|
Post by Hellokitty on Sept 10, 2013 10:48:19 GMT -5
I just created an account and was wondering what "pending staff approval" was for and how long it will take? I have been creeping this site for awhile and am anxious to be able to participate in post and ask questions and such. Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 10:59:38 GMT -5
Hi and Welcome to the HFF. When you create an account and they email you, then you click on the link and your account is activated. You have a user name and were able to post, so I think you are already approved. I'm not forum staff, so someone else may explain it better (or correct me, if I'm wrong). Anyway, when you get a chance, tell us about you and your little one (s).
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 11:45:05 GMT -5
I just created an account and was wondering what "pending staff approval" was for and how long it will take? I have been creeping this site for awhile and am anxious to be able to participate in post and ask questions and such. Thanks in advance. It does take a while, but this forum is wonderful and worth the wait. You don't even need to wait. You can start asking questions and telling us about your ferrets
|
|
|
Post by Hellokitty on Sept 10, 2013 12:26:11 GMT -5
This forum is definatly worth the wait! I was trying to reply to the "must read and sign" forum about the rules but I couldn't.
Anyways, hi everyone! My name is Chanel, i just got my first ever ferret about a month ago and I absolutely LOVE him. His name is Bandit. He was about 4 months when I purchased him from a pet store (could not find a breeder and the ones available at the nearest shelter are older, I wanted to start with a young one). I have wanted a ferret for a good few years and have done so much research, this site is SO helpful. I started my little baby on a raw diet as soon as I brought him home and don't think I could have done it if it wasn't for this site.
I do have a few questions though.
- as of now I only have one ferret, is it better to have a minimum of 2 ferrets? He has lots of out of cage time and I try to keep him entertained, however I'm not sure if he gets bored of me haha. - is the raw diet I'm feeding him balanced enough? He gets chicken wings almost every morning/ chicken breast, minced turkey, quail or beef chunks at night /Beef liver 1-2 times a week. Chicken heart 1-2times a week. Egg yolk mixed with his food once a week.... That's all the meats I have tried so far.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 12:43:59 GMT -5
Congratulations on your first ferret! I do think that ferrets benefit from another ferret company. However, I know that some prefer to only have one and its OK too. I'm not feeding home made raw diet just yet. I use commercial, so I don't have hands on experience. However, I would add more heart in his diet. It is liver that you don't want to overdose, but you can definitely add more heart in case he doesn't get enough taurine. In fact, there is not much in chicken breast. You can also try quail eggs. The yolk size is just right for one ferret Also, you can give it a little more often along with white part. Two times a week should be OK. The concern with eggs is that too much egg white can result in biotin deficiency, but I do feed quail egg 2-3 times a week with good effect. Also, try adding some oils in his food. I like using extra virgin olive oil, good quality salmon or fish oil, and flax seed oil. Some people are also using a variety of supplements. I do find this interesting and currently researching some info. And of course start introducing new meat proteins :-) variety is important.
|
|
|
Post by Thérèse on Sept 11, 2013 5:16:17 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the adventure that is ferrenthood. You just have to wait for someone who is a staff member to do their approving stuff and then as Poncesmum said you will get an email with a link to activate your user account. It can take a day or two for a staff member to get round to approving the new accounts but they are usually fairly good about getting to them.
Re your diet, the thing you need to add is some organs, liver (not too much but some is necessary) kidney, brains, that type of thing. Heart does not count as an organ (organs for the purpose of diet are best thought of as things that excrete hormones or such) but a muscle meat. It is usually counted separately from other muscle meats because it is a great source of taurine which ferrets need. You have heart, muscle meats, bones, the main missing thing is organs. When feeding a raw diet you are trying to mimic the prey a ferrets wild cousins would eat. They don't just eat the meat and walk away saying what a good meal it was. They eat the whole thing, fur, bones, eyes, organs, etc. and consequently have evolved to get benefit from all these different elements. When feeding a raw diet it helps to remember that. For ratios of each part though, I will let someone else tell you to ensure they give you good advice (I use whole prey, ie. frozen feeder mice, as the cornerstone of my guys diets, to ensure they get everything they need). Also the more different proteins you can feed the better (being different animal sources, eg. chicken, turkey, lamb, quail, mice, rats, beef, etc), with a minimum of 3 to ensure coverage of the base nutritional requirements.
Would love pix of your wee one once your account is approved.
