Switching over thread

[jules]

Well good news! They are both eating with zero kibble now. So they are getting a tsp of raw egg, close to 2 oz. of a combo of ground turkey and small bits of chicken (dark meat). They won't eat it without the egg in it now. It seems I have to buy the same exact ground turkey too. They don't care much for the super lean stuff from my bf's store.

I got Stitch to put a chicken wingtip in his mouth, he just went and stashed it, but hey, he put it in his mouth
Thats about it. I've got to go shopping to stock up on more meat for them, I'm figuring getting some ground beef to go with the other two meats? Or should I just stick with the turkey get them to eat bigger pieces of chicken? The liver doesn't seem to be a problem if it is mixed in with the turkey.
What should I be doing for their teeth? They are eating so much soft stuff and not anything crunchy now. A piece of kibble as a treat maybe? Still looking for all meat treats, very hard to find.

[sherrylynne]

You can introduce new meats if you like, or simply stay with the same for the moment. I would work on slowly increasing the size of the bits mixed in, both of the chicken, and turkey.
For their teeth at the moment, it shouldn't be a problem, as they'll be eating bone before too much longer. But leave the kibble out of the ratio entirely, or they might just decide that's what they want instead

[jules]

Well, looks like I had to step back a little today. I had the really lean stuff for them and I had to fight Stitch to eat and Lucy just flat refused so I put a little crushed kibble in hers so she would eat and she ate very little but she ate more later because that is all I would give her. I kept coaxing her with a spoon. Stitch finished it off when she had enough of it.

I am going shopping tomorrow for a couple weeks worth of good meat for them, I am realizing that the lean stuff may not be the best and that they like a little fat in their meat? So, ground turkey, chicken wings and liver I have been boning the big part of the chicken wing for their chunks because the turkey has been breast meat and read that they need dark meat as well. That is where the taurine is, am I right?

I really need to get a blender to do the frozen ice cube method. I really worry that they aren't getting the vitamins they need right now. Should I get some of the duck soup mix that has vitamins in it for them? I got some ice trays from a garage sale last weekend just to make special weekly soupie.

I am really happy at how they are coming along. Been a little worried about her because she is so small and doesn't want to eat like he does but she still seems to have more energy than he does when she is awake. She actually gave me a kiss today for the first time. That made me feel good.

[sherrylynne]

That first kiss is always amazing, isn't it
To start with, they need a fairly high fat content in their diet, so always leave skin on, don't cut excess fat off, etc. They use that like we would carbs, for energy! Like they need anymore
I do know that a ferret can thrive just on chicken baby food alone for about 6 months with no problems, so I wouldn't worry too much. And yes, the dark meat contains taurine. The more a muscle is worked, the more taurine is in it. Which is why the heart meat is ideal. If you can't feed heart at least once a week, then I'd get the human taurine supplement. I believe mustelidmusk gives her 4 one 500 mg capsule daily.
And your little girl likely doesn't need much to eat to meet her needs. Some of my tiny girls only eat about 1-2 oz a day in the summer. Don't worry- once she's fully on raw meat/bone/organ, her appetite will go way up for a while, til her body adapts to it.

[jules]

Thank you very much, that makes me feel better about them now. Especially her, i didn't realize how tiny the females can be. I think that is the heart in the whole chickens that I buy so that isn't a problem there. I just need to find a really good butcher. Since I moved I haven't found a reasonably priced one yet. Thanks again!

[jules]

I bought the stubborn babes semi-fatty ground turkey and like magic, they eat it with egg, liver, and small chicken pieces.
I placed a few cut up chunks of wing tip in Stitches food and he ate it too! I was suprised how easy it was to cut.
So now, I have enough stored up where I can cut up the extra meat from the larger part of the chicken wing and slowly make the pieces bigger and bigger. I have enough stored up for a month of doing that. Hopefully by then they will be eating just straight chunks.
They are eating all of their food again. Should I still be feeding them 3 times a day or can I drop it to twice? The portions are at least 2 ounces of meat maybe more and small amounts of liver and egg to amount one a week by the end of the week.
The really hated that lean turkey, we ended up making it into turkey burgers for ourselves.

So that is it as of now. Hope everyone is having a great week so far and any extra advice, tips or tricks is greatly appreciated from anyone.

