Not eating!

[fuzzywozzie84]

I am now the proud owner of three insane ferrets. The person I got them from was a personal breeder who fed them kibble with some extras, including semi cooked mince, egg and mash potatoes. I know not the ideal things to be feeding ferrets. I have had them for just under two weeks but i want my ferrets eatting raw or whole meat. The change was amazing first week with them on kibble with a little kitten food mixed in their cage (cleaned everyday) stank of poo. The morning after the first rat all you could smell from their cage was ferret musk, Such a difference.

So along with the best kibble i have available i started them with a gerbil and they ate most of it but the back legs and the tail. Next they got two gerbils which they ate everything but the tails. Next they had a whole adult rat, which first they all the insides then they ate the skin but left the tail. Raw mince, scoffed. Chicken wings, scoffed. Three adult mice, killed and eaten.

Then yesterday morning i gave them an adult rat, somebody has started on it, chewed the neck and eaten part of the shoulder but thats it. in over 24 hours, kibble level still looks the same. Ferrets still active and playful but i'm worried that they are not eatting, so i caved in and gave them some chicken breast earlier today but i took the rat and smeared the open area over the chicken, they ate all the chicken but are still ignoring the rat. What can i do to encourage them to eat it?

Skin it, chop it up, smother it in anything else?

[crazylady]

Hi they may simply be getting a bit bored of rat don't waste it skin it and chop it up and mix it in with something else ! having a off day where eating is concerned wont hurt them ( they may simply be full lol ) when on raw they don't consume as much or as many meals as a kibble fed ferret I vary the diet from day to day ( never feeding the same thing twice two days running ) try dropping a bit liver on pieces of rat and see if that makes any difference good luck with your change over sounds like its going great take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[fuzzywozzie84]

Boy don't they eat alot of that kibble crap, my three were going through a cup mixed with pouch of kitten food, twice a day. Filled their bowl up completly and they would scoff the lot. I think i;ll have to try the liver first to see if they like it and if they do they will get liver mixed with chopped rat. They did get chicken wings in the evening and then a bowl of mince the same night before i went off to bed, then they got the rat in the morning, maybe i was overdoing it a bit and i stuffed them up too much

[Deleted]

Also if they are eatingthat well, they do not need the kibble, and it could be upsetting their stomachs due to different digestion rates.
Just a thought

[crazylady]

LoL sounds like you did overfill there tummys lol ( my adults survive quiet happily on one big meal a day lol ( in winter they get two breakfast and t time lol ( which they eat when its dark around midnight lol ) kits get fed 3-4 times a day until there 8-10 months old sounds like you had some stuffed fuzzies there lol take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[fuzzywozzie84]

Aug 12, 2011 15:29:15 GMT -5 @3kaw said:

Also if they are eatingthat well, they do not need the kibble, and it could be
upsetting their stomachs due to different digestion rates.

The kibble is just in there incase one of them was still hungry, but if they had been eating the kibble it was a very, very small amount especially compared to how much of it they were going through. It did worry me a bit because they are just over 3 months old and went over 24 hours without eating or eating hardly anything but they are back to normal now. Eating great again. Thanks for the advice!
Cheers Fuzzy

[Heather]

If they're eating a balanced raw diet, there is absolutely no reason for them to be eating kibbles and much better for them not to. JMO of course. I'm glad that you've found your solution (overstuffed kits ;D)
ciao

[fuzzywozzie84]

Question!

Can the age or sex of the animal effect if you ferret does or doesn't eat it's whole prey?

