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Post by gfountain on Oct 8, 2015 13:18:25 GMT -5
Yep, it's a lot of information!
Just FYI, cooking meat removes a lot of the nutrients that ferrets need, but plain boiled chicken is an OK treat. At least it's meat and not full of chemicals like commercial treats. You can also use oil as a treat. Most ferrets will do anything for a lick of oil. An animal based oil is the best.
You can try just offering her some small chunks of raw to see if she'll decide she likes it. She's young so it's possible. But if it doesn't work, we'll have to switch her gradually.
I've been trying to think of the best strategy for Wisp. I had originally thought we could use ground meat since she's already eating a mushy food but you said she doesn't like the ground veal. I don't know if that's an aversion to the ground texture or to the taste of the veal. It could be either. Since you know she likes the taste of chicken, I think it would be wiser to just start with a thick chicken soup mixed into her current meals of FDR.
Using the recipe above, make a batch of chicken soup. Just one batch for now and leave it rather thick. Rub an ice cube tray with a little bit of some kind of oil (EVOO is good) and divide the soup into 10-12 sections. Each cube should be about an ounce. (Leave one ounce thawed to start with.) Once they're frozen, pop them out of the ice cube tray and store them in the freezer in a ziploc bag or a freezer container.
For her next meal, prepare her FDR as usual and add 1/2 tsp of the chicken soup. She probably won't even notice that it's in there but if she balks, sit with her and get her started by spoon feeding her. The next step will depend on how this first meal goes, so let me know how she reacts!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 17:43:42 GMT -5
Ok. Will do and let you know how it goes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2015 22:04:41 GMT -5
So sorry for getting back so late. So her breakfast this morning with the chicken soupies didn't go so well. She wanted no part of it whatever. She licked her food and backed away shaking her head in disgust. So I left it in her cage all day and she proceeded to lift her bowl out of it's holder and dump it into her litter box. So for dinner, I halfed it to half of a teaspoon and mixed it in the other room (she watches me like a hawk when it comes to her food) and she has been taking a few laps of it, but doesn't really care for it. It could be because she is probably super hungry. So we will see if it's all gone by the morning. And hopefully not straight to the litter box.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 10, 2015 13:40:49 GMT -5
LOL...you've got a stubborn one on your hands! Let's try the grab 'n dab method. Fix a small dish of just raw soup, fairly hthin. Sit on the floor with her during her playtime and every time she passes you, grab her, rub a little soup on her mouth and gums and let her go. She is going to have to get used to the taste but we don't want her to associate the flavor with being held down or with interruption of her playtime so take no more than 5-10 seconds each time. And continue fixing her meals with a little bit of raw soup in them. It won't hurt to skip a meal or two and eventually she'll have to eat it. Hopefully, once she learns that you're not trying to poison her, she will move along better. Np D p
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Post by gfountain on Oct 10, 2015 13:41:30 GMT -5
Those last letters are a message from my Minnie.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2015 19:32:00 GMT -5
Lol. Yeah, she is pretty mad at me tonight. I tried your suggestions for grabbing her and rubbing her during playtime. Well, I now have a nice wet stain on my bedroom floor. After the second time, she was on to my evil plan and dumped the bowl in the floor as she scampered away and ran out of the room and took up hiding behind my fish tank. I didn't even think she could fit back there because I can't even fully fit my hand back there. So I ended up having to empty almost all of the water to move the tank to get her out. So... Got any other ideas??? I put her food with the soup mixed in in her bowl (with a heavy duty clamp so hopefully she won't tip it over) and having to keep my son from sneaking her some treats, which is easier said than done.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 11, 2015 16:48:35 GMT -5
I'm sorry for not replying sooner. My daughter was home for the weekend and we stayed pretty busy.
It sounds like Wisp is being a typical little ferret. She HAS to accept the taste of the raw chicken before she'll eat it on her own. Just be persistent with the soup. It works, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually she'll realize you're not trying to poison her. Pick her up, dab some on her nose and mouth and put her down. If she's running away and hiding, try confining her to the bathroom while you're working with her. If she's like most ferrets, she'll like to play in the bathtub and if you're in there with her, she won't feel like she's being punished.
