Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 15:46:58 GMT -5
Hey guys and gals,
This is my first post here and I was hoping I could get some advise.
First time ferret owner here. I picked up 2 wonderful fuzzies- a male albino and a female silver.
They are 7 months and 6 months old respectively. When I purchased them, they had been on the Marshall diet. I vowed to myself that when I finally had a ferret that they would be on a raw or whole prey diet.
So, starting day 1 I began introducing raw chicken wings along with their kibble. They took to it incredibly fast, no issues. After the first 3 weeks I eliminated the Marshall kibble entirely, and switched to Orijen Red Label Cat/Kitten kibble which is based on the whole prey diet, and has a slightly softer consistency than hard kibble. Expensive stuff, and they love it. A week or so later, I began introducing whole prey in the evening (day old chicks and pinkies).
Once again, they took to it amazingly fast (the first night!).
So this is my new routine:
I refill their bowl in the morning with the Orijen Kibble. (Available to them 24-7)
In the evening I feed them-
(1) Defrosted Day old chick
(2-3) defrosted Hopper mice
They eat every last bit of the chicks/mice. The occasional beak is the only thing left over that I see.
They've been on this diet for the last 2 months or so, and it seems they still have upset tummies. 50% of the time their stool is quite liquidy and messy.
Otherwise their energy levels, coats, and overall health seems perfect. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what, if anything, I should immediately change in their diets. I plan on moving to slightly larger and older whole prey for more nutrition. Quail will probably be in my next order as well as some older mice and rats. I was also considering crickets as I've heard they are very high in protein and to offer a new type of meat source to their diet.
Looking forward to all your replies!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is my first post here and I was hoping I could get some advise.
First time ferret owner here. I picked up 2 wonderful fuzzies- a male albino and a female silver.
They are 7 months and 6 months old respectively. When I purchased them, they had been on the Marshall diet. I vowed to myself that when I finally had a ferret that they would be on a raw or whole prey diet.
So, starting day 1 I began introducing raw chicken wings along with their kibble. They took to it incredibly fast, no issues. After the first 3 weeks I eliminated the Marshall kibble entirely, and switched to Orijen Red Label Cat/Kitten kibble which is based on the whole prey diet, and has a slightly softer consistency than hard kibble. Expensive stuff, and they love it. A week or so later, I began introducing whole prey in the evening (day old chicks and pinkies).
Once again, they took to it amazingly fast (the first night!).
So this is my new routine:
I refill their bowl in the morning with the Orijen Kibble. (Available to them 24-7)
In the evening I feed them-
(1) Defrosted Day old chick
(2-3) defrosted Hopper mice
They eat every last bit of the chicks/mice. The occasional beak is the only thing left over that I see.
They've been on this diet for the last 2 months or so, and it seems they still have upset tummies. 50% of the time their stool is quite liquidy and messy.
Otherwise their energy levels, coats, and overall health seems perfect. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what, if anything, I should immediately change in their diets. I plan on moving to slightly larger and older whole prey for more nutrition. Quail will probably be in my next order as well as some older mice and rats. I was also considering crickets as I've heard they are very high in protein and to offer a new type of meat source to their diet.
Looking forward to all your replies!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
* Considering what you're thinking of adding to your little one's diets and how well they took to the prey, I would seriously consider doing the leap and going all raw. I think you'd be surprise how quickly their stools firm up
