Hi and Welcome to the HFF
Congratulations on Ferrenthood. What are your little ones names?
Ferrets do imprint on their food around six months to a year old. That doesn't mean that you can't switch them to the Frankenprey menu, it's just a little more difficult. That where we can help.
Your SO wants to wait for the Marshall's Warranty to be up, but the thing is, the Warranty simply offers you a chance to return your ferret and they will put them down. It's not really good for much more. They also won't know if you start feeding them raw, so while I don't want to put you at odds with your SO, I think he is putting more importance on the warranty than need be.
The first step to switching is usually by using a soupie recipe. The soupie recipe is completely balanced and intended to provide all their nutrients until they move to the Frankenprey menu.
Some will choose Whole Prey, some ferrents use Commercial Grinds and some offer FDR. Freeze Dried Raw.
The soupie recipe is:
8 ounces of raw chicken thigh
1-2 chicken hearts
1/2 chicken liver
1/2 tsp of dried eggshell powder. Simply save up your eggshells, let them dry for a day or two and then grind them into a raw powder. This will keep well in a tupperware dish and stored on a shelf.
Blend all of this up together. You can store the extra by freezing it in an ice cube tray. Then pop out one or two cubes and add some warm water. In the beginning, they will like the soupie thinner. The idea is to slowly increase the thickness of the soup and get them use to eating it.
The average boy eats 3-4 ounces a day, the average girl eats 2 ounces. They may eat a little more during the switch and then eat more in the Winter and less in the Spring.
Then you will start adding tiny slivers of meat to the soup.
The key to success is coaxing and persuasion. You will want to hand feed them the soup at first. Sit on the floor with a towel and a spoon. Pick one up and put him in your lap. Take your finger and dab it into the soup and then put some on their mouth. They will lick it off. Then take a spoon and put a little soup on the spoon and offer it to them. If they jump off, gently pick them up and try again. Once they are eating the soupie, lower the spoon to the plate and offer some more. This may take a few attempts or even days. It just depends on how stubborn they are.
You may have to try a few different tricks to encourage them. Some like their soupie warm, some like a little oil in it, and some just need to be persuaded.
Once they are eating soupie with slivers, the next step is to decrease the amount of soup and increase the amount and size of the slivers, until it is all small pieces of meat.
Then you will be ready to move to Frankenprey. The basics of a Frankenprey menu are simple. The menu is designed to mimic eating Whole Prey.
You want a Minimum of three proteins:
The menu is based on a weekly menu:
7-9 meals of Bone In Meats: Bone In is defined as the NON WEIGHT bearing bones of an animal the size of a chicken or smaller. Think Chicken wings, Quail, Cornish Game Hen, Duck, rabbit.
3-4 meals of Muscle Meat:
Heart is a Muscle meat and they will have one full meal of Hearts and then a Half meal.
Other muscle meats will be chicken/duck gizzards which are good for building jaw strength and cleaning teeth.
Pork/lamb/Turkey/goat/rabbit and Beef can be muscle meats.
Red Meat is high in Iron and Vitamin B and should be one meal a week.
Organ Meals will make up Two Meals in their weekly menu:
Liver plus another Organ.
Liver plus another Organ plus a half meal of Heart
Organs are secreting Organs, such as kidney, thymus, pancreas, brains and spleen.
Five percent of their weekly intake is Liver, Five percent is the Other Organ.
Shopping is easy for the most part. Most of the proteins will be found at your local Grocer.
Organs and Heart can be found at Asian Markets or thru Butchers.
Most of us use Asian Markets or you can order online from providers such as HareToday or MyPetCarnivore.
They have high shipping costs and you will do better to find a good Asian Market.
You mentioned fish. Fish is a great once a week meal. Look for small fish like smelt. Mine love shrimp and Cod. Stay away from saltwater fish and fish with high levels of mercury like tuna and swordfish.
Eggs are great, one a week will help when they get hair caught in their throats from grooming.
Treats for ferrets are a totally different thing than for dogs or cats. Think Meat, fish oil or eggs. Avoid those Bandit treats, ferretone or ferretvite.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores and their little bodies are not designed for fruits/veggies or grains. That will lead to illness down the road. Insulinoma is one of the dreaded three ferret diseases and that's why we want to avoid those and offer a healthy diet.
While we are a Holistic Forum and would prefer to see you feed raw, if you choose kibble, ask for the kibble chart and we can help you find a good quality kibble.
Ferrets can be chewers and while they will turn their cute little noses up at good food, they will happily find and consume rubber or foam. Watch their toys and ferret proof your rooms. Ear plugs, rubber bands and all sorts of stuff like that will be ferreted out and though not every ferret is a chewer, you never know when they will decide to eat something that can cause a blockage.
We use a Pumpkin/Vaseline Protocol for that, so you might want to add that to your Ferret Emergency kit.
We have a Mentor Program and there is usually a waiting list.
Take a look at some of the Member/Mentor switching threads, follow along and see how the process works.
You can also build your own switching thread, if you decide to join the forum, and the Mentors will oversee your thread and offer advice and guidance.
Most of all have fun with your little ones. Ferrets are smart, funny, loving, curious and absolutely addicting. Best of Luck to you and I hope to see you around the Forum.
(dance)