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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2016 19:50:42 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I am new to this forum. This is my first forum ever so I'd like to apologize in advance for any questions I may have about navigating this forum So I am not a new ferret owner. I grew up having ferrets. It's been about 7 years since my last ferret and my husband got me one for our anniversary this last February. After having her for 2 weeks, I convinced my husband that she needed a friend so I now have 2 awesomely beautiful ferrets. They were both born December 20th so they are still very young. I've been doing a lot of research on the raw diets and decided that this is what I want to do because I want the best for my babies. I decided to see what they would do if I gave them a heart the other day and it seems they only ate the fatty bits off of it. Today, I gave them chicken liver to see what they would do and they chowed down on that! (yay!) I decided to make some soupie mix (which turned out to be the consistency of spam) and fed them off the spoon and they seemed to like it. Especially my littlest one. I mixed it around with the kibble and my other one chowed down on it and was licking it off of the kibble. I get the feeling that the switch is going to go well with these two. I do have a couple of questions that maybe I can get some advice on Would it be ok to just switch them to the frankenprey diet without the soupie mix?(I get the feeling these guys are going to switch easily) Or will that be too much for their bodies to handle so wean them off kibble using the soupie mix? P.S. I am still wanting a mentor! I just need to get my postings up! I'm just trying to gather information while waiting P.S.S. I'll post weights and some pictures of them when my husband gets home. They are on the feisty side right now and getting weights will be impossible! I'm excited to see the changes in them as their switch journey continues.
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Post by Heather on Mar 22, 2016 20:54:38 GMT -5
You don't have to use a soupy if you don't want to. Most use it to get them to sample the meat. Babies are just furry tummies with teeth. Check the menus to see the break down that is needed to balance their diet and see what they'll eat ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2016 22:03:47 GMT -5
So their weights are: Cece (my dark girl): 1 pound 5.3 ounces Leo (the light boy): 1 pound 13 ounces I've been trying to get a decent picture of them but they aren't cooperating
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Post by FireAngel on Mar 22, 2016 22:15:32 GMT -5
I'm so glad you are starting them young, like Heather said kits are just furry tummies with teeth and generally are no problem to switch over. As soon as they are eating the raw on their own you can take the kibble away forever! That is a satisfying moment. It is very important to weigh everything you give them so that you can balance the organs/liver correctly. Looking forward to seeing your/their progress.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2016 19:15:38 GMT -5
Day 2 of soup (mush) and doing great!!! I didn't put any kibble at all today. They are licking the bowls clean! I am still nervous to try giving them something with bone. Any suggestions on what bone in meal I should try with them first? I was going to try chicken wings.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 23, 2016 19:53:52 GMT -5
You can feed the wing, I always cut off the drummette---too dense for mine. Tyson and Rock Cornish hen can be found at Walmarts. All bones pretty well with those. Every week I give mine quail, the quail from Asian stores. The boxed quail at stores have maltodextrin and spices and other stuff that you do not want to feed ferrets. Just cut cornish hen and quail like cutting up a whole chicken. Here is an old pic of quail from Asian store. Don't know why I took a tape measure to it Oh yea, mice and and rats.
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Post by FireAngel on Mar 23, 2016 20:23:04 GMT -5
As Abbey stated, chicken wings, quail and Cornish game hen a great starter bones. You may have to crush wings up a little at first, but it shouldn't take them long to get the hang of it. If you are wanting to try whole prey mice are great starters. You may have to open them up a little so they can smell and taste the meat though at first.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 9:30:17 GMT -5
This morning I gave them both chicken wings and so far so good! They are working on the bones right now. I am going to try to find a better source for hearts today. I've been getting them from Walmart and unfortunately they only come with gizzards and 1-2 hearts in each package. :/ It will do for now but I want a source where I can get only hearts and other organs. My freezer is filling up quickly with gizzards!
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Post by FireAngel on Mar 24, 2016 21:31:39 GMT -5
Many of us use hare today gone tomorrow to order hearts and organs and other hard to find proteins. Check your local butcher shops and Asian food markets though. Often times you can find them there.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 18:08:14 GMT -5
Thank you FireAngel!! I lucked out today. I called a somewhat local poultry farm to see if they could help me out and she said that unfortunately the local poultry butchers sell out immediately and she won't have anything until thanksgiving but she checked her freezer for me and had about 20 hearts, a bunch of necks, livers, and some other organs that she gave me at no cost! So that'll keep me stocked up for a little while.
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Post by FireAngel on Mar 25, 2016 22:12:28 GMT -5
That is great! 20 hearts won't last long though. You def need to find a good supply of those ASAP. What does their current menu look like?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 22:28:18 GMT -5
So far in the mornings I have been giving them soup mush and have added chicken wings, which they seem to be fine with. Tonight they got about 2 ounces heart and 1/2 a liver, and some venison pancreas. Tomorrow I'm taking the soup completely out and going with the Chicken wings again. We have an Asian market in the next town over so we're going to head that way tomorrow to see what we can find. I'm liking the variety on the website you suggested so if I don't find anything tomorrow, I'm giving up! The next closest place to me I can find is a good 1.5 hour drive so it makes sense to me to save time and just order the dang things!!! Lol!
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Post by FireAngel on Mar 26, 2016 21:37:26 GMT -5
Sounds like a good plan. They need 1 1/2 meals of hearts and 1 1/2 meals of 1/2 liver and 1/2 other organ so a good reliable source is very important.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 10:20:19 GMT -5
I'm loving the changes I'm already seeing and it has only been a week. Their "ferrety" smell isn't as strong. I can only smell their poop immediately after they go and their room doesn't smell nearly as awful as when they were on kibble. Their coats are feeling softer and my little one seems to be filling out more and looking healthier. Since I will be ordering their hearts online for the time being, I was thinking of grabbing some other things for them to try to make this expensive shipping worthwhile. What are you're thoughts on the tripe and what is it considered on the frankenprey menu? Muscle? Organ? I don't even know what it is but I see that a lot of people feed it. What are the benefits of it? Thank you!!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 21:20:07 GMT -5
Another question!!! I was weighing out and packaging food for the next week and I was curious. On heart days, is it a heart or should I be weighing out 3oz of hearts? I wasn't sure how to measure that.
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