Tikki, Mis, and Coco Switch!

[Zoshi]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner; I actually did switch out the backs for chicken thigh meat instead... They didn't seem to have any problems, but I remembered you mentioned watching out the bone-meat ratio earlier...

On the topic of Tikki: I think I'm going to end up switching her over to commercial raw; it seems to be much easier for her to get used to. She's eating the NV Rabbit formula pretty easily.
She's good with eating little pieces of chicken meat, but, you know, little itty-bitty pieces, and she's also eaten bits of chicken wing, but they literally can't be over 1/4" or she'll just hide them and won't eat them. I did cut her larger pieces of meat, and left them in there for as long as they weren't eaten, but she'd eat less if the pieces were bigger than if they were smaller.
I tried the freeze-dried with her as well, but dry or reconstituted, it just doesn't go over well with her. Organs are a big No as well; straight up, blended into a soupy, mixed with pumpkin or chicken baby food... she'll take two or three licks and leave the rest...

A rotation for the NV would be good as well, I'm guessing, so she can get different protein types, and I can supplement with chicken meat on weekends, or such, to give her something extra.

Otherwise, things are good. Mis is at 2.8lbs at the moment, and still growing... xD Coco is hovering around 1.8lbs, and Tikki can't decide if she wants to stay at 1.5, or to go over.

[luci]

Absolutely go with the commercial raw if that's what works for her and it's something you can afford. You can always offer other things if the mood strikes, but that is a a great option for her. Do you brush her teeth?

[Zoshi]

Whooweee, has it been a long time. Lots of things liked to just fall apart, but that's over and now we're back in business.


Updates:

Mis: 3lbs
Coco: 2.1lbs
Tikki: 1.5lbs

Mis and Coco are eating on this schedule:
Sun: Organs (liver, heart,sweetmeats) + chicken wing
M-W-F: Chicken wings or backs (meaty ones)
T-Th: Beef + Pork
Sat: Wing + NV Rabbit
The kids eat around 6-7 ounces of meat/bones per day (they used to eat 8 ozs until it started to get warmer).


Tikki was anti-raw for a long time, and dropped in weight, so I put her back on kibble to get her weight back up and get her stable. She's switching more eagerly this second time around (I just started again on Saturday with her).
So far she's happy eating Chicken and turkey meat, and she devours Cornish Hen wings, leaving only the toughest part of the bone behind.
Sunday she got turkey meat with chicken liver, and she ate all of that with no problem.
Monday she had 1 1/2 cornish hen wings.
Today (Tuesday) she got chicken breast mixed with beef, in the hopes she'll get used to it, and in the evening she'll get some chicken breast mixed with some pork.

Tikki is still seperated from Mis and Coco, since they're not eating the same thing.

Also, I have Salmon Oil softgels since I remembered someone mentioning it, and my dad wanted to take them as well (why? I don't know, heheh), but I wanted to ask what your thoughts are on it?

Other than that, everyone is happy and healthy, and playing well with each other.

[luci]

Great to see you back!

It sounds like the little ones are doing great! Is Tikki currently eating turkey, chicken and pork without hestitation?

Salmon oil is a great addition to their diet especially if you are unable to regularly feed pasture fed meats. Grain fed meats have their omega 6s and 3s all out of whack and the salmon oil helps balance that out.

[Zoshi]

Tikki and Mis love the salmon oil (Tikki tries to steal the capsules after they're empty, too xD) but Coco is a little iffy about it. She's not quite sure she likes it yet.

Tikki is eating turkey and chicken very happily, pork is still a bit iffy, she chews on it but she's not entirely convinced it's food just yet. Beef is something to stash, and not something to eat... I wasn't able to do it today (time constraints! My grandma's leaving for Poland tomorrow, so we were a bit busy) but on Thursday I'll mince the pork and beef and chicken up really finely and try to see if she'll eat it like that, so that she gets used to the pork/beef taste.
Oh, and Tikki likes NV Rabbit just fine, as well.

[luci]

Sounds like a great plan. I'll be curious to see if she separates out the meats once they're minced up. They're so stubborn sometimes!

[Zoshi]

Everybody liked their salmon oil today. xD Tikki is in love with the salmon oil, so I have to watch her so she doesn't steal from the other two...

Today Tikki had NV Rabbit, from 8am to 3pm she had nearly finished one whole medallion herself, and she got another one for dinner. The kids got a chicken leg this morning and one NV Rabbit medallion for dinner.

