Frank The (RAW FOOD) Tank

[karmaghost]

I've had my ferret, "Frank The Tank", for 5 weeks. He is a Marshall/Petco ferret, almost 16 weeks old. This is my first post here so I'll break down what I've done since I brought Frank home.

(week 1 & 2)
I started off feeding him Natural Gold ferret kibble but it was way too stinky so immediately we wanted to convert Frank to a raw diet. During the first week I introduced him to Fancy Feast wet cat food - beef, chicken, and turkey mince varieties. Basically he didn't try the wet food for the first time until he was starving but ever since then he loves the canned food - any of those 3 flavours. I'd feed him kibble in the morning and wet cat food at night.

(week 3)
About two weeks ago I started giving him a raw chicken wingette with about half of it cut into pieces and the rest on the bone and he took to them immediately. He actually would go straight to the bowl and take off with the bone piece and eat the smaller chunks later. Now he eats the chicken wings whole no problem. After two days of him eating wings I fasted him for the day and gave him a whole turkey neck. He didn't touch it for awhile but by morning he had chewed off most of the meat.

I have noticed that he still doesn't use his front paws to eat/hold his food while he tears off chunks. He just shakes the food to bite off pieces of meat. Does anyone else's ferret do this or will he eventually figure it out?

(week 4)
So about a week ago I bought some frozen mice (fuzzies) from the pet store and was leaving them in his cage cut in half with a bit of ferretone on them. He licks the ferretone off but won't touch them otherwise. I also tried dangling it in his face trying to get him to play with it but he wasn't interested.

I tried cutting one mouse into kibble sized pieces but he hasn't touched that yet either. So then I made a 'soup' of kibble, raw mice chunks, and raw chicken chunks.

I left it in his cage but He didn't eat for about 24 hours but eventually he drank all the liquid/soup and pulled all the mice chunks and chicken chunks out and left them in his cage.

(week 5)
Since the 3 day whole prey attempt I decided I was doing pretty well with him eating whole raw chicken wings and raw turkey necks so I decided to learn some more about switching fuzzbutts to raw food and try again next week.

At this stage Frank is eating Evo Ferret kibble, raw chicken wings, wet cat food (beef, chicken, turkey) and raw turkey necks.

Can you give me some advice about getting my ferret to eat whole mice? Is it better to start with the smallest size or maybe a full grown size?
Or would it be easier to get him to eat a whole chick since he's already familiar with the raw chicken flavour?

Ultimately I really want Frank to be eating whole prey because it seems the healthiest and most natural thing for him to eat.

Thanks,
Carrie

[desertram]

wow thats awesome but fancy feast is really bad for him it has a ton of bi-products and fillers in it and lots of salt and sugar in it you also might want to look at the back of the can to see if it has Beet pulp in it that is one of the worst fillers out there that is used in most dry foods but sometimes they use it in lowend wet also. wish some of my guys would just go right to the chicken wings lol there are alot of awesome ppl here that will help u on this. we give ours pinkies and fuzzies and make a little slit in the tummy. good luck with it.

[Forum Administrator]

Here is some advice on how to get your ferret to try mice (from the upcoming HF website):

Switching Method #1: Small to Big (Shorter Approach)

1. Take a frozen pinky and while it is still frozen cut it up into pieces. Yes, this is nasty, but you want to feed whole prey. Right? The smaller you can chop up the pinky, the better. Mix it in with your ferret’s kibble. Try offering your ferret a smaller portion of kibble so that you don’t have to go fishing pinky arms and feet out of your ferrets kibble.

2. If your ferret eats AROUND the pinky parts, remove the kibble from your ferret’s cage, and instead offer them cut up pinky coated in ferretone and crushed kibble. If your ferret STILL refuses to try the pinky, you can fast them for up to 12 hours (if they are non-insulinomic) and then offer the kibble coated pinky again.

3. Once your ferret is eating the cut up chunks of pinky, gradually increase the size of the chunks. Your goal is to eventually get your ferret eating a whole frozen-thawed pinky.

