Sisko and Neeko going whole prey

[selin]

We just got 2 ferrets yesterday so excited, and want to get them started right.

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)?

Sisko and Neeko, both male. Born on 1/18/09 (both marshall
farms ferrets) No apparent health problems, though they
will be going to the vet asp and will have more info then

2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup).

Currently eating the ferret store brand food (original)

3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to?

whole prey (mice, chicks, quail)

4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet?

eating a cooked and process kibble, even a high quality
one just doesn't make sense to me with the ferrets short
intestinal tract, and being obligate carnivores

5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets?

research done before getting the ferrets

6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone?

No weight yet, will update after vet. Sisko has good muscle tone,
Neeko is smaller and less robust.

7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?)

clean with teeth, healthy gums

8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat.

Sisko is caramel, Neeko is standard sable. Both have full
coats, a bit course

9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom?

So far every time they wake up (about 5 times a day)

10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell?

No detectable smell

11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor?

very mild musky odor

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

Sisko an 8
Neeko a 4

13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)?

free feed kibble, neither seems particularly excited about it, they
simply pick at it here and there.

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 attempts to switch

15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share?

Will update this after vet as well.

16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below:

Will do this as soon as I figure out how to post pictures on the
forum


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, no problem. I have continued access to the computer.

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?

understood

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?***

understood

**Note 1: If you are unable to make it to a computer (such as on weekends) please indicate below so we know whether you just dont have computer access or if you have gone MIA.

***Note 2: If you would like to try the switch again and you are committed to making regular updates you ARE welcome to restart your thread. Failure to provide regular updates will result in the deletion of your thread.

[bigsis7]

Welcome! You'll see a few of us mentors pop in and out for a while until Giuli assigns you a mentor. Do you want to start off raw and work your way to whole prey or just start right off with whole prey? I'm assuming you want to just start with whole prey. First try getting some pinkie mice and putting ferret tone on them. Per ferret they'll need about 4-5 pinkies I believe. I just feed raw, so bare with me!

[selin]

Thanks, and yes. I found a frozen feeder online that has an excellent reputation (not sure if we can say them here)

They have all size mice, chicks, quails, rabbits etc

I also plan on offering a whole chicken leg if we happen to be having chicken, etc. I was sadly disappointed that one hollistic ferret food
had fruits and vegetables and grains in it

The only good thing I can say about their kibble is rice is the only
non-meat ingredient besides the vitamins/minerals.

As for ferretone, I have it and willing to use it to switch, but I'm not happy about soy either (exocitant and synthetic estrogen) I don't even eat soy.

I hope the switch goes easy enough, both are under 3 months old so I"m hopeful, but neither wanted to raw organic ground beef I offered, as I can't get the frozen mice till later in the week, and had no whole chicken parts to offer.

I ramble enough, glad I found this forum!

[bigsis7]

Haha I'm glad you found us too!! Yeah those holistic foods aren't very holistic, lol! You are allowed to say the name of the supplier here! Some of us would love it if we knew another supplier! Well if you don't want to use the ferret tone that's fine (my ferrets have never had ferret tone), so you could try the pinkies with out anything on them first! Yeah since they're young I'm sure they're going to be amazingly easy to switch!! If you want to offer some raw food, try crushing some kibble up and sprinkly it over cubed chicken, any kind of meat, or ground beef. That'll make it seem more like food to them for a bit. Let us know how it goes!!

[selin]

oh good rodentpro.com and I called them, the guy was kind enough to suggest starting with hoppers, not full mice. I'm going to see how that
goes, as the pinkie idea didn't occur to me.

I guess fur would be intimidating to a first time whole prey eater. The
shipment won't be here until thurs, so until then I'm just letting them get acclimated to the house and leaving the ferretstore kibble free fed.

Can't do it overnight, and an adjustment period to new cage/house is important to. I'm still finding stuff to ferretproof, and I thought I'd thought of it all. Thank god I'm a full time online student and here to watch them, I can't imagine just leaving them in the cage all day. or giving them unsupervised full roam!

I've already discovered I need 3 or 4 more litter boxes and 3 or 4 more collars. (they tend to loose them under the couch, and it's 50/50 if the other will think it's a toy and drag it back out.

anyway, this is whole prey discussion. I will let you know. I was thinking of trying live first, but that's 2.50 a mouse, and if they get
stuck on live I can't afford that. So will wait for the frozen hoppers and the day old chicks.

Again, so glad I found you. I really am dedicated to getting them off the kibble, now if I could find a vet that didn't think I was nuts I'd be happy. LOL but I'm in cali, so finding anything is hard.

