Tucker and Chuckie go natural

[tuckysmom]

Hi Frank,

OK here is the problem we are having now......I do seriously think they don't like chicken....but if I give them ANYTHING other than chicken (drummies/wings) for even 1 meal, when it comes time to eat their chicken they won't touch it.....(well, Gracie will). It's wasted, and they seem like they are fasting themselves. I still haven't given them soup in a LONG time now. If I put ferretone on it, or ferretvite, they just lick it off and go to bed. I swear they will chew on the old, fermented, petrified chicken bones they have hidden before they eat the fresh stuff! And don't think I haven't heard them knocking around with those old bones I missed cleaning---I have hard wood floors. I really feel like giving up. The whole point was to give them variety, but they just aren't cooperating... You have been wonderful, and I DO know they can eat the chicken, I guess I'm frustrated trying to battle them, or convince them it's OK to eat chicken or other things. What do you think I should do? Today, they have not eaten a whole lot.
Thanks Frank for your continued support.

Deb :-)

[Heather]

What if you fed something other than chicken?? Quail has fine bones and so does rabbit. Pork ribblets work for ferrets too (that's of course without getting into the prey stuff).
Don't get discouraged (I know where you're at. I sat forcefeeding more than one ferret at 2 am and questioning my sanity after all, lots of ferrets live good long lives without eating raw right ) We know that the quality of life is so much more improved on raw, so we keep slogging at it.
Trying to get a ferret to eat bone is one of the most annoying and frustrating thing you will do. It's one of the reasons why I always start my guys on ground raw mixes. That way they're getting their calcium and trace minerals while they learn to eat whole meats. Your guys are eating their bones...they just prefer them shrivelled up .... but it's a start. They are learning to chew them, not exactly the way you want them to but they're learning that this is food too. You are winning the battle just not quite in the way you want to I have one boy who will only eat his meat/bone dried...preferably by whatever method he chooses. He showed up yesterday with a great big long strip of venison that he obviously stole from the dog some days ago. He was very pleased with himself and he was playing the screaming game of keep away like it was some sort of tasty prize. Obviously, in his little mind it was wonderful. I certainly wouldn't be what I chose for him but he's learning to eat bone and chunked meat on his time in his way.
Keep with it, try feeding smaller amounts until they get the hang of it. Good luck, I'm sure Frank will have some fantastic ideas too.
ciao

[suds]

Hi Deb
Sorry they are giving you such a hard time , And yes they could just not like chicken , You an try other kinds of meats and bones as heather sugested Quail , rabbit , some turkey bones , even pigion basicaly any meats that small bones that they can eat . Another thing you can try is talking to your butcher and ask him to make a ground mix for with ground bones , organs and meats .
I know its hard , we all have hit what seems to be a brick wall we can not break down and bones seem to be the biggest of the hurdles for most but getting calcium in there diet is very important , Hang in there we are all here to help you even if you need to vent feel free to do it !

Take a step back feed them there soupy and see if you can get some ground raw with ground bone in it . Another source of calcium is crickets , smelts (fresh) and sardines(fresh) which make nice treats for them when fed once in a while .
And keep increasing the size of the meat chunks to help keep there teeth clean and gain muscle for there jaws .

Hang in there you realy are doing a great job !!

[suds]

how are things going Deb ?