Switching: Spazz & Mimi

[LindaM]

Yes, that's a quail egg. I give my ferrets both chicken egg or quail eggs. Since a quail egg is so small you can do up to 3 per week, or 5 in the shedding season in place of your chicken eggs. Chicken egg shells are pretty hard, but quail eggs are rather soft, so I give them the entire egg when doing those. I do it for enrichment. Mine enjoy crunching through the shell or bashing it open by themselves to get at the inside. Fair warning, the day of that photo, there was more than one egg in there... while the one got neatly crunched open in the bowl, the other got bashed open under my bedside table in our bedroom. It can get messy, lol.

Make sure to get fresh quail eggs, and not the ones they also tend to sell in cans. It may take them a little to get used to them at first, but most that I have come across love them. And as for letting them crunch/crush them by themselves, you'll have to show them first what treasure is hidden inside by doing it for them, then they'll get the idea.

Sounds good, let me know how the meat-hunting goes. The girls sound like they're doing good, let's keep at it until they happily eat without assistance.

[Deleted]

Didn't post yesterday due to being severely sick. Fever, vomit, diarrhea so I didn't dare go near my girls for fear of getting them sick, not knowing if I had the flu or what due to it hitting me out of no where no symptoms or nothing. Thankfully today I can say it was a 24 hour bug/virus and I'm 100% better.

LindaM on the quail eggs they had fresh ones in cartons at the Asian market, they were refrigerated. As for the eggs getting messy its ok I have hard wood floors and a nice steamer mops . The girls aren't 100% free roam, they have my entire dining room blocked off for them though. I have a dog and though he shows no signs of wanting to hurt them I will never take that chance, with the possibility of him stepping on them or something I just wont.

So going to pick back up on the soupie today, they had a little yesterday morning but I totally forgot to right it down when I started feeling horrid. Work next two days then have some work vacation days.

[LindaM]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, glad that you are better now though.

Those would be a great addition to their diet and enrichment then. I'd go ahead and get some, it may take a bit for them to get used to the taste, but mine fell in love with them pretty fast after that. My little buggers have entire free-roaming.. so instead of being friendly and eating on the hardwood floors which I could use my steam mop on too, they go do it in our bedroom, luckily I know which spots they prefer, and have placed some placemats in to catch spills and the like, and then just wash and replace those regularly.

The only other animal we have is our cat.. and I trust them all together, considering we got our first ferret when kitty wasn't even a year old yet, so he kinda grew up thinking he's part ferret. They all play together, and all try to discipline each other sometimes.. like the cat using a paw (claws sheathed though) to smack the ferrets on the head, and ferrets then go for nipping his hind legs or toes. Overall they have a pretty decent relationship, and they have gotten the rules of nice play drilled into their little skulls, haha.

Let me know how it goes with the soupie in this next while, and if the girls will eat it all by themselves without you needing to intervene.

[Deleted]

Day 5 04/26/2017

1pm Portioned out 2oz/a little over

Spazz: Start:2.5oz, Ate: 0.9oz , Remaining: 1.6oz... Sniffed the bowl a few times and kept running off, when I dabbed her mouth with it she happily put her face in the bowl and started eating.

Mimi:Start:2.3oz, Ate:0.3, remaining 2.0oz...no longer needs the spoon but have to dab her lips to get her to start eating. She will start then stop clean her face and run off, if I offer her more she continues to eat.

5pm Took out remaining portions from earlier

Spazz:Start:1.6oz, Ate:0.9oz, Remaining 0.7oz left her bowl sitting near my feet while I helped her sister get started and looked down to find her eating on her own

Mimi:Start:2.0oz, Ate:0.7oz, Remaining 1.3oz No longer needs spoon, but does need prompting.

[LindaM]

Good, sounds like Spazz is making progress, let's see if she'll keep at the eating by herself. Try and see how long it takes her to get started by herself at the mealtimes, without prompting her at all (or if she just flat ends up ignoring the food entirely).

Let's see if we can get Mimi on the same page as Spazz about eating by herself.

How much of the kibble are they still eating at this stage?

[Deleted]

They have the kibble in the morning but I don't see them touching it much, only seen mimi actually eating it once unless they are eating it while im at work or in the middle of the night. (Will start weighing kibble to know exacts, didn't think about that)

04/27/17 Started 2oz each

SpazzStart:2oz ,Ate:1.1oz , Remaining:0.9oz Spent around 5-10minutes sniffing the bowl but today did not start eating. I waiting awhile before I prompted her and she started eating just fine after that.

MimiStart:2oz ,Ate:0.7 , Remaining:1.3oz If sitting in my lap she will continue to eat and not run off, but if I sit her down on the floor she will wait a minute or two then run off and not even sniff her bowl.

(I could not be waiting long enough I'm not entirely sure, off next 5 days and hoping we will get mimi eating on her own and not running off as well as spazz continuing to eat on her own)

[LindaM]

That's a good idea. While it's best to wait until your ferrets freely eat the raw soup of their own volition before removing kibble entirely, it can sometimes happen that they will lose interest in the kibble and rather eat the raw.

That'll definitely be a good thing to try for in the next few days. I'd like to see if we can get both girls eating by themselves from the bowls without being prompted. I'd say wait a while longer, around half an hour or so before resorting to prompting them. My guys are all hungry in the mornings and very much in the habit of as soon as they come out of their cage, they'll run over to the kitchen and all gather around my feet or lie down on the kitchen rug by the sink as I prepare their breakfast. But there has been the odd morning where playing a bit first or simply exploring was just more important, and after about half an hour or so, a very hungry little fuzzball will run over to the food bowls and practically inhale some breakfast.

