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Post by Heather on Nov 28, 2011 20:09:10 GMT -5
Name: Jo HF Forum Username: jo/zee3p0 1. Where did you first learn about natural diets for ferrets? Since I got into ferrets really, but mainly about the meat and not the 3 proteins bones and whole prey until about a month or so ago, (I have fed bones and whole prey before though, as treats and teeth cleaners) 2. Please describe the type of diet you would like assistance in switching your ferret(s) to. Be sure to include if you are interested in feeding whole prey (live or frozen-thawed) and if you are wanting to FULLY switch to a natural diet or PARTIALLY. If you are unsure what kind of diet you want to put your ferrets on, please express that and we can help you find the best type of natural diet for your ferret. Switch to a fully raw and natural diet with whole prey and sometimes live prey (it's illegal here so not too often ) I'm also currently planning on setting up a feeder colony.
3. Why are you interested in switching your ferrets to a natural diet? To improve my ferrets health and lifestyle
4. Do you understand that switching your ferret to a natural diet can be a lengthy, arduous process? Its not an overnight switch. It can be a commitment of several weeks or even months. Your HF Mentor will be more then happy to assist you in switchng your ferret(s) to a natural diet, but you need to be equally as commited. If you aren't willing to tough out a potentially lengthy switching process, or if you have major life changes approaching (baby on the way, moving, starting school, getting married/divorced, etc) then it might be a better idea to wait on switching your ferret's diet until you have more time. Are you willing to make the commitment? I currently have 4 months off of school so I have all the time in the world really, apart from the next week or so because I'm doing work experience. I am fully commited!
5. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names? Ages? Genders? Do they have any health problems? Are they overweight? Underweight? How long have you had each ferret for? I have 4 ferrets currently.
Name: Gomez Age: 3 Gender: Male Health problems: It seems like he has a reoccuring liver infection so my vet has suggested a low fat diet (Can explain in more detail) Weight: He weighs roughly 1.12kg (I can weigh him I just need to find or buy some scales) I've had gomez since he was 6 weeks old...
Name: Bert Age: roughly 3 Gender: Male Health problems: None that we are aware of Weight: I would say under a kg or 1kg - I will weigh him I've had Bert for about 2 years now
Name: Morticia Age: 1 1/2 Gender: Female health problems: none weight: 1kg I've had her since she was 12 weeks old
Name: Caprica (she is morticias almost identical twin) Age: 1 1/2 gender: female health problems: none weight: 1.1kg or above ive had her since she was 12 weeks old
6. What diet do you currently feed your ferrets? (Please include all treats, supplements, etc) Raw mince or meat chunks (chicken, veal, rabbit, beef), chicken necks, egg and lactose free milk as a treat, pumpkin, oil for a treat, nutrigel as a treat, mice once or twice a month (they are expensive here )
7. Have you ever tried to switch your ferrets to a natural diet in the past? If yes, what happened? They are on a somewhat natural diet currently.
8. What additional information about yourself or your ferrets would you like to share? When I am at tafe my schedule is very up and down so I need to work out some sort of feeding schedule for my mum to feed them if im not hope hopefully you can help with this?
9. How often during the week do you have access to a computer? I'm on a computer almost 24/7 and if Im not i have the proboards app on my phone
10. Please post a picture of each of your ferrets (if possible). I took some photos on my iphone that I can upload at a later time if you would like, I don't have photos of every ferret on this computer unfortunately, sorry
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program. In a little while your mentor (Sunnyberra) will introduce herself and you can get started on a new adventure in natural ferret care and diets. Please remember to post regularly (daily or as per arranged with your mentor) so that your mentor can assist you move along safely in this adventure. If you experience computer difficulties or are going to be away, please notify your mentor and most of all relax and have fun . Your mentor is here to help you on this journey. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2011 18:22:01 GMT -5
When can we get started? I'm really eager and I've already bought most of the stuff I need and portioned it out :3
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2011 22:00:31 GMT -5
Hi, there! Sorry, I just got home from classes. BUT! We can get started right away. I see that your guys are already eating quite a bit of raw, so that's amazing! To get a better idea of where they're at, right now, why don't you post what they've been eating for the past week (meals, size/amount per day, are they enjoying it? Or do you need to spoon/finger feed, etc). Also, are they on kibble or just the raw? This will inform the way we continue on.
