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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 11:30:17 GMT -5
I have an 8 week old Marshall kit. Right now he is on Marshall food, but I want to transition him off of that as quickly as possible. I cut up some Bravo Basic Chicken Diet and bagged in in 3 oz. portions, so I have that ready. Should I introduce it to him as a soup, or leave it as is? When it is thawed, it is soft and watery, so I think the texture would be appropriate for his age. How much should I give him for the first feeding?
Any tips for first introductions? My plan was to feed him kibble until noon, then remove it and offer some meat. However, I'm a little cautious as I'm worried he will reject it, and then I won't know what to do.
Thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 11:38:26 GMT -5
Most kits are weaned into meat before they start eating kibble, try him with it solid as he's likely still teething a little so it'll give him something to chew on instead of you and it'll take him longer to eat it which will keep him fuller for longer, most kits will eat it straight away at a young age, it's when the ferret is older than 4 months it's difficult to change their diet
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Post by Sherry on Jan 8, 2016 11:46:20 GMT -5
Mill ferrets here are weaned onto kibble mush, not meat. Farms wouldn't make any money that way. As he is a baby, I would simply withhold the kibble for 2-3 hours, and start playing tug of war with him with a chicken wing. He should pick the idea up pretty quickly If that doesn't get him hissing and guarding his meat from you, pop a few slivers into his mouth for him
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 11:58:51 GMT -5
I didn't know that Marshall ferrets are weaned straight onto kibble, if I had known that then I'd suggest soaking the kibble in the meat juices, that's how I weaned Jasper onto raw as he was brought up on kibble for the first 3 years of his life.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 20:08:24 GMT -5
He ate probably half an ounce of the Bravo chicken. I had to sit him on my lap and let him lick it off my fingers. At one point he was eating out of the bowl, but he stopped. I haven't had kibble out since 12 PM, so he was probably hungry. Should I leave him some kibble out for the night, and try feeding him raw in the afternoon tomorrow, or should I not leave any food out and feed him raw right as he wakes up in the morning? He weighs 11.7 ounces right now, so I can make sure he does not lose weight.
Thank you!
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Post by Sherry on Jan 9, 2016 11:53:20 GMT -5
Honestly I'd just leave him with the raw Give him some chopped up meat overnight so he has something to chew on.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2016 13:25:14 GMT -5
I didn't leave out any kibble overnight. I ended up feeding him first thing in the morning. He ate 1 oz. all by himself. I think leaving it on a plate instead of in a bowl really helped. I'll try to feed him again sometime in the afternoon or evening. Tonight I will leave him some extra raw, and maybe some crushed pieces of chicken wings. I'm so proud of him, he is such a smart boy.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2016 22:24:59 GMT -5
He ate another 1.2 oz. of meat this evening. He tried to cache it once there was only a little left, but I assumed it was normal and let him do it. I'm really impressed with how well he is adjusting to his new home and diet. The only thing that concerns me is that I found a green stool in his litter box. I looked at the poop chart on these forums, and it said it was probably due to a new diet or stress. That makes perfect sense, but is there anything I should keep an eye on?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2016 22:41:20 GMT -5
Congratulations on your new baby and Welcome to Ferrenthood. Baby pictures are practically a law around here, pretty please. What is his name?
You have a Tummy with teeth. This little one will simply eat like crazy now for awhile. It helps to leave food out for them as they really need to eat alot and more often than an older ferret. The rules about how much they eat go out the window with a little one and expect this to be the case for the next few months.
You know he is full when he tries to stash food. That is very natural. The green poop could be a combination of stress from finding himself in some new place and or the new change in diet. Keep an eye on it and see a vet if it continues to be green for more than a couple of days.
It's going to be fun hearing all about him and your new adventures as you play with him and build a bond. (dance)
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Post by Sherry on Jan 10, 2016 12:44:31 GMT -5
He will definitely be nothing more than a "tummy with teeth" for a couple of months at least Some of our members have found a baby ferret can and does often eat it's own body weight in a day! Just keep throwing food at him, as much as he will eat. And the sooner he gets on whole bone the better as his calcium needs will also be much higher as he will be growing like a weed
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2016 21:31:14 GMT -5
Also some ferrets have a sensitivity to chicken. When i was switching my baby shelby over i used chicken first. Her poops were green and mucousy till i switched her over to a beef soupy instead of a chicken soupy. She is even sensitive to GCH so i stay away from most birds. She seems good on duck and quail though.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2016 22:51:36 GMT -5
His name is Kato! It's been hard to get good pictures of him, but this is the best one I've taken of his face. I'll probably make a thread to post pictures of him, if I ever get any! I suspect he is deaf due to his behavior and coloration, but I'll see what my vet thinks. I'm a little concerned by how little he is eating. I've been feeding him two 1.5 oz. servings, AM and PM. Today he ate all of the AM, but left 0.4 oz. of the PM. How much should I leave out per meal? Tomorrow I'll smash up some chicken wings for him to chew on throughout the day. He has to learn to eat bone somehow, and I've heard now is a good time to do it. I don't think he is allergic to chicken, all of his other poops were fine. It was just once. But I will definitely keep an eye on it.
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Post by bitbyter on Jan 10, 2016 22:58:30 GMT -5
Give him as much as he can eat (it will be more than you can imagine). At one point Athena (my first kit) was eating 6 oz a DAY!! That's two whole oz more than my two adult girls put together!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2016 23:04:21 GMT -5
Okay! T omorrow I will put out 4 oz. for his AM meal and see how much is left. That should give me an idea of how much he can eat in a sitting. Does that sound good? I'm a little hesitant to be leaving his grinds out all the time, because I'm worried he will cache it or roll in it like he was trying to do earlier. However, if that's what's good for him maybe I just need to adjust my attitude. Ferret knows best
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Post by bitbyter on Jan 10, 2016 23:11:31 GMT -5
Baby ferrets are gross. They love to sleep and even hide their food in the litter box. They do grow out of it though.
Here you can see her stashing frozen mice in her litterbox as a kit (I only had a carrier for her in the beginning because my other two rejected her):
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