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Dec 18, 2010 15:08:29 GMT -5
Post by emntl on Dec 18, 2010 15:08:29 GMT -5
Hi! I want to prepare for my ferrets, although they haven't got here yet... I want to start them off right. I want to feed raw but also something in the cage for all day. I want to this so if we are gone a day or two and have to have someone come over and feed they will not have to deal with the raw. I do not how freeze-dried raw comes or if it can be left in the cage all day/night. I also would like to hear everyones feeding schedules.
If you feed raw in a feeding box how do you encourage your ferret to STAY in the box while eating and not drag meat all over?
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Dec 18, 2010 15:18:07 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Dec 18, 2010 15:18:07 GMT -5
Hello! Welcome! Freeze dried is great to have on hand. It comes in a patty that you can break up into small bits or sprinkle on other food. My two girls adore the stuff. It reminds me of cardboard. Feeding schedules vary with each person and each ferret. I feed my two twice a day, 12 hours apart. They eat between 1-3 oz a piece. I usually leave a little freeze dried in the cage for snack (if fed dry, the freeze dried will not go bad.) Freeze dried can be expensive, so I try to use it as a treat. If you're getting a kit, 3x a day feeding is usually better. Those little ones can really eat. I know some people use clips or metal shower curtains to secure meat in place. A feeding den itself may prevent stashing (nevertheless, they are ferrets and will probably fogre out anway around it if they really want to. Good luck!
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Dec 18, 2010 15:31:56 GMT -5
Post by emntl on Dec 18, 2010 15:31:56 GMT -5
So I can leave out a good dried food with freeze dried mixed in or just freeze dried and feed 2-3 solid raw meals a day. I just saw a great set up in another post using the clips. If all turns out I will be getting two ferrets between the ages of 4-7 months, depends. But it wont be until next year, (hehe, not far away). What classifies as a kit? Under 1 year? This doesn't pertain to raw feeding but when you said you feed 12 hours apart it reminded me of something I read. It said ferrets get too much natural light during the day (cover the cage?) and need at least 12 hours of darkness. Some of this of course is at night but should I cover the cage when they are not out and being played with??
Thanks Jackie for your help btw!
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Dec 18, 2010 16:05:30 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Dec 18, 2010 16:05:30 GMT -5
I would probably just leave the freeze dried raw. There is really no need for the kibble if thy are eating the raw meals fine.
When you first switch, your babies will eat like crazy to make up for all the nutrients they've been missing. I would feed young ones like that 3 times a day until they slow down a bit. If you can't feed 3x, just feed larger meals and leave a good amount of raw in the cage in case.
My cage is next to a window, so to avoid overexposure and to save electricity, I usually leave all lights in the room off to allow for a natural cycle. As long as there are plenty of dark spaces to snuggle up in, you shouldn't need to cover the cage.
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Dec 18, 2010 16:18:40 GMT -5
Post by sunnyberra on Dec 18, 2010 16:18:40 GMT -5
I've heard some classify and adult as a ferret 6-9 months, others a year. I go with a year or ... well, look at my userpic. That's my baby, Sian, at *two* years old (taken like a week ago). I have a kit pic (when she's about two months old) and she looks exactly the same. I have a really hard time seeing her as anything but a baby, at this point!
For easier food imprinting, you want to introduce them to new foods by their first six months. Now, oldies can switch (there's a ton of ferrents on here who've done it, me included), but kits are - no lie - generally so very easy it's unbelievable.
My feeding schedule (I have it written out and everything!), has two meals a day. 9 meals of the week are bone in (whether rmb or bone-in commercial ground) and one meal of the commercial ground has an added serving of organ to cover my bases, two meals of the week are heart meals, 3 of the meals are "other" muscle meats/or other (like fileted fish, egg, etc). I also give a bit of pure canned pumpkin regularly as well as quail feet for snacks (three of my four can't get enough of them).
As for lighting, some believe that regulated lighting is most important during the winter months (when they need a bit more than 12), and that during the summer months it has less impact (although I've read articles where it has been shown to help year round, in alleviating pre-adrenal symptoms to degree - coat-wise).
I try to follow a strict "natural" light schedule (which is easy because they have a wall of windows in their room. When it's light, there's light, when it's dark, it's dark. At night, I use a small carry lamp to do night clean up and for getting three of my four put up for the night.
It's weird, though, because when I do have to use the hall light (never overhead light, not that it makes much of a difference) I feel horrible, now /o\
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Dec 18, 2010 16:46:56 GMT -5
Post by emntl on Dec 18, 2010 16:46:56 GMT -5
The same goes for me with the baby thing... my 15 month old toy australian shepherd is still a puppy to me! (and everyone else because he is so small)
OOO... I'm kind of a freak about organization on paper... even though I'll remember the schedule. Yours sounds like a good one.
