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Post by cristina on May 13, 2009 21:19:04 GMT -5
Yaaa good for them! Once you see this progess then start to add more and more raw (and less kibble). If Gracie took the soup well and isnt eating the raw/kibble like the others then sprinkle a bit of the powder with the raw kibble mix, and mix it up and see if she eats more of it with that mixed in. (oh by the way I wanted to mention about the nail issue, you dont have to separate them just because of that, unless its infected...then they may lick it and stuff and make it more infected.....but if its not then I wouldnt worry too much about keeping them away from her  ) |
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Post by cristina on May 17, 2009 14:44:53 GMT -5
So hows everything going??
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Post by briannahurst on May 19, 2009 19:23:30 GMT -5
hey cristina i havent talked to you in a while!
Gracie started eating all of her meat even without the soup.
but asher and saybor stopped eating it completely.
like i spread it around their kibble and they either picked off some of the kibble or didnt eat it at all.
what should i do now?
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Post by cristina on May 19, 2009 19:44:11 GMT -5
If they arent eating then try putting some water in the mix with some duk soup, this usually works, if they still arent having it then take a step back and decrease the amount of meat....its ok to take steps back, believe me I did all the time its no big deal it happens every so often! Good luck and let me know how this goes and if it works! |
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Post by cristina on May 23, 2009 11:39:21 GMT -5
Hey there, havent heard from you in a couple days, hows everything going?  Is there any progress with asher and saybor and their eating situation from before? |
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Post by briannahurst on May 26, 2009 16:55:03 GMT -5
IM SO SORRY Cristina! i feel bad.. ive been really really busy lately with it beening the end of the school year but now everythings calmed down and im ready to FULLY focus on their switch. So everything is getting better as the days go on! They all eat the meat like its no problem! they used to try to pick through it and only eat the meat if they had to but now its going great! how long can the meat stay in the frezzer? because the turkey is still in their and its been in there since 5/11/09. they eat (i guess you can say) handful of ground chicken a day. suprisingly i havent found any rotten meat! ive seen them carry some out and eat it in their hammock but i havent found any left overs. so just let me know what i need to do now.  |
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Post by cristina on May 27, 2009 9:40:36 GMT -5
Oh dont worry about that at all, I know its a stressful time with school around now...I mean I know where your coming from, Im graduating college so its a very hectic time!!! Thats great that your guys are on the routine now, I would say the next step is to cut come chicken (you can get something like the raw chicken strip cuts) and cut them into very small pieces , like almost shredding it with the scissors then replace some of the ground with half of this (so half ground and half cut/shredded chunks with some kibble) and see how this goes, if it doesnt go haha then dont worry just go back to the ground meat and then we can try a different approach from there. Not all ferrets like the same kinda switch technique, which is ok since there are many out there! Meats (no matter ground or whole or what) can be left in the freezer for up to 6 months! so dont worry about it going bad for a while!  I didnt know this in the beginning and I was stunned it lasts that long, but when you think about it, it is frozen so it kinda makes sense You dont have to worry just yet about finding rotten meat around....just wait until they are on big chunks and full wing and leg pieces, I find them under the sofa, dressers, in their beds for a "midnight week snack!'' But then again mine are free roaming in my bedroom, I just use their cage now for transport to vacation houses in the car and such, they are spoiled, even when we are on vacation they live in a large round pen! They live like royalty spoiled rotten brats!  But finding these rotten pieces arent too bad, I can usually smell them pretty well haha, also I do a thorough clean of my room once every week to clear out their stash stops, and its funny my Mimi gets so upset when I take her hidden pieces and tries to "playfully attack" me to get outa her stash its cute Oh boy I started to ramble a bit (sorry! ) , can you tell I love talking about ferrets! Let me know if you have anymore questions or anything, and dont hesitate to bombard me with questions or anything you want me to elaborate on, as you can see I love talking and Im here for it!!! |
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Post by briannahurst on May 28, 2009 21:48:06 GMT -5
ugh i clicked the back button..now i have to start over   (i have a back button on my mouse) okay anyway. i got a plain boneless piece of chicken out of the frezzer last night, put it in the fridge and i cut it in tiny pieces. then mixed it with the ground and kibble. they have ate some but compared to when they first ate raw meat they are getting used to eatting raw meat! im so pround of them! UMM do i need more ground chicken? i have one "handful" left for tomarrow. so do i need to buy more? i have the ground chicken and i saved some ground hamburger meat so i have that. aww.......i wish i could let mine run around but everytime i do (let them out over night) its always horrible. but luckly i have a ferret nation 142 SO IT MAKES IT BETTER |
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Post by cristina on May 28, 2009 22:27:15 GMT -5
I mean if they are eating the very small chunks then no you dont need to buy more, just buy regular meat now (breasts, thighs, cut pieces and such) you dont have to buy bone in meats yet, and if you do just cut the meat around the bone (actually leave the bone out seperatly in another bowl and see what they do with it and see if they want to figure it out yet lol) Also start buying different meats (turkey, beef, pork, duck, etc...) and start to switch it up a bit and see how they react to it, this could be a slow process, especially with new meats so dont get too frustrated....some may take more time to adjust than others. FN's are nice cages, I had one similar I think a marshall mansion but I took it apart and made cages for transport out of it It took me a while to completely ferret proof my room, I got really intense on it haha, I built a new wall without a door and just a smaller area to hop over and sealed under the desks and made then shelves and of course I have litter boxes with newspaper in every corner! I just like the fact that they come and lay with me in bed and sit with me on the couch while I watch tv (Im kinda weird haha, I love my ferrets crawling all around me) |
