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Post by zoologist on Dec 20, 2009 2:07:07 GMT -5
chewey is estimated to be around 2.5 years old and i am his fifth and final home. he's been fed everything from marshalls to walmart ferret food all the way down to crummy cat food. tonight i gave him ground chicken neck with ferretone, no kibble. i dont think he likes the bones too much so tomorrow i will go back to just the plain old chicken breast. he will willingly lick the mash off of my fingers, but if he gets a chunk of bone or tendon he is gone. if i stop using kibble, is that considered switching cold turkey?
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 20, 2009 2:49:55 GMT -5
If he's not eating much of the meat, then yes. Try him with chicken wing tips, see how he does.
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Post by zoologist on Dec 21, 2009 0:45:34 GMT -5
im confused. if he doesnt like the meat he's eating now unless it is unreconizable mush, how would feeding him wing tips help?
tonight i made it half kibble, half chicken neck. im thinking if i used legs instead of necks it might help. something with less fat/tendons that would grind up easier, do you agree?
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 21, 2009 12:03:10 GMT -5
Sorry, must have been tired when I posted that! I meant if you want to introduce him to bone, wing tips are the easiest. And if you are feeding a raw mush right now, I'd start decreasing the kibble in it, and you can use chicken thighs, minus the bone. Just blend them up with water. Since he stops with any chunks right now, work at getting him willingly eating the smooth soups. Then you can start thickening it up by adding less water.
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Post by vkoslin on Dec 21, 2009 20:17:34 GMT -5
The way people get their babies to switch from mush to real food is to start slowly and continually make it less mushy and less ferretone-y (or whatever else u use to mask it). Sometimes, you might have to make the transition from total mush to small chunks a two-week ordeal. It doesn't happen overnight for some, so keep doing what you're doing. Tomorrow, add a tsp less of water. And so on, so forth. Don't make it too different from yesterdays but you want him to not notice the differences when you do it day to day. You're doing well! He's eating mush, regardless of what else you put in it. That's a step many people haven't reached yet! Just keep on keepin' on
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Post by zoologist on Dec 22, 2009 10:02:12 GMT -5
thanks for the words of advice i am not doing a soup though. since he did fine on ground, that is what i'm going to go back to as my starting point and try to work forward from there! we had a break through last night! he still refuses to eat the chicken necks so i tossed those and thawed out a chicken breast and a sirloin patty (did i mention that chewey is eating OMAHA STEAK chicken and beef? spoiled brat). he does fine hand feeding but wont eat from a bowl on command (as in, i set the bowl in front of him and he wont eat it right there), but i hand fed him some of the beef and he liked it so in his bowl last night he had 6 things. two balls of beef, one coated with kibble dust. 2 balls of ground chicken, one coated with kibble dust, and 2 bite size pieces of chicken, one coated with kibble dust (to get him used to chewing. cause he will chew it if i force it on him, but not willingly). he ate the coated chicken ball first but when i woke up this morning the entire bowl was empty and i couldnt find it stashed anywhere in his cage, meaning he actually ate it so i'm very happy. i'm going to keep him on the ground chicken and beef until i run out and then i will start on larger pieces. i'm going to take it slower this time since i got him back on the right track. this morning i left 3 bite size pieces of chicken, a ball of beef and a ball of chicken.... no ferretone and no kibble, so we'll see how he does
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 22, 2009 11:47:40 GMT -5
That's wonderful! You really do have him on the right track
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Post by zoologist on Dec 23, 2009 11:47:46 GMT -5
ok, he is eating chicken and beef mush and bitesize chicken cubes willingly, from a bowl. what is the next step? bones or organs?
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 23, 2009 11:55:59 GMT -5
I'd get him eating larger chunks, as well as introducing small amounts of chicken livers. Save the bone til he's eating the big pieces fairly well. bones should likely be last, after he's built up his jaw muscles.
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Post by vkoslin on Dec 23, 2009 18:34:55 GMT -5
buy a pack of chicken gizzards, put them in a food processor or blender and chop it up a few times. They're a pain to chop up small but putting them in a blender or processer helps alot! Mine love gizzards, they're a little crunch to them.
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Post by zoologist on Dec 24, 2009 23:23:23 GMT -5
last time i tried gizzards he ignored them tonight he got larger pieces of chicken, ground beef, steak cut down to cubes and a wing tip. he HATES the beef. i'm thinking i should try grinding up the beef instead? do i need to take the skin off of the chicken wing?
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 25, 2009 0:55:44 GMT -5
I wouldn't bother skinning the wing. He can use the fat in it. That's where they get their energy(the fat). As for the beef- a lot of ferrets don't always take to it that well. I know with mine- only one likes beef heart, 3 or 4 enjoy beef steak, and that's it. They will eat it when I feed it, but not as enthusiastically as any other meat. I only give it when I've gotten it on a really good sale Otherwise- I don't bother!
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Post by zoologist on Dec 25, 2009 12:07:05 GMT -5
ok, good to know! i was trying to force feed it in small pieces and he kept throwing it up on my shirt and giving me the stink eye so i think i'll just give up on that and stick with the ground beef.
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Post by zoologist on Dec 26, 2009 10:00:27 GMT -5
ignored the wing (expected that) and doesnt like the ground chuck, however he ate the ground sirloin... whats the difference?! bigger pieces of chicken, and maybe some liver tonight! i think he's doing well do i have to feed him other types of meat or can he get everything he needs nutritionally from chicken meat, bones and organs?
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 26, 2009 14:36:59 GMT -5
He'll need a minimum of 3 different proteins in his diet, and many more if you can manage it, as well as the bone and organs, to be certain his nutritional bases are covered. So, say- chicken, duck, pork, just as an example. And the more ages of the chosen proteins you can feed, the better. One example is stewing hens are old chickens, roasting chickens are adults in their prime, and fryers are young adults.
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