New To Forum

[carey]

Hi, I am new to forum and to ferrets. Thank you for the forum. I appreciate what I learn here. I have a question today. I am feeding my two 4 mo. old kits the Frankenprey diet and I am following all suggested recommendations for this. This morning Beatrix choked on her chicken piece (RMB). I was alarmed and used my pinky finger to dislodge it and it went down her throat. I used a small syringe to give her a cc or two of water and dabbed some vaseline in her throat and had her swallow this. Is this an acceptable remedy for the situation? She is sleeping with Bomber now and appears to be breathing and conscious. I have been using a cleaver to chop or chunk their RMB's and am trying to increase the chunk size gradually so they will get used to chewing the bones. I believe wings and feet are their favorite right now, but since I had a whole chicken, this morning they got the thigh with bones. I am grateful for any constructive suggestions.

I just added this a few hours later...she is fine, jumping around like crazy and being her dooky self. Phew. Still appreciate any comments though. Thanks.

[Corvidophile]

It can happen to kibble eaters too, it’s ok. Close call but you did well. They will get used to chewing the bones. Welcome to the forum, by the way!

[abbeytheferret6]

Welcome to the forum so glad u joined us

Glad your little one is ok.

I had to rescue one of mine too. My Phoebe choked on  rat's skin. She was a newbie at eating raw at the time. I would have never known she was choking but saw her tail bush out while she was eating. I had to dislodge the skin plugging up her throat---so scary. From then on, I skin rats---those big ones that weigh about 8 oz. They r tough.

[unclejoe]

you did good. I've had to do the same thing once, and a few times in the past I've had to pry pieces of kibble from between upper teeth/maxilla

Welcome to the forum

[lyles]

Welcome to the forums!

Bones are fun for ferrets and they tend to get carried away sometimes. I have to assist mine every now and then, eventually they come to expect you helping getting them unstuck from their teeth. lol I never had mine choke though. I don't feed frankenprey, the grinds I use have bone shards but are small enough they easily swallow and I chop up the bone in meats so they can easier manage gnawing on the bones.

[Charlie]

Welcome to the forum!! Glad your ferret is ok. They will learn to chew the food up better. Glad you were there to help!

[piper62]

Hi new to forum but have had ferrets for a number of years. I currently have two seven year old girls. I have always fed them James wellbeloved dry ferret food that they always eat and has kept them healthy. Recently it has been impossible to source and have now been told it's been discontinued. I have now tried them on a number of different foods and they refuse to eat any of them.
Can anyone suggest an alternative food similar to the James wellbeloved that they may eat or better still a stash of James wellbeloved ferret food that they would be willing to sell ( happy to pay a good price). Otherwise I fear that they are going to starve themselves to death. Any help would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks Peter

[ferretmum]

Aug 9, 2021 7:36:35 GMT -5 piper62 said:

Hi new to forum but have had ferrets for a number of years. I currently have two seven year old girls. I have always fed them James wellbeloved dry ferret food that they always eat and has kept them healthy. Recently it has been impossible to source and have now been told it's been discontinued. I have now tried them on a number of different foods and they refuse to eat any of them.
Can anyone suggest an alternative food similar to the James wellbeloved that they may eat or better still a stash of James wellbeloved ferret food that they would be willing to sell ( happy to pay a good price). Otherwise I fear that they are going to starve themselves to death. Any help would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks Peter

i am in the same position. I have 3 boys ages 7 and they have always had James Wellbeloved. When I first got my boys I fed 2 different foods but they picked out the Wellbeloved. I realised a couple of months ago that I couldn't get hold of it anymore. Since than I have brought every variety of ferret food and even tried the James Wellbeloved cat and kitten foods with no luck. Every food I put in front of them they turn their noses up, to the point I have run  out of Wellbeloved. For the last week they have only been eating cooked chicken and turkey, won't eat raw. I have never been so stressed out and feel like I've failed to look after my boys. Wellbeloved won't even answer my emails or social media posts. I wonder what was in the food that makes it so hard to produce. Will your girls eat meat or eggs? I wanted to let you know, you're not on your own. I feel your pain.

[eclipso]

Eggs, Carnivore Care, and salmon oil or a nice treat mixed in the new food can help them want to eat it and get used to it. You can also make the cooked chicken blended in a soup with blended raw chicken bits to slowly get them used to it.

