Post by katt on Aug 3, 2013 22:28:33 GMT -5
Hey were picking up food and a scale tomorrow we run out after tommorows breakfast,
Great.
I was planning to pick up Chicken heart and liver, but im tired of feeding them just chicken and pork, what are some mild tasting meats I can try I know they have duck,lamb,beef(which they despise so far even novak wont touch it), and random bits of other meats
They do need more variety, but you are still very early in the switch. You keep trying to push ahead, which is good, but you are stressing yourself out too much. Take a deep breath and remember you have to walk before you can run. You can certainly try duck - it is a good fatty meat and similar to turkey or chicken, turkey is usually the easiest to give after chicken as it is so similar. Lamb is great if they will eat it but is more strongly flavored. Any meat you can think of just about they can eat. That being said, I think we should focus on getting them all on one page first. Keep reading and below I will explain further.
but Idk what to buy anymore im on the verge of giving up honestly. But aric wont have it and refuses to give novak kibble and there finally getting somewhere with the meat and don't wanna take it away.
Don't give up. You are early in the switch yes, but this is the hardest part. Once they are all confidently eating chunks it does get easier. Slow and steady wins the race. Again, I really feel that you are trying to rush things and that that is a big part of why you are getting so stressed over it. Hang in there! You are doing well. Deep breaths, one step at a time.
And I really don't have enough time in the day to sit there and watch how much everyone eats exactly, I know there all eating because ive seen each individual ferret munching away at various times and they have no problems looking me in the eye then backing up and pooping on my floor. Im ready to separate them all and give them there own separate dish 2x a day or something cause im failing here..its getting upsetting instead of rewarding
You are NOT failing. Say that again and I'll come over there and whop you! Once you get a scale you will find things get easier. The soup will be easier to make, and you can keep better track of their weights to confirm whether or not they are eating enough. Separating them has its pros and cons, but I very much do Not recommend it. For one, ferrets should have constant access to their food. As such, they are not usually adjusted to "meal times" and may not eat enough during said meal time. Also like I said at the end of this post will tell you my proposal for a solution for a lot of your stresses.
Again also nobodies soup has changed there still half kibble half meat they just have the option of chunks in a whole separate bowl from there soup, which im not doing anymore because im obv. doing it wrong and just wasting money. Sorry for the vent just really at my limit with everything.
You aren't doing it wrong. Again I'm going to come over there and whop you! The soup recipe hasn't changed because we had to take care of Dax first and because of that the overall progress got put on hold. Then you got busy for a while so I had no way to make recommendations as to your progress without update. Now you are back, I have more information, and Dax is doing better so we can proceed. No one said the switch was fast, or easy. It is a process. It is a lot of work. But you are doing very well! You have one ferret who will eat whole raw and whole prey, two who will at least munch on chunks a little, and one who will eat at least half raw soup. You are making progress. Stick with it.
NOW onto business. I think there are 3-4 main things here that are stressing you out - two of which are really one thing. The first is you keep wanting to rush. The second, which is part of the first, is that you have 4 ferrets who are in completely different stages of the game. That means a lot more prep time, a lot more monitoring eating time, a lot more stress. The third is making sure everyone is eating enough (ties in with the second), and the fourth is the confusion over balance. The last 2 can be solved largely by the purchase of a scale. I think that you will find that once you have a scale things get easier. For one you will be able to weigh out proportions of meat and organ and heart to make a balanced soup without any guesswork. Also, you will be able to regularly weigh each ferret to track their weights. As such you will notices more immediately if one is lowing weight. This will be a second confirmation to you that they are all eating enough.
Now to address the first two. I know you want to rush forwards, but you need NEED to take a step back. For your sake and theirs. At this point in time I am going to highly recommend that you put them ALL on the same track. Yes, this means going back a few steps with some of them, but I assure you that that progress will Not be lost. The ones who are eating chunks know what they are now and should eat them just fine when their chunks return. Right now we need to put them all back on square 1 so they they are ALL in the same spot of the switch and you only have one type of meal to prepare and to monitor at a time. You know what everyone is eating because it is all the same. This will also cut down your prep time and I believe it will be far, FAR less stressful for you - and thus for them as well. We know they will all eat half kibble, half raw soup correct?
As long as all 4 of them accept the half-raw soup, I want you to change that to at least 3/4 raw soup. We are putting them ALL on soup - Even Novak.
Here are my instructions.
1) get the scale and stock up on meats like you said you were doing today/tomorrow
2) use the scale to make a large batch of raw soup according to THIS recipe:
8 oz muscle meat
1 oz liver
1 oz heart
1/2 tsp powdered eggshell
You can double, triple, or quadruple this recipe. Make a nice big batch so you don't have to worry about preparing it later - this will save you a ton of time during the week and make your days less stressful.
3) Freeze any excess meat. Freeze the soup in an ice cube tray and store the soup cubes in a baggie in the freezer to be used as needed.
4) Feed ALL FOUR of the ferrets soup. We are going to be moving by the slowest member of the group - right now that is Dax. That is always subject to change. So whatever Dax will eat is what the others get.
If Dax will eat 3/4 raw soup (which he should since he was eating at least some raw-only soup before) use that. After 4-6 meals of that, we will try full raw soup. As soon as ALL 4 of them are happily slurping all-raw soup, we will move on to chunks. Not before.
5) Keep reminding yourself: ONE STEP AT A TIME - Slow and steady wins the race. When it comes to switching ferrets that saying is VERY true.
Hang in there with me. I really think that you will find this is WAY WAY less stressful for you and them (they sense your stress), it will be less time consuming, and despite what you may feel I really think that they will progress much faster this way. Trust me to guide you.