I take it you remove the soup after a while, since you still give kibble, yes? How old are your girlies again? And neither of them have any medical problems (insulinoma and the like), right?

[Deleted]

LindaM Mimi is 2 this may and Spazz is 9-10months cant remember exact date off top of my head. No neither have any medical issues.

04/28/17 Started both with 2oz each.

SpazzStart 2oz, Ate:1oz , Remaining: 1oz

MimiStart: 2oz, Ate:0.8oz , Remaining: 1.2oz

In the morning will measure kibble, I weighed it tonight and will check in morning, will also sit with the girls about an hour see how they do with their soupie down on their own.

[LindaM]

Sounds like a plan to me! How many times a day have you been giving the girls soup? Only once in the day or twice?

So just something to keep in mind, the adult female will eat on average 1-3oz of food in a day. So Mimi will very likely eat less than Spazz. Although, many ferrets will tend to eat a lot more than their average at the start of their switch and then taper down to the average amounts as time goes on, kinda like they are trying to make up for a lack of nutrients from back when they ate kibble.

[Deleted]

I've been trying 2-3 times a day, morning have been hard only because im paranoid of when they last ate kibble and I do not wish to make them sick. Any suggestions on the morning? I wake at 4am I leave for work at 5am and im not home till about 3:20pm soo I cant leave them with nothing so I leave the kibble in in the morning and remove it right when I get home. Then after an hour or so after I know they have both pottied and its been a good amount of time I start with the soupie, and depending how it goes if they start to eat or mimi wants to play I continue to offer the soupie till they absolutely wont touch it (not forcing of course)

Kibble weighed 4.5oz last night. They ate 0.8 Remaining 3.7oz. (This is with both girls after eating their soupie last night, the amount of kibble consumed over night.

[Deleted]

04/29/2017 (Seeing I get out fresh soupie each time, If spazz finishes her bowl and Mimi is done I let spazz eat whats left till shes done....I also have 2 extra cubes of soupie thawed just in case needed)

AM Soupie
Spazz: Start 2oz, Ate: All plus some of Mimis , Remaining: 0oz

Mimi: Start: 2oz, Ate:0.8 , Remaining: 1.2oz


PM Soupie
Spazz: Start 2.7oz, Ate:All plus some of Mimis , Remaining: 0oz

Mimi: Start: 2oz, Ate:1.3oz , Remaining: 0.7oz and after Spazz 0.2oz

Spazz is starting on her own completely no prompts. Mimi will only sit and eat if shes in my lap, if I put her down she runs off (any suggestions?). Mimi will sniff the bowl several times before licking the side or licking spazz whiskers before she starts to eat. (The whisker licking is something they both have done since I got them)

[Deleted]

04/30/17 Sunday

Spazz


1. Ferret's name: Spazz
2. Ferret's weight: 2 lbs 4oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 0.8-2oz
4. Stools on various proteins. Slightly discolored a little seedy looking but nothing watery or really off.
5. Activity levels: Normal, playful, active
6. Weekly menu: Raw soupie dabs (linked above) and Kibble, though hardly any (not within same time period)

Mimi


1. Ferret's name:Mimi
2. Ferret's weight: 1lbs 6oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 0.5-1oz
4. Stools on various proteins. Slightly discolored a little seedy looking but nothing watery or really off.
5. Activity levels: Normal, playful, active
6. Weekly menu: Raw soupie dabs (linked above) and Kibble, though hardly any (not within same time period)

[LindaM]

Haha, that sounds so cute! I've never seen mine try to lick each other's whiskers.. I have had them clean their whiskers in the small of my back though if I sat on the floor.. the little snots.

It's great that little Spazz is eating without prompts, and then even finishing more than her own bowl! Atta girl, good job!

It sounds like Mimi needs a little more time. Will she let you have her sitting between your legs (sitting flat with your legs spread out along her sides) and eat? That way you are still there technically, but she isn't in your lap, and you can try to just slowly get up without needing to remove her from your lap after she starts eating.

Otherwise, you said they like their raw eggs, correct? Will Mimi eat from the bowl by herself if you put a drizzle of raw egg over the food?

Also, it sounds like you're getting some detox stools now, just continue to keep an eye on those, but don't be too freaked out. Detox poops tend to be all over the radar.

[Deleted]

04/30/2017 Day 9

AM Soupie
Spazz: Start 2.5oz, Ate:1.3oz , Remaining: 1.2oz

Mimi: Start: 2.6oz, Ate:0.5 , Remaining: 2.1oz


PM Soupie
Spazz: Start 2.1oz, Ate: 0.7oz , Remaining: 1.4oz

Mimi: Start: 2.1oz, Ate:0.4 , Remaining: 1.7oz

Sat with the girls for an hour and both seemed to not want anymore. Spazz is still starting and eating on her own. Mimi will not unless in my lap.

I've tried doing exactly that with Mimi and she will look back at me shake her head and run off, im just going to keep trying every time she's eating till she will allow me to move away. I'll try the egg drizzle in the morning and check back and let you know.

[Deleted]

05/01/2017 day 10

AM Soupie (Spazz remains to start on her own, Mimi still working on getting her to eat on the floor and not in my lap)

SpazzStart:2.6oz Ate:0.6 Remaining:2.0oz

MimiStart:2.6oz Ate:0.4oz Remaining:2.2oz

PM The girls got kibble due to emergency I feel like a bad momma but I couldn't leave them with nothing so I had to put kibble in cage though ill comment looks like they didn't touch it.