Vkp23's Switching Thread/sherrylynne

[vkp23]

Yeah I'm going to have to rethink my methods. I think leaving kibble in at night and out during the day will work best. As long as I get their breakfast soup to them before they wake up. Which I should mention we are on a wonky schedule. Since my husband works from 4:30 pm to 3:00 am the kids and I keep about on the same schedule and since we home school it doesn't matter much what the kids sleep schedule is. So breakfast for us is around 2 pm Don't know if that matters much. Any way, they just got their lunch (which I half burned my lunch cause i forgot about it while feeding the ferrets seeing who's eating what. ) I gave them 3 cubes this time. Timmy ate about 2 cubes worth, the hog! Miko ate about half a cube worth, and on her own too! Zip still needed a scruff to get her to eat it. She would eat it though. I think what I'm going to have to do it thaw out more than 3 cubes. I'm thinking like 4-5 and watch too see how much each is eating. "Force feed" those who seemed to not eat any or not enough. Which "force feeding' Miko consists of holding a spoon full out to her and moving it to the inside of the bowl till she eating out of the bowl and she's good from there. Zip I guess I'll have to scruff her each time and get at least two good spoon fulls in her and let her go. But if I leave enough in the bowl (if it's good for 6-7 hours) that if some one decides to eat any on their own they can. And I'll do this three times a day to make sure they are getting enough. Then I'll leave the kibble in at bed time after they've had their soup dinner and night time play. How does that sound? Think that will be enough? Also I gave the sardines a whirl. Yeah they are NOT ready for it. Miko gagged like I was making he eat garbage! And I didn't even scruff her or anything she just got a TINY bit of the juice on her nose and licked it off. LOL That's ok, the mice and chickens will probably like it.

[sherrylynne]

That sounds like a really good plan! As for Miko, I STILL have to do that with a couple of mine, the spoiled monsters With Zip, try scruffing for the first couple of tastes, then just hold her on your lap and offer some on your finger. You might have to quite literally keep holding your finger in front of her mouth as she moves her head. Most cannot stop themselves from licking it then. It appears to be a reflexive reaction.
I had to do that with some of them for a while during the switch. It almost seems like they have to make their token protest before settling down with it

[vkp23]

Yeah I tried scruffing Zip first and getting her to try some and then just holding her in my lap, but she wasn't having any of that. The second I loosen the scruff she wiggles out of my hands. Seems she too interested in playing than eating this weird stuff I keep feeding her. I try every time though first to scruff her then hold her to see if she's loosened up some with it. If she wont hold still then I have to scruff her again to make sure she's eating enough. My daughter Lizzy, who is 6, is the ONLY person Zip will hold still for. Zip had gotten attached to Lizzy in a CRAZY way. She's like one of those dogs that let the baby's poke them in the eye and junk. Zip love Lizzy to death and just lets Lizzy carry her around and will lay still in her lap and what not. Miko last night didn't even need me to trick her to eat it. She went to the bowl on her own and started eating and ate more than she had the other times. Timmy is a little oinker! He has NO trouble eating it and eats it happily. And eats a lot of it! And speaking of Timmy, he's doing MUCH better. His medicine has really helped. He's not peeing every 5 seconds and when when he pees it's not just a little drop. He actually has a full bladder now when he pees. I still have another week and a half of meds to give him to make sure the UTI stays gone though. It's funny and makes me wonder, the lady at the shelter said the lady that gave them up said she couldn't keep them because Timmy wouldn't litter train and she couldn't deal with it. But since I got Timmy on his meds and they get plenty of play time, I haven't had a single problem out of him, except for normal ferret oops-es. This is leading me to think that either #1 she NEVER let them out and he was retaliating or #2 he has a UTI for a while. I mean, why would she have them for 2 YEARS of "not being able to litter train him" if she couldn't handle it? 2 Years of it? I don't think so. Seems fishy to me. Any way he's getting taken care of now.

ETA: You know in hind sight, if Zip will let Lizzy hold her and not put up too much of a fight, I might should think about letting Lizzy try and feed her. I only worry about Lizzy getting raw chicken all over herself Zip and the whole house. Trust me with my kids it could/would happen. But I think I may have to consider that. Hmmmm.
Here is an example of Zip Lovin' Lizzy.
s678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/vkp23/?action=view¤t=yay094.mp4

[sherrylynne]

She really IS calm for her, isn't she! What you could try if you like is having your daughter sit on the sofa, chair, etc. Put a towel across her lap, give her a small plate and spoon with the soup, and have her offer it. Just have to make sure the little one(skinkid ) doesn't put her hands in her mouth, etc. til she washes them thoroughly.
If you tell Lizzy she has to sit really still while doing this, would she?
As for Timmy, I'm so glad he's doing better! It's got to feel a lot better for him, too.
For him and Miko, I'd start adding in slivers of meat to his soup. Not a lot, but enough to give a bit of texture. And they will likely have to be tiny enough for them to easily swallow when they get them in their mouths. Otherwise, they'll quite likely spit them out, since they haven't clued in to actually chewing food yet.

