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Post by maddiesmom on May 2, 2009 18:00:25 GMT -5
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)?One ferret - baby Izzy. She is 8wks old, and I've only had her a short time She seems pretty healthy 2. What are your ferrets currently eating? Include their main diet, plus any treats or supplements (such as duk soup).She was on marshals, dry. I bought wet/canned food the first night to get her interested in foods other than dry. She has currently tried cubes of raw chicken breast, and now raw thigh meat. Licked some furotone (sp?) as well. 3. What kind of diet do you want to switch to?Raw, "frankenprey" I've seen some call it on here. I am not so sure about whole prey, yet 4. Why do you want to switch to this more natural diet? My dog is already on raw, I know about the health benefits, and I just want to be able to provide the best that I can for my furbabies;) 5. Where/what/who got you interested in natural diets?^^ started with my dog, who's been eating raw on and off (but mostly on) for 3-4yrs now 6. Please list the current weight for your ferret(s). Do they appear overweight? Underweight? How is there muscle tone? I do not know an exact weight yet, she will see the vet next week (I have to call on Mon and make an appt) but she seems underweight to me... 7. What is the condition of your ferret's teeth/gums? (can you get a picture?)Sparkly white - baby teeth! 8. Describe the texture/color of your ferrets coat.Appears dry, somewhat bristly 9. How often does your ferret go to the bathroom?I believe every couple of hours or so... not positive, though 10. Does your ferret's feces and/or urine smell? Yes, pretty pungent 11. Smell your ferret. How strong is their odor?Not too bad 12. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely lethargic and 10 being "through the roof!" what is your ferret's energy level?She is usually sleeping, but when she's awake she's pretty wild! I'd say 8-9 13. How excited is your ferret about meal time (when fed kibble)? bored with kibble - was very excited about the bite of raw. Shook it around, and chowed on it. 14. Have you attempted to switch from kibble to a natural diet in the past? If so, what methods have you tried. Be specific.first! 15. What other information about your ferret(s) would you like to share? I've never had a baby this young, I really just wanted someone to coach me through it, I'm kind of nervous lol! 16. If you can, please post a clear photograph of EACH of your ferrets directly below: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 **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. ok ***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.ok
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Post by Heather on May 2, 2009 22:45:19 GMT -5
What a little sweetheart...I love the colouring. Just hang tight and we will get you both a mentor shortly . Please feel free to prowl through some of the postings and see if there's a method of switching that you might prefer. If you have any questions just post and I will be checking in with you until you get your full time mentor. Good luck ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on May 2, 2009 23:40:29 GMT -5
That is one beautiful little girl you have there! She's adorable , and so striking! Since she's already eating raw chicken, you could try her with some different meats if you like. Getting her used to a variety of flavours at this age is a good idea. I think she's going to be an easy one!
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Post by Heather on May 3, 2009 0:02:03 GMT -5
Like most of the babies...she will have the little one switched before I find her a mentor ciao
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Post by maddiesmom on May 3, 2009 8:23:16 GMT -5
`e3 <----- words of wisdom from izzy LOL This morning I gave her a chicken wingy (the bone itself is fairly small and flemsy, and there is a good portion of meat as well) -- its her first experience with any kind of bone like this so far I have to say, I'm quite amused! She wants it sooo bad, and she's getting ticked at it - so she's giving a good fight! I'm very pleased that she's keeping her food on the one level {knocks on wood} Although this may be just temporary because she's very clumbsy. Also, last night I was eating some shrimp and I shared with Maddie, so I went ahead and droped on in Izzy's bowl as well (its organic) she hopped at it and did this weird hiss thing before stashing it, it was so cute! After she finishes eating and taking a nap I'll probably have to clean the cage out and wipe the levels down
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Post by Heather on May 3, 2009 10:16:15 GMT -5
The babies are sooo funny about food and they can be quite aggressive about it too:D Did she eat the shrimp? Most prepared meats like shrimp, canned salmon, canned tuna are ok for a treat but are usually high in sodium and should only be given as treats. Something that my Napoleon loved at this age was quail quarters. He would hiss and drag it around and bounce it, steal it from the other ferrets...and then hiss and wardance at them. They all respected this little hellion ball of fuzz, even the dog, who put up with silly Napoleon's thievery. He could have squished him at any time but he allowed the little bum to steal his dinner and burrow in his coat and generally make a total nuisance of himself. It's hard to believe he's going to be 5 come Christmas...it doesn't seem that long ago that I brought home my little Napoleon. I'm still looking, you keep trying different things and we will find you and Izzy a mentor. I will check in with you later. ciao
