Boris, Vincent, Lucrezia and Sinnead go raw!

[mustelidmusk]

Mine are the same way - won't touch cooked meat. If the edges get partially cooked, I have to smash the cooked part into finely minced pieces an mix it in really well - and I still get dirty looks from the brats

I posted earlier today - but something happened and the message failed to get posted
ANyway, let's see.....

Sinnead- if you want to move Sinnead along, you can you can do one or more of the following:
* Put some larger bits of meat in the soup
* Add some finely choopped organ meats in the soup (start very small amounts atfirst andincrae to abot 25% organ meats.
* offer a segment of chicken wing. If you give her a wing ad soup, give the wing first when she's hungry.

For the Boys, I recomend playing tug-of-war with a strip of raw meat. For Vincent, put about 5 pieces of kibble inide the den, and put a small amount of soup in the den as well. Feed vincent a few licks of food from your fingers, and then set him down in fron of the den.

You may alo want to try tiny pieces of chopped chicken coated with crushed kibble. The boys may like this.

Another thing about ferrets - some of them are nibblers. So try feeding the boys a few licks, play with them for a while and offer more licks during play time. You'll probably get more food into them this way. also offer a small bowl of fresh water. After they drink, offer some food on your fingers. You want to integrate feeding with play time.

Don't woory about the setbacks - it's normal, and they'll get over it quickly.

Nave fun with them!!!
-jennifer







If you add a bit of organ meat to the soup for Sinnead, then I'd offer this to the boys as well. A change may intrigue them.

[sherrylynne]

I tried the organ meat,(liver), boys as usual thought it was poison! . Sinnead had some, but didn't seem overly fond of it. This morning I tried ground beef again. For Sinnead, I put some small pieces on a dish and put some blended soup/beef on it. She ate all but the pieces. Boris actually had about a tablespoon from my fingers. Vincent is odd. I hold him to give him the blend, but he struggles backwards while continuing to lick it from my fingers. Almost like he doesn't want it, but figures he has to take it if it's from my fingers. If I put him down to let him lick it, he immediately runs away and hides. Some bloody carnivores ! I tried the play, lick, play, but I still have to hunt them down to do the lick part.

[sherrylynne]

I'm wondering, is it possible they are filling up on kibble early morning before they have their soup/raw blend? And would it hurt to remove their kibble last thing at night, so they are hungry in the morning when I give the blend? They generally free feed on their kibble in the cage.

[mustelidmusk]

As long as all ferrets are healthy, and younger than 5, it's OK, to let then go over night with no food.

It's very possible, and in fact likely, that your ferrets are eating kibble in the wee hours of the moring. Ferrets are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dusk and dawn - this is when their prey i most active. So, they are likely to want to eat at these times.

Anyother option is to provde a small amout of food at night. This food can even be a few freeze-dried meat treats or a very small amount of kibble. Again, withholding food for 12 hours will not hurt your ferret unlees there's an existing health issue. Definitely cut back or withhold the kibble iat night. Also, during the daytime, offer less kible as well.

I'm not a big fan of withholding food for extended periods of ftime. The reason is because blood sugar levels can drop even n younger, healthy ferrets as wll as in older ferrets. Low and/or rapid drops in blood sugar can result in nausea which goes away when food refuels the system. BUT, the lst thing you want to do when you're naeated is eat! I can clearly remember this as a ery active child.

Once you start this strategy, you'll want to monitor your ferrets' weighs more closely o make sure everybody is eating enough.

Also, if you can incorporate raw feeding into playtime (get them liking soup from your fingers several times during a play session - o f you can get them to play tug-of-war with you with a piece of meat, the food becomes associated with postive expriences. Aceptin food as part of playtime becomes part ofthe routine, and they'l be more likely to give something new a try when you "ask" them to taste something.

Also, don't forget to enrich their senseof smell - keep thos ittle noses goin to build their curiousity in the their environment, which includes things to be tasted!!

Again, make sure you kids are not able to "ruin" their meals by pigging down on the junk food!

-jennifer

[sherrylynne]

Thanks. And I have a bit of good news. As usual, I left the soup/meat blend in the cage beside the kibble today, and so far, all Sinnead has eaten is the blend! She prefers it to the kibble! She still isn't touching the pieces of meat, but I'm so pleased with her! And I am going to leave the kibble out tonight, so maybe I can get them all to eat the mush in the morning.

