|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 17:53:59 GMT -5
Your ferret has predaor instincts no matter WHAT diet they are on. They should never be allowed by your bird no matter what they are eating.  Raw and whole prey wont make your ferret more agressive and it wont increase their prey drive. Your ferret already has a prey drive, this can be seen when they chase eachother, pounce on you, play with balls, etc.  That is excellent to hear that some jumped right on board! If the others wont try it, then take a step back, and just give the moist kibble. Its hard (especially with a bigger business) because soemtimes others are on a different stage of the transition. That can be rough, but you'll work around it. Its crucial that all ferrets go no longer then 24 hours without food. So if by that time you havent seen the others touch the food, its time to give them just plain kibble thats been wet (with no added ground beef). Hopefully they will just diving in, but even if they dont, its okay. Oh and yes, my ferrets eat feeder guinea pigs from rodentpro.com (they really dont look anything like pet guinea pigs I swear They are white and the size of a rat) Guinea pigs (also known as Cavys) are primarily used for food around the world. Their status as PETS is actually not the norm. In south america they are a delicassy (for people ) |
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 18:24:38 GMT -5
ok we gave them pinkies lol and fang was right there she ate one in in 2 bites it was gone the rest didnt want anything to do with so again fang ran off with the last 2 and put them in the litter pan lol it was the 1st try. and for the birds they have already bite the ferrets and they dont go near them at all lol
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 18:44:27 GMT -5
Well good for fang! Heck if you want you can even starting working with fang on eating bigger mice! Get fang used to the pinkies a bit more, then try a fuzzy mouse, then a hopper/weaned mouse, then a small adult mouse, then a large adult mouse! Looks like Fang will be on whole prey in no time! Way to go! As for the others, dont worry, every ferret is different and they move at a different pace. Use the "soupie method" and continue to offer the bugs as treats. With love, time, and patience you'll have them onto raw and whole prey and the changes in them that you will see will rock your world! Just ask anyone on this board about the difference in their ferrets since going natural Keep us posted! |
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 18:59:24 GMT -5
this was frozen pinkies we feed tonite and when i went back out there the other 2 were gone out of the litter pan and doe was in there so dont know if doe ate one or not i will get somemore tomorrow and try it again and see but will do with fang how long on pinkies for her?
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 19:02:25 GMT -5
Im sorry, are you asking how long should you keep fang on the "pinky" stage?
|
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 19:06:55 GMT -5
yes thats right
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 19:14:36 GMT -5
Well it takes alot of pinkies to fill a ferret up. What I would do is get ALL your ferrets onto the "soup" (using the method I gave you) and offer pinkies as a treat. You can try Fang on a fuzzy mouse right away and see if it will be eaten or not. If Fang DOES eat the fuzzy then start offering fuzzys. Its okay to progress to bigger mice as quickly as Fang will allow. The biggest thing is just Fang will need to eat MORE then just pinkies (because they arent very filling) so start the soup method and add those pinkies in as snacks. Eventually you can place a bulk order for mice (and other prey) through www.rodentpro.com they are an EXCELLENT supplier. dont let the shipping cost scare you off (its still WAY cheaper then buying mice locally ) I'd only place an order with them once Fang (and a few of your other ferrets) are eating mice. The bigger the order, the more you save.On the mice itself and on shipping. You dont want to place a massive order and then have no one show interest but Fang. Make sense? |
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 19:20:46 GMT -5
yes are these live? or frozen? cause where i work at i can get frozen at a really good price even live but dont know if i want to try live just yet. and will get some ground turkeymeat tomorrow and make somemore soup.
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 19:24:06 GMT -5
Yes, the mice at rodent pro are frozen. If you can find a good deal locally, then by all means go with that! You can get some more "exotic" things on rodent pro (like quail, chick, guinea pig, and rabbit) but you dont HAVE to feed all those crazy things lol. I like the idea of making soup again tommorow. Remember, if some of the ferret's wont touch the soup with the meat in it you can do two things: 1. You can blend meat and kibble together and make a soup like that ( you can adjust the amount of kibble and meat to suit their fancy. Add more kibble to the mix if they wont touch it without it) 2. You can give your ferrets 1 bowl of the ground turkey (with some crumbs of kibble on top) and one bowl of kibble that has been moistened with broth or water. This way, the ferrets that are pickier will still eat (the moist kibble) and the ferrets that are less picky can have access to both. Both methods are acceptable, just pick the one that works best for you |
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 19:33:31 GMT -5
ok i will try both of them and use some broth also maybe that will help get them to try it mmmm i like the idea of rabbit heck we go out alot and hunt for rabbit and quail so they will have fresh alot how about game meat also can they eat that? deer, elk, and so on? thats really all nat'l or should we stick with store bought meats for now? and mice/rats
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 19:46:39 GMT -5
You can feed deer, elk, etc. With the quail and rabbit I would put the WHOLE animal in the freezer (to kill any parasites) and then I would give it to your little ones whole (once they have "graduated" to eating whole prey) a whole rabbit or quail would make a tasty meal that would be able to satisfy a business as large as yours.
Heck, I even thought about taking up hunting just so I could catch my babies some food.
One thing to be aware of:
DONT feed the whole animal if you are using "spray shot" you know, the kind where a bunch of shrapnel penetrates the prey and kills it? If you kill your quail using this method it would be best to "dress" the bird before serving. you dont want your babies getting sick (or a blockage) because they ingested some spray shot.
|
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 2, 2008 20:06:59 GMT -5
right cause of the lead shot i will just try diff things with them that seems the thing with feeding raw to try all kinds of diff meat
|
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 2, 2008 22:19:35 GMT -5
Yes, variety is certainly key on a natural diet. When feeding raw you want to feed a variety of meats, body parts, ages of meat (like beef and veal, mutton and lamb, etc), and meat from different providers (nutrient composition of meat varies slightly depending on how meat was raised).
When feeding whole prey you want to feed a variety of prey animals, ages, and prey from different providers.
Feeding as much variety as possible ensures that your ferret will be getting the widest range of nutrients possible.
|
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 3, 2008 13:49:15 GMT -5
aww ok cool today when i got off of work i gave them some chicken liver lol and gee little miss fang was right there nose to the cage but badger got the 1st piece and took off with it lol then fang ran off with her's Kat was licking a piece and Doe and Clude were also licking chewing on one but the others were like nope not going to even look at it and went the other way olie ran to the litter pan and went to sleep. lol just an quick update going to go back to work and get some pinkies and fuzzies since we werent even open when i left.
|
|
|
|
Post by desertram on Jul 3, 2008 20:06:18 GMT -5
well tonite we tonite we gave the ferrets a fuzzie it was so funny 1st was fang and she picked it up and ran off with it and then started to lick it lol then put it in the litter pan and was eatting a little bit of it then came badger then the real fun started lmao she would go to the litter pan and take it out and run off with it and here comes fang and she would take it back to the litter pan they even did tug a war on it i got some pixs the others just checked it out and went to play. and we also went and got 2 lbs of chicken hearts and liver for $1.78 and 4 lbs of chicken backs for $4.00 now i need to break off some and see how they do so stand by for some new pixs of the ferret & mouse game sorry had to say it lol
|
|
