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Post by lichcore on Mar 5, 2018 16:01:53 GMT -5
So Stella hates, and I mean **hates** wet food. With that in mind, I've transitioned her from kibble to Stella and Chewy's dehydrated raw food. I know this stuff can be added to water to make a soup-like thing but is it a good soup to start with? She really likes the taste of their chicken one, would it provide good nutritional value? Or have I transitioned her to a worse food than kibble? Idk I have many anxieties when it comes to my baby
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Post by LindaM on Mar 5, 2018 17:31:42 GMT -5
Stella & Chewy's is fine as a commercial food and can definitely be used in your ferret's diet or as a switching tool. Just try and stick to the 95% and higher. If you feed one of the canine ones, please remember to add some extra hearts for more Taurine (dog raw products never have sufficient levels of taurine for cats or ferrets).
A few things to consider when using a commercial, and I'm saying this from experience as I also use some in my animals' diets. Commercial Raw FDR & Grinds can work out pricey overall, but you should be fine with one or two fuzzies, it becomes a bit pricier when you have more ferrets. Some ferrets who are predisposed to it, can actually overeat on grinds and get fat, so watch out for that. Sometimes it is somewhat harder to switch from a commercial raw to the usual Frankenprey/Whole Prey diets as some ferrets will try to hold out for the commercial food instead. And last but not least as it's very important, when feeding rehydrated FDR or commercial grinds, please brush your ferrets' teeth several times a week to keep plaque and tartar build-up down. Oh, and you still need a minimum of 3 different proteins.. and no, it doesn't really count as 3 different ones listed on one bag's ingredients (eg. Duck Duck Goose which has duck, turkey and goose in the ingredients), instead it would be more like doing a bag of Chick Chick Chicken, a bag of Absolutely Rabbit, and a bag of Duck Duck Goose.
That said, it can definitely be used as a start to raw. I have my most recent rescue on it right now and we're trying to move on to the next phase.
How old is Stella? Do you plan on using this as a switching tool only?
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Post by lichcore on Mar 5, 2018 17:39:55 GMT -5
Stella is roughly 2 years I think. Hard to remember when I got her. I want it to be a switching tool only, because I have easy access to whole prey frozen/thawed (mice and chicks). There's this local breeder that has very good prices. You say she'll need three different proteins, would mice and chicks not be enough? What other protein should I consider?
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Post by LindaM on Mar 5, 2018 17:51:07 GMT -5
Okay, so just a head's up, baby animals do not count as a meal, only as a snack or treat (eg. pinkies and chicks). Adult mice will count as a different protein, but you'll need more still, the chicks won't count. Also, bear in mind 3 proteins is the BARE MINIMUM, we always advise to introduce as many as possible. It is important to have a minimum of 2 different sources for bone-in, if you do chicken and mice, that will fulfill that requirement. And then another for muscle meals. But again, we advise to do as many as you possibly can. Please read through the links below, they'll provide you with some more info. This explains why variety is so very important: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/variety/holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/variety/importance-of-variety/Here's a list of acceptable proteins: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/basic-frankenprey-menu/And if you plan to do a Frankenprey menu with Whole Prey added, you'll need to look at this chart as well to keep balance in your diet. holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/balancing-frankenprey-with-alternative-meals/
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Post by lichcore on Mar 5, 2018 18:10:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, will definitely keep it in mind going forward!
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Post by Blue on Mar 6, 2018 13:19:11 GMT -5
Hi lichcore, and welcome! I'm glad you're switching Stella to a raw diet, it will be so much better for her. Just a note: make sure you don't stay on dehydrated food without adding water for too long. Without the added water, it really dehydrates the poor ferret. But it sounds like you're about to move on to the next step, so that's great! Good luck and keep us posted (And don't you feel the urge to get a 2nd ferret and name them Chewy? )
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Post by lichcore on Mar 7, 2018 0:19:25 GMT -5
Oh don't tempt me with the idea of a second ferret! haha it's been what I've wanted for a long time now, but I'm so worried that Stella won't take to them. She was introduced to my cousin's ferrets for a playdate and she made sounds I've never heard before. Very concerning sound those squeals
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Post by Blue on Mar 7, 2018 22:44:29 GMT -5
You're right to be concerned. I got Maisie as a solo when she was 2.5 years old, from Craig's List. I took her to the local ferret shelter and tried to find her a buddy. She attacked every single ferret she met! She ran squeaking after other ferrets to bite them on the head. She charged up a ramp into another ferret's cage to attack them (it's the only time I've ever seen her wag her tail). She boarded there for a while, and the shelter mom said that she tried to drag another ferret through the bars of their cage to get at them! She was an absolute terror. She came home with a chipped canine. We never tried again! So yeah, it's good to be aware that that's a possibility, especially with little girls. On average they tend to be less accepting of new ferrets.