I see that you want a raw/natural diet. Once we get them set on raw, then we can really get them the variety in whole prey/natural diet that you want, as well.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 1:11:03 GMT -5
I'm walking home atm but so far this week they've had two chicken carcasses beaten and cut up, three decent sized chicken necks cut into small pieces (they just hide whole ones and don't eat them) about 300-400g of mince and some heart/liver soup as well as pumpkin and oil for treats!
I had a bit of trouble last night with the soup - they ate it fine and I put it in their cage over night. I checked them about two hours later ad it looked like someone had thrown up all over the floor or had really bad mushy poops! I took the soup out and cleaned the cage and today I've been monitoring them all day and gave them all pumpkin and some petroleum jelly just incase and they've been fine all day. Still eating playing and drinking.
They ha a chicken carcass for breakfast and I'm about to offer them some heart chunks (chicken)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 2:38:07 GMT -5
So I tried to give them the hearts (200g hearts cut in half) and they didn't really want it so I blended it with some lactose free milk, oil and water. I made it thick (i took some pics and a video of them eating it!) and it was still a bit chunky and they loved it I then blended it again with more hearts and some chicken and I'm saving that for tomorrow morning If it helps I can post pictures of the soups consistency :3
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 13:10:47 GMT -5
That's great that they're getting hearts I generally like doing two meals of just hearts a week, to make sure they get enough taurine. Was the soup the posted recipe that's in the sticky notes for the section? If not, exactly what amounts of each ingredient did you put in? Specifics help to just give me an idea of what's going on At this point, if they're eating bones and mince steadily, soup is actually a step back, anyway. Can you get a hold of some cornish game hens? Those bones are great for beginners (especially the wings, and the ribs sections. Drums are still a bit thick, though bone crazy ferts love them), and they're a nice, smoother tasting meat compared to some. Overall, a female usually eats 1-3 oz/day, males eat 2-4 oz, if your guys are willingly eating raw amounts that equal that, your babes are doing great. One question, though: are they eating kibble at all?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 13:11:15 GMT -5
Also, never hesitate to post pics, if and when you can. Those are great!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 20:06:46 GMT -5
I have three that WILL eat kibble but I don't give it to them at all. The soup was just hearts, milk and oil and then some chicken. it was about a 100g of hearts, 10ml of milk and 5ml oil that's the soup from yesterday and what I will give them today This was the heart and liver soup I gave them on tuesday, they ate most of it but like i said before they seemed to be sick in the cage The soup is just to get them to eat hearts cause they don't seem to be eating the heart chunks at the moment they are eating bones and muscle meat/mince fine. I don't think I can get Cornish hen over here, I've looked around for it but no luck so far, I will keep looking though! We give them chicken carcasses instead and I break them up with a meat tenderizer then cut them up into little pieces with a cleaver
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2011 20:28:10 GMT -5
Heres a video of three of my guys before the switch so they were on just mince and chicken necks. The only one that isn't on the video is my girlie who's in the blue-toned photo I'll try to take a video or photo of all four of them when I bring them in today
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 2:30:04 GMT -5
This morning I gave them close to 200g of chicken bone in and beef mince and 140g of the heart soup. They ate all of the soup but only ate about 60g of the other food all day
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 9:27:29 GMT -5
Sounds great; the soup may have been too rich for them. The best scenario is adding the hearts/liver, and also including bonemeal powder or eggshell powder to it. If it continues, you might think of separating the hearts and liver into different soups, the combination might have a bit of reason for your babes getting the icks.
If they're reticent about eating hearts, you may need to increase the amount of chicken meat in the soup to cover the taste, and slowly add in more heart as they get accustomed to it.
It's okay if cgh isn't feasible - you're doing a great job breaking up the bone!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 18:24:28 GMT -5
The soup they had yesterday had no liver in it and only tiny bits of chicken and they still loved it I added some pumpkin in it as well so im not sure why they're eating the heart soup but not the hearts themselves... could it be the texture?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 21:03:45 GMT -5
It can be - hearts are pretty chewy, too. Some ferrets think it's too much work
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2011 1:06:48 GMT -5
well my guys are loving all the bone meals and seem to have forgotten about muscle meats I offered them some spleen today but they ignored it. How can i get them to eat the solid organs and hearts?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2011 14:41:57 GMT -5
You can try dicing them up and putting them in the mince, and gradually increasing the chunk size. Or, you can keep with the soup, and do the same thing - gradually increase the chunk size as they get used to it.
Organs, though, are usually tricky to get ferrets to eat plain. The only success I've had is with liver, but a lot of others can get them to eat kidney as well, plain by using the above methods. It takes time to convert stubborn ferts :C
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