I posted on someones newbie switch forum because hurricanekatt had said she brought her canadian kit home and immediately starting giving him raw. So it sounds like I won't have to go through the whole switching process? I can just bring the babies home and start them on raw.
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Dec 18, 2010 16:51:13 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Dec 18, 2010 16:51:13 GMT -5
For some the switch is very easy, but for others it can be quite a challenge. It all depends on the individual furchild. Usually, the younger, the easier.
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Dec 18, 2010 17:21:28 GMT -5
Post by sunnyberra on Dec 18, 2010 17:21:28 GMT -5
For Yogi (who was 12 wks or so) I tried chicken breast diced up with crumbled kibble on top - he shook all the kibble off to eat just meat ;D For Sian (who was 6-7 weeks), I let her play for about 4-5 hours after coming home, tried the kibble-dust, she wouldn't eat it, washed the kibble off, and she ate the meat. That was the end of it.
For Hiko, who's two, and who I got last month, I did the kibble-dusted chunks, and he used the smell of kibble to figure out it was food and was eating that the same day (I never let him have a bowl of kibble. He only got it with the raw meat). By the end of two days he was solidly on just meat with no kibble dust, and although he has a MAJOR sweet tooth (thanks to a combined diet of fruit infused kibble and GUMMI WORMS given to him by previous owners) he doesn't even register kibble as food anymore!
But, anyway, generally, it's not really a drawn out process with the young ones, although it can happen, and having a bit of kibble on hand just in case of needing bribes is generally not a bad idea (or at least baby food/soup, for supplemental meals, as long as they know and will eat the baby food/soup). just remember, the usual case is the more access to kibble, the less the interest in meat. So if you do give access to kibble, pick it up a few hours (at least four) before offering the raw/new food
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Dec 18, 2010 17:25:57 GMT -5
Post by emntl on Dec 18, 2010 17:25:57 GMT -5
Oh great thanks! Hey, just wondering.. where did you get your babies so young? I wasn't looking for young and now I'm just waiting around but the lady will have the 4-7 month olds I was talking about. They are currently stuck in a Canadian snow blizzard or whatever you Canadians get up there! (I'm from Florida) I want them NOW!
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Dec 18, 2010 17:37:13 GMT -5
Post by sunnyberra on Dec 18, 2010 17:37:13 GMT -5
They were petstore kits (so, by default they were Marshall farm (mill) ferrets), and when I went they had just gotten them in, so they were itty bitty things. The *exact* store was a small pop 'n .... family store called Aquarium Outfitters in NC (I got Pixie (and her littermate, Yew [sadly gone, now], both were a bit older, 5-6 months), Yogi and Sian there.
Sian bonded very closely with me because she was so young. She was still at the stage where she'd honk, so I could hear her and "find" her whenever I wasn't in the room and she missed me. It was sweet, but a little heartbreaking, at the same time.
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Dec 18, 2010 19:13:58 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Dec 18, 2010 19:13:58 GMT -5
Another Floridian I got Pixie at PetSupermarket and Trixie at Petco. They arrive at about 8 weeks, sometimes younger. Most pet stores stock Marshalls ferrets, but others stock Real Canadian ferrets.
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Dec 18, 2010 20:04:08 GMT -5
Post by katt on Dec 18, 2010 20:04:08 GMT -5
Just to answer your earlier question again, yes a young kit can be started on raw right away. You can leave raw in the cage throughout the day. For when someone is pet sitting, freeze dried would be your best bet. It depends on what kind you get, but it is a dry food. I like Stalla and Chewey's personally - it comes in "kibble" shapes (like giant cocoa puffs almsot lol) or Patty shapes and is textured like....recycled paper combined with Styrofoam and string? It is hard to describe. haha But it is best fed re-hydrated (just soak it in some water), though it can be fed dry as well. I free feed - meaning my ferrets have access to food all day and night. I give food in the morning and then add more at night. I gauge amounts based off of how much they last ate, whether there are any good leftovers in the cage still, etc. I take out meat that has gotten old and put in fresh meat 2-3 times a day. Unless they are out of their cage (which is usually several hours in the late afternoon/evening) they have constant access to food. I use a feeding den and find that it contains most of the mess. I keep the meat "in" the box by not allowing them to eat out of the cage, and when they are out of the cage, the cage is closed off. Meat does get stashed in various other places in the cage still, but it is typically easy to clean and most of it stays in the den.
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Dec 19, 2010 10:07:45 GMT -5
Post by emntl on Dec 19, 2010 10:07:45 GMT -5
Wow thanks everybody for the information! I really appreciate it. Gah, I just am so excited, I just want the cage to get here so I can feel like I've started at least. Thanks again!
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