Hi and Welcome to the HFF
You have two little ones, 4 and 5 months old, right?
They are simply tummies with teeth. They have not imprinted on any food yet and should be easy to get on a natural diet.
You've signed up for a Mentor, so until one is assigned to you, we can use this as your switching thread.
At that age, they may eat 4 times a day. Leave food out for them at all times.
There are several different ways to feed.
Whole Prey is one. That would be offering live or frozen mice. Rats will never be fed alive. They are too strong and will hurt your little ones.
Breeders often have alot of mouths to feed and will put out a whole chicken. You don't need to do that. You can, but pull the feathers off and since you only have two, that's a bit of a waste.
The other way is to feed Frankenprey. That's what we call regular grocery store meat.
It is designed to mimic eating whole prey.
The basic menu looks like this:
Monday am: edible bone in meat
Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)*
Tuesday am: edible bone in meat
Tuesday pm: muscle meat
Wednesday am: edible bone in meat
Wednesday pm: heart
Thursday am: edible bone in meat
Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)*
Friday am: edible bone in meat
Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organ
Saturday am: edible bone in meat
Saturday pm: muscle meat
Sunday am: edible bone in meat
Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organ
Edible bone in meat: is just that, meat with bone included. It is NOT bones with just a bit of meat on them (ie: most of the meat removed). If you fed bones like this you will throw the balance of the menu off. See below for acceptable bone in meats
chicken: any / all, quail: any / all, rabbit: any / all, turkey: necks, ribs, and wing tips, duck: neck, ribs, and wing tips. pork: button bones, rib ends, cornish game hen: any / all.
Any commercial frozen raw with 10% to 15% ground bone. Any freeze dried raw with 10%-15% ground bone.
*These two meals can be either bone-in or muscle meat depending on the consistency of your ferret’s poop. Dry, chalky and firm you should reduce the bone-in meals and feed muscle meat instead. Loose, unformed and overly liquid, increase the bone-in meals. Do not change the menu beyond these two optional meals or you could affect the nutritional balance of the diet.
Muscle meat: any heart meat. Chicken (including gizzard), turkey, duck, lamb, goat, beef, Cornish Game Hen (counts as chicken), venison, elk, basically any meat (unaltered such as smoked, pickled or injected with salt) without bone.
*heart is considered a muscle meat but is ABSOLUTELY necessary as it is their primary source of taurine. Lack of taurine in their diet can lead to eyesight problems and other issues.
Organ meat: Liver, kidney, thymus, pancreas, reproductive organs, lung, brain, basically any part of the body that secretes.
Fat is an important part of a carnivore's diet as this is where they get their energy. It works for them in the same way carbs do for humans. Make sure to pick fattier cuts over leaner cuts when buying your meat (thigh vs. breast, shoulder vs. tenderloin, etc)
Variety For optimal health a minimum (more is preferable) of 3 different proteins need to be in the diet. At least one of the minimum 3 proteins needs to be something other than: chicken, rabbit, cornish game hen or fish. This is to ensure enough Vit B, iron and a good base of taurine in the diet (most taurine comes from the heart in the diet however).
This may seem confusing in the beginning, but it will become simple as you move along.
You do want to read some information to understand what you are feeding and why. Balancing their diet is especially important for growing kits.
Read thru these documents and get familiar with the ideas.
You did okay with the 2oz of chicken, but it is not enough for them. A ferret will eat until he is full. If he leaves food on the plate or wants to stash it, then he is full.
If the plate is empty, he could eat more.
Pick up some chicken wings and leave them in the cage overnight. Smash them some and let them work on the wings.
We also suggest not mixing kibble with raw. Kibble and raw digest at a different rate and may cause an upset tummy. That isn't always the case, some are fine. Just keep an eye out on their poops.
Poop patrol will be your best friend and tell you alot about how they are doing.
I would make them a basic soupie, here is the recipe:
8oz raw chicken thigh (raw)
1 oz raw chicken liver (or other raw liver)
1-2 raw chicken hearts (approximately 1 oz) or 1 oz other raw heart
½ to ¾ tsp bone meal or crushed egg shell
(air-dry egg shell then crush with mortar and pestle or in a clean coffee grinder)
Weigh out your meat and organs.
Add bone meal or egg shell.
Add water until about the consistency of thick cream (no thinner!!).
Blending up in a food processor is the easiest.
PLEASE USE HUMAN GRADE BONE MEAL POWDER! you don't want to know what they put in the bone meal that they sell for pets…
This will store well in ice cube trays until you are ready to use it. Then add some warm water.
Since they will likely eat well, add some chicken thigh meat slivers or cubes to this.
Sit on the floor with them, and pick one up. Dab some on their mouth and they have to lick it off.
Then try with the other one.
Have a spoon ready and a towel and when they lick off the soupie, offer them some from a spoon.
If they begin eating the soupie, lower the spoon to the plate and stay with them.
The soupie is good for up to 8 hours and can be left out with them.
At their age and really any age, they should have food left out for them.
They will probably take quickly to this and then you move to the next stage.
The next stage is to get them eating chunks of meat and slowly reducing the soupie until they eat all chunks/slivers. I say slivers because ferrets tear with their front teeth and chew with their back teeth, so slivers are easier for them.
That's a start and I don't want to overwhelm you now.
Try this and repost, and we'll see where to go from there.
:wave3:
