Help with 4 month old male ferret diet ?

[mamabear]

Hey I have a 4 month old male ferret just transitioned to soupie raw was on marshall kibble when I bought him at 3 month

Please let me know if I'm doing this correctly he seems to be gaining weight ( was 2lbs when I weighed him the other day and really enjoying the soupie ( eats it before it thaws lol)

1 batch 6-8 cubes depending on thickness I usually make it not to soupie)

8oz of chicken(thigh,drum,wing or breast)
(Usually use ck. With some fat on it but sometimes use breast if on sale)
Usually try to stick to one kind per batch

2 rabbit hearts can't find chicken hearts
1 rabbit kidney(if I need to use more let me know )

1/2 tbs of powdered egg shell

Batch 2 (6-8 cubes depending on thickness)


8 Oz chicken same as above
2 rabbit hearts
1/2 a rabbit liver( isn't very much if I need more let me know
1/2 tbs of powdered eggshells

Haven't tried real bone with him yet as I don't want him to break a tooth plus he doesn't seem interested in unblended meat

Once in a while he gets half a raw mixed egg seems to only handle half gave him a whole raw egg and puked it up but that was when he wasn't in raw yet now has no problem eating egg

So far 1 batch lasts about 4 days then I switch to the second batch he eats about 4-5 cubes depending on how active he is that day I find if I have him out a lot he eats 5 cubes a day he just ran out of kibble and I don't want him on it anymore so hopefully I can completely switch as he seems to really enjoy the soupie cubes

Please let me know if I need other meat or when I should try with bone or if he is missing anything
Thanks for any advice

[LindaM]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Okay, so first, looking at your recipe you are using a bit too much eggshell powder. It's 1/2 to 3/4 a TSP (teaspoon), and not TBSP (tablespoon) to that amount of meat.

Secondly, he's not going to break his teeth on bone, at his age, he really, really needs to be eating bones to help him grow big and strong. It is very important for kits in particular. Bones are actually amazing for their teeth as it cleans them so you don't need to be brushing several times a week. It also helps improve their GI tract health and strengthen their jaw and neck muscles. He's an obligate carnivore and his teethies were made for this by nature.

I get that it can seem hard and you just want to be a protective momma, don't worry we all do, but I think it's time to step things up with him. He's been on soup long enough for now, I'd start adding in some slivers of meat into his soup, and keep thickening up the soup (less water) until you get more to a ground/minced texture.

Since he's still young, I'd be very tempted to see which stages could possibly be skipped. See if you can offer him a chicken wing. If he doesn't want it as is, then try sectioned into 3 pieces. If still no go, them take a mallet or the like to it and smash up the bones. This can often help them get used to the bone and you'll smash less the better he gets. You can also offer gizzards, which is a very chewy muscle meat that can strengthen their jaws for bones too.

With the wing, to entice him, you can make it a game, tie it to a string and tease him with it like a cat teaser toy. Rub it up against his mouth and kinda get into his face with it, it may make him lick it. I usually pop them in my lap when doing that, so they don't run off straight away. It may take a few tries, don't get discouraged.

Let me know how it goes and we'll see what we can do!

[raynebc]

I'd recommend weighing the heart and liver ingredients to make sure they're one ounce of each per 8 ounces of muscle meat. Otherwise the ratios can end up wildly different from one heart/liver to the next.

[mamabear]

OK I'll try this all thanks so much for the advice