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Post by lnsybean44 on May 21, 2009 17:24:30 GMT -5
She wouldnt leave me long enough to enter the den on her own but she will gladly leave me for the bathtub. I will keep trying with the den because it will be easier on my family but if she just dont do it then I will stick with the bathtub.
We got our order of freeze dried in today and we did get a mix of foods. Mostly AFS but at least one of wysong and stella's to mix it up a bit. I think I will use the Ziwipeak for training treats since they break so nicely into small pieces.
We started by mixing about 25% freeze dried and 75% kibble. I also used and eye dropper to put a few drops of freezedried/water into each of their mouths so they will get used to the taste. Each of them lapped it up fairly willingly so hopefully the switch wont be too bad. I plan on doing that three times a day plus keeping their kibble/freezedried ration about the same for the first week or two. Until they are comfortable eating it.
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Post by mustelidmusk on May 21, 2009 18:06:07 GMT -5
Sounds good with the freeze-dried - most ferrets accept the stuff pretty readily. 25% may be quite a bit of freeze-dried raw for the ferts that are long-term kibble eaters. If they're reluctant to accept the freeze-dried, add more kibble. My brats immediately loved the freeze-dried to the point that they fought over it at first. Here's a travel tip...(I should post this in the raw section) For feeding while I'm gone, I tightly packing a bunch of freeze-dried raw into old plastic treat jars and leave 2 HUGE water bottles per fert. That way the sitter has hardly any work to do. The cool part is I use old, cube-shaped treat jars (plastic) with wide mouths. The biggest of my ferts can't get stuck in the jar opening. I put these jars with the tops off in the feeding den. the brats simply tip the jars over and scratch out what the want - it's not messy since they're in a den, and it provides enrichment for them since it's more like a scavenging activity. Even if they scatter the food in the den, I scoop it up and put it back in their bowl - yes, they'll step in the scattered food, but they'll eat it anyway. (When I return, I just prepack the excess food back into the jars and put the lids on. I simply feed the excess to use it all up before opening a fresh bag, I never have any waste that way. I've never had my ferts poop in their den or their freeze-dried food (which they started doing to their kibble  ) As far as Kenora and the feeding den goes, you may want to use the den as part of a game - put blankets in it and hide some toys oor freeze-dried raw in the blankets.... toss jingle balls inside for Kenora to chase, etc. It's possible that the den may stink like new plastic if it's "fresh" from the manufacturer. I'm dying to hear how your kids react to the freeze-dried in their kibble Also, I keep waiting for pictures - I just love fert pictures    If you get stuck on getting the posted, you can probably email them to Paprika and have her post them. Giuli posted all of mine for me!!! -jennifer |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 21, 2009 20:06:43 GMT -5
I am still having trouble posting the pictures. I am going to give it one more go and then I will PM her if it doesnt work.
Kenora ate all of the kibble out of her bowl and got some freeze dried in there too. The boys dont seem to have touched their bowl so I will give it a few more hours before I add more kibble to the mix.
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 21, 2009 20:09:52 GMT -5
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Post by mustelidmusk on May 22, 2009 9:08:51 GMT -5
Oh my, they are beautiful!!!! Obviously very nicely cared for Who is Kenora's breeder? She's a beauty!!!! Do you plan to show her?  I just love seeing the pictures!!!! Remember that you can store the freeze-dried crumbled food in with the kibble in a ziplock bag to get them smelling more similar. Kenora may eat a small bite of the freeze-dried if you dunk it in water first. My one boy just loves it if I dip a chunk in water and offer it to him by hand - that's his favorite treat!!! Again 25% is a lot to add at first, although my philosophy is that it never hurts to offer something new since you never know what a fert might do. (and it's enrichment) One of Suds' ferret would not touch any wet food during their switch. But the first time this little girl was offered a gizzard, she grabbed in, ran off and chowed it down aggressively - she would not let her brother near it !!!! If your kids are still reluctant to eat the freeze-dried with the kibble, you can LIGHTLY crush the kibble into cuarse but smaller pieces. This makes it really hard for the ferts to pick out the pieces they like. At the same time, you can work on soup -if you have a duck soup recipe that they alread like, you can add a TINY amount of fresh raw that's very finely ground into the soup. Getting them to lick this from your fingers is a ggod approach as well. Have fun! -jennifer |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 22, 2009 11:48:19 GMT -5
Kenora is from Kerry at Hat trick ferrets. Her father if Luther fabulous and her mother is Siouxsie. I would love to get another ferret from her at one of the winter shows because Kenora is alot more high intensity than the boys and I would like for her to have someone to play with.
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 26, 2009 0:19:05 GMT -5
Today was had a break through, kenora took freeze dried out of my hand. Im not sure if she ate it or not but she didnt turn her nose up at it. The boys are still resisting but they are eating more and more now.
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Post by Heather on May 26, 2009 12:18:07 GMT -5
It's a start...now you just have to play search and find to see if anyone actually ate it Keep up the great work ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 26, 2009 17:57:29 GMT -5
I just cleaned my room top to bottom and the only food mess I found was in the cage itself and it was just their normal tossing fit of pushing food out of their bowls and onto the floor. I didnt notice any more of either kibble or freeze dried on the ground so I am going to assume that they arent picking it out.
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Post by Heather on May 26, 2009 23:21:45 GMT -5
Sounds fantastic . ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 27, 2009 11:26:33 GMT -5
We had another break through, last night I left kenora with a bit of Kibble and 1/3 of a stella and chewy's patty and she ate the patty and didnt touch the kibble. This morning I offered the boys an AFS patty cut into eighths and our foster ferret Barack stole two pieces and hid and ate them both (we have been having trouble getting him to eat enough). He also chowed the raw soup I made and Cody even voluntarily tasted it. Norman still could care less but the other three are doing very well and I am working with Norman a little bit extra.
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Post by Heather on May 28, 2009 12:37:05 GMT -5
You and your guys are moving along nicely....sometimes it like pedalling up hill....it's a real pain until you hit the crest and then it's all clear sailing. Have you tried hand feeding Norman at all....putting the food in his mouth? ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 28, 2009 19:56:34 GMT -5
Kenora is eating entirely raw, she wont touch the kibble if I put it out. I am actually hand feeding all three boys every night and Norman still could care less but we are getting there. Slowly but surely. I have no doubt that they will eventually be loving raw food as much as the next ferret.
With the freezedried (AFS), it says to feed half a patty a day per 3 pounds of weight which I split into eighths and give Kenora two eighths in the morning and two after she gets her medium sized mouse around 11 pm. She eats everything and I am wondering if she is still hungry and I should give her more or if what she is getting is sufficient. She only weighs about two pounds.
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Post by cristina on May 29, 2009 12:29:15 GMT -5
Hey I just thought I would check in to help while your mentor is away If Kenora is eating all of the patty that you give to her each feeding time, thats great and personally I would give her more to at least see how much she will eat, and/or see how much she wants (without getting sick from being a piggy, cuz sometimes that can happen). Some ferrets tend to eat more than others, so I usually base how much I give on how much individually each ferret eats/likes. I always leave a little extra for "snacking" in between meals |
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Post by lnsybean44 on May 29, 2009 17:01:25 GMT -5
My only concern is that she is maintaining her weight fine with what i am giving her so I am worried she will pig out if I give her more.
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