How old is your son? If he's old enough, explain the reasons for switching her to raw and enlist his help. Tell him instead of unhealthy treats to give her a lick of a healthy oil or a tiny bite of raw chicken. Sometimes, just having someone other than the main caregiver offer the raw meat is helpful.
I'm sorry about your wet floor and the fish tank. I know all too well how big a mess a tiny little creature can create.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 17:48:13 GMT -5
Yeah, she is a handful sometimes. She did a little bit better today. I think after getting stuckbbehind the tank yesterday, she will give it a few days before she tries that spot again. My son is 8 and he is usually her playmate. She will play with me a little bit, but when she wants to be chased she goes to my son. He doesn't tire as easily as I do. Plus she is very cautious about me. She doesn't nip me or anything, she will just pounce my foot and lick me. I am the one who gives the corrections but I also bring the food so I guess I (for the most part) am the alpha of her business. But she did end up eating some of her food that was left in her cage last night. And we have been bringing her out before eating breakfast and dinner so we can get her good and hungry to at least try it. So tiny steps. She usually isn't stubborn for too long when switching foods. And I've tried all different types of food just to have back ups just in case something happens with her favorite. I'm hoping to have her fully swapped by christmas, because we are going to fly to Florida and she will be with a pet sitter. Although I know she might have a different agenda, but that's my bold goal. It would just make things a tiny bit easier for the sitter if they don't have to worry about her being stubborn and not eating. Plus, we are going to NYC (but staying in NJ) for thanksgiving and she will be coming along for that trip. That's the reason we are going to be staying in NJ, so she can come. Anyway, back to the swap. She has eaten about half of her breakfast and it will be playtime again soon and then we will try dinner again. She at least didn't dump it (although she was working very hard to). So some tiny bit of progress. We will see how tonight goes. We are also working on being cage optional as well, even if it's just in my side of the apartment. I don't like her being in the cage most of the time, because she is part of the family and spent a few months not being able to get out like she was used to because we were staying with my sister and her dog looked at wisp like she was a chew-toy. And at my old place, she had her bathroom where she spent most of her time out of her cage. So she is about as leash trained as a ferret can be due to about the only time she was able to get out of her cage and get down was done outside. And she absolutely loves going for rides with me and loves showing off her dancing skills for new people. I'm extremely cautious about letting people pick her up or pet her, but she is always looking for a new audience for her dancing. And when she is getting nervous about things, she climbs up to me and crawls around on my shoulders until she is comfortable again. She is a sight to see. And since ferrets aren't popular around this area, I get plenty of questions about her. The main one is that they stink, but wisp barely has any odor so I let people sniff her to see for themselves and most smell nothing at all. So, I will end for now and check back in to let you know how dinner goes.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 11, 2015 18:59:23 GMT -5
Just wait until little Wisp starts to smell like grape koolaid! You'll be a ferret huffer like the rest of us, lol.
Being a handful is just part of being a ferret. They're little stinkers sometimes but we can't help but love them anyway. Since she got stuck behind the fish tank, it would be a good idea (especially if you're working toward free roam) to either move it out from the wall a little so she doesn't get stuck again or closer to the wall so she can't get behind it at all. Ferrets have lost their lives by getting stuck behind things where their owner can't find them.
You can definitely enlist the help of an 8 year old! Since she loves him she might do better for him. I was going to suggest that you let her out to play before feeding her but then I forgot. She is young and healthy so even if she skips a meal entirely it won't hurt her.
Having her completely switched before Christmas is really up to you, not her. We've found that the ferrents who are determined and don't give in to the little ferretudes switch much faster than others. Some steps will go faster than others but if you just keep pushing, she'll get there. Baby steps are still forward movement.
Keep working on dabbing that food on every chance you get and make sure to add the raw soup to EVERY single meal. When she begs for treats from your son, have him offer soup. If you're uncomfortable with him putting it on his finger, he can offer it from a spoon. She needs encounter the new taste with every bite she puts in her mouth. If she does better with her dinner tonight, then increase the amount of raw and decrease the amount of FDR for tomorrow.