Tikki is so skinny compared to the others, although I think that it's just me and my family comparing them to each other, since Tikki has always dropped to around 1.5lbs during the summer... I don't know if her metabolism just goes into overdrive, but she always drops a lot in summer... And now we have the 2 and 3 pounders to compare her with, and it's just very weird at the moment. I'm hoping she fills out a littler better once she gets switched over to raw completely. Overall she's getting more energy and she's playing well with everyone, so I know she's doing fine. It's just so strange when she's with them. Never had that problem before, since my old ferret never got over 2 lbs. xD

[luci]

I know how you feel. My Ghia is such a tiny thing and when I see other ferrets I'm just shocked at how big they are. Even Fierra is on the small side and Ghia is much more petite than her. I had to buy rat sized walking jackets for them and they were STILL too big. I had to modify the buckle and add more Velcro to get them to stay on.

And to think... Ghia was even skinnier when I first got her!

[luci]

Oh... a thought... Have you tried drizzling some salmon oil on the meats that Tikki isn't so sure about?

[Zoshi]

Oh man, I know the feeling. I totally dismantled a ferret harness and resew-ed it to fit Tikki, because it just wouldn't fit. xD She can't get out of it now, thankfully, heheh...

Well, Tikki has done an amazing job of separating the beef and pork slivers from her chicken slivers. They were teeny tiny pieces, and yet she still, somehow, spits them out. I know she got a little bit in her, but she's fighting tooth-and-nail to not eat anything other than chicken and the NV rabbit. xD I think she's still holding out for the kibble to come back.

I used the drizzling idea, but even salmon oil could not entice her to eat more than the few pieces that somehow got into her mouth. :C I'm thinking the next step is to go one further and blend them together, and try to get that into her so that she at least starts recognizing the flavor as "food". Ugh, silly ferret... xD

[luci]

Oh they are just ridiculously clever, aren't they? Yeah I would puree a whole bunch of chicken and then start increasing amounts of pork and/or beef in there. And THEN we'll work up to mince and dice and chunks, etc. etc.

Slow and steady.

[Zoshi]

Allright, busy busy weekend. Tikki had rabbit on saturday, and I tried the organ mix the kids get with her. She likes liver, and she actually ate the sweetmeats, but she didn't like heart. Today she got a half of a chicken wing and the kids got a chicken thigh for the morning, with the drumstick for the evening. Tikki gets the rest of her chicken wing for the evening. She seems to enjoy mondays, because of all the chicken, heheh... She also wants me to feed her, actually hold the pieces (no matter how small) so she can chew on them and eat them. If I leave, she'll eat, but only if she thinks I'm really gone. As soon as she notices me, she's back to pretending she has no idea what to do with the food. xD

[luci]

Awww... the meat is always sweeter when they have you wrapped around their little finger, isn't it? Smart little buggers.

You're really close to graduating. For sure the two youngsters are fully raw. We just need to make sure that Tikki is eating enough variety happily. I'm so excited! You will be my first student to graduate! I've had other student disappear on me which kinda breaks my heart (and you had me worried for a bit there), but we're just about there. Go Tikki!

[Zoshi]

That is awesome to hear! I know, that was a looooong hiatus... heheh, but I knew I had to come back, there was no way I couldn't finish switching. I'll tell you, there were difficult times, Tikki just did not want to cooperate some times, but my dad and I kept telling her, if you don't want to be separated from the kids, you have to switch. I don't know if she understood, or if something just clicked, but restarting the switch it was much easier than the first time around.

I did try the blending - another big nuh-uh. It seems that if the beef or pork is touching the chicken, it is a no-go. However, if I hold her and stick the beef/pork in her mouth, she'll eat it. xD So I think that's what I'll be doing at least for a little bit until she gets used to the taste enough to eat it on her own. Today is chicken with bones day, and Tikki got chicken tails with part of the backbone attached (so, around 50-50 meat/bone, or maybe a little bit more meat than that) and she carried all the pieces to her feeding den, and then licked the bowl clean of any chicken liquid.

And speaking of having us wrapped around their little finger, yesterday she had my dad feeding her because at first he though she wasn't eating her meats. xD Poor dad, of course as soon as he walks away and she can't see him anymore, she starts eating on her own.

[luci]

Is she eating bone?