[Heather]

Congratulations. You are indeed making progress. Fantastic. I know people who feed once, twice some even three times a day. Depends on how much you feed per feeding session. I like to feed multiple times during the day...it means that it's fresh. I'm at home so I can do this, others work and can't do this so they feed in the morning and again in the afternoon. As long as you feed their required amounts, this can be trial and error (feed and if there's a lot left over then you're feeding too much, cut it back) You can go by required amounts (sherrylynne has it stickied) but these little ones appetites fluctuate severely. During the summer my guys eat quite a bit less, during the fall and into the winter...they eat me out of house and home. Another time that they suddenly start really pigging....when they first switch over. It's like their little bodies are trying to make up for lost resources.
Good luck, have fun and enjoy your little ones
ciao

[sherrylynne]

I'm one of the ones who feed twice a day. I'll leave the meat chunks in for up to 24 hours at a time(of course checking for "off" ones). If they've not eaten everything at the next meal time, they just get less for that meal, so they eat up the remainders. If they've demolished it, then I'll put in extra.
The amounts stickied are simply generalized. I found I was feeding WAY too much every time I cleared out their stashes, and thought "OMG!!! They aren't eating enough to survive on!". What I didn't realize is that I was feeding 7-8 oz per meal to a group of ferrets only capable of eating that much(if that) in an entire day

[jules]

LOL about the OMG!
I think feeding them twice a day works for me just because I am looking for work and when I do start working they will more than likely get fed twice.

I added a little ground beef to their food today and they wouldn't eat it all, but I did leave it out for them and they kept going back to munch on it until it was gone. It took them about 4 hours or so to finish it off in between, napping and playing.
A little bit of ground beef, ground turkey, liver, finely chopped wing tip, egg, egg shell, and wing meat pieces. That was their dinner. No egg shell till next week. I feed them Just ground turkey and egg in the morning, the combo is what they get in the evening and they go back and forth to it till it is gone each time.
I'm so happy with how this is going it just makes me giddy....LOL
I got a bed for them today that I ordered in the mail, they love it and they both fit in there perfectly! I will post pics when the dang camera is charged, it was dead so now i will wait till they are in there looking sweeeettttt for the camera.

[sherrylynne]

That is excellent news!!! I'm glad they've actually decided this stuff is food If they are taking the ground really well, now is the time to "push the envelope". Start by putting in some pieces just a wee bit larger than the size of the ground. They'll most likely pick around it for a couple of days, but persist.

[jules]

Stitch is now eating wing bones. He really loves the small bone from the middle section of the wing. He ate part of a wing tip today after it sat for about an hour, with the skin on. He ate the large half of it. He is now eating strickly 1/4 inch or so chunks of chicken and doesn't seem to care much for the ground turkey as much. I put chicken pieces, chicken liver and drizzled raw egg over the top of it and he gobbled up the liver first then ate the chicken. What a guy!
Lucy on the other hand will only eat tiny pieces of chicken still and loves the ground turkey breast. Won't take the bones yet but licks on them, so that is a start for her. If I mix the egg and liver with the ground turkey she eats it but won't eat it separate yet.
It seems to be going really well as far as food goes. Lucy still has the idea that not going in the litter box is good if I am not following her around after she wakes up.

[Heather]

Looks like your little ones are progressing nicely, great work. Hitting the litter box...that's different I have much more trouble teaching my little girls to consistently use the litter box than the boys. I don't know why. I find them much more territorial and the indiscriminate use of the floor almost always appears to be in places like doorways, hallways and the top of the stairs....territory. I also notice an increase whenever a new ferret comes into the equation. Just some thoughts, being consistent is usually the easiest way to resolve this issue. Good luck, great work with the switch
ciao

[sherrylynne]

You know, I never even thought of that before, Heather, but my main problem with out of cage litter habits is my girls, too

[jules]

Glad to know it isn't just my little girl, I was told when I got them the "HE" would sometimes go out of the box, he does just fine.
Lucy is really stubborn! She picks through her food and makes sure to get all the turkey and egg but leaves most of the chicken, liver and bone. Stitch seems to be following along, he gets very little turkey and eats it, egg and the liver. Leaves a lot of chicken now uneaten.
I have to seperate them because he will finish picking through his and eat hers.

So, we are kind of at a stand still for the moment and going back to smaller pieces of chicken for both of them. Stitch loves his wings, the tip and center mostly and I take most of the meat off of the large portion and he gnaws on it. He also figured out he can sneak it out of his cage and stash it...
Right now I know where he puts it so it isn't too big of a deal, I just don't like the idea of raw chicken being drug around the house.

[sherrylynne]

I gave up on that a long time ago They've been known to actually push it out of the cage for later retrieval
Personally I think the best thing you can do to convince them to eat all(or most) of the meats is to just give them one thing at a time now.
Give them egg OR chicken OR turkey. And keep including the bones for whoever will eat them- they need the calcium.