I love that she climbs you when she's uncomfortable in a situation. My babies do that so it makes outdoor walks very interesting when I've got all 4 out at the same time.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 21:09:41 GMT -5
Well, I thought that the tank was close enoughto the wall because I couldn't even fit my hand behind it. But I moved it to the vanity in the bathroom well out of her reach. And as far as my son, I completely trust her not to take a chunk out of him, I just am very cautious because he is a kid and might get to rough because she isn't to the point of willingness of accepting the soup yet and tries to squirm away. Wisp has never given me any reason not to trust her. She has only bit one person and that was a couple of days after I got her and she gathered a crowd of onlookers and got frightened by all of the people and bit a clerk after I was trying to tell her not to touch. Even then, it was a nip. And she was extremely easy to nip train. I only had to scruff maybe 3 times before she understood completely. That's why she will lick instead of nip when playing. With lots of positive reinforcement and only correcting when and how it was necessary did wonders. I would start with a NO. Then when she would nip again, I would say NO and place her away from me. Then if she did it again, again NO and I would stand up and ignore her for a few mins. And lastly, if it happened again, I would scruff her and lay her down for a few seconds while saying NO. But when she was playing nice, she got lots of love and treats. So now, I don't have any problems with nipping at all. So, she has had her dinner for a few hours and hasn't really touched it. But at least hasn't dumped it. She has already gone to bed, but will more than likely wake during the night and hopefully the bowl will be empty in the morning.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 11, 2015 21:23:58 GMT -5
Can you get a video of you dabbing the soup on her mouth? I feel like I may not have communicated the process well enough and that you are trying to be too 'thorough' for lack of a better word. I don't expect her to take it willingly yet but she really shouldn't have time to object to it until after you put her down. You don't even have to pick her up to do it. It's literally just smearing some on her mouth and nose, trying to get a bit on her gums also. I would video to show you what I mean but my kids would just lick it off of me and beg for more.
I love Wisp's name. It seems so perfect for a tiny little she-fert. My Minnie got her name before she even came home. We were talking about her being so tiny and all alone at the pet store and saying that she was just a miniature version of a ferret, and we started called her the mini-ferret. And then when she came home a couple days later, the name stuck. Now she's Minnie Mouse, Minnie Magoo, Minikins, Minnie girl, Minnie the Menace, Princess Minnie, or Mini-brat, whichever happens to fit her at the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 0:46:26 GMT -5
Yeah, wisp got her name because we were watching "Brave" when I got the call from a friend of mine about her. And it just kinda stuck the moment I saw her tiny little skin and bones self. Her original owner was a high school kid and said that she didn't want her anymore. She was stuck in a cage that was too small for anything other than a hamster and thrown in a closet because she would bite the bars begging to get out. She hadn't had any food for a couple of days and was going to just sit in that closet and die. So my friend took her and because her cat was acting aggressive towards her, she asked me to take her until she could figure out what to do. She made me think of a little fairy because she was so tiny. So I named her Will-Ol'- the wisp. And it just kinda stuck. And a "wisp" is supposed to be very mischievous and sneaky so what better words to describe a ferret. Little did I know, other theories of the wisp would mean even more to me. She is my little girl. Anyway, when I dab her with the soup, I basically catch her and give one swoop of soup right across her mouth and put her back down and continue playing. And she usually just rubs her face all over the carpet for a second and dooks off. Sometimes she opens her mouth in disgust and some gets on her gums as I swoop, but mostly on her whiskers and lips (for lack of a better word). It's all about a few seconds because I don't try to give her a chance to react and protest.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 12, 2015 14:59:48 GMT -5
Aww, Will O'the Wisp... even better! Poor little baby. Thank you for getting her out of that situation. You seem to be doing the dabbing correctly. Just keep it up. How did she do with her overnight meal?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 18:11:46 GMT -5
It didn't go any better. On top her her strike, she had a bought of diarrhea in her cage. It's probably from the change in food as well as the eating strike. But I'm keeping a close eye on her because of her recent illness.
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Post by gfountain on Oct 12, 2015 18:21:45 GMT -5
The tiny bit of raw she's getting should not have caused any diarrhea. It could however be from stress. Go ahead and give her a tiny meal of plain FDR, less than half of her normal amount because we want her to be hungry enough to eat it tomorrow with the raw mixed in, but I also don't want her to starve or make herself sick.
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