Marshall and Oreo's big switch!

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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 currently have 2 ferrets, Marshall and Oreo, I was told Marshall was 4 and Oreo was 3 when I got them so they are 5 and 4 currently. Both males, They are having weight issues right now but healthy other then that. (losing weight)

2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup).
My boys eat Uekanuba (Probably spelled wrong) Kitten chow and I usually give them a small bit of boiled chicken for treats. No supplements.

3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to?
I would like to add raw and whole prey to their diet but still want to continue them on kibble with that.

4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet?
It was a suggestion made by my vet to get the boys more of the fat, protien and nutrients they need.

5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets?
My vet got me interested in the raw feeding but I had been thinking about whole prey for a while.

6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I believer they are underweight, finally got them to hold still long enough to weigh them again Marshall is 1 and 1/2 pounds and Oreo is 2 pounds, they have good muscles but the weight is an issue.

7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?)
Teeth and gums are healthy, I can try to get a picture. They get their teeth cleaned every day.

8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat.
Both have soft fluffy coats...Marshal is white with some black and silver hairs here and there. Oreo is I BELIEVE a sable mitt.

9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom?
I really don't know I never thought to count how many times a day they poop or pee...

10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell?
No...not stinky...

11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor?
Not to bad honestly but they just had baths a couple hours ago to.

12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level?
8 and 10

13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)? They will sit at the cage door and watch me while I'm getting their food but I wouldn't call it really..excited.

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

15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share?
Well I love them, they are always bringing joy to my life and making me laugh...I would love to make sure they are as healthy as they can be.

16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below:
Will post as soon as I can get some batteries for the camera.


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

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?
Yes

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?***
Yes

[charmantpapillon]

well to start off try cuttin up som boneless skinless chicken breast into kibble sized chunks and coaing or sprinkling with kibble dust. they may or may not try it so just be patient we'll find a technique and a mentor that works for you =)

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I'm sorry, being new to all of this I got in a bit of a rush. I tried to feed pinkie mice earlier today and that was a success. I had a recipe for duck soup as well and that is what they got for dinner tonight, I hadn't had a chance to check back here I hope you won't be mad at me. They seem to like it alot!

I used the following recipe:
1/2 cups chicken gizzards and hearts
2 jars chicken and gravy baby food
1 cup kibble
1 cup water

This was all blended together in the food processor and turned out creamy and boy did it stink but the boys seemed to love it. I think that the transition to raw and whole prey will be an easy one!

[charmantpapillon]

No no no we arent mad at you at ALL! Use the method that works best for you did they actually eat the pinkies? And i dont see anything wrong with your duk soup recipie looks pretty standard to me. =)

[Forum Administrator]

Oh goodness, no! We are not mad at all! We are HAPPY if they tried the pinkies and ate them! That is great!

Here is what I would do if they ate the pinkies, I would give them pinkies daily for the next few days. As long as they eat them without any problems, then your next step would be to move them up to fuzzy mice, then to adult mice (so you are gradually increasisng the size).

Give that a go and let us know what happens. Since (I think) they are already eating whole prey now (pinkies) we'll tackle whole prey feeding first, THEN raw feeding.

Also, is there a particular reason you'd like to continue to feed them kibble? If you are concearned about nutritional balance, you need not be. We are here to help you formulate a proper, balanced natural diet that will help your pet steer clear of nutritional deficiency or excess.

If you like the idea of kibble because its convinent and nice to be able to leave it out at all times, then I'd stongly encourage you to try freeze-dried raw foods instead of kibble. You can leave them out just like kibble (because they are freeze dried) but they are free of all the nasty crap in kibble: corn, wheat, soy, potato, preservatives, byproducts. PLUS, the freeze-dried foods below are all fortified with vitamins and minerals so they can be fed as a complete diet. They are NOT treats.

The following brands are all wonderful selections:

Ziwipeak
Wysong Archetypal
Stella and Chewy's
Animal Food Service.

All the above products (except wysong and AFS) can be purchased from Casey's Hidden Pantry:

www.caseyshiddenpantry.com/

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Thanks for the responses, I'm glad that no one is upset with me. Yes they did eat the pinkies. When I first put them down they sniffed for a moment then gobbled them right up. They were actually looking for more afterwords.

The reason I wanted to keep them on kibble is because right now I am low income and I am kind of worried about the price of things. Raising my own rats and mice I know the whole prey won't be a problem, the problem is in the raw. I have been told not to just use one kind of meat and some of the things I've heard to use can be pricey.

I'm not sure the price on those there but I do know when I was buying actual ferret food (Zupream) it is 1495 for a small bag...I know as a ferret owner I should be expected to have the money to spend and I was fine when I first got them however right now I am having financial difficulties. At the current time I am living with my uncle who is helping out with the cost of the animals. (His snakes eat the rats/mice aswell so he does his share.) He bought everything I got to feed them raw, it isn't much but enough to last a couple weeks.

My family is having ALOT of problems right now. I am a bit overwhelmed and while I love the idea of feeding whole prey and raw I'm a bit touchy with the money thing. I know this probably sounds stupid or childish but I guess it's just my rough spot in life...hopefully everything will get better soon.

[Forum Administrator]

Well if you have your own feeder mice then I'd definitly offer those daily.

Feeding raw can actually be quite cheap. You dont have to buy the "fancy" meats like duck and quail. The following meats are all really affordable:

Turkey necks

Pork

Chicken gizzards, hearts, livers, and necks

Cornish game hen (whole, dressed game hen is only like $1.50 each at walmart). Depending on the size of your ferrets (and the size of the game hen) you can get about 4 meals out of 1 hen.