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Post by LindaM on Mar 7, 2018 23:11:06 GMT -5
Unless that little girl is our alpha, Athena. She's an absolute darling about it and loves getting male additions to her harem. She now has four boys to boss around after we added our most recent addition, Helios. Not sure if I will get another addition, I prefer being on top of our finances when it comes to the ferrets and being able to take care of issues, so I can't say how she might do with another of the same gender for example.
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Post by lichcore on Mar 8, 2018 15:21:00 GMT -5
Ya Stella seems to like other animals; dogs, cats, etc., but when it came to her brief interactions with other ferrets she made terrifying sounds! Update on Stella's eating habits: She has taken to the moistened Stella and Chewy's really well. I also got the Duck and Rabbit versions to supplement her diet and she gobbled it up in a flash. Now I just need to figure out how much she'll eat in a given period of time so that I don't end up wasting food
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Post by LindaM on Mar 8, 2018 15:28:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, or if you actually do it or not, but we do not support ferret and dog interactions at all. Even if they seem to get along great or seem like best friends, accidents can happen. So we advise to never let them play either supervised or unsupervised, it should just not happen. It sounds like she's doing great on the S&C. How goes the teeth brushing? Any troubles there? When first switching ferrets, they tend to eat more at first and will later slow down a bit, so keep that part in mind as well. And come spring and the summer, ferrets also slow down their eating and slim down a bit (in winter they'll eat more and pick up some chubbiness). When you move on from grinds (like S&C) towards slivers, chunks and finally bone-in pieces or Whole Prey, you may notice her eat somewhat less too, this is because it's super easy to just slurp up soup or grinds, but scissoring off meat, chewing and crunching bones actually takes some effort. Which is why they also regulate how much they eat better on that, versus how they can sometimes overeat a bit on grinds.
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Post by lichcore on Mar 9, 2018 14:31:15 GMT -5
I didn't know that dog/ferret interactions could be so bad! Are cats and ferrets okay? I sometimes stay at my partner's house, and she has a cat.
Teeth brushing is a bit of a struggle to get her to cooperate but it's going fine aside from that. I plan to switch to mostly whole prey supplemented by the S&C. I want to make sure she gets all the nutrition she needs. Basically, the long-term plan is S&C of the three varieties I've introduced her to, mice, and rabbits.
What's the opinion on quail and rats by the way?
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Post by LindaM on Mar 9, 2018 15:00:18 GMT -5
It can be as bad with cats, best would be to know your animals. I have a cat and five ferrets and they all interact very well with one another, they'll play together friendly enough, though they'll also sometimes tick each other off for no reason, like bite the cat in the bum or whack a ferret. But overall I am one of the lucky ones where they get along. Some ferrets will hunt the cat, and it's very important your cat has a means of escape. Some cats on the other hand, may want to hunt your ferrets and should be kept away. Because of the lovely interactions our cat Hades has with the ferrets since he grew up with them (I got Loki when he was 5mo old and they were raised together), I had to return the other kitty I was hoping to bring into our home since she wanted to hunt the ferrets and keeping her out would have meant keeping Hades out too and would not have been fair to him or the ferrets who know him.
Quail is a great option, it's also amazing to use as a starter for accepting bones as they are smaller and softer. Rats will work great too for Whole Prey, but remember, anything the size of a rat and up would need to be gutted (intestines removed as ferrets don't eat that), or your ferret will decorate their cage, walls, floor or room in the intestines like a bloody piece of grotesque art.
What are you using to brush her teeth right now?
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Post by lichcore on Mar 11, 2018 15:44:57 GMT -5
I just use a small baby's toothbrush to clean her teeth, I don't use any sort of paste.
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Post by LindaM on Mar 11, 2018 15:52:55 GMT -5
Has that been working for you guys? There's an easy healthy, home recipe for ferret toothpaste. You can make a paste using a little bone meal powder and a bit of salmon oil.
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