SierraTheFerret's Switching Thread/Sherry

[Heather]

Name: Sarah Nina
HF Forum Username: SierraTheFerret

1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets?

Mostly the web. I do not have any written material (like a book or anything), but i do have e-book that i store and read on the phone when im free and bored. Yep im pretty much a tech person LOL~

2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret.

Currently i am really looking into 90% raw and 10% kibble. I just realized for the past few days since i got Sierra my little wee girl.. I sometimes come home late at night. Thawing food at 10 or 11pm might be a little late for me. All i wanted to come home to was play with Sierra and then refill her kibbles if it's empty, take a shower and sleep. So that would be where the kibbles come in. But this doesn't happen always. Maybe once in a week or twice at the max. If i come home during my usual time and i have ample of time to thaw food, then raw it is :3 I might also be interested in feeding whole prey's like mice to her maybe a little later on.

3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet?

I have come to learn its definitely better for them. In terms of weight, their coats and also good for their teeth. I definitely would want to put some weight on my little girl, coz shes tiny! >.< And i definitely would want what is best for her.

4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment?

I am all game for this. Definitely want to be in for the switch I do work in the mornings tho. From 10-6pm ill be at work and reach home at about 7+ So whatever things that i will need to prepare will be done at night.

5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for?

Currently only have 1 Might look into a friend for her maybe a few months down the road She's a female and is 5months old. We call her Sierra! She does not have any health problems that i am aware of. She did get a full checkup with the breeder before handed to me. She was recently spayed, so her tummy is still recovering. She has no fur on her tummy. Aside from that, she's healthy as a horse and notty! She's tiny to me. Because i saw her brother that was handed to another owner. But i do understand that males are much more larger than females. She's only been with me for 5 days though.

6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc)

She is currently on kibbles! A mixture of Evo cat and Blackwood Kitten. The 2nd day i made her duck soup. A mixture of an egg yolk and crushed boiled chicken. She gets ferretvite once a day at minimal amounts. (ONLY If she behaves or i have to use it to calm her down). She's like on crack. Always on the go. Very hyper

7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened?

Nope, this would be my first attempt. Also i am fairly new to ferrets and a first time ferret mommy.

8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share?

Just to mention that since she's fairly new to me. We have not established a "i trust u" environment just yet. So i might be slow on some parts

9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer?

I am like this comp geek. LOL! I am almost on the computer like 9-10 hours a day including during my working hours I am a graphic designer and i do a bit of web programming ~

10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible).

Currently these are the only pics i can provide you with. As you can see, her tummy is still recovering from her spay surgery.


Hi and welcome to the mentoring program . In a little while your mentor (Sherry) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey.
ciao

[Sherry]

Hello there! I'm Sherrylynne, and I'll be your mentor for their switch
First, a little about me. I'm 51, and have my own housecleaning business here in Calgary Alberta. I have 4 cats, ranging in age from 6yrs, to 17(only one would eat raw, unfortunately ). I also have 8 ferrets. Boris and Vincent(rip) came first, two brothers, a sable and albino. Then Sinnead(rip). I got her when she was 4. She passed at almost the age of 8, had adrenal for 3 years, treated with lupron for 2 of those.
After that came my first deaf ferret, Lucrezia. A marked DEW. Then two foster ferrets, whom we fell in love with and adopted- Zeus(DIP) and Athena, both two years old at that time. Also both adrenal, and on lupron.
After that, a little abused ferret we called Willow. She was the worst fear biter I've had, although now she's becoming a sweetie . Then, Emily. 1 month younger than Willow, and those two have bonded strongly. She's the only one Willow wasn't terrified of.Suki is the last one, I swear! She was a little 8 month old darling the pet store was having a hard time selling, so were getting ready to send her back!
While transitioning the first four, Boris was my hold out. EVERYTHING I gave him was poison, in his mind . Worst little drama queen I've seen yet . Twisting to get away, gagging, retching- he did all of it! Then one day- he ate it! Every single piece on the plate ! Those four haven't looked back.
The next two for transitioning were the fosters. Until we adopted them, I could only supplement with raw. So in order not to cause unnecessary tummy upsets(mixing kibble and raw too closely can cause some problems- more about that later), I'd give them raw one day, and kibble on a different day. So, by the time we adopted, they had no problem with 100% raw diet.
With Willow, I brought her home, and she flatly refused to eat the totally ferret kibble, so I went back to the pet store and got her a small bag of the crap they were feeding them there, and brought it home. I tried to give her some, but she just upset the dish. So- I tried her with some chicken breast. She ate it up! Hasn't had kibble since . Emily came to us as a raw fed ferret, so no issues there. Suki was another kibble head, but caging her in the daytime with Miss Emily showed her how to eat raw. And now- we've added Mr. Frodo, who essentially switched himself second day he was here
That's me and mine in a nutshell