Also, check out these tips to save money:

How to Save Money When Feeding A Natural Diet:

For Raw Foods:

1. Always look for meat that is on sale because its about to reach its "sell by date" I can buy meat for 30% off or more! Just take the meats home, porition it out into freezer baggies and freeze.

2. Shop at walmart, sams club, or costco. You can find really cheap cornish game hen at walmart and if you buy in bulk at say, sams club, you can really save a bundle!

3. Vary the cut of meat you feed (dont always feed chicken wings, feed legs too, and dont always feed the same cut of pork) buy what is on sale, use coupons, etc. That way your babies get variety and you save $$$

4. Make friends with your local butcher. See if he can sell you scraps of meat for cheap (or even free). Always be sure to tip and its also nice if you give them a "thank you card" or something. Its a great way to save money and get extra meats.

5. Check out freecycle and craigslist and see if anyone wants to clear out their freezer of old deer meat (especially if its hunting season and people are looking to get their freezer's ready for this year's meat) or even freezer burned meat (its okay as long as it doesnt make up the bulk of the diet).

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If you like you can PM me your location and I can work with you to find local slaughterhouses, butchers, and raw feeding co-ops so that you can find affordable raw food. Raw feeding can actually cost very little, as long as you know all the tips and tricks

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BEWARE!!!!

Poopy question:

Well I was looking in the litter box and I realized poops are runny and, they're a different color then normal, a lot lighter. Usually their poops are dark brown and very solid...this is really runny and light colored...not even really brown...kind of a pastel pink or skin color maybe I'm not sure how to describe it...is this normal when switching to raw and whole prey?

[charmantpapillon]

you are sure to get a few funky poops when the body adjusts to raw. i didnt get any SUPER funky poos but i'm sure they'll clear up in a day or two Giuli usually reccomends mixing their water with unflavored pedialyte to keep them from getting dehydrated until their poos are a little more normal, they wont be the nice neat packages that kibble poos are becuase meat doesnt hae the plant matter and carbs that kibble does.

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Thanks, I was hoping it was just the body adjusting. Their poops are a little firmer today then yesterday. Anybody have a picture of what a normal poop should look like for a raw fed ferret? It would be very helpful, sorry if that sounds icky.

the boys had 2 pinkies this morning and I managed to get a hold of a couple frozen thawed young rabbits from a friend who feeds rabbits to his snakes, they had those for supper and loved them. So now I know that they like rabbit too and I know he always has extra because he buys it by the bulk.

I also gave each a chicken heart for a treat, I hope that is ok.

[charmantpapillon]

chicken hearts are great! they need the taurine and since rabbit is already naturally low in taurine and freezing depleates the taurine even more hearts are great always =D and make sure they get some bones, pinkies are still mostly cartilage instead of bone and they need the connectie tissue but they also need bone. lemme know when you upgrade to hoppers!

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Another successful day so far. I tried fuzzies today and they were gone in seconds. As fast as they are catching on to the idea of whole prey I honestly think I can start them on hoppers very soon. What do you think? I was wondering if it would be ok to try one for each of them tonight?

Also I noticed bellies are starting to get bigger, though they still feel bony elsewhere. I know it will take time for them to put on the weight but I feel this is a good sign and I am happy to see it. Since I've switched over the boys have also been much more energetic and playful. When I got them marshall would play with me once in a while and oreo was the explorer, he wanted nothing to do with anybody. They both are playing with me, the dogs (small dogs and supervised) and the cats along with each other!

I'm amazed to see the change! I am very happy my boys are getting better and feeling better. I have to thank the wonderful people at Ferret Village for referring me here.

[charmantpapillon]

I think if they are willing to eat them advance them as fast as they will go. =) B east started on full grown mice. you can even try raw meat trimmings from your food (some people like to trimfat and grissle off f their meat) you can do that see if they take to it. And im glad to hear they are chunking up a ittle =)

[Forum Administrator]

What she said

[tsslilsis]

Hi there!!!! I'm Katherine (Ketlin for short, you can use which ever you prefer) and I'll be mentoring you through your switching to a raw diet. I have three ferrets, Ravi, Weezer and Lillian. I've had Weezer just over a year, Lillian for nearly a year and Ravi for about 7 weeks. All three are rescued. Ravi and Lillian went onto raw the first time we gave it to them (the days they got here) so they switched over very easily and it sounds like your little ones are going to be very easy to get onto a balanced diet!!!

I see that a main concern of yours is the cost of feeding a raw diet. It can be much more affordable than a kibble diet.. I have to be cautious of what is spent because not only do I have three ferrets to care for but I also have four medium/large dogs that are fed a raw and kibble diet in rotation. I get 99.9% of the meat I feed from slaughter houses and meat processors. Right now we have 150 pounds of deer in the freezer but it has to be frozen for a minumum of two weeks to kill of the possible parasites, the same should be done for any wild game. Beef, pork, chicken and such can be fed right away. We have a lot of places around here that slaughter cows and they throw away roughly 35 55gal barrels of meat scraps per week and half or more of that is edible scrap.. You really just need to be willing to dig for it, but some places will save things for you if you call in advance. Lungs are a great meaty meat and a set from a cow could will feed your ferrets for a while (Obviously they can't be fed as a complete diet..). they are "trash" in the meat industry and just get tossed in the land fills.

It is great that your guys have already started eating some whole prey. You can go ahead and feed them hoppers whenever you are ready. Some people start out with them.. There is no set time to introduce them to the ferrets.

If you have any questions, just ask! I am here to help you. Don't forget to update often!

-~Ketlin