5 are eating raw, 1 doesnt...help!

[vkoslin]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and I'll be making a member page soon. I have 6 ferrets, three boys, three girls, all ranging in age from 2-4. Basically, last year, I switched them to raw. It was a struggle but all of them did it (except one, Munchkin). I eventually gave up because of price and worried about Munchkin, but I've found a good website that offers meat, organ, and bones (hare-today.com) and I want to feed them that.

I've been told the best way to switch them to raw is to completely take away kibble. And 5 of them still LOVE raw and beg me for it now and then, so they're good to go. But Munchkin is a fat kibble fiend...I'm worried she will starve herself. And I'm worried about monitoring if she ate any of the raw before it was all eaten by the crew?

Can anyone help me? Any help is appreciated. I'm starting it all on Tuesday.

[vkoslin]

Also, a followup question: how many ounces should I feed my ferrets (ranging in 1 lb to 2 lbs)? I'm worried about cost....I'm ok with spending around 80 a month for their food....Anyone else able to keep it in this range?

[ferretdroogies]

Hare today is a great source! That's what I'm planning on feeding my guys as well. There are many on this forum that feed hare today.

As far as little Munchkin, I couldn't help you there. There are many mentors that have successfully helped people switch die-hard kibble fans to raw. I want to say it takes lots of patience, but it's not impossible!

Here's a link on how to save money buying raw holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gen&action=display&thread=1221

Now as far as how much to feed, I was told 2-3 oz per day for females, and 3-5 oz per day for males. So, with 3 females and 3 males, it would be anywhere from about 1lb-1.5lb per day. This is just an estimate. There are a ton of factors that would change the amounts each ferret will eat. Now, if your guys ate about 1lb per day, that would be about 30lbs a month.

Knowing that, go to hare today, create an account, add at least 3 different protein sources that you would feed them to the cart (the poultry, rabbit, and mice are finer grinds than the red meats), and see how much it would be plus shipping. Shipping is cheaper when you buy the 5lb packages instead of the 1lb, and there is only a 5lb minimum to order. Also, she won't ship orders that have a transit of over 4 days (the stuff will be defrosted by then), so your best and cheapest option is the FedEx Home Delivery, which for me in Texas is a 3 day transit. Give that a go and see how much it would cost to order about 30lbs worth of food from there to get an idea!

Hope this helps!

[vkoslin]

It does help, a lot!

I'm just wondering if I will hurt Munchkin for changing it to raw...I will watch her, of course, but I'm afraid I won't know if she ever ate, really. If there's any way to tell?

[Heather]

I would spend special time hand feeding Munchkin, to get her used to her diet. I don't believe in cold turkey switches, that's just me. Offer them their dinners but make sure you're there to see if Munchkin and the rest of the gang will actually eat the raw food too. I understand this is really difficult when you've got everyone almost switched. You're probably going to have to spend some time getting her to switch. I've heard of too many ferrets suffering from just giving them the food and expecting them to eat it. I had a 3 yr old who just would not switch and she would have died if I hadn't been hand feeding her, she would sniff at the bowl and then leave. There were times when she actually looked like she was eating or making to eat but she never did. I did get her to switch and she's all nice and fat now but she gave me a lot of grief, she wasn't happy about the switch, she was a difficult switch. If you're going to just take the food away, you're going to have to make sure that she's ready to eat the alternative, as you know she's really not happy about switching from previous experiences
Good luck, if you think you can't handle her on your own (there's no fault in that by the way) sign up for a mentor. You've already switched your other guys once, you may only need a different outlook to get that break through.
ciao