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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jun 13, 2022 8:42:59 GMT -5
For the past week, my little man was getting really thin. Since he is about 6.5 yrs old I thought it must be getting time to pass away. He acts like he is starving but refused to eat the gerbils and hamsters as well as not too enthused about the mice either. My last ditch effort was to go to grocery store this morning. I got some quail eggs some chicken wings and some quail. I pulled off the wings of the quail and gave him. he ate those. and I warmed up the egg in a cup of hot water, and he ate that. And he gnawed on the chicken wing but did not get much off of that.
but he seemed to enjoy trying.
Funny he would not eat yolk of chicken egg that i tried to give him the other day, but he ate the warmed beaten quail egg today.
While i quit feeding mine ferrets chicken as it seemed to give them diarrhea--- I think I will include it for him. Anyway, we will see if he gets to doing better.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 13, 2022 8:46:29 GMT -5
Glucose check? A couple of mine stopped eating when they got insulinoma...
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Post by msav on Jun 13, 2022 15:17:22 GMT -5
Definitely make sure there is nothing medically wrong with him.
However, My experience with aging whole prey eaters is they start to not have the energy needed to chew and chomp bone, Sometimes you have to give them a boost of soup for a bit, it helps give them energy to get back to eating and chomping. However they seem still not to be able to get completely off the soup (at least not for long).
If you want him to continue maintaining weight you may have to augment with soup. This is hard when you have multiple ferrets in the same cage as they will likely start to take the lazy way as well, you may want to separate him or feed him soup during play time away from the others to get his strength up to avoid that.
In order to make soup that has everything he needs you may need to supplement egg shell powder if you do not have a powerful enough blender to puree the bones.
It is part of ferrets ageing and and keeping them alive as long as you can.
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Post by Charlie on Jun 13, 2022 18:59:23 GMT -5
Interesting! My ferret will be 5 in September and he doesn't seem to want to eat the whole mouse anymore. He eats the head and shoulders and tends to leave the rest. He didn't like chicken before but now he will eat chicken grinds.
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Post by Corvidophile on Jun 14, 2022 7:45:47 GMT -5
Winnipeg also lost interest in whole prey as he aged, I agree that it’s weakening of the jaws. You’re probably going to have to switch to grinds or soup.
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Post by msav on Jun 14, 2022 11:11:26 GMT -5
I guess Grinds would be the next step before soup. If he gets too thin you may want to give soup or grinds to get his weight up and try and get him to eat grind. Reserve the soup until you need to get him hydrated or if he is not eating grinds, But if he is not eating grinds you may want to have his teeth checked out to make sure he does not have a tooth that is bothering him and causing him to not want to Chew.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 14, 2022 11:30:05 GMT -5
I guess Grinds would be the next step before soup. If he gets too thin you may want to give soup or grinds to get his weight up and try and get him to eat grind. Reserve the soup until you need to get him hydrated or if he is not eating grinds, But if he is not eating grinds you may want to have his teeth checked out to make sure he does not have a tooth that is bothering him and causing him to not want to Chew. Good suggestion. I have had a couple with dental problems as well. |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jun 14, 2022 18:32:57 GMT -5
Thanks sooo much guys for all the great info.
I may go ahead and have him tested for insulinoma. Will get teeth checked again.
He acts likes he is hungry--- like in mornings i will let him out of the room and he runs to the pantry. He will smell the food eat at it at just a little and then nothing. he will follow me around like hungry and I will try something else.
I was giving him hamsters, mice, and gerbils. I quit asf a month ago because I did not want people in house (that i was showing for sale) see rats. I have been pulling fur off lately. They just mostly lay on the floor in his room.
I did put a chicken wing in room last night and he gnawed the sides. They cut the tips off so no bone to eat as the rest was too thck. I did make a lamb soupie---he acted real interested--- ate some and does not want anymore lamb since which seems to be a pattern
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 14, 2022 21:55:15 GMT -5
Checking his canines is easy. look for broken tips. Back teeth are more likely to be a problem, but they should all be white, or yellow. If you can just get his mouth open long enough. ZoeZoe would get heavy deposits on her teeth and it was hard to keep up even brushing twice weekly. I don't know why and she was my only ferret with that issue.