[bigsis7]

LOL, yeah I'm lucky to have found a vet that supports raw and whole prey feeding! Rodentpro is awesome! Glad you chose them! You can try the hoppers (my ferrets started off with adults, though not every ferret can start off with that first.) and see how that goes! Alright, yeah moving into a new enviroment can be stressful. Maybe you could try soaking their kibble in warm water for now? It will get them used to new textures! Yeah I'm homeschooled and I think it will stay that way, so I can devote more time to them! Haha yes Oliver has a huge stash of crap...I mean stuff...under my bed! Live can be pretty intimadating at first, so frozen's better :-)! I'm so glad you found us here!! Keep me updated!

[selin]

Just wanted to update. Should have frozen hoppers and chicks tomorrow. I will try hoppers first. I'm hoping for less stool.
For 2 tiny ferrets they sure do go a lot! heheh


Is there anything else I need to do to get a mentor? Or just
keep updating with progress?

Selin

[bigsis7]

Just keep updating!! You'll have a permanent mentor soon! Heh yeah ferrets tend to eat a lot!! My little 1.5 pound girl eats almost as much as my 2.8 boy!! Probably just trying to show off ! After being on whole prey and raw for a week or two you should start noticing the smell going down and the amount off poo. Also something I forgot to mention!! Make sure you're feeding them at least three different kinds of whole prey at different ages.

[selin]

OH wow, wish I would have known. I would have added quail and pinkies to my 1st order. shipping is the big cost! I'm going to have to start with hopper and quail, and chicken and steak parts from dinner.


I'll put their kibble away tonight. and hopefully they will be hungry enough for defrosted hopper tomorrow. (will heat a bit once defrosted in hot water). I just hope it goes smoothly. I don't look forward to having to pierce brain cases etc!

[bigsis7]

Yeah sorry I didn't mention it sooner!! But two kinds of whole prey and at least one different kind of meat will be great to start them off!! I think they'll do great since they're so young!! Let me know how it goes!

[Forum Administrator]

Hi,

My name is Giuli and I am going to be your mentor. Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 20 years old and I created Holistic Ferret. I am very dedicated to helping ferrets get onto more natural diets because I have seen what it has done for my own business.

I have three ferrets, two males (Mizu and Fugue) who just turned one year old this past december (Mizu) and January (Fugue). I also have one female, Delilah, who just turned nine years old this past january. All of them are on a natural diet. The boys alternate between a whole prey and a raw diet. Delilah refuses to eat raw bones, so she eats a commercial raw diet (Nature's Variety Raw) supplemented with pureed whole prey (when my stomach can handle it). All of them thrive on this diet. My boys started whole prey when they were 8 weeks old and 14 weeks old, so I can certainly help you with your switch. I buy from Rodentpro.com and I am very pleased with their products.

I also have one 2 year old cat and a 6 month old dog that eat a raw/whole prey diet. Zephyr has eaten raw/whole prey since she was 10 months old, and Copernicus has eaten raw/whole prey since he was 9 weeks old.

I hope you enjoy your time here in the mentor program. I will do my best to assist you in getting your ferrets onto a more natural diet, it shouldn't be very difficult since they are so young. You may hit some bumps, but try not to be discouraged. It takes time and patience to switch ferrets, and if you commit to sticking with the program I promise you I will be here with you every step of the way until you graduate the program and beyond.

Welcome aboard!

So how did the hoppper go?

[selin]

Ok, hoppers and chicks arrived. I thawed out 2 hoppers, then put them
in a sealed baggy in warm water for just a few minutes.

I took their kibble out and placed the hoppers on a small plate where
the food dish usually goes. They are definitely sniffing them, but
no more than that yet.

::crosses fingers::

[selin]

Update:

Sisko took to the hoppers and I gave him 1 more and thawed out
a chick as well. The chick is only 1/2 gone, but all but the tails of
the hoppers are gone : )

Neeko does not seem as eager, and I put kibble back in the cage
for overnight (I might seperate them a bit tomorrow so Sisko doesn't
hog the food, giving Neeko more time to investigate.)

Very pleased that Sisko took to it so quickly, and I'm sure Neeko will
as well once he's given time to warm up to the idea.

My only concern. Sisko seems intent on eating IN the litter box. I
clean it every morning, but still. I don't have a tub downstairs, and upstairs is not ferret proof. I would prefer them to continue to eat in the cage (to avoid stashes of rotting food under the couches etc)

[Heather]

I'm just going to pop in to help Giuli...she's swamped.
Eating in the litter box though disgusting to us seems to be common practice with ferrets Not to worry. Weasels and ermine in the wild will place their stache in a pile and then pee and deficate on it to show that it's theirs. They will then continue to munch on it as needed
How are your guys doing, it looks like they're doing well right now. Let us know how they're doing and what progress they've made
ciao

[selin]

Update:

Well both Sisko and Neeko are kibble free and eating whole
prey. I have ordered weanlings/quail/ and rabbit to add
to their diet. So far, the only things getting left are mouse
tails, and chick feet.

Now, to get a larger freezer hehehe (might be time to invest
in that deep freeze for the garage)

They are healthy, active, poops look good, so I think all is
kosher