Olenka's Switching Thread / Sherry

[olenka]

They are not eating bones yet, but they chew off all the cartridge.
Should I order veal lungs for them?

[Sherry]

Lung? Sure. As for bones- let's get them going on it Grab some chicken wings. For meal one- segment the wings. Cut the middle part in two between the bones. Cut the drumette in half lengthwise as best you can, exposing the marrow. Chop the tip in half, and break up the rest in a few places. Give one wing for the 3 ferrets.odds are they won't eat much of that one.
Next meal remove what is left and give another wing treated the same way. Repeat for the next 3 or 4 meals. Each meal a bit more will be eaten. By giving less than a full amount they will be just a bit hungry by the following meal time, and a bit more of each meal will be consumed until they are eating pretty much the entire thing.

[olenka]

Thank you! Will try that next meal. So far they eat tiny cornish chicken bones, like ribs.

[olenka]

Finally I bought "unaltered" chicken wings and cut them as you recommended. They ate some tender bones like end of a wing. Let's see what happens tomorrow:)

[olenka]

WOW They ate the whole thing - bones, skin, and meat! I found an empty bowl this morning!!!!!

[Sherry]

***HAPPY DANCE***
I think we can stop worrying about whether they'll eat bone or not lol.
Next step new proteins

[olenka]

Yes, I am celebrating with champagne today
I ordered veal hearts, lungs, and kidneys at Hare Today already. They supposed to arrive today.
This morning I gave them wings cut at joints only. I did not cut through the bone. Do I still have to cut those wings at all?

[Sherry]

Not if they will eat them

[olenka]

My fuzz butts left shoulder bones, but ate all small ones last night. They chewed up all the cartridge off bones leftovers (love that crushing sound their jaws make:))
This morning I cut those drumette bones exposing marrow. Also I gave them some chicken liver. Choco went for liver, Ruby - for chicken wings, and Milky was no hungry at all. Probably he had his breakfast early in the morning.
Here comes my next question: my ferrets are sporadic eaters. They wake up for snacks (not all of them at the same time) Aren't they supposed to eat only twice a day if fed raw meat?

[olenka]

Good morning! I feel like I am back to square one...chasing my fuzz butts with a spoon:(
 Last night they refuse to eat kidney soup, as well as diced kidneys. I added some chicken to the mix (approx. 50%). It did not help. Milky ate half of a tee spoon while sitting at my lap. I assumed that he would eat by himself and put him back in cage alone with a bowl full of soup. He went to bed. Ruby and Choco ignored the soup. They started a fight over an old chicken bone...I tried to scruff and stuff them - no result! Then I gave a tiny piece of chicken to Ruby and parked chicken wings in their food bowl. The wings were almost covered with soup. Choco came downstairs and started licking either soup or wings. I thought that he would drug those wings out and eat them. That did not happen. This morning he repeated that licking routine (I gave them a fresh portion of same - chicken wings cut in 3 pieces soaked in kidney soup, but I added lots of water to the soup ) Ruby and Milky just ignored their new food. I scruffed and stuffed Ruby again. No result. She would not have even a lick from a spoon.
Should I have started from veal hearts? They used to eating chicken hearts. Should I continue this torture? Or give them some chicken? Please advice asap! I am leaving my house around 10 am. If you have a chance to reply before that, would greatly appreciate it!!!!!

P.S. They were not hungry when I started "kidney soup torture". They had some chicken late afternoon.

[Sherry]

Kidney is a difficult one. And one of the reasons we suggest pureeing it with some liver half and half.
Something I had to do at the beginning with mine was also mix in about a tbsp heavy cream as a lure. Just stir it through. Normally any kind of milk/cream will not be suggested, but as a lure for the short term it won't do a lot of harm. Just an fyi- I had to spoon feed liver/organ weekly for almost a year before my first group took it on their own in a puree form lol!

[olenka]

OMG! Another year of spoon feeding?!I thought that we were almost there:)
When I put my fuzz butts back the in cage this morning, the boys started chewing those chicken wings soaked in kidney soup. Ruby the Diva just had 3 treats (I gave them "Ferret Soft Treats"; the boys do not seem to like it, but Ruby swallowed all of them:))

[Sherry]

Only once a week And I think I kept on doing it as a bonding time also And good idea soaking the meat with that! Another idea is shaving the kidney liver paper thin while still frozen. Drape the meat they love with pieces and as it melts they have to eat that along with their regular
Out of curiosity- what is in those soft treats?

[olenka]

The boys ate kidney soup from a bowl - hurrray! I starved them a little bit. They got their soup at 2 pm. Usually they have a breakfast around 10 am. I made 1/4 chicken breast, 1/4 chicken liver and 1/2 veal kidney mix. Milky had an oz or even more, Choco - about 2 oz. They left some in the bowl. So, I assume that they were not hungry.
Ruby worries me. She hates the soup. When I scruff and stuff her, she is rushing to wipe her nose as soon as I set her free. She liked my finger-only twice And she refused to eat from a spoon.
Yesterday I added more chicken to that bowl full of kidney soup before I left to work. There was some "dry" chicken chunks on a top of those soaked in soup. They drugged the chicken from a bowl and consumed some of it, but I do not know if Ruby was eating. So, last night I gave them just plain chicken.
Today I made a "special dish" for Ruby: diced chicken gizzards and hearts soaked in kidney soup. She did not eat it yet. Unfortunately we do not have milk in our house at all (we use almond or soy one) I will get it later today.
If Ruby did not eat kidney mix even with milk, should I give her something else?

[olenka]

Ferrets soft treats:chicken, sweet potatos,vegetable glycerin, natural chicken flavor, oils(sunflower and herring), citric acid, vit.E