So if a ferret is chocking should I help them swallow it or get it out? How can I do that? Thanks

[piper62]

Hi Ferret mum thanks for the reply. Good to hear I am not alone I too have resorted to cooked chicken was also going to try the James wellbeloved cat food but perhaps given your experiences won't bother. I have also ordered some ferret wet food will let you know how I get on. The one thing they have shone some interest in is Harrington Complete Cat food I give them the chicken senior complete. Please let me know if you have any success with any other food.

[ferretmum]

Aug 10, 2021 4:57:17 GMT -5 piper62 said:

Hi Ferret mum thanks for the reply. Good to hear I am not alone I too have resorted to cooked chicken was also going to try the James wellbeloved cat food but perhaps given your experiences won't bother. I have also ordered some ferret wet food will let you know how I get on. The one thing they have shone some interest in is Harrington Complete Cat food I give them the chicken senior complete. Please let me know if you have any success with any other food.

I tried the JWB Cat and Kitten turkey food and my boys just refused. My thinking was if it had turkey and was made by the same people they would eat it, but no. I have tried all the ferret branded food and they just won't touch it. Yesterday I had a delivery of a wet food called Greenwood's, I thought no way they will eat this, but success. They all munched on it and loved the hearts. The bowl was empty this morning. It's not cheap but if it means my boys eat, that all that is important. I had an email from JWB who said the ferret complete was coming back at the end of this month. I don't believe it as they have said the same thing for months now. Makes me wonder what is in this food that they can produce. Hope you have some luck with your girls.  

[unclejoe]

good deal. we've had a couple ferret foods recalled, and more, mostly kibble/dry go out of production which is why we recommend foods from different sources. I've never known of a ferret to literally starve because of a food change, but it can be concerning. I've never seen a dog turn down ANYTHING we offered it. lol

[piper62]

Aug 10, 2021 7:04:56 GMT -5 ferretmum said:

Aug 10, 2021 4:57:17 GMT -5 piper62 said:

Hi Ferret mum thanks for the reply. Good to hear I am not alone I too have resorted to cooked chicken was also going to try the James wellbeloved cat food but perhaps given your experiences won't bother. I have also ordered some ferret wet food will let you know how I get on. The one thing they have shone some interest in is Harrington Complete Cat food I give them the chicken senior complete. Please let me know if you have any success with any other food.

I tried the JWB Cat and Kitten turkey food and my boys just refused. My thinking was if it had turkey and was made by the same people they would eat it, but no. I have tried all the ferret branded food and they just won't touch it. Yesterday I had a delivery of a wet food called Greenwood's, I thought no way they will eat this, but success. They all munched on it and loved the hearts. The bowl was empty this morning. It's not cheap but if it means my boys eat, that all that is important. I had an email from JWB who said the ferret complete was coming back at the end of this month. I don't believe it as they have said the same thing for months now. Makes me wonder what is in this food that they can produce. Hope you have some luck with your girls.  

[piper62]

Hi Ferret mum. Unfortunately my girls refused the wet food they seem determined not to eat anything but JWB or cooked chicken. it's really quite sad I have a tiny amount of JWB left which I give them every few days, those days they clean out there bowl the next day when they don't have JWB they stand at the bars to the cage as if to say where's our proper food. If by chance you hear that JWB are manufacturing again I would appreciate you letting me know. Many thanks

[ferretmum]

Aug 13, 2021 4:46:50 GMT -5 piper62 said:

Hi Ferret mum. Unfortunately my girls refused the wet food they seem determined not to eat anything but JWB or cooked chicken. it's really quite sad I have a tiny amount of JWB left which I give them every few days, those days they clean out there bowl the next day when they don't have JWB they stand at the bars to the cage as if to say where's our proper food. If by chance you hear that JWB are manufacturing again I would appreciate you letting me know. Many thanks

I know how you feel. I ran out of JWB 2 weeks ago. I spent a couple of months trying out new food and they would just leave it and eat round it, my stock of JWB was slowly vanishing and panic set in. It was at the same time as moving house, think the boys not eating is 100% more stressful than the move :-) One of my boys is keen to eat the wet food, but the other two would rather have cooked meat. It is just a awful place to find yourself in. I just hope my boys health do not suffer because of this. I kept saying surely they will eat some of this kibble, I much have brought at least 10 bags of different foods. Our situation isn't ideal but least the boys don't seem to have lost weight and are active as much as usual. I will let you know if I hear anything from JWB, I email them every week and post on their social media. I can't believe they have let ferret owners down like this, keep saying it's coming back. They have assured me it's coming back at the end of this month. If I see any for sale I'm happy to pick you up a bag, us ferret owners need to stick together :-)