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Post by maddiesmom on May 3, 2009 13:46:15 GMT -5
She didn't eat the shrimp, or the chicken wingy... I had to go find it, washed it off and I threw both in the freezer She's doing this whiny thing in the morning, for attention or to come out of the cage. My roommates say that I am spoiling her already She also did it this afternoon when her bowl was empty so I gave her some of her canned food and some more raw meat. I was going to just give her the raw without the canned, but I'm scared that she won't be getting the right nutrients as she's growing since she's not eating bones yet. ..? So far she's tried/ate chicken, turkey, pork & beef cuts but no bones YET . She eats like a cow and is feeling less bony to me! Her, um, feces are only a little bit loose (but not too bad) they were pretty black, but now they are very light in color. I got a hold of several cornish hens for pretty cheap, so I threw some in the freezer and cut one up. The all have necks & some organs (it looks like?) on the inside. I LOVE the pics, Heather, Napoleon looks like quite the character! The look on your dogs face cracks me up! I hope Maddie gets along that well with Izzy in time. I'm being overly cautious right now... Izzy looks like she's trying to provoke Maddie, and Maddie is still trying to figure out what the heck Izzy is so I've been sort of distracting them from each other until they are more used to each other
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Post by Heather on May 3, 2009 15:18:48 GMT -5
You might try scoring the whole meats. Sometimes they can't make any headway against the skin, especially babies. Their teeth aren't quite ready to handle the tougher pieces. Remember at this stage the kit would still be with the breeder and momma would be teaching these little ones how to use their teeth. You're going to have to take the place of momma. I still score the chicken legs so that they can get hold of the smaller pieces of meat, then they learn to latch on and use their strong neck and jaw muscles to tear away the meat. The little ones, when they use to coordinate the use of their paws, teeth and jaws become foremidable little meat eating machines. Your little one will continue to have loose or loosish (is that a word ) stools as long as there's no bone eaten. The bone offers the drying agent for the stool. You can always tell when they've had more bone, more meat. The dark to blackish stools often are directly related to the amount of blood in the meat. When you feed heart, liver, kidneys, giblets and whole prey you will see dark to black tarry stools depending on the amount of blood in the meat. You're in for a adventure as far as stool watching. Kibble poops are easy. They're directly related to the colour of the kibbles. Raw poops are a true adventure Excellent variety. Keep up the good work. I will check in on you later ciao
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Post by maddiesmom on May 4, 2009 18:58:36 GMT -5
You might try scoring the whole meats. Sometimes they can't make any headway against the skin, especially babies. Their teeth aren't quite ready to handle the tougher pieces. Remember at this stage the kit would still be with the breeder and momma would be teaching these little ones how to use their teeth. I tried that this morning and this afternoon, and that seemed to do the trick She had an easier time getting pieces to swallow, and this afternoon I could actually hear her grinding these little chicken backbones. I was very happy! She still gets very discouraged (or maybe the word is distracted lol ) with RMBs. I was wondering, what age do private breeders separate their kits from the momma? Do you think her age is why she is making that whiney noise at me? Right now I'm 99.9% positive that she is doing it for attention, to get her out of the cage for example. It catches me off guard, she's pretty vocal when she wants to be! Now they can call me the poop watcher ROFL! So far there hasn't been any change in this area... Can you tell me about how much Izzy should be getting to eat, daily? Right now I am giving her pieces and parts of everything every time her bowl is empty. The only problem with that is that she is stashing some of her food on the bottom level, beneath her bedding. After I drop some meat and her bowl (and she is too busy eating to get in the way trying to "help" me) I dig in the bottom to pull whats left out, I've been cleaning it off and throwing it in the freezer. Is this okay? I don't know if I should leave it in there for her to go back to... I think she forgets about it down there Its just my nerves. I don't want her to go hungry, espeically since she's a growing girl! She's happy, I don't think she could care less.
