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Post by ciel on Jun 29, 2009 14:02:27 GMT -5
1. How many ferrets do you currently have? What are their names, ages, genders, and do they have any health problems (this is VERY important)?
I have one. His name is wally and he was born apr 5 2009. hes a healthy guy
2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup).
ultra blend select 8 in 1... he stole a bit of my turkey sandwich the other day
3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to?
a mix between raw and whole prey
4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet?
ive looked through a ton of brands of kibble and the best i could find is 35 or 40 percent protein. not good enough for my guy to live off...
5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets?
i also have an iguana. their diets are pretty particular as well and usually the processed foods have undesirables in them (meat by products... igs are herbivores) and so it just sorta seems like the way you should feed an exotic: naturally.
6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone?
well i dont know his exact weight but he's no more than a pound i'd say. He looks like a well proportioned weight but i personally think he's a bit squishy. he handles himself well though
7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?) pink and pretty
<a href="http://s607.photobucket.com/albums/tt159/enb_bucket/?action=view¤t=Photo539.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt159/enb_bucket/Photo539.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat. soft fluffy sable
9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom?
all the time it seems like. seriously probably like 3- 5 times a day
10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell?
yes but it isnt bad. we clean it up pretty fast but ive asked guests if they can smell our new little buddy and they say they cant
11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor?
mild.
12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level?
7 or 8
13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)?
he has a constant supply
14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific.
no. wally is a new addition to our family
15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share?
he goes ape poop for bath towels
16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below:
<a href="http://s607.photobucket.com/albums/tt159/enb_bucket/?action=view¤t=Photo536.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt159/enb_bucket/Photo536.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
thats me in the back ground saying "waaaaaaaall eeeeeee" like the movie.... get it?
17.
a.) Do you understand that by starting this thread you commit to posting updates on the progress of your ferret(s) diet switch atleast every other day?**
yes sir
b.) Do you understand that if you will be away from your computer for an extended period of time you will need to exchange phone numbers (or email addresses if you don't feel comfortable exchanging numbers)via private message with your assigned mentor, so that we can monitor your progress and ensure your ferret's saftey during the switch?
completely
c.) Do you understand that any threads that have not been updated in for more then a week (with no explaination as to why you are absent) will result in the deletion of the thread?***
absolutely.
will you be my mentor?
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Post by ciel on Jun 29, 2009 14:04:36 GMT -5
my pics didnt show up.... hmmm.... lets try this....
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Post by Heather on Jun 30, 2009 0:23:37 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the mentoring program Over the next couple of days I will try and find you a mentor that will help you and Wally. Wally's just a baby so he should be an easy switch (like most small children things just have to be put in their mouths ) So it's up to us to figure what is the most appealing way to do this. Please prowl around this site, check out what some of the others have done to switch their furbabies, how the mentoring program works and see if there is a method of switching that most readily appeals to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here, either myself or one of the other mentors will be happy to assist you until a mentor can be found for you. I wish you and Wally all the best and I'm sure that you will have a lot of fun Good luck and I will be talking with you later ciao
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Post by cristina on Jun 30, 2009 11:54:08 GMT -5
Hi there, my name is Cristina and I will be your mentor through yours and Wally's switch. A little about me: I have 3 ferrets (2 girls and a boy) 1 albino, 1 sable and the other is a dew/silver mit. I have been feeding raw/whole prey for about a year now. If you want to browse through the other threads of people's switches you may find that you like a method they use to switch (there are a few ).....if you want to discuss some with me I'd be more than happy to suggest some as well as walk you through them and we can figure out what works best for you! Just let me know what you want to do, can't wait to start!
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Post by ciel on Jun 30, 2009 20:13:33 GMT -5
hi there cristina my name is erin and wally is more of a household pet than just mine. he's a good guy. ive browsed around the site and found an interesting duck soup recipe. so i think my main goal is to get wally to the point where he will eat raw food and whole live prey. i dont want him to get hurt which is the only real reservation i have about the live prey but other than that im game. today we went to the pet store to get a pinkie just to see if he'd be game for it... they were all out of pinkies and i didnt want wally to get his but kicked by a mouse (what would the other ferrets think?) so we got crickets. i saw on someone elses thread that they tried grasshoppers so i thought we'd give it a shot. all he did was kill them all... i think he ate one but im pretty sure it was an accident. so i was thinking about trying raw chicken tonight... how should i start? can you give me the duck soup recipe again? i have some disbelievers in my midst
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Post by cristina on Jul 1, 2009 15:26:26 GMT -5
Haha thats great he killed the crickets, thats the first step in the right direction for him!!! Yea I wouldnt start with live mice first, but I mean pinkies dont really do much in terms of hurting the ferret so I think that would be ok if you wanted to get one....I usually start off with frozen mice (for bigger ones) and work up from there. Personally I would start the switch with ground chicken or turkey, these are the blandest of meats and ferrets usually take better to them instead of beef and such since they are very rich. So if you want to start with just a little bit of raw ground chicken mixed in with his kibble and see what he thinks of it go ahead with that and let me know how he does with it! For duk soup, I just buy the dry mix and mix it all up with some dehydrated liver and fish that I concoct as a supplement.....so I dont really know the homemade recipe off the top of my head but I will search it and get back to you on it. (also if you google duk soup for ferrets, a bunch of different recipes will pop up as well)
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Post by cristina on Jul 5, 2009 11:52:45 GMT -5
Did you mix the ground with the kibble yet? and if so how did Wally take to it?
