Copy of our FB chat pertaining to the switch
for the record
Tara D Foster
Hello! Its me tara82000 from the forum. Can I send you my pix here so you can upload them to the forum? I'm still having trouble even after doing what you said
Sveta Gosteva
yes sure
i didn't see the messege it went ot my other folder for some reason
Tara D Foster
Ok awesome ty
Tara D Foster
Oh I meant to ask! I need a back-up commercial raw..Stella and chewys or rad cat? I can't keep up with all this eating LOL
Sveta Gosteva
Stella and chewey is freeze dried raw, right? And rad cat is grinds.
Tara D Foster
Yes
Sveta Gosteva
Grinds have more moisture, so they will help with the runny poops from dehydrating them.
What I would recommend is just giving them bigger pieces or whole prey so that it takes more effort to eat it and trains their jaws and cleans their teeth.
Neither grinds nor FDR do anything for teeth at all
Tara D Foster
I was just thinking of getting whole prey tomorrow. One of them pooped green mucus and I have no idea if it's from chicken or CGH.
Sveta Gosteva
It sounds like either stress or ece
Ece is an infection, that usually resolves itself in about a week
Comes from stores and shelters
If it doesn't then they might need a round or antibiotics
Tara D Foster
Yikes! Vet appt this weekend. They were pet store returns
Sveta Gosteva
Almost all ferrets get it at some point. In 95% percent it just goes away by itself
Or again it could be just stress
They switched homes a lot these last couple of weeks
Tara D Foster
that sounds ok thank you! They seem super happy, dooking like crazy chasing my son and I lol. They did sadly because they were nippy and then kept in the cage.
Sveta Gosteva
It's good that you took them. My girl Honey lived in the store cage for about a year and a half or a bit more because she was a biter.
I really like biters really, because it is so rewarding to see them stop and get gentle and learn to trust people
Tara D Foster
Awwww.
Sveta Gosteva
Once they really start to trust you they don't bite anymore
Tara D Foster
Agreed. Although these babies know I don't like my feet bit lol They purposely chase me lol. They are hilarious though. My Sophie is the sweetest though, so this is sooooooo new to me
Sveta Gosteva
Hahaha little carpet sharks! I wasn't used to it before either, in the store I took Honey to cuddle her and she immediately bit me on my face
When my previous two would just love to cuddle and never showed their teeth
What have you been feeding them all lately?
Tara D Foster
I ran out of most of the meat the last couple days so CGH, chicken, beef, with chicken hearts and livers. I'm picking up rabbit and day old lamb as well as rats and mice this weekend
All bone in..still runny poop. Sophie takes bites of their food then goes back to her soup
Sveta Gosteva
Wow that is a great variety! Try getting Sophie more slivers, and get some bone on the meat bits as well.
She is also a very young ferret and she will be learning from the two youngsters even faster.
Tara D Foster
Wait no bone in beef lol. I am adding slivers still. I'm hoping she'll like the added variety. She's getting tired of chicken and CGH
Sveta Gosteva
Yea they taste similar. See about the rabbit and maybe try fish once in a while
Tara D Foster
Definitely gonna try she hates beef and barely touches lamb so I'm going to use the organs and such for her from the day old lamb
Sveta Gosteva
You can try mixing a meal of half chicken, half beef or lamb, so that the red meat taste would be with something similar
Sveta Gosteva
If she eats bites out of the youngsters' meal, you can try to speed up her switch by letting that be the only type of meat for a whole day. So when she gets hungry that is the one she has to eat. It's ok to fast healthy ferrets for about a day anyways, if they were in the wild they might not get prey every day. But no more than one day in a home environment
Sveta Gosteva
I think it is either Jason Raynor, or Scott Funk who do the fasting thing about once a month, but for the life of me I can't remember who of them it is.
Tara D Foster
Oooh good idea! Ty! I gotta start testing blood sugar soon because she was on a crap kibble before me, then I had her on a bit better one when I first started researching. We haven't done testing yet at the vet, just a blockage issue. She loves yarn type fabric grrrrr lol
Sveta Gosteva
Eating fabric could be a gum issue, see if they are red, and try to brush them once or twice a week until she starts eating bone. They sure can seem silly eating everything uneatable.
Zack used to eat fabric like it was going out of style
And cardboard
And rubber
And carpet
You should read what Katt went through with her Koda, he's had more than one surgery for sure, and induced vomiting, poor guy
And he still eats all the electric cords anyways
Keep me updated on how her eating goes.
And if you don't mind I'm going to copy paste the conversation to the switching thread, so that it stays public and the senior mentors can keep an eye on our progress
Tara D Foster
Oh gosh!! I'd be freaking out. I brush her and her gums aren't red or anything. I will for sure! No problem that's totally fine
Sveta Gosteva
Ok great
Tara D Foster
Thank you for the help
Sveta Gosteva
No problem, this is my pleasure