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Post by Heather on May 5, 2009 0:41:16 GMT -5
Breeders quite often don't allow their kits to go until they're 10 to 12 weeks of age. Just like kittens and puppies. They would probably be fighting over their raw meat chunkies if the breeder was raw feeding...actually the breeders that I know prey feed so they would be fighting and playing tug of war with their mice and such. Yes, distracted...you have to remember she's very young and like babies of all species there's so much to do, see and hear that spending time eating once one is not as hungry can indeed take ones attention away from the task at hand (namely eating ) The whining....like children who discover that we respond to their vocalizations your little one has discovered that you respond to her vocalizations. Some ferrets talk more than others. I have some who say nothing but others who talk a lot. One of the things that you may have to consider with your little girl is she may be deaf. Deaf ferrets can be very loud. Her special colouring would certainly lead me to be cautious in that direction. I have a very special little (well not so little girl) Lady "B" Note her special colouring....Lady "B" is deaf. She's also very vocal. There is nothing wrong other than she can't hear... I'm not saying Izzy is deaf...but it's a possibility. How much that she needs to eat....you're doing right and it's how I feed too. Feed her what she wants as much as she wants. If she has it stashed put it back in her bowl (unless you think it's turned). Throwing it back in the freezer works too Just remember what meats have already been around once I think you're doing great and Izzy's happy and eating well. You guys are moving along really well. She's started eating some bone, you're well on your way to having a raw eating ferret . I have a mentor lined up for you, she's having some computer problems at the moment but she's hoping to introduce herself in the next couple of days. She has a couple of little tiny furbabies too ciao
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Post by charmantpapillon on May 5, 2009 18:37:49 GMT -5
Hey my name is Kate and i'm assuming Heather is referring to my computer problems. I have two ferrets, Beast and Bastien Von Mustelid (big boy big name haha) Beast is 13 months and Bastien is maybe 4 months old. Beast is a petite 2 pounds even. Bastien is 2 pounds 8 ounces. I have fallen in love with raw feeding and will never touch kibble again i dont even own any at this point and time and when i brought Basty home i immediately just gave him raw and since him and Beast seemed to get along okay with a cage between thwem i let them play together and both ended up sleeping in a hammock the night i got him home. Right now i am having computer issues and should have computer access every day this week except friday, which works out anyway because my Significant other and i are going to Lake michigan on friday. Your little girl is absolutely gorgeous. Lets start by telling me what meat you have tried her with, and what meat you have stocked up. You need at least 3 different types of meat CGH (cornish game hen) and chicken count as two separate. you also need 4 days of RMB (raw meaty bones) 2 days of organ and 1 day of muscle meat. No more than one chicken sizes liver chunk per week you can give it on one day or split it up for two days i feed a combination of franken prey and whole prey so i dont do organ days any more i just feed mice and rats and fowl (younglings) with the odd bug and worm thrown in i just get whats onsale. I wont feed live rats they are too large for the ferrets to dispach cleanly but i do make sure to boys get live mice atleast once every other week if not every week. My other Mentee is FuzzBuckets and her Little boy Stewart Colbert. I have rambled enough if you have any questions feel free to ask them and i should be getting my computer reformatted in the next couplea weeks and my S.O is getting a new computer in another week or so so i should be available pretty regularly if i am going to be absent for more than a 24 hour time period i will leave you notice and send heather and Giuli word. I will probably le4ave my cellphone number for you incase you need to reach me.