Hope this helps and once again welcome
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 11, 2013 8:47:01 GMT -5
That would be me, and I just approved another group this morning
|
|
|
Post by Hellokitty on Sept 11, 2013 20:33:32 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the adventure that is ferrenthood. You just have to wait for someone who is a staff member to do their approving stuff and then as Poncesmum said you will get an email with a link to activate your user account. It can take a day or two for a staff member to get round to approving the new accounts but they are usually fairly good about getting to them. Re your diet, the thing you need to add is some organs, liver (not too much but some is necessary) kidney, brains, that type of thing. Heart does not count as an organ (organs for the purpose of diet are best thought of as things that excrete hormones or such) but a muscle meat. It is usually counted separately from other muscle meats because it is a great source of taurine which ferrets need. You have heart, muscle meats, bones, the main missing thing is organs. When feeding a raw diet you are trying to mimic the prey a ferrets wild cousins would eat. They don't just eat the meat and walk away saying what a good meal it was. They eat the whole thing, fur, bones, eyes, organs, etc. and consequently have evolved to get benefit from all these different elements. When feeding a raw diet it helps to remember that. For ratios of each part though, I will let someone else tell you to ensure they give you good advice (I use whole prey, ie. frozen feeder mice, as the cornerstone of my guys diets, to ensure they get everything they need). Also the more different proteins you can feed the better (being different animal sources, eg. chicken, turkey, lamb, quail, mice, rats, beef, etc), with a minimum of 3 to ensure coverage of the base nutritional requirements. Would love pix of your wee one once your account is approved. Hope this helps and once again welcome perfect , I went to the store today and got a pack of chicken liver and gizzards. As for the 3 protein thing, is it okay if I give him chicken and turkey one week and chicken and quail another week? Or ones he need 3 different proteins all in one week?
|
|
|
Post by Hellokitty on Sept 11, 2013 20:35:05 GMT -5
Soon as I get approved I will post pics of my little baby!
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Sept 11, 2013 22:30:38 GMT -5
Hi and welcome on board (wave) I think instead of looking at the minimum protein requirements, start looking at varieties. Check out things like turkey, beef, pork, lamb...these are often common meats carried everywhere. Any protein source can be used as long as it's not flavoured, smoked or enhanced. Rabbit is another meat that's also well received and enjoyed by most fuzzies. Quail is a most favoured meal here. Chicken is often an easy starter meat but be inventive, every different protein offered to your little one covers more of their nutritional needs. Last night my guys got beef chunks and chicks. Tonight they get quail. At the beginning of the week they all got rabbit. My guys get their organ meats (this week it was pork liver and kidneys) in a ground mix as I've got a couple who are picky about eating their liver (texture can be an issue with some). The heart was beef. Variety is the spice of life ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2013 5:17:54 GMT -5
Hi!!! Officially approved , I was using the guest name under hello kitty.
Okay so basically just a good variety of meat through out the whole week. I have been doing something similar but not as much variety. This has been his diet so far. Bone: Chicken wings almost everyday ( I have yet to try necks or anything else really) or he eats a quail . Muscle: chicken breast, minced turkey, beef chunks. I have rabbit in the freezer but havent tried it yet... It also has bones in I think? Heart: chicken heats. It's the only heart I can find at superstore, I'm hoping the asian market will have other hearts. Organ: chicken liver , chicken gizzard, he had beef liver last week...
I will now try out more meats. He's still fairly new , I've had him for about 3 weeks but he doesn't seem to be to picky. Thank you to everyone helping!
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Sept 12, 2013 15:13:10 GMT -5
Here check out the archives holisticferret60.proboards.com/board/55/archives Check out the last page of each of the posts (or approx) each one of these students had to fill out a menu that was approved. It gives an outline as to what they were feeding and how they balanced their diets for their little one. If you have questions you will have to either post here or to a new message as those posts are locked and also belong to those people in the heading. ciao
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 12, 2013 15:38:12 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2013 15:52:17 GMT -5
Hi!!! Officially approved , I was using the guest name under hello kitty. Okay so basically just a good variety of meat through out the whole week. I have been doing something similar but not as much variety. This has been his diet so far. Bone: Chicken wings almost everyday ( I have yet to try necks or anything else really) or he eats a quail . Muscle: chicken breast, minced turkey, beef chunks. I have rabbit in the freezer but havent tried it yet... It also has bones in I think? Heart: chicken heats. It's the only heart I can find at superstore, I'm hoping the asian market will have other hearts. Organ: chicken liver , chicken gizzard, he had beef liver last week... I will now try out more meats. He's still fairly new , I've had him for about 3 weeks but he doesn't seem to be to picky. Thank you to everyone helping! I'm able to get beef hearts and pork kidneys in Superstore in Vancouver, BC. I don't know where you live, but we also have nice organ variety in Chinese supermarkets T&T. They also have black chickens, I wonder if they are slightly different nutritionally.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Sept 12, 2013 16:03:15 GMT -5
Those are silky's and I believe they are.
|
|