Oh man

[ferretfreke]

I'm about to start switching one of my foster ferrets because my hospice foster ferret (her cage mate) does not have much time left Once he has passed I want to try to integrate her into my group and to do this she has to be on the same diet. Plus she is young and healthy and I want to keep her that way. The only reason she hasn't been switched already is because I was not up for switching Hunter with all of his health issues.

I made the mistake of reading through my switching thread and I'm thinking "Can I do that all over again? Oye!" I know it may be easier since I've been through it now, but she is an extremely picky girl. Far pickier than any of my others were. Which does not make sense because she was found on the streets, naked and unspayed, and definitely not starving. I want to start her switch before Hunter dies cus I don't want to send her in to a total stress out with losing her cage mate, having to get beat up by new ferrets while they establish dominance (my group is a bunch of bullies), and a new diet. What is the best way to go about this? Hunter has to have food available to him at all times since he has insulinoma. I've read on here that there are considerations of kibble with raw. Like not feeding kibble so many hours before raw. I was thinking of starting with some blended chicken breasts.

I have already started to integrate her into my group also during playtime. She has one defense that most of them don't have, her scent glands So it's been a stinky process, but she can stick up for herself and that is very good with my group. Unfortunately one of them ended up with a semi serious eye injury cus he whacked it into something while she was sticking up for herself. He is healing tho and should make a full recovery. Fun fun

Well any advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Nykol

[sherrylynne]

Have you tried just giving her some minced chicken breast/thigh, to see how she reacts to it? Otherwise, I'd just start with giving her a taste of soup frequently, til she's accepting that. You could also bring her out for a separate playtime for an hour or so before trying the soup.

[ferretfreke]

I have offered her all sorts of raw foods since I have had her. I even put her in the bath tub with a live mouse to see what she would do. In all instances, even with the live mouse, she has pretended that it's not there. The only thing she will eat other than kibble is Hunter's soup, but if I modify the recipe in any teeny way she won't touch it.

I will do what you advised sherrylynne and feed her some at the end of playtimes. That's a great idea. I think I will have to do some syringe feeding with her or she's not going to touch it.

I'm sort of worried that she didn't even respond to the live mouse. That was what got mine to finally eat whole prey.

[Heather]

I have two boys who will not in any way respond to mice. They just don't get it . I've even tried putting them in with my top hunters in hopes that they will get excited.....nadda . The only similarities between the two boys....both are RC (that doesn't matter because some of the biggest hunters on this list are RC ferrets), both are male, both are deaf and they are about the same age. Neither has anything to do with the other. Captain Jack runs with Fun-Go's gang and Yuri was solo but now plays with Napoleon (who plays with everyone....benefit? he hasn't seen the inside of a cage in over a month). Yuri was a very difficult switch because he's not only taste driven but texture too....everytime you changed the consistency of the meat mix, he refused to eat I think that sherrylyne's idea is the best and the one that I use most often when switching up. It's the least stressfull and invasive. I'm sorry that your little one is on the downward spiral. I still haven't decided which I prefer, the slow spiral into the void or the I'm gone both are very difficult to deal with .
ciao

[ferretfreke]

That's what I was hoping too Heather, that once she was with my group she would learn to hunt from them. I won't get my hopes up. She doesn't seem to be in touch with that part of her instincts.

Hunter has been doing better. His ups and downs are emotionally confusing. I'm just going to be happy that he's feeling better and continue with my plan. Maybe he's hanging on til he knows Iris is taken care of, who knows. After all she has brought him much comfort. He was a ferret that thought he didn't like other ferrets til he met her and he has only liked her. He even gets mad at her when she smells like other ferrets Thank you for your kind words regarding Hunter.

I will keep you guys posted on how it goes with Iris. I will probably have further questions as I switch her also. Thanks again.

Nykol