Tips on how to move on from ground meat?

[Guest (Lurker)]

Received my order from Hare Today last week Wednesday. (Found the site from the forums here, thanks for the link!)

Read about how many start off with soups or eggs, but never had any luck with either in the past. Not sure as to why. This is actually my second attempt at raw! (headwall)

Started off by rolling it into meatballs along with some canned pumpkin. I then picked them up one at a time and "offered" it on my fingers with no intention of letting them go until they at least tried it. Once they made the first lick and realized it wasn't poison they cleaned my fingers and went looking for more!

A few days later took some meat, pumpkin & baby food and smooshed it altogether with a spoon. It actually smelled a lot like tuna fish. Which was a little odd, but they both licked the bowel clean of the stuff after I repeated the act of holding them hostage.

Managed to get both 6 month old (Ermine) & 2 year old (Otter) eating solely the ground chicken today!

My goal in the end is to get them eating bones to keep their teeth clean after abandoning N-Bones. I've offered chicken necks but so far they haven't dug into them. I think they are concerned about biting me when I offer the meat by hand, and normally prefer to just lick it into their mouths then chew. They even seem weary to lick the meat on the necks, and they just ignore it if I put it into a bowel.

Now I'm at the point where I'm not sure how I should progress. I would love to hear a few pointers if you'd kindly provide them! The idea of taking away their kibble seems risky knowing how hardheaded Otter can be. I've also got some pinkies and day old quails I'd like them to eventually move onto.

I've browsed the forums since around the time I first got Otter as an eight week old kit, and I love reading about others experiences with their ferrets! I admit to being a bit scared at first with sharing my own.(shy)

I thought I should at least provide video of the two in question! (Hope they work and sorry about quality. Old camera is old and I don't use it as much as I should!)


Also bonus of Ermine being... Ermine. (Pee puddle warning!)

[trutan85]

They need to work their way up to larger pieces, like a neck or anything else. You have to start off small, cutting small slivers of meat and mixing it in, we all start off on soups and eventually mix in the slivers. Then after a bit, it's about decreasing how much soup they get and increasing the size of chunks they receive. I would suggest that when you present a neck, they don't know what to do with it yet, so they just leave it alone.

You don't want to quit kibble cold turkey, but persistence by feeding every day, then twice a day and eventually you can quit kibble. I don't know if you want to completely switch to a raw diet, but if you are interested in that I would suggest joining the forum and consider signing up for a mentor. They are quite knowledgeable and would assist you in the transition.

[Sherry]

This should help: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/8342/documenting-switch-new-ferrets

[Guest (Lurker)]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!

I don't have any actual plan on putting them on a full raw diet as I don't feel 100% comfortable managing their nutrition at this time. Mostly was thinking of it as a treat/teeth cleaner.

Guess I'll just keep at it with the ground and try to mix some larger pieces in slowly. Going to take their Orijen away and leave the meat out during the day then switch back at night. I might even grab one of the baby quails or pinkies out and just see if there are any takers though I don't plan on it.

They just don't seem to want to chew the tougher meat on the neck even if I sashimi it. They are happy licking up the fine ground meat and occasionally chewing the tiny bits of bone though.

One of our cats did surprise me tonight by eating some of the ground in the bowl on the floor. I didn't offer it to him or anything. He just walked right up and ate away!

[Sherry]

It does take some work to get them accepting bone. Generally you start by chopping/smashing up the bone in meats(chicken necks are excellent for this), and gradually increase the size.

[Deleted]

Welcome to the HFF (wave)

1t can be tr1cky conv1nc1ng ferrets that new food 1sn't po1son. You need to f1nd the r1ght tr1ck. Some l1ke a l1ttle o1l dr1zzled over the1r new food, some l1ke warm water. Most of us w1ll s1t on the floor and hand feed, unt1l they get the general 1dea. When you keep offer1ng new foods and they keep turn1ng up the1r nose, you m1ght have more success, s1mply p1ck1ng one new food and offer1ng that every day for a few days, unt1l 1t becomes fam1lar to them and they dec1de 1ts okay to eat some. You should take a look at one of the Members sw1tch1ng threads and see how the Mentors work w1th a ferrent and the1r p1cky ferret.

Pumpk1n 1s used as a blockage protocol. Try not to offer pumpk1n da1ly.

1f you are look1ng for someth1ng to help clean the1r teeth, ch1cken g1zzards are a great opt1on. L1ke Sherry sa1d, 1ts take t1me to get them to eat bones. Smash1ng them helps, and g1zzards are great for bu1ld1ng up jaw strength.

Good Luck and don't hes1tate to pop 1n and ask quest1ons. We all love to help and only want, what's best for you and Otter and Erm1ne.

[Guest (Lurker)]

Ah yes gizzards! Forgot to mention I bought some of those too!

Yeah I don't give them pumpkin daily or anything. I just used some for binding the meatballs to help entice them since they think of it as a treat! I no longer need to do that by the way now.

Giving them a break today to defrost some more meat.