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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 21:33:33 GMT -5
Not necessarily something I'm curious about, well, a little actually, but my friend brought this up. She asked me if it would be possible to have newly purchased/adopted ferrets eat a freeze-dried diet (like arch 1 for instance) off the bat. I understand it can be fed dry or rehydrated (imo it should be hydrated), and she thinks it's possible they would take to the dry freeze-dried at first. Clearly she wants nothing to do with kibble, can't blame her, but at the same time I'm not sure if this would work. Your thoughts?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 21:34:50 GMT -5
Really depends on the age of the ferrets. Are you talking about kits?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 21:40:01 GMT -5
Why not? The younger the ferret the more likely they'll take to it right away. I bought some Archetype-1 once just to try (the only store I've been able to find it at is on the other side of the city, so it was just a one-time experiment) but two of my older kids just dove right in, even after eating kibble their whole lives. No coaxing needed!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 22:44:59 GMT -5
riley, I assume she means kits, but there's a possibility she adopts from a shelter. @weezily, Sounds great, I'll let her know what you said. I'm hoping to start them off on Arch 1 too, gradually get them into raw, and perhaps continue to give them Arch 1 in between meals as something to snack on during the day. Would that be a good idea or would it be considered unnecessary? I could see it possibly being unnecessary considering they tend to be more satisfied on a raw diet than they would be on kibble, and because you can keep leftover raw available for a certain amount of hours.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2012 22:48:26 GMT -5
If need be, she can always buy a small bag of the kibble and sprinkle the crumbled up FD in the kibble and mix it together until they are eating it well. Just increase the FD and decrease the kibble over time. But at some point, they really need to eat it rehydrated, or they'll have the same dehydration problems kibble fed ferrets suffer from.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 22:56:47 GMT -5
riley, I assume she means kits, but there's a possibility she adopts from a shelter. Honestly, if they're kits, they'll just dive right in. I would personally start with different sources of raw, as well as soupies. They olfactorily imprint on food. When they get older, they lose the ability to sense new food as a food source. Meaning if your ferret is sick and you never fed it soupies, it wont recognize soupies as food necessarily (but it is all dependent on the ferret). Somebody around here said to give second stage chicken/turkey (meat stuff) Gerber baby food once in a while, so that if they get sick, they can at least eat that stuff. As for the snack, Arche-type should be fine, but honestly, raw makes a good snack too, and generally stays fine in the cage for hours at a time.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 23:08:38 GMT -5
@sherry, I'm going to convince her to consider hydrated FD over keeping it dry, especially for the reason you just provided. I think she was just asking about giving it dry because she thinks kibble-fed kits (or adopted adults, if that's the case) would take to it easier, that and she believes it might last longer dry than it would be hydrated..I told her it might all be gone anyways, might not have to worry about duration. ;D riley, That's always a better option. I'll mention that to her as well, then she may not have to bother with the FD. And you did make a very good point about the soupies! You're right about snacks, too. I personally might let them have some Arch 1, just so it's something else they're familiar with, my friend may or may not consider it as well once she's informed.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 23:15:22 GMT -5
mhm. Supposedly when they're sick, its harder for them to eat and keep down stuff, so stuff of a soupie consistency is easier to eat. *nod* So Just putting that out there. And arche-type is still a kibble---though its 90% meat (or whatever it claims). In the stores that care for the kits properly (which are few), most water the kibble down to a soup consistency, so the kit should already be familiar with it, but if they're fairly young like 8 weeks old, im not sure they will care about having kibble--may prefer the raw since it has better nutrition....But somebody will correct me if Im wrong...
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Post by Sherry on Mar 19, 2012 23:29:34 GMT -5
Have you suggested she come here just to read?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2012 23:40:54 GMT -5
riley, For sure! I've read lots of threads here and I'm going to introduce them to different consistencies. I've heard, the odd time, kits would take to a chicken wing no problem, but I'll probably do the gradual changes either way. Arch 1 is supposed to be a raw FD, at least more so than a kibble, from what I understand maybe I'm wrong @sherry, Turns out we're texting paragraphs to each other back and forth ;D , she told me her internet is down, has been since this afternoon I think, otherwise I would have directed her to the thread. I will anyways later on just so she has it to reread should she need to. Thanks for the input guys!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 0:07:50 GMT -5
Personally if she's dealing with kits, I'd skip the freeze dried and immediately offer them raw. Kits switch very easily - at least all the younger ferrets I;ve had do. Use freeze dried as treats and in between meals to tie them over, but definitely encourage raw from the start!
Cheers, Kim
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 0:15:47 GMT -5
I'd actually like to go with that route, give Arch as a occasional snack/treat, and try getting them on raw pronto! My friend however may be sticking to her guns, but who knows.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 1:14:15 GMT -5
Actually the freeze dried archetypal is not kibble at all but freeze dried raw meat chunks and powder. There IS an archetypal kibble but it sucks has corn and other starches. You may be confusing it with the Epigen 90 which is 90% meat. That kibble is starchless and the perfect ferret kibble. However it IS kibble and raw or freeze dried is best.
Sent from my SCH-M828C using ProBoards
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 6:09:04 GMT -5
You're correct Weasel. My apologies. If she adopts on the other hand, it is going to be alot more rough. Ferrets tend to be older than what a shelter thinks they are. People have gotten a year old ferret only to realize its like five or six years old. If the ferret is kibble fed they will have more of a rough time. Its why i would recommend your friend getting a mentor through here. We have wonderful mentors for raw, and rest assured, they will help your friend get her new one set on its feet. Older ones tend to have a harder time (due to the olfactory imprinting, remember), and require a little more help. If however, she thinks that she can't get a mentor (due to time constraints or something), Im sure there will be a mentor that will help. All that is required is absolute dedication to raw.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Mar 20, 2012 7:50:19 GMT -5
Yes it is possible and that is exactly what I started Sonny on when I brought him home. I had archetypal 1 from my ferret Lemmy bc I used to feed him that. Sonny ate it right away no problems. I rehydrated it and added fresh ground chicken to it, then moved on from there. He still gets the freeze dried rehydrated several times a week and I also leVel out a bowl of Stella & chewys (dry) so he can snack when he wants between main meals. But I know plenty of people who only feed freeze dried. If your friend decides to feed freeze dried exclusively, I do recommend rehydrating it for their two main meals. It's easy. No mess.
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