Poppy broke a canine and it was ok for a year until it wore through the enamel to the pulp and got infected. I hope it's just something to do with aging.
Wish I could eat some lamb...
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jun 18, 2022 5:04:27 GMT -5
Buddy seems to be getting appetite back, but who knows. Could be having good days and bad days.
You reckon they get tired of the same stuff?
I finally found some chicken wings with tips on them. I cut wing in sections and scissored off some of that tough skin and my boy is eating that.
We found a pet shop that sells asf rats. Of course after taking intestines out and defuurring , there is nothing but frame and some organs left. But my man ate that and wanted more food. I guess we will start raising a few of those again and put chicken on the menu.
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Post by Charlie on Jun 18, 2022 23:53:38 GMT -5
Buddy seems to be getting appetite back, but who knows. Could be having good days and bad days. You reckon they get tired of the same stuff? I finally found some chicken wings with tips on them. I cut wing in sections and scissored off some of that tough skin and my boy is eating that. We found a pet shop that sells asf rats. Of course after taking intestines out and defuurring , there is nothing but frame and some organs left. But my man ate that and wanted more food. I guess we will start raising a few of those again and put chicken on the menu. I'm not sure if they get bored with their food because mice was one of his favourite meals and always ate it all. Just one day he stopped eating it all. He will eat all his pork and beef still. He's ok with rabbit right now and still eats his heart and organ meats because they are from beef. Th other day I tried a mouse again and he just chomped down on the head a few times and then left it there. I'm thinking he doesn't like the fur anymore. I might have to try pinkies again. I'm not sure if I really want to gut and skin the mice. lol |
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Post by msav on Jun 24, 2022 12:28:42 GMT -5
It seems ASF rats are a delicacy for ferrets. Mine always ate them and it was one of the only foods they fought over. Hade many 3 way tug of wars over them. always made a mess since I did not do anything to them to prepare them.
Over the years with aging ferrets I have had to get appetite stimulant from the vet to get ferrets to eat. (I am starting to run out.) Squirrel went through a bout of not eating last month and was getting a bit thing. one dose of it and he was back to eating again and is now back to his plump self and healthy appetite.
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Post by msav on Jun 24, 2022 12:31:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure if they get bored with their food because mice was one of his favourite meals and always ate it all. Just one day he stopped eating it all. He will eat all his pork and beef still. He's ok with rabbit right now and still eats his heart and organ meats because they are from beef. Th other day I tried a mouse again and he just chomped down on the head a few times and then left it there. I'm thinking he doesn't like the fur anymore. I might have to try pinkies again. I'm not sure if I really want to gut and skin the mice. lol I believe as ferrets age they start feeling lazy. some times they just want an easy meal and don't want to work at it. This become more true the older they get. you may have to switch to grinds and or eventually soup to get them to stay eating enough to maintain their weight. All my past ferrets have went through this stage as they age. |
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Post by Charlie on Jul 1, 2022 20:43:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure if they get bored with their food because mice was one of his favourite meals and always ate it all. Just one day he stopped eating it all. He will eat all his pork and beef still. He's ok with rabbit right now and still eats his heart and organ meats because they are from beef. Th other day I tried a mouse again and he just chomped down on the head a few times and then left it there. I'm thinking he doesn't like the fur anymore. I might have to try pinkies again. I'm not sure if I really want to gut and skin the mice. lol I believe as ferrets age they start feeling lazy. some times they just want an easy meal and don't want to work at it. This become more true the older they get. you may have to switch to grinds and or eventually soup to get them to stay eating enough to maintain their weight. All my past ferrets have went through this stage as they age. I will keep this in mind. Good to know, thank you! |
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