[crazylady]

Hi with older ferrets ( 3 plus ) if they have never had whole prey it takes longer to imprint on them that its food and to be eaten ( but they will eat eventually hunger and self preservation takes over lol ) at 3 months old they will eat anything because you are laying out tastes for them with new foods ( whole prey ) often its a good idea to offer portions ( for example if you did a chicken start getting them used to eating wings then thighs which are thicker then cut the chicken in a quarter then a half slowly building it up to a bigger size ) often some ferrets who are used to ground meats and kibbles can also be stubborn its a case of why should I chew it up the ground stuff is easier and goes down quicker I don't like to have to work to eat so I wont eat it my three month olds are on three meals a day ( each meal is around 4oz per kit ) breakfast could be say ground beef with added bonemeal lunchtime cubed pork with liver and bonemeal supper time chicken wings or day old chicks( i give the bone in meats over night as I know they feed more at night and it makes them work at there food keeping them satisfied ) the 4oz is not a set weight some eat more some eat less females normally eat less than males plus kits go through growth spurts there are times when its impossible to fill them ( a growth spurt is due ) and other times they return back to there normal pattern this stops any where from 6-10 months and the portion size drops hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[fuzzywozzie84]

I ask because over the last two weeks i have given my ferrets rat four times (along with gerbil, mouse, chicken wings, chicken liver, chicken hearts, chicken gizzard (is that a muscle or organ i'm not sure at the moment i'll check) and beef/pork mince (60/40%)

Of the four times i have fed rat this is what has happened
Rat 1 - Female about 8 months old - Fully eaten except the tail
Rat 2 - Male about 13 months old - Slightly eaten on one shoulder but mainly left and not eaten.
Rat 3 - Female about 8 months old - Fully eaten except the tail
Rat 4 Male about13 months old - Slightly eaten front of the neck is open and the ribs chewed a bit but mainly left uneaten

Could the age and/or the sex of the animal effect if they will eat it?

[crazylady]

hi it could they may have a preference for smaller tenderer ( easily to chew ) meat and having never tasted rat I don't know if the meat of a male is stronger tasting and tougher than a female lol it maybe I would stick with what they prefer there eating it and there is no waste ( the tail is often left ) its the same with whole rabbits the feet and fur are never eaten some eat the head some don't if there happy with the 8 month old rats I would stick with those in future you could always try the larger rats when they are older hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady

[fuzzywozzie84]

I have been giving them about 250g of meat (which i just found out is 8oz) (chicken, mince, hearts-once ) twice a day, they were being fed twice a day when i got them so i carried on with that. The gerbil and mouse were fed early on in the two weeks (i'm currently breeding mice (two female to one male, i'm breeding on a rotation) and gerbil (one breeding pair - currently holds male and female and three 6 week old babies) When they had the kibble still in the cage. Now i don't bother putting it in because they weren't touching it. I will bring in another meal during the day and see how much they eat when fed every 8 hours instead of 12.

The rat was always fed at night, after they had been out playing. With the two that were eaten by the morning all that was left was the tail and the fur/skin from the back of the rat - during the day they ate the fur/skin only to leave the tail.
Just trying to work out if there is any point in feeding the other three large male rats that i have in my freezer.

[fuzzywozzie84]

Cheers Bev - Thanks for your answers, i will be increasing their portions to see if they will eat more, but they always (with the raw meats (not whole)) leave some in the bowl or go and stash it in litter tray.

[crazylady]

if they are stashing it simply means they are going to eat it later my adults all carry there meat to the corner ( clean poop corner ) take every scrap from the dish and eat one piece lol ( 5 pound males get 4oz when adults one meal a day lol ) I feed around 7 at night but next morning its all gone lol ( they eat it around midnight what they have stashed ) its simply natural instinct lol to save for later a ferret eats its fill in five to ten mins at the bowl so the rest is saved because it moves quickly through the digestive tract if you have 3 3 month olds simply split 1 pound of meat into 3 5oz portions ( or two five ounce portions and last meal whole prey ) if they don't eat it all them lower the amount to 4oz portions 2x daily followed by whole prey or if its a day for all meat do 3x4oz portions kits are funny some days when a growth spurt is due to hit or during a growth spurt they eat like hogs and need more when there is no growth spurt due they eat less ( with day old chicks I often put them in at night but also leave a dish of the odd couple of ounces of meat too and I usually find that is also gone next day lol ) if you find they leave meat don't panic simply lower it down ( no need to waste it lol ) until you find the right balance for them you did not say if your feeding males or females ( males always eat more lol ) so its simply a case of add a bit take a bit away lol take care bye for now
Bev aka crazy lady