The reason I started looking a raw feeding was something my vet said to me. I was, at the time, giving them small pieces of fruit for treats. She told me that was VERY bad for them, and in fact, some studies have started to link early feeding of sugars with insulinoma later in life. So- I started thinking. Kibbles are full of carbs. It's all those grains/veg/fruits in them. Those are converted to sugars by the body. To me then, sugar= potential insulinoma.
So, I started checking out various diets. I had no idea what an obligate carnivore was at the time. I found out! Not much wonder there was soooo much poop in the box! I may as well have been tossing my money in there. They can't process anything that's not meat based! So I feed meat
Their fur is softer, their energy levels are amazing- no mad rushes then crashing. Even my three year old's teeth are amazing. No plaque whatsoever Healing is faster, and if they do get ill, they have more reserves to rely on than when they were just kibble fed!
And there is a LOT LESS POOP!!!! Yay!
I'm looking forward to helping your little ones get on a much healthier diet, and having fun while we're at it
We have now adopted 4 more ferrets from the local rescue, bringing our numbers back up to 10 again 7m old Cody as well as a bonded trio of 2yr old males, Judge, Indie, and Odin.
All are now fully raw fed as well

[sierratheferret]

Yayyyyy!!!~ Thanks for having me as your apprentice Sherry! Should i be doing some introductions of my own too? Ill just make a short one just in case teeheee!

Well you can call me sarah or nina whichever you prefer I hail from asia in a country called Malaysia. Me, hubby and my 2 kids live in a city called Kuala Lumpur. My kids are aged 11 and 8. A boy and a girl We all are crazy about animals. We have had 8 Sugar Gliders for almost 6 years now and Sierra (Champagne Jill) would be our very first ferret~ We have had rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in the past but they all passed away one by one. That is when we all ventured in raring and breeding sugar gliders. And now we have ventured into ferrets!

As you can tell, she's giving us a hard time.. Me especially LOL! But my spirits are not down yet. We are still looking into taming her and teaching her not to bite our little fingers and feet! Hopefully it would be better soon~

So here are a few photos of Sierra's current body. Tho i am not able to weight her yet. Everytime the scale and bowl is there and i try to pick her up she bites me~ but i will try to get it as soon as i can

- Adding pics later, just realized phone is out of battery lol-

So far she has eaten:

1) Her kibbles mixture - Evo Cat + Blackwood Kitten
2) Finished half of her serving of Kibble soup mixed with raw minced beef. *It could also be the serving i gave her was a little too much that is why she never finished it*

[Sherry]

If you like, we'll work on the biting as well as her diet With Heather's help, we turned a little fear biter into a kisser Just to give you some hope, here's a couple of pics of a wee one(Willow) who was so terrified of human hands that she would immediately lunge, sink her teeth in to the bone, then start trembling so hard her little body was vibrating and trying to get away, but forget her teeth were in your hand! Poor wee mite was so abused she was quite literally terrified







In that last one, I'm hand feeding slivers of meat That's why I want you to get her on the slivers as fast as we can. They ADORE hand feeding as a rule ;D Also- have you been able to pic up some ferretone yet?

[sierratheferret]

Oh good heavens! Shes adorable and pretty!! Im so glad you got her to be so stable and calm now.. Shes looking awesome! Yes i would very much love to be helped with the biting and also her diet.. I sure came to the right place LOL! And yes hun we have ferretone!