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Post by briannahurst on May 30, 2009 14:31:11 GMT -5
I ll probably wait till i use more of the hamburger and turkey, we also have lots of boneless chicken breast so ill wait till i use that. they have ate all their ground,whole,kibble mix. i think they are starting to like the raw! so do i start gradually putting bigger chicnks and less kibble as i go on feeding them? Did you notice any reall differences with your ferrets when you switched them? like did they gain weight, and did the odor go down a lot? im hoping to get gracie and saybor to fatten up some they are so skinny! i know some ferrets are naturally skinny but mine are only skin and bones i would also LOVE for the odor to go down! Yeah, i love ferrets crawling around me too sounds like you really but a lot of work into your ferrets home do they run around your whole house or just your room? also i know this doesnt have to do with food or anything but, do you have any tips on litter box training? |
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Post by cristina on May 31, 2009 16:30:34 GMT -5
Before you start giving bigger chunks you want to slowly wean them off kibble, you can give a little bigger chunks but the main goal right now is to get them eating raw alone without kibble. Im glad they are really starting to like it!  I did notice their smell is less musky, but I really noticed their poop doesnt smell as much without kibble, it had a fishy smell that really lingered but its totally gone now At first it may seem like they are losing weight, but really its their body clearing the kibble out of their body and their bodies learning to process the raw like its supposed to, essentially their bodies will tone and build muscle mass the right way rather than just store lots of fat like kibble does. But I noticed they all gained weight and muscle since being on raw (especially my little girl who was pretty boney)....I also noticed they are more active and I go to the vet less and when I do they say their in great shape with no health concerns what so ever! If you want to fatten them up in the mean time (I had to as well), make soups for them....I used duk soup mixed with KMR step 2 kitten formula which fattens them up (my vet told me to use this) and it really worked! My ferrets are only free roaming in my room although I have a huge room (its like the size of 3 normal bedrooms combined because I had my basement redone and its kinda like an appartment. but we go on walks upstairs and outside everyday Litter training can be frusterating! I actually dont use litter anymore, I use newspaper (more effective, cheaper, and much cleaner) I line the litter box with newspaper and then put newspaper under it as well, so if they "miss" the litter, it ends up on the newspaper, Personally newspaper was a lifesaver for me, I HATED the litter and it would get all over! But occasionally they will miss the litter box every once in a while....all I do is pick them up mid pee even and place them in the box or on the paper so they know where to go, litter training can be tricky sometimes...but I would suggest putting newspaper all around the litter box and see if it helps, I know it did for me |
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Post by briannahurst on May 31, 2009 21:01:45 GMT -5
So slowly put less kibble in their bowl? Your ferrets are soo lucky! I have the power KMR since i used it for baby rabbits. I also have a little duk soup. Do i just mix it up with water? Some ferret person i was talking to said i can use ammonia cleaner and spray into their litter boxes. its suppost to make them want to use it so they can cover up the smell with their scent. I might try that....... When i used newspaper they had it all over their cage, shredded so i cant use it but thank you! |
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Post by cristina on May 31, 2009 23:18:11 GMT -5
Yes slowly lessen the kibble and add more meat, and yes for the soup just mix them with some warm water. They did that with the newspaper at first too, but I started to tape it down and after a while they stopped and I dont have to tape it anymore....But I have to use it or else I have pieces of litter all about my room In a cage it may be a different story!! I havent heard about the ammonia trick, although I would be very cautious and use sparingly because ammonia is toxic to animals if ingested even the littlest bit! Im going to look that up, it sounds pretty interesting though |
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Post by briannahurst on Jun 1, 2009 20:56:55 GMT -5
Last night i was feeding them their usual mix and i decided to pull some chicken chunks out and feed it to them, they actually ate it all by its self!  tonight I fed them ground beef--their first time eating it, with the chicken chunks, and since they ate it alone last night i didnt add as much kibble. Their eating it just fine now This switch is going great so far, i think my biggest challenge will be the bones. Im going to make a mix of that tonight, theyll probably go crazy over it. I thought it was a little risky to use the ammonia also. I have some of the bitter stuff your suppost to spray on things you dont want them to mess with, but everytime i used it they always pooped over it, so i sprayed a tiny bit in their litter boxes hopefully that will work. let me know if you get anything on the ammonia |
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Post by cristina on Jun 2, 2009 23:09:32 GMT -5
Im actually asking about the ammonia thing so Ill get back to you once I get some feedback from the other mentors! Thats great if they are eating it plain! I would get rid of kibble altogether if they are eating it straight, because that was a huge step for them that they did all on their own (it can be hard sometimes to wean them off that last bit of kibble!) So just feed meat now, and switch the meats up...at least have 3 different kinds (i.e. beef, chicken, turkey, duck, pheasant, pork, etc...) Yeah Im so proud!!!!!!!  |
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