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Post by maddiesmom on May 6, 2009 14:51:23 GMT -5
The whining....like children who discover that we respond to their vocalizations your little one has discovered that you respond to her vocalizations. Some ferrets talk more than others. I have some who say nothing but others who talk a lot. One of the things that you may have to consider with your little girl is she may be deaf. Deaf ferrets can be very loud. Her special colouring would certainly lead me to be cautious in that direction. I have a very special little (well not so little girl) Lady "B" Note her special colouring....Lady "B" is deaf. She's also very vocal. There is nothing wrong other than she can't hear... I'm not saying Izzy is deaf...but it's a possibility. I am now paying special attention to Izzy, I don't know how to tell if a ferret is deaf or not (since they have selective hearing, LOL) but I'm not too sure about my girl. The other day I thought she heard me coming home from work (the door is loud and the dogs bark) and she was making noise at me because she wanted attention, too. But today, nothing. I talked to her to try and wake her up... she looks dead LOL Lets start by telling me what meat you have tried her with, and what meat you have stocked up. You need at least 3 different types of meat CGH (cornish game hen) and chicken count as two separate. you also need 4 days of RMB (raw meaty bones) 2 days of organ and 1 day of muscle meat. No more than one chicken sizes liver chunk per week you can give it on one day or split it up for two days i feed a combination of franken prey and whole prey so i dont do organ days any more i just feed mice and rats and fowl (younglings) with the odd bug and worm thrown in i just get whats onsale. I wont feed live rats they are too large for the ferrets to dispach cleanly but i do make sure to boys get live mice atleast once every other week if not every week. Hi Kate, its nice to meet you, I'm excited to work with you! Beast and Bastien are so cute! So far Izzy has ate CGH - breast meat, wing, leg, and back (she really liked this!!). She has also ate chicken (wing, neck & breast meat), but she didn't eat very much of it. She's had turkey(ground), pork (both ground and not) & beef butt. It looks like a lot on the screen, she eats alot, but she stashes a good portion of it and I eventually pick it up and throw it in the freezer. I gave her some giblets n liver (from the CGH) this morning, and I never found any peices left over! All I have to do is smear a little bit of the wet food on the new meat, because currently she'll sniff it and walk away if I don't spoiled brat! I still have all of these in the freezer, along with some (whole) salmon, mackerel and sardines, turkey neck, drums, and wing, and calf liver divided into portions. I am probably going to place an order from haretoday the next time I get paid I think my dog would appreciate that as well! I feed my dog raw everyday, and I can't describe the difference with words that a raw diet has made with her skin&coat, and her health! I am very much looking forward to Izzy eating raw & only raw I honestly do think that her fur is starting to benefit already!
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Post by charmantpapillon on May 7, 2009 17:29:57 GMT -5
Well it looks like you have a great start going right now, feeding raw to your dog makes it so you already know what is needed for a balance you just need to get the proportions right. Shes itty so switching her wont take long. Bastien was put on raw the second i got him home, beast was already eating raw so within 4-5 days he was off the all chicken diet and onto the normal schedule i have for beast. now that i have my kitten eating raw regularly she will be put on the same schedule with a little less bone and since shes only 6 weeks for the next two weeks she will be eating a kitten milk supplement and higher in fat meats than chicken untill shes six months atleast.
Keep up the work, if you arent sure about whole prey just think of the difference from kibble to raw has made ALREADY, i have found that whole prey has a noticable difference from frankenprey its not as drastic as the kibble to raw change but they have more energy and their poopies are a bit firmer, pretty much as close to neat kibble poopies you can get... without being kibble poopie. its the fur. haha... not to mention live mice makes for an amazing enrichment.
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Post by maddiesmom on May 10, 2009 14:51:52 GMT -5
Okay, Izzy is doing very well! She is chowing on just about everything I give her now - I am completely out of canned food, and I did not buy any more because she is now trying new meats without it I am still playing around with how *much* she gets daily, because she is so young some days she its as much as my dog, it seems! The other day she was happy with one chicken wing (they're pretty meaty, espeically when I cut them myself lol its harder than it looks!) and never touched the other stuff in her bowl. She's eating bones now, too. I'll find a little nub of a bone stripped super clean hiding in her tunnel, and that'll be it! How many meals a day do you feed your fur babies? Some days I feel like I'm putting food in her bowl like 6x a day lol!! I'm also having internet problems now (wireless, ugh) ... I'm going to try and figure out how to PM you my #. Hopefully it get fixed soon!
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Post by charmantpapillon on May 12, 2009 17:48:20 GMT -5
I feed the boys and the kitten at the same time now. One hour in the morning half hour at noonish two hours at dinner. Since my kitten seems to think she is a ferret my boys have recieved free roam of the 3 rooms brian and i sleep and play in his room my room and the bathroom. She is still small enough to sleep in the hammock with them haha. But just feed her as much as she'll eat ferrets are very good at regulating themselves and rarely if ever over eat. Sorry if this has been a little short i'm on my cellphone. Speaking of cellphones my number is 517 281 6632 if you should need me. have a nice evening with izzy. My boys and their new little feline friend are off to play in the cool evening grass.
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