Heres one recipe for duck soup, I will most some more when I find them:
1 cup of moistened ferret food, moistened with fresh chicken broth or water. Not canned broth as it has too much sodium. 1/3 of a tube of Ferretvite or Nutrical 1 jars Gerber chicken and gravy baby food #2 8 oz. Pedilyte only if your ferret is dehydrated / spring water will also work. 1 tbs ground egg shells 2 Tablespoons of Nupro or ferretvite 4 chicken thighs meat. dark meat is higher in calories, but any chicken or all can be used. Also note, you can use 2-3 more jars of the chicken baby food in replacement of the chicken.
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Post by ciel on Jul 7, 2009 9:59:00 GMT -5
We tried hand feeding him bits of raw meat but he didnt take to that to well. we mixed some pork fat/meat/gristle in with his kibble and he killed it. he ate every last bit. i dont think i want to remove his kibble just yet. i want to make sure he gets used to all the different types of meat first.
so as of right now he loves pork, wont touch beef and is interested in chicken but wont eat it.
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Post by cristina on Jul 7, 2009 15:51:49 GMT -5
Oh I didnt mean remove his kibble, what I was saying is put a little bit of raw in with his normal amount of kibble Pork and chicken are very bland compared to richer meats like beef, so they sometimes take to them more easily in the beginning
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Post by ciel on Jul 8, 2009 10:47:03 GMT -5
so yesterday day we informed our local butcher about our endeavors and he hooked up us with some chicken livers. i thought maybe flavor-wise they would have a heavier flavor than chicken meat and that would help to work him to stronger flavored meats... i dont think he liked the texture very much but he ate it. but his poop.... my goodness... its runny and nasty and STINKY! i know youre probably thinking to yourself "stinky? well poo doesn't smell like roses." (poo. ha) before our diet change you had to practically stick your face in it to smell it now it reeks through the house. do you think i need to add bone or connective tissue or skin or something? should we take the kibble-meat transition further to just meat? will his poop always smell like this? when we feed him mice will he poop out a skeleton like a snake??! ew. does it make his tummy hurt?
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Post by cristina on Jul 8, 2009 13:19:03 GMT -5
Thats great you found a butcher, thats the way to get meats for cheaper! Livers are essential to their diet though they are organ meat so livers should only be fed once a week and only one liver per ferret a week is usually the rule of thumb since they are very rich. Liver makes their poop runny and smell a little stronger usually, but his body is just trying to get the kibble out of his system that has been building up for how ever old he is and it will get much better once hes on a complete raw diet If he is able to eat only raw then go ahead! Your switch wont take too long if he will eat raw alone without kibble, so see if he will eat it and let me know how it goes. Bone is also an essential part of their diet and it does firm their poop, although it usually takes a bit to get them to actually eat it on their own (we usually start out with chicken wings for getting use to bone), so for now you can grind up egg shells and add a teaspoon in to his soups (to make an easy soup you can mix something like uncle jims duk soup mix or nupro with some warm water, a teaspoon of oil (vivify is the best, olive oil can also be used), add the ground egg shells and if you want you can even add in some liver ground up as well) Let me know exactly what your feeding him right now, what he will eat/likes and I can from there help you write out a sched. for meals and we can build on from there
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Post by cristina on Jul 13, 2009 17:43:52 GMT -5
So how are things going? Any new progress?
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Post by ciel on Jul 17, 2009 10:35:54 GMT -5
progress hmm.... wally's being a little bad*ss lately... he poop paints and hides his food now. he's been using his teeth more. kinda like nipping. especially when he does his little war dance. it doesnt bother me but when we have guests over they wonder if they've been attacked or something. wally picks at his food. so far he's cool with pork and thats about it. all the other meats he hides around his cage. i tried a few times to feed him only meat and he'd sort of pick around it. lick it alot and then hide it. i still dont think he's quite used to the texture of meat. and he definitely eats all the kibble still. so he'll eat the meat but only it seems out of curiosity. and he stopped sleeping in his bed. he sleeps in his litter box after he scoops out all the poop (that I put in it ). why is he having all these behavior changes?
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Post by cristina on Jul 17, 2009 12:56:42 GMT -5
Behavior changes sometimes stem from not getting out of the cage enough especially when they are young they have so much energy...is he out of the cage everyday for 2-4 hours? It also helps to get them a friend (ferrets do very well with companions), they are very social creatures and need constant love and attention, so he maybe just could be bored. As for the nipping, its totally normal especially when they are all hyped up, sometimes they can control their bodies once they start dancing! To control nipping, when he starts to just scruff him at the neck for a second to calm him down...do this everytime he nips and he will catch on fairly quickly usually. If hes picking around the meat and stashing it then you will need to use watered down ground meat, (I would suggest going and getting some ground chicken and mixing 4 tablespoons of meat with 2 tablespoons of warm water then adding it into the usual kibble and mix it up until its all mixed together well). stashing meat is actually pretty common among ferrets, although not so good for us (especially when we have to clean it!) I will ask some others that have issues with stashing and what they do to contain it, I dont have this problem too much so Ill get back to you on this one If hes sleeping in the litter box, you can try to discontinue the use of pellets in the box and just put in some newspaper and see if he continues to sleep in it (it wont be too comfortable to lay on just paper so hopefully that could help)
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Post by ciel on Jul 22, 2009 16:31:48 GMT -5
i think you're right about him not having enough activity time. we had some friends visit for about a week and he didnt get the playtime he normally does. we've made an extra effort to have wally time and he stopped sleeping in his litter box. he hasnt pooped in it still though.
so back to the diet. i ground up some chicken hearts and chicken for him to eat. before the peices were big enough for him to pick up but these definitely are not. he doesnt seem to keen on it. he sniffed and walked away. he might pick at it later but who knows. and yes the kibble is still mixed in.
my roommate, i just discovered, gives him only kibble when she feeds him. i think that may have a little to do with the setback. fingers crossed and still tryin.
oh btw someone emailed me a duck soup recipe: from scratch style. ill post it. whats your take on it?
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