4. Once your ferret is eating whole pinkies, slowly stop coating the pinkies in ferretone and kibble.

5. Once your ferret is eating plain pinkies, you can begin to introduce a larger size of mouse to your ferret. Offer your ferret a frozen-thawed fuzzy. Again, if your ferret refuses to touch the fuzzy, you have the option of fasting your ferret for up to 12 hours and then offering the fuzzy again.

6. Once your ferret is eating fuzzy mice, you can offer your ferret a weaned/hopper mouse (the next size of mouse).

7. Once your ferret is eating weaned/hopper mice you can introduce a small mouse (finally Yay )

8. Once your ferret is eating small mice you can begin to introduce medium, large, and extra large mice. You can also start to get your ferret used to other types of whole prey including: chicks, rats, guinea pigs, quail, etc. For a complete list of what types of prey you can feed your ferret, check out: What A Ferret’s Diet Can/Should Include. To learn how to create a weekly feeding schedule for your ferret, check out: Sample Weekly Feeding Schedules.


Switching Method #2: Try Live (Just This Once) (Shorter Approach)

An excellent way to trigger the “hunting instinct” in your ferret is to engage them with some live prey. Even if you decide to feed frozen prey after this, it can still help to offer live, just this once.

1. Take a small, live mouse and put your ferret in a confined area with the mouse. Bathtubs, sterillite tubs, boxes, and such all work well. Just be sure the mouse can not escape from the box (you’d be suprised how high they can jump when they want to escape )

2. Supervise your ferret as they try to kill the mouse. It might take your ferret a few tries to figure out how to kill the mouse. In fact, your ferret might not kill the mouse at all, but seeing the mouse move (even if your ferret doesnt actually kill it) might just be enough to show your ferret that the weird fuzzy thing you are putting in their cage (frozen-thawed mouse) is food.

3. If your ferret does not kill the mouse, it is up to you to dispatch the mouse The most humane way is to take its head between your thumb and forefinger and quickly snap its neck. The mouse might continue to move and twitch after this, but if you have cleanly severed the spine and spinal cord, then you can rest assured knowing that the mouse is indeed dead, and that the spasms are just muscle contortions that occur after the mouse has died. It might seem gruesome or cruel to dispatch the mouse, but if your ferret has injured the mouse, it is indeed the most humane thing to do.

4. Once the mouse is dead (either because you killed it or your ferret killed it) take some shears or scissors and cut the mouse in half, or cut the stomach open. By exposing the guts to your ferret you might be able to trigger their desire to eat the mouse.


Switching Method #3: Broaden Those Horizons First (Longer Approach)[/i]

Whole prey just looks, smells, tastes, and feels so different from kibble. Sometimes it can be easier to wean your ferret on to raw foods, and then work them on to whole prey from there, since the difference between whole prey and raw foods is not as huge as the difference between whole prey and kibble.

1. Pick one of the switching methods in the “how to switch to a raw diet” section and get your ferret eating a wide variety of raw foods.

2. Begin to introduce mice and other prey using one of the methods listed above.


Help I’ve tried and tried, and my ferret STILL wont eat prey

If your ferret still refuses to eat whole prey, don’t despair Keep trying the methods above, and eventually your ferret should come around and give whole prey a shot. Here are some tips to entice even the finickiest eater to try whole prey:

*Offer freshly killed prey, or warm frozen-thawed prey up to “body temperature” by putting the prey into a plastic baggie and letting it sit in some warm/hot water.

*Cut open the stomach of the prey and then squirt ferretone (or your ferret’s favorite treat) on the guts and fur. If your ferret turns their nose up at this, try playing “tug of war” with the mouse and your ferret

*Try offering a variety of prey. If your ferret turns their nose up at mice, try day old chicks or quail. Many ferrets find these foods irresistible, and you can easily wean them on to mice if they start eating this type of whole prey

[Forum Administrator]

Ah and I agree, Fancy food isn't a good idea. In fact, I would cut out the raw cat food all together No need to feed it really.

[karmaghost]

Thanks for your help. To be honest I was using the cat food at first to broaden his 'tastebuds' and I bought about 24 cans (in bulk at wal-mart). So now I feed it to him when I've run out of raw food and forgot to go to the shop. So its just a backup but I didn't realise it was that bad for him.

Here are some photos of Frank eating his first raw chicken wingette - bone first.





