Post by storm on Jul 31, 2016 15:37:35 GMT -5
I'm working on getting my ferrets to eat raw meat. Especially my dark eyed white, Twiggy. We got her and her sister when they were three years old. We don't know what their life was before but from what we can tell they had only been fed kibble. It took them a little bit before they would eat soft treats. Now they love them but still wont touch meat.
Twiggy I especially want to I want to switch to meat. As her name suggest she's on the thin side. She's not badly thin, just a little and my vet has found nothing wrong with her and she's very perky. (I'm going to get her checked by one more vet to be sure) But it most likely boils down to her diet.
Now one thing about Twiggy is that while her sister is very laid back, she's particular, I guess would be a way to describe it. She has the nickname Miss Persnickety for a reason. If there is something in her bed she won't go to sleep until she has moved it. If you put something in it while she's in it she'll wake up from a dead sleep and throw it out. She either won't or doesn't understand what things like rice boxes are. I've tried to teach her to dig in the rice box as well as packing peanuts but she won't. She'll dig like there is no tomorrow if there's dirt but if it's not dirt then nope.
Anyway, I don't think that she means to be stubborn, she's just a picky, set in her ways ferret. she will not touch meat. I've tried mixing in a little meat with her kibble every night when we put them in their cadge at bedtime and sometimes it looks untouched. Other times it has been eaten out of but she still wont eat meat itself. I've tried squashing a small pieces of meat to her treats hoping that she will associate the smell and taste of meat with treats. Then maybe she would begin to think of meat as treats. No such luck so far. Our young ferret Little Bear is already eating meat and today I tried giving Twiggy the treat with a touch of meat while giving Little Bear meat hoping she would help Twiggy to take to it. Twiggy would sniff the meat that Little Bear was eating but when I tried to give her a piece of her own she would not touch it.
Any ideas on how I can get her to switch or should I just persist with these methods for a while?
Twiggy I especially want to I want to switch to meat. As her name suggest she's on the thin side. She's not badly thin, just a little and my vet has found nothing wrong with her and she's very perky. (I'm going to get her checked by one more vet to be sure) But it most likely boils down to her diet.
Now one thing about Twiggy is that while her sister is very laid back, she's particular, I guess would be a way to describe it. She has the nickname Miss Persnickety for a reason. If there is something in her bed she won't go to sleep until she has moved it. If you put something in it while she's in it she'll wake up from a dead sleep and throw it out. She either won't or doesn't understand what things like rice boxes are. I've tried to teach her to dig in the rice box as well as packing peanuts but she won't. She'll dig like there is no tomorrow if there's dirt but if it's not dirt then nope.
Anyway, I don't think that she means to be stubborn, she's just a picky, set in her ways ferret. she will not touch meat. I've tried mixing in a little meat with her kibble every night when we put them in their cadge at bedtime and sometimes it looks untouched. Other times it has been eaten out of but she still wont eat meat itself. I've tried squashing a small pieces of meat to her treats hoping that she will associate the smell and taste of meat with treats. Then maybe she would begin to think of meat as treats. No such luck so far. Our young ferret Little Bear is already eating meat and today I tried giving Twiggy the treat with a touch of meat while giving Little Bear meat hoping she would help Twiggy to take to it. Twiggy would sniff the meat that Little Bear was eating but when I tried to give her a piece of her own she would not touch it.
Any ideas on how I can get her to switch or should I just persist with these methods for a while?