[mustelidmusk]

WOW!!! That's AWESOME!!!!

Make the chunks of chickein the soup very small so iy will be more difficult to avoid the meat.

How are the Boys doing??? If you know the boys WILL eat the soup when the're hungry, put a little pressure on by removing kibble in the evening and providing a smaller amount io kibble in the day. Ideally, the kibble bowl should be empty empty when its soup time for dinner.

some ferret just require loger exposureto raw before they'll accept it. Once they accept it (but they won't necessarily choose it), you can start to control how much kibble and how much soup/met they get.

As you can see, ferrets will start to prefer the raw over the kibble. Make sure hose meat chunks are very small. Get those boys lapping up that soup! I'm pretty sure they'll go for it if they're a little hungry!

-jennifer

[sherrylynne]

Well, I withheld the kibble from about 9:30 last night until breakfast at 6:30 this morning. Sinnead did her usual, and had no problems with just the raw mush. Boris and Vincent ate from my fingers, and then actually had some from the dish! Not much, but it's a start! Also, how do I get them interested in tug with a wing, for example. I tried that last night, then again this morning, and absolutely no interest. Not even with ferretone on it! On an up note, they are doing a bit better with the lick, play, lick, though.

[mustelidmusk]

Go Boys!!!! Don't offer very of kibble today. They'll probably eat more soup at night, especially if they're hungry. I they act hungry mid-day, offer them a smal tidbit of raw chicken or small bit of soup. Make those chicken pieces very small.

Since we know they'll all eat the soup now, we can get a little more agresseive with forcing the change. Keep close eye on each ferret for weight loss, we don't want anyone to get underweight!

The lick, play, lick routine is good!!! It reinforces the taste of soup as food

To get your ferrets to play tug-of-war with chicken, get then all worked up and grabbing /tugging on something like an old wash cloth. Oe they're worked up, swap in the chicken forthe wascloth. I'd try a piece of chichen meat rather than a wing...the wing may seem too much like your finger to them!!!

If you get boneless, skinless chicken breast, there's usually a piece of cartilage that runs alone the edge of the half-breast. I trim this off before cooking my chicken. This strip of meat is what I've always used! It's easy to hang on to, and t doesn't fall apart so it doesn't end up getting stashed under furniture somewhere

You may want to put a sheet or blamket on the floor duing playme - or play on the bathroom for easy clean up. I used to take the sheets off the bed when they need to be washed anyway. I now have a small kiddie pool in the ferret room
for messy playtime!

I can't wait to see how things go tonight and tomorrow morning wth their appetites at work now that they know the soup is edible!

-jennifer

[sherrylynne]

I'll get the breasts when I do my shopping. Did more of the lick, play, lick again. I tried making the soup a little thicker this am, and of course Boris thought I was poisoning him again! He really is the limit! But, Vincent and Sinnead didn't do too badly. I also tried the sprinkle of crushed kibble on some of the mix, with no luck whatsoever! No one was interested! Anyway, they get a bit of kibble this morning, along side the raw mix, and we'll see how they've done when we get home from work! Thanks for all the support by the way. I think I'd probably have given up otherwise!

[sherrylynne]

Good news, and maybe silly question. First, in tug, I decided to try the wing anyway, since it's what I had on hand. Sinnead immedieately stole it, and ran off to eat it, with Vincent in hot pursuit! So I got him his own. They both ate most of the tip off! Boris as usual, had no interest whatsoever. Second, you mentioned about reducing kibble so they are hungry for supper. The problem is that I leave the dish of meat mush in the cage for Sinnead. Do I throw that out, and make a new one for supper, or just warm that one slightly. There is still a fair bit left when I get home, as she is the only one snacking on it. It is approximately 6am for brekkie, and it would be about 12 hours later for supper.
I'm also in the process of trying to find the freeze dried meat somewhere here in Calgary, to help save on the shipping costs!

[mustelidmusk]

GREAT NEWS on the wings!!!


I'd would'nt leave the soup out beyound 12 hours...just put less out, and if the soup is old, they sometimes won't touch it.

Now, for Boris...does he like olive oil? heavy cream? egg yolk? You can try puyting a bit of this in the ssoup. Is he licking soup from your fingers?