So here is some pics of Sierra.. The only few i was able to get











Im currently sick, so i wont be able to go down to the market to get meat or chicken. If i send hubby to get some, he USUALLY gets the wrong kind. I might be able to pick up some slivers on Tuesday or Wednesday Coz im taking the day off from work~

Also Sherry, you know when sometimes we buy meat. There is like a shelf life for it? Lets says its expired, can we still feed it to the wee ones? Coz i dont cook often at home and i only have 1 ferret. May take a week or so before its all completely gone..

About her biting, she's still at it! Got my foot hard today. Bled a little. Her breeder told me that shes in a thing called the "The little devil stage" where she is Wild, playful and stubborn. It could very well just be a little phase. I have constantly been giving her timeouts, but aside her showing tantrums.. Nothing different happens.

[Sherry]

Just keep up with the time outs. And consider this similar to the "terrible twos" in a human child Patience and consistency is what will win out in the end. Also right now, if it's a cold that you've got, make sure to do TONS of hand washing before going near her. We can actually contract the flu, but show minimal signs of it if it's similar to one we've already had in previous years. And while ferrets cannot get the human rhinovirus- they CAN contract the influenza virus.
For right now, keep giving her the kibble soup mixed with whatever meat you can We'll work on the biting when you are feeling better.
For that, you are going to have to be quick ;D But in the interim, drizzle about 1/2 a tsp of ferretone on a dish so she gets to know it really well. That will be SO important.

[sierratheferret]

Okie dokie Sherry.. I tried last nite giving minced beef with a drizzle of ferretone. She finished half of her serving. That should be good right? Because i was so sick i dint want to wait for the kibble soup to thaw. I put it inside the freezer the other day. Also her poo is rather slimey..

Because she usually doesnt finish her serving, feeding raw once a day is that ok?

[Sherry]

Hey- the fact she ate it is fantastic!!! And no- she's a baby and really needs to eat more often than once a day. Try just giving her less at a serving. Once she fully accepts it she'll eat a LOT for a bit as you are feeling better, try her on a wide variety of proteins.

[Sherry]

Also let me know when you are up to starting to work with her on the biting.

[sierratheferret]

Okie when you mentioned a wide variety of proteins. What else can i offer? Maybe i can add into my grocery list as well when i head to the market tomorrow or wednesday.

We can start working on her biting immediately LOL! Coz im about to loose hope, i have tried every single trick in the book to nip train a wee one. No luck yet~

Ill increase her food serving immediately! I have only been giving raw mixed with kibble soup once a day. So ill add more servings in a day. Will try morning and night now. Should i take away her kibbles now too?

[Sherry]

If she'll eat the straight up raw, definitely try removing her kibble and see how she does. For other proteins- chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb, goat, duck, goose, cornish game hen, quail, rabbit just to name a few ;D
Okay, for the biting- is she accepting the taste of tone well? If so, what I want you to do is put a bit in the palm of one hand. Hold that hand flat so she can't get a grip on it. With the other hand, scoop her up quickly and bring her nose and the palm of your hand together very quickly so she can focus on the tone in your palm rather than biting. Give her 3-4 licks and immediately put her back down and walk away. Do that several times a day. As she twists less to bite when picking her up, hold her for a bit longer. But always put her down before she's ready to go.
What this teaches her is that hands hold very good things It also tells her that she is not going to get outside her comfort zone.
This step takes a while- and it's why I mentioned being quick

[sierratheferret]

Oct 15, 2012 8:34:11 GMT -5 Sherry said:

If so, what I want you to do is put a bit in the palm of one hand. Hold that hand flat so she can't get a grip on it.

Got it on the proteins sherry LOL! I thought it was something else~ Going to see what i kind when i go grocery shopping.

On the biting - Do i put my hand flat on to the ground or just flatten it out and leave it in mid air? Is a few squirts ok? Or just a little bit so she can get that 3 to 4 licks?

[sierratheferret]

Oh and yes.. She loooooooooooooves the tone! LOL~

[Sherry]

You want to be actually holding her up so she comes to associate your hands holding her with getting the tone.

[sierratheferret]

Dint work the first time last night sherry. Diving in again tonight when its time to play.

Btw.. her poo smells more after eating 2 servings of raw per day now. Is that normal? Smells of meaty blood lol.