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Post by llhd1990 on Oct 11, 2010 15:31:03 GMT -5
So i bought some chicken legs, and a thing of chicken heart and gizzerds. Fist i wanted to know is gizzerds good for them? I can't seem to just get ehart and i though i heard heart was good for them.... Second. I'm not sure how to actually have him start to eat meat. I riped a little piece of and put it in his mouth and he ate it. Then i tried a slightly bigger piece and he choked it out of his mouth like i was trying to poison him . So i was just wondering how can i get him to start liking meat. And what meat should i get. I tried feeding him a chicken leg first. Havent tried the heart or gizzerds yet. but are there other good meat i can get? And where could i get them from?
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Post by sherrylynne on Oct 12, 2010 9:50:14 GMT -5
Any meat, unless it's altered somehow(smoked, salted, etc) is fine. Including gizzards. They are simply another muscle meat. To get him started, you can either try mincing up some chicken meat, and crumble some pulverized kibble on it, or if that doesn't work, puree some chicken meat, and dab it on the end of his nose, so he has to lick it off. First step is getting him to simply taste it several times. You can freeze the puree in ice cube trays, then baggie them. Just take out one cube to thaw at a time for now.
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Post by llhd1990 on Oct 12, 2010 22:25:34 GMT -5
I've been having him try little piece and he just looks at me. So tonight i chopped up all the chicken from the chiken leg and i seperated it into bags. I decided that i might try to wet his food and put some chicken in it. So i put his kibble in a bowl and put some meat in it and put water in it to try and soak it up a little and mix it a little. And ill see where that gets me. . How long should i be able to keep the food out with out it getting nasty or spoiling??
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Post by llhd1990 on Oct 13, 2010 2:15:03 GMT -5
So i waited for the food to get all mushy and i set it out. He went to his food right away and found that... He wouldn't eat it, so i put some kible on top and he was just looking for his food, i put some in his mouth and he wouldnt even chew it and eat it, he just kept spitting it out. So i pushed the kibble down a little biot so he would have to eat some of the wet. But he just went looking on other floors for crumbs of food. It made me feel bad... I keep the mush in his bowl. And didn't give him any kibble. Is this what i should be doing im so unsure of it. I feel like im starving my boy
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Post by Heather on Oct 13, 2010 2:32:40 GMT -5
Don't.... neither of you should feel badly This method isn't working for either of you. Have you tried a soupy? A raw soupy? this is my method, you can try it if you like You can try to get them to eat a raw soupy. I use this method because a lot of the fuzzies I get have questionable health histories and huge amounts of stress can cause serious issues. I also don't know how long they can go without eating, so this way you don't have to let them go hungry. You will need a blender/food processor, and the following raw items: 8 oz raw chicken thigh meat (including skin and fat) 1/2 tsp of crushed eggshell powder (take a raw eggshell. Rinse it out. Let it dry. Crush to powder) 1 raw chicken heart 1/2 raw chicken liver Water or broth(use more to make it soupier, less to make it thicker) Blend ingredients together. Some prefer it at room temp. Try putting a dollop of "soup" onto your ferret's nose and they probably will lick it off. I use my finger. Sometimes this takes a little bit trying to convince them that you're not trying to poison them I find within a very short time they're licking this off my finger. When I see that they're willing to eat freely off my finger then I use a small spoon to try and get them to eat from that. Try to get them eating the soupy on their own. It might pique their interest. Most ferrets will willingly eat the food once they actually TASTE it, so the only struggle you *should* encounter is them not wanting to taste it. Don't be surprised if your furbabies' initial reaction is to gag, spit and look at you like, what are you trying to poison me with But don't let them get away with it The hardest part is to insist and be consistent. Please also be aware that after years of kibbles they aren't aware that what you're offering them is indeed food. Once they willingly eat from your finger and spoon, work to try and get them eating this out of a dish or plate. Each time you make your soupy, use a little less water to make it thicker/chunkier. Replace soup with fresh soup every 4-6 hours. You can make a large batch if you like and freeze into ice cubes or cupcake trays. Then you just thaw a portion and serve. OR you can put a frozen "cube" into their bowl and let it slowly thaw. This is a good way to slowly ease them into wet foods. I use this method to switch all my furbabies and I've personally switched approximately 30 ferrets of my own in the last few years. ciao
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Post by llhd1990 on Oct 13, 2010 2:55:44 GMT -5
That is helpful, i just have to get a blender. My little one is still a baby only 5 months old, i though he would go right for it being little, but he wont. Can i buy all that at like a store or should i try finding like a butcherie? And should i try more than one kind of meat?
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Post by sherrylynne on Oct 13, 2010 9:29:18 GMT -5
You can indeed get it from a store. That's where I buy most of my meats And for right now, I'd just stick with chicken. It's one of the blandest in taste, so usually makes a good switching meat.
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Post by Heather on Oct 13, 2010 12:58:05 GMT -5
I would have thought at 5 months he wouldn't be that stubborn either....he's a ferret....there are no standard features You can use ground chicken, though I'm not as fond of that. Other than the higher bacteria count, I also grind up the skin and fat. Most ground chicken is almost too lean for ferrets and cats. ciao
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