her shots from the vet and then received fleas bad from animals outside as I take her out with me washed her and gave her 0.2ml of cat flea meds the vet said to use this was about two weeks ago. I got another ferret to keep her company and he was a Marshall ferret so he was health wise ok that was about a month and half ago. Now all of a sudden the past two days she is refusing to eat and lost a lot of weight does not look good, still active and will eat the paste I give her 8in1 but won't eat food I am not giving her raw meat as I'm afraid it won't be good for her as she has upset tummy also (green poop) so its moving to quick when goes through system. I separated the two last night and made a mash with the ferret food over night she ate no food but ate the paste. The other ferret was picking on her didn't know if he wasn't letting her eat that and her not being ok is why I separated them. But she's still not eating I don't know what to do any advice? Also ferrets as they age have a hard time breaking down there food. I grind my ferrets food into a powder and he eats that and he gets the energy faster cause his body doesn't break it down fast enough. Plus ferrets have horrible teeth and might be hard for them to chew into really small peices. But grind it up.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2015 17:56:35 GMT -5
Ashley, where did you get that info, that ferrets can't break down food well as they age? I've never heard of this before. Do you have any solid evidence to back this up? We are always eager to learn here on the forum. Ferrets actually have teeth that are designed to rip and chew, they are carnivores and (if they were wild) hunt down, kill, and eat prey. Their toofers are made perfectly just for that
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Post by raynebc on Aug 11, 2015 18:06:06 GMT -5
Based on what I've read on this forum, I'd expect that would only be a problem if the ferret was particularly ill or had teeth in very poor condition.
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