Okay so here's the deal you have several choices on how to switch your kids to raw. You can fast switch or you can slow switch.
The short approach usually involves some fasting of your ferret and the switching procedure is accelerated.If you are uncomfortable with fasting your ferret (or if you can’t fast your ferret(s) because of medical issues, such as insulinoma), you can try other methods, like the “long approach:". The long approach eliminates the fasting steps and switching time is lengthened.
Here are the two methods I'll be providing you. Let me know which one you would like to pursue
Switching Method #1: Chicken Chunks and Babyfood (Shorter Approach):1. Remove all kibble from the cage for up to 12 hours. Do NOT feed your ferret during this time, but offer plenty of water. After 12 hours take some baby food and mix it with a finely minced RAW boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin, sprinkle some crushed kibble on top of the mixture, and add a few drops of ferretone. Offer the mixture to your ferret. If they turn their nose up at the mix, put a little on their nose to encourage them to try it. If your ferret eats the new food without any problems, continue to offer new food every 2-4 hours. If your ferret still refuses to eat you may fast them for up to but not exceeding 24 hours.
2. (Refer to this step only if your ferret is refusing to eat the new food) After 24 hours offer a fresh batch of the new food to your ferret. If they continue to turn their nose up at the food and its been 24 hours, squirt a few Ccs of baby food and ground kibble into their mouths using a feeding syringe. Don’t fill them up, but give them just enough food to keep their tummies from rumbling. In a few hours offer the new food mixture yet again. Eventually they should get hungry enough to try it.
3. Once your ferrets are eating the mix, gradually increase the size of the chicken chunks and phase out the crushed kibble, then the babyfood, then the ferretone. Within a few days your ferret should be eating rather large chunks of chicken tenderloin. Eventually they should be eating a whole tenderloin that has not been cut up.
4. Once they are completely weaned off the babyfood, kibble, and tone, offer them a chicken wingette (also called party wings). Eventually your ferret should learn to eat the bone. Once your ferret reaches this point you should begin to see a difference in the consistency of their stools (if their stools have been runny/ or loose they will start to firm up due to the fiber content of the bone).
5. Once they are eating party wings with ease, you can add chicken wings, legs, thighs, necks, and backs.
6. Once your ferret is used to the chicken and is eating all parts (including the bone) begin to introduce a meal of organ meat once a week (expect loose stools from this meal at first).
7. Once your ferret is eating meat, bone, and organ start to add new foods into the diet (such as egg, beef, turkey, etc) See What A Ferret’s Diet Can/Should Include and Sample Weekly Feeding Schedules for ideas on what to feed and when to feed it.
Supplies:
1.) Feeding syringe
2.) Meat-only babyfood (chicken, beef, turkey, or veal)
3.) Ferretone, Ferretlax, Fish oil, or your ferret’s favorite treat
4.) Raw, bonless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken breast tenderloins
5.) Raw chicken wingettes (sections of chicken wings)
6.) Patience
Switching Method #2: Aleronferret's Tried-and-True Never Fail Switching Method! (Longer Approach):Most ferrets are stubborn about food switching but if you stick with it, they can all be switched to whatever you'd like them to eat. I have switched ferrets of all ages and some who flat out refused to willingly try anything but brand X kibble. I don't fast to switch (although I know that works for some people too) but instead very slowly transition them to eating raw food. Works with cats too
My tried and true, fail-proof switching plan is as follows (crossposted from another board, permisson to crosspost providing my email contact (AgileGSD@aol.com) is included).
Getting ferrets to switch to raw food is probably the biggest issue ferret owners face with the diet and is a major reason more ferrets aren't fed raw. Often owners try to switch their ferret but their ferret refuses to even try any form of raw meat. It is true that adult ferrets are quite difficult to introduce a new diet to. However, through trial and error I have created a step-by-step method to switch even the most stubborn, kibble lovin' fuzzy (or cats which are just as bad) to a raw diet.
All you need to start the transition is your ferret's regular food and some ground meat. The ground meat can be either pre-made commercial raw food or ground chicken/turkey from the grocery store.
1. Begin adding some moisture to the kibble by dripping some water over it before feeding. I like to use warm water - not too hot or cold. If your fuzzy already will eat canned food you may be able to skip to step 5 by taking away all kibble and just feeding canned.
2. Add more water to the day's kibble each day as long as your ferret is willing to eat the food. Most will eat wet kibble fairly easily and I think this is because their imprinting is more about smell than texture.