The dry foond does not need to be the Wysongs - in fact, since Boris is eating kibble, which is a balanced diet, any freeze-dried meats will suffice since small bits will be mixed in dry with the kibble. 2 of my ferrets did not switch through the soup method - they switched through dy foods. Boris may work better this way too!

Be sure to contiue offering food from your finger and wiping it on Boris's nose to make him taste it.
We need to find some kind of taste that Boris really likes and use that to entice him!

-jennifer

[sherrylynne]

I'm never sure what Boris will like, as it seems to change from day to day. One day, he likes the soup mix, and takes it willingly from my fingers, the next(same type soup mix), he acts like he's never seen it, tosses his head when I try to rub some on his nose, takes a very small bit willingly, then fights to get away! When I get him to play tug, he ignores the meat if I try to switch toy for meat. One day, lick, play, lick is fine, next not. He sure keeps me guessing!
On an up note, I finally found a store that will order Wysong's. It comes in next week! I figure even if I can't switch him to fresh raw, at least freeze dried is much better than kibble! And he WILL eat it!!!
One more thing. A friend of mine makes dehydrated liver treats. Just straight beef liver. How often can they have this for treats? Right now, I cut up a 1 sq. inch piece into several smaller ones, basically to salt their cage with.(They fight to be the first back in!). I use this about every 2nd day. Otherwise, it's Evo kitten kibble(about 6 pieces 2X day). What else could I use?

[sherrylynne]

Another bit of good news! Vincent actually prefers chunks of meat to ground! Vincent and Sinnead had a chicken wing split between them, and then tonight had approximately 1/2 ounce of raw pork strips each! First they stashed, then ate them! Can you give me an idea what they should have for a meal, breakfast and supper, each? And about how much? I've pretty much given up on the ground. The chunks they had were about 1 1/2" long, 1/2"wide, 1/4"deep. They had two each. If they prefer chunks, I'd rather give them that, if it can be done safely.

[mustelidmusk]

That's GREAT NEWS!!!

The wing chunks (and antything with bone) your'e giving are big enough so they can't grab and gulp a piece with bone that might be a little big to swallow. As long as they have to chew the piece to learn there's bone in it, your kids should be OK.

Liver: each ferret should get 1 chicken liver (or other type of liver that's the same size as the chicen liver) once a week. If your'e feeding dried liver, then the quantity should be almost half the size of a fresh chicken liver...the dried stuff shrinks a lot without all the water. The full week's servingof liver can be spread out during the week.

My kids ae currently eating as follows:
Breakfast = 1.5 oz. meat/bone per ferret
day= 1/8 cup freeze-dried complete diet and some freeze-dried meat treats per erret
evening = 1.5 oz. meat/bone per ferret
nights: 1/8 cup freeze-dried complete diet

All ferrets donot eat the same. Plus, mine will eat almost twice as much in the winter.

We''l have to work on Boris....start introducing him to a lot of different smlls - not just foo smells, but garden smells, dirty socks, citrus fruits, bars of soap... anything and everything to getthat nose intereted in everything you have to show him. We need to get his curiousity going through enrichment. It would not surprise me if Boris switches better through the freeze-dried foods. All 4 of my kids switched that way.

Stick with the chunks for the Vincent and Sinead for a few days to et them "hooked into ths. Yo can try soup with Boris, or you can take a break from it if you want. I really suspect that freeze-dried might be the ticket for Boris. Another option for boris id to mince a small amount of chicken meat, or use some ground beef, and put a small amount in with his kibble. The meat (escpecially chicken) will stick to the kibble. He'll be getting mostly kibble, but the tiny peices of mat will stick, and he'll get some of the eat too.

I have my fingers crossed for another good day of wings tomorrow!
-jennifer

[sherrylynne]

I tried Boris with some new and different smells yesterday,ie: fresh oregano, lemon balm, soap, etc. With almost all of them, the poor little fellow sneezed like mad ! I started to feel sorry for him, but at least he WAS interested in them! We also went out for our exploration of the back yard again. I try to get them out at least 3-4X a week, depending on weather and time considerations. Vincent loves the herb garden! Every time we go out, he heads there to roll in the fresh herbs . Sinnead just likes exploring. Oh, and they actually ate fresh liver last night! The first time they've done more than taste it! Vincent and Sinnead, of course.
One question, should I keep forcing Boris to taste all the meats? It's become a real fight, and I'm worried it will turn him right off anything fresh.