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Post by bitbyter on Sept 25, 2017 13:12:36 GMT -5
It's important to get them used to being caged for significant periods of time. If you don't, you'll regret it in the future. What if you have to go away and someone has to pet sit or you have to kennel them? What if one has to be hospitalized? Free roam is great but you can't let their cage raging control you. Walk away and let them rage. They will learn that it doesn't make a difference.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 25, 2017 13:52:32 GMT -5
I have to agree with Jason on this. My ferrets are also free-roam, but they know a cage, in fact, they have two FN Double cages standing in their ferret room, I just took two of the bottom doors off. They still go in there to take a nap or the like. I have a hardshell cat carrier also in their room, it's the one I transport them around in if I need to. They are used to both, and will allow me to put them in either if I have to for any reason. Will they throw a tantrum? Sure, that happens sometimes.. but since ferrets are like eternal toddlers.. they will throw tantrums over things and you shouldn't give in to those, because they CAN and WILL manipulate the heck out of you.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 25, 2017 15:27:40 GMT -5
If they ever have to stay at the vet they will be caged also. Think of it like crate training a pup.
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Post by aurra on Sept 25, 2017 22:33:48 GMT -5
They have a 2 floor fn cage and one door is off with a step stool. I just don't like the idea of locking them over night especially because I know he won't eat it. I left them with out kibble for almost 18 hours and only the option of soup and nothing happened. I have given meat and took away kibble because I read that it's harmful to do that within 2-3 hours. I had to do that with my dog when I fed him strawberries and bananas. The boys have no interest. They won't even lick it or treat it like a toy. It's like a poop to them.
I'm checking out wysong. Should I see if I can pick this up and switch them to that. Right now they eat Marshalls. I figure if I can get them on a higher end kibble then it may be easier to get them on meat. I don't know if my logic is correct. Or is there any other brand out there I should try to get? I think I can get a store to order me wysong though.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 25, 2017 23:22:06 GMT -5
For ferrets who are past the stage of imprinting on foods.. it may as well look like poop or poison. It will be your job as momma ferret to teach them that it isn't. It's the same as having a little kid who doesn't want their veggies. It's good for them and you know this, but for now they think "yucky!"
It often can cause more stress to do a double switch, switching from kibble to another kibble to meat, than just switching once from crap kibbles to meat.
The switch doesn't happen over night, it takes time, patience and effort. The older the ferrets or if they have any medical concerns, the more patience and work it takes. BUT... Even the most stubborn of ferrets CAN be switched though, so do not ever lose hope.
Can you list for me the methods that you have already used to try and introduce raw to them so far?
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Post by aurra on Sept 26, 2017 19:48:15 GMT -5
Before I was ready to switch and I tried giving them chicken neck he wouldn't touch it so I tried playing with it to get him to taste it. He did and didn't like it. He didn't like the ground beef I gave them as a snack or the beef cube.
Then I got Bossk.
When I made the soupie he was laying on my lap and I was petting him and put a little on his mouth. I tried that a few times and he peed on me and he ran away. Same with bossk with out the pee. I left them with just the soup and they played for a few hours and then went to bed. My girl kept going back to the soup and eating it but jango and Bossk wouldn't go near it. After almost a day of them not eating I gave them kibble.
The next morning I scuffed jango and waited for him to yawn and put it in his mouth and he flipped out and didn't want to go near me. I let him be for a bit and tried again but he wouldnt yawn and kept getting away from me. Bossk did it once and then stopped yawning. I don't know how they can turn off the yawn. I didn't do anything different.
Now I'm making their kibble look like mush and this weekend I'm going to start adding bits of ground chicken.
My boyfriend wants to just use wysong and ditch the meal plan. He seems to think it's just the same so if anyone can help me with that... that would be great. He says it's less messy and easier to have in the house. We don't cook often and when we do we go buy what we need. There's not a lot of food kept in our house. In the winter we cook a little more because we don't mind using the oven but we still don't like freezing our meat.
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Post by LindaM on Sept 26, 2017 20:07:10 GMT -5
What does he want to feed with the Wysong? Kibble or canned? The canned will be cooked foods, my problem with that even when they add in extra nutrients to make up for the nutritional content lost when cooking, is that the bits of bone also gets cooked, and tiny as they are.. they are still sharp, dangerously nasty little splinters (I originally discovered this with NV Instinct's 95% meat-based canned foods, when a splinter pierced my finger). All canned foods are cooked to my knowledge, that is just the process used. And as for the kibble, while healthier, even the high-end kibbles come with the risk of insulinoma down the road.
How many times and for how long have you tried that approach with the soupie? It can take days of persistent trying to get the right response, which is why Patience and Persistence are the key to a successful switch.
As for chicken neck before starting the switch, it's not uncommon for them to not spring on bone-in meals right away. When they do not, you work your way up to it. Beef is a strong smelling and tasting protein, it is often kept for later in the switch instead of as a start because of that. Chicken is a milder meat and would have more success, even pork or turkey are milder tasting meats.
Perhaps take it a bit slower with Bossk, do the Dab'n'Grab method in a timed session of 20-30 minutes. Dip finger into soup and dab on his mouth/nose, this will make him lick it off. Then let him go and repeat the process every 5 minutes. After doing that for a while, they should try to lick it off your fingers, at that stage get a spoon and offer a bit on the spoon. Put the spoon right in front of their faces, if they don't try to lick from it at first, I usually give a quickie dab onto the mouth to remind them. Once they start licking it off the spoon we can progress from there.
Jango may be opposed to the scruffing not so much the soupie to be honest, some ferrets do not respond well to scruffing and it may take a long time to gain the level of trust they desire to allow you to do so. Do not be surprised when they react like the soupie/raw is poison at first. Usually, older ferrets will react this way when past the age of imprinting, but some kits like to be difficult too, so it isn't uncommon to see those reactions.
Switching to raw doesn't happen within a day, it will often take weeks if not months sometimes depending on the difficulty of the switch, so do not give up just yet.
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