Great.
I was planning to pick up Chicken heart and liver, but im tired of feeding them just chicken and pork, what are some mild tasting meats I can try I know they have duck,lamb,beef(which they despise so far even novak wont touch it), and random bits of other meats
They do need more variety, but you are still very early in the switch. You keep trying to push ahead, which is good, but you are stressing yourself out too much. Take a deep breath and remember you have to walk before you can run. You can certainly try duck - it is a good fatty meat and similar to turkey or chicken, turkey is usually the easiest to give after chicken as it is so similar. Lamb is great if they will eat it but is more strongly flavored. Any meat you can think of just about they can eat. That being said, I think we should focus on getting them all on one page first. Keep reading and below I will explain further.
but Idk what to buy anymore im on the verge of giving up honestly. But aric wont have it and refuses to give novak kibble and there finally getting somewhere with the meat and don't wanna take it away.
Don't give up. You are early in the switch yes, but this is the hardest part. Once they are all confidently eating chunks it does get easier. Slow and steady wins the race. Again, I really feel that you are trying to rush things and that that is a big part of why you are getting so stressed over it. Hang in there! You are doing well. Deep breaths, one step at a time.
And I really don't have enough time in the day to sit there and watch how much everyone eats exactly, I know there all eating because ive seen each individual ferret munching away at various times and they have no problems looking me in the eye then backing up and pooping on my floor. Im ready to separate them all and give them there own separate dish 2x a day or something cause im failing here..its getting upsetting instead of rewarding
You are NOT failing. Say that again and I'll come over there and whop you! Once you get a scale you will find things get easier. The soup will be easier to make, and you can keep better track of their weights to confirm whether or not they are eating enough. Separating them has its pros and cons, but I very much do Not recommend it. For one, ferrets should have constant access to their food. As such, they are not usually adjusted to "meal times" and may not eat enough during said meal time. Also like I said at the end of this post will tell you my proposal for a solution for a lot of your stresses.
Again also nobodies soup has changed there still half kibble half meat they just have the option of chunks in a whole separate bowl from there soup, which im not doing anymore because im obv. doing it wrong and just wasting money. Sorry for the vent just really at my limit with everything.
You aren't doing it wrong. Again I'm going to come over there and whop you! The soup recipe hasn't changed because we had to take care of Dax first and because of that the overall progress got put on hold. Then you got busy for a while so I had no way to make recommendations as to your progress without update. Now you are back, I have more information, and Dax is doing better so we can proceed. No one said the switch was fast, or easy. It is a process. It is a lot of work. But you are doing very well! You have one ferret who will eat whole raw and whole prey, two who will at least munch on chunks a little, and one who will eat at least half raw soup. You are making progress. Stick with it.
NOW onto business. I think there are 3-4 main things here that are stressing you out - two of which are really one thing. The first is you keep wanting to rush. The second, which is part of the first, is that you have 4 ferrets who are in completely different stages of the game. That means a lot more prep time, a lot more monitoring eating time, a lot more stress. The third is making sure everyone is eating enough (ties in with the second), and the fourth is the confusion over balance. The last 2 can be solved largely by the purchase of a scale. I think that you will find that once you have a scale things get easier. For one you will be able to weigh out proportions of meat and organ and heart to make a balanced soup without any guesswork. Also, you will be able to regularly weigh each ferret to track their weights. As such you will notices more immediately if one is lowing weight. This will be a second confirmation to you that they are all eating enough.
Now to address the first two. I know you want to rush forwards, but you need NEED to take a step back. For your sake and theirs. At this point in time I am going to highly recommend that you put them ALL on the same track. Yes, this means going back a few steps with some of them, but I assure you that that progress will Not be lost. The ones who are eating chunks know what they are now and should eat them just fine when their chunks return. Right now we need to put them all back on square 1 so they they are ALL in the same spot of the switch and you only have one type of meal to prepare and to monitor at a time. You know what everyone is eating because it is all the same. This will also cut down your prep time and I believe it will be far, FAR less stressful for you - and thus for them as well. We know they will all eat half kibble, half raw soup correct?
As long as all 4 of them accept the half-raw soup, I want you to change that to at least 3/4 raw soup. We are putting them ALL on soup - Even Novak.
Here are my instructions.
1) get the scale and stock up on meats like you said you were doing today/tomorrow
2) use the scale to make a large batch of raw soup according to THIS recipe:
8 oz muscle meat
1 oz liver
1 oz heart
1/2 tsp powdered eggshell
You can double, triple, or quadruple this recipe. Make a nice big batch so you don't have to worry about preparing it later - this will save you a ton of time during the week and make your days less stressful.
3) Freeze any excess meat. Freeze the soup in an ice cube tray and store the soup cubes in a baggie in the freezer to be used as needed.
4) Feed ALL FOUR of the ferrets soup. We are going to be moving by the slowest member of the group - right now that is Dax. That is always subject to change. So whatever Dax will eat is what the others get.
If Dax will eat 3/4 raw soup (which he should since he was eating at least some raw-only soup before) use that. After 4-6 meals of that, we will try full raw soup. As soon as ALL 4 of them are happily slurping all-raw soup, we will move on to chunks. Not before.
5) Keep reminding yourself: ONE STEP AT A TIME - Slow and steady wins the race. When it comes to switching ferrets that saying is VERY true.
Hang in there with me. I really think that you will find this is WAY WAY less stressful for you and them (they sense your stress), it will be less time consuming, and despite what you may feel I really think that they will progress much faster this way. Trust me to guide you.