3. Once the ferret is eating the kibble with enough water to make it soggy begin mashing the kibble up a little bit with a fork before feeding.
4. Slowly mash the kibble up more each feeding until the ferret is eating all of the food well mashed. The mashed kibble should look almost like canned food now.
5. Only if the ferret is eating the canned-food-looking-mashed kibble without a problem is it time for this step. Now you will take just a tiny bit of the raw ground meat - maybe a pinch or two and add it to the kibble before mashing. Mash the kibble as usual and be sure the bit of raw food is well mixed with the rest.
6. As long as your ferret will eat the food with the raw meat mixed in you can double the amount of raw food added about every other day. Be sure you are mashing it up well with the rest of the food.
7. At some point there will get to be a lot of raw food in the bowl and it will no longer be hidden in with the mashed kibble. That's great as long as your ferret is consistently eating the food. Once this happens and as long as your ferret is still eating the food, begin cutting back on the amount of kibble in the bowl. The kibble should be cut just as slowly as the raw is added in.
8. Cut back on the kibble until there is no kibble left in the bowl. Congrats! Now your fuzzies will eat raw! It should be mentioned that if at any point during this switch your ferret refuses the food go back a step or two. If your ferret decides mashed kibble is yucky go back to just adding a bit of water. I think the main issue with switching ferrets to raw is to be determined that you want to do it and that the ferrets will be switched. Don't let setbacks make you give up - keep trying and they will eat raw
Now if you were using ground meat from the store to switch, you will need to start thinking about what foods you are going to feed. Feeding all ground food is ok for switching but bone and organs are needed for a balanced diet. Pre-made raw food (with bones, organs and meat all ground) is available, but it tends to be the most expensive way to feed raw. Other options are chicken necks/wing tips, livers and hearts from any number of animals, frozen fish such as smelt, mice (live or frozen), frozen chicks or rabbit parts.
I would start with something easy and try to find chicken necks or wing tips. To switch your fuzzie to eating raw meaty bones:
1. Chop the RMB (raw meaty bone such as a chicken neck) into small parts and mix it into the ground meat your fuzzy is now eating.
2. As long as your fuzzy eats the meal as usual add the chopped RMB every day. Every other day chop the RMB into slightly larger pieces.
3. Soon you won't have to chop it up at all! Once the chopped parts are quite large try just offering the whole RMB.
In my experience once a ferret will eat raw meaty bones such as chicken necks and wing tips, introducing new ones isn't hard. Other RMBs you can use would be chicken wings (all parts), chicken breasts and chicken backs. These all have some bones which ferrets can eat and some which are too large and they will leave. These shouldn't make up the bulk of the diet but can be used for variety - just remember to pick up the leftover bones before company comes. An important part of raw feeding is variety so try to feed different things every couple days. My raw fed guys are fed twice a day.
Switching to mice is a bit different because they don't look like regular RMBs. With my ferrets who hesitated on mice (the older ones) I held the mouse near them and when they grabbed it to try to take it I held on. This caused the ferret to "open up" the mouse and see that it was full of meat. I wouldn't try switching right from kibble to mice unless you have a ferret who is willing to try new foods.
This method of switching works so well even on older ferrets because you are introducing the raw food in phases. To start you introduce moisture where the ferret is used to dry, second you add a different texture, after that just a hint of a different smell, then a different but now somewhat familiar smell, followed by a different but now somewhat familiar texture. Doing this tricks the ferret into accepting raw food as the norm instead of something totally weird and new.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aleronferrets is a member of the Holistic Ferret Forum (and a Holistic Ferret Mentor). She is also a natural ferret breeder. If you have specific questions regarding this switching method, or if you would like to speak with her personally, please feel free to email her at the address listed above, OR come check her out on the Holistic Ferret Forum. Special thanks to Nikki (aleronferrets) for allowing Holistic Ferret to use a copy of her “tried and true” switching method.
Which method do you feel most comfortable with? Fast method or slow method? Bear in mind, that its OK to take it slow, and some ferrets will NEED to go slow.
lmao yes i came out of the cage with all of them fang (the bitter) went nuts over them and even gave them one cricket it was so funny cause when they took off with it the cricket moved they dropped it but went after it later and fang caught it and ate it 
today we are going to try pinkies i will take some pixs and share thats if u all want to see em. but this is a good thing cause all of them were after the cricket lol its funny to watch them with it lol. 
yea .
So a pinky is 'nuttin compared to that! 