This is a photo of Frank today celebrating his first 4th of July with his first whole raw chicken wing

[desertram]

cool pixs yea canned food for any animal isnt really good its 90% water and is made of mostly bi-proucts and fillers and fancy feast is one of the worst out there if we give any canned its for our dogs and its soild gold or wellness no fillers and no bi-products in it all natrual human grade meat.

[Forum Administrator]

Actually if you get a good canned food, its BETTER then kibble (but not as good as a natural diet). EVO canned cat foods are actually quite decent. The high moisture content in canned foods is good, but like desertram said if they contain byproducts then they are a no-no.

I love the pic of him celebrating the fourth of July with a wing! Warms my heart to see a ferret eating REAL food. Thanks for sharing!

[karmaghost]

Yesterday I fried an egg for Frank and left the yolk runny. I mixed the shell in with it and he loved the yellow bit with the shell. He didn't really touch the cooked white part.
Unfortunately I was dealing with bright yellow diarrhea for the rest of the day. Then as his poop started to go back to normal (once he ate some chicken) it (the poop) had pieces of shell in it.
Frank didn't seem to care.

[Forum Administrator]

LOL Yeah BRIGHT yellow/orange poop is not uncommon when feeding eggs.

[karmaghost]

Frank has only been eating chicken wings the last few days. He really only eats about one whole raw wing per day.
Is that enough? He's not gaining as much weight per week as he used to. He's about 2lbs atm.

[Forum Administrator]

For a 16-18 week old ferret, that doesnt sound like that much. Does he eat the whole wing? Are you offering him additional foods besides the wing? Now is the best time to introduce him to a variety foods. Get him started on chunks of boneless beef, pork, lamb, etc.

When my guys were babies they ate about double what Frank is currently eating, BUT bear in mind that every ferret is different. Some might not eat alot. When they are young its probably best to offer as much food as they want. They'll eat when they need. Ferret rarely overeat

[karmaghost]

He eats the whole wing eventually. There's just a few bone shards left. I've been giving him a new wing in the morning and evening but usually he hasn't finished the old one. He always has food (raw meat) in his cage so he does have the opportunity to eat. I'll chop up some pork for him tonight and see what happens.

[Forum Administrator]

Well if he's CHOOSING not to eat then I wouldnt worry.

Try offering the pork. Can you think of some other meats you'd want to offer? The more meats you get him on, the better

[karmaghost]

After 24 hours Frank still hadn't tried the pork so when I went to bed I put half a frozen pork chop in his cage so if he got hungry overnight and realised the pork was for eating he'd have some fresh meat defrosted in there. I also took a photo of his food bowl so when I woke up I could compare and see if he ate any. when I got up six hours later he had definitely eaten some and dragged off one of the bones to chew on (I left a lot of meat on the bones for him).

So now he's had raw chicken wings, raw turkey necks, and raw pork.

I bought some chicken livers today. So I'll see if he likes them next.

[Forum Administrator]

Excellent! You are giving 3 different types of meat, bone, and soon organ! You are almost "fully switched". We encourage everyone to try and include as many meats as possible: beef and lamb are good additions At mimimum, 3 types of meat WILL work, but be sure to include different cuts of those meat (chicken wings AND legs AND thighs, etc. Pork chops and pork steaks and pork butt etc. Turkey necks, turkey meat from legs and wings, etc) Yet another way to include variety is to feed younger and older versions of each meat so:

Mutton/lamb
Beef/veal
Pork/piglet
Turkey/poult
Chicken/cornish game hen

The reason for including such variety is beacuse different ages of meat and different cuts of meat and different types of meat all contain different nutritional compositions. The more variety you include, the more nutrients you can ensure your ferret is getting.

Everything sounds good so far Im excited! Once Frank gets the hang of eating a variety of raw foods, then you can work to introduce whole prey (I see you mentioned you were interested in doing this). Whopee! You are close to "graduating" and being fully switched! Im really proud

Once you've gotten Frank eating organs once a week, then I'll want to see you give me a sample of a weekly feeding schedule. This way I can tell you if Frank seems to be getting all he needs, or if you need to add/remove certain foods.

Go frank go!