[vkp23]

I just fed them and I didn't have to scruff Zip! I had to hold her but didn't have to scruff her! No issues from Timmy (SHOCKER...NOT! LOL) or Miko. They went right to it and chowed down. I may still let Lizzy try and feed Zip at some point (probably tonight) and see how well she does. Timmy and Miko are already eating little bits of meat that didn't puree. As I said before, my blender is OLD and a hand-me-down so it isn't the best at totally obliterating the meat. So they have actually been chewing on little bits of meat. Their little faces looking like if you chew on jerky. LOL! Should I try then to cut up little pieces bigger than the little tidbits they are already eating? Also I was wondering, when it comes time for them to try mice how is that done? I heard some where that you either take a thawed mouse and cut it open or give them a live one. I know it's a little early to be asking that but I've been wondering about that. Also, once I start trying new meats (after they master a chicken wing at least) do I mix the new meat in the chicken soup so they have a taste that is familiar going with the new taste?

[sherrylynne]

Congratulations, Zip!!! Good girl Sounds like she might just be on her way
With the others, definitely start adding more bits of meat in there. Add a few more every mealtime if they'll accept it, til it's all meat bits, then you'll start increasing the size even more.
With mice, every ferret is different(surprise, surprise ) I had to start with chopped up pinkies added to their regular meats. Others just open up a fuzzy mouse, and squirt some oil into the abdomen. Still others let them hunt.

[vkp23]

Gave the chunks of meat a try. Yeah they would take the pieces in their mouth but spit it back out and keep licking the soup around it. I guess if they get it over and over they will learn that it's food too. Right? Hopefully it wont take them long to realize it. Zip did a little better. I didn't have to scruff her for at least half of her dinner. Just had to have my hand under her. I guess the only reason I had to scruff her for the last of her meal is because she wanted to go play but I wanted to make sure she got enough to eat. But she ate all her soup. It was at least a good cube worth. Also, through the whole meal she was shaking like a leaf. I was told they will shake when their excited. Is that true or is she scared? I don't want to frighten the poor thing. I thought about smearing a little pumpkin on a chicken leg and see what they do with it. Probably wont do that just yet though.

[sherrylynne]

With the pieces, they simply aren't accustomed to the new texture yet. They'll get there With Zip, can you let her play, then give her some more? Some ferrets get a bit stressed easier than others(not necessarily a bad thing, just what is), and give her some more after? She might not eat as much as others do. A couple of my smaller girls only eat maybe 1-1 1/2 ounces of meat a day.

[vkp23]

Yeah I can do that. I will just have to make sure I put her food where the other two can't get it other wise they will eat it. I think she is warming up to it a little though. I think she's just going to need a little more time.

[sherrylynne]

A little more time, and a little more reassurance Even after I got Boris eating out of the dish on his own, he still frequently wanted my hand on his back before he was comfortable enough to eat.
Even today, I still have to "coax" him to take that first bite if he hasn't had something for a bit. Mind you- if it's been over a month, it's suddenly a new food again, and hence now it's "poison" At least until I get that first bite into him, then it's "Hey- I remember this! It's GOOD!!!"

[vkp23]

I tried something different with Zip. I mixed a bit of kibble soup with the raw chicken soup and she ate really well! Miko and Timmy chewed on the chunks a little bit. I counted this time how many pieces I put in there and then counted how many were left when they were done. I put 13 pieces in there and there were only 8 left. So some one ate a couple pieces or they both had a piece or two. I was having a hard time watching who was eating what because we had company at the time and things were a little hectic. What I'm thinking about doing with Zip is adding a little less and less kibble to her soup until she is eating nothing but soup. Then after a day or two on the straight soup, start adding a little bit of chunks.

[sherrylynne]

That sounds perfect Once you find the real "in" with them, then you've got your switching method. It sounds like this is Zip's And someone is certainly eating the bits!
Now, with the way you are going, you will have 2 at one level of the diet switch, and 1 at a slower level. Are you ok with this, or would you rather have them all on the same level?

[vkp23]

It would be nice for them to be all at the same level but I'm a big girl I can handle two dif levels. The only problem is keeping Timmy and Miko out of Zips food. I don't want them taking any steps back. But I guess it doesn't matter much with leaving the kibble in at night and they are still eating the raw soup well. If Timmy and Miko are eating legs or wings way before Zip eats any chunks is ok and will actually be easier on me. I wont have to cut up chunks for them. LOL. Just chuck them a wing a be done with their feeding. I might see what they will do with a leg later today once they are hungry just to see what they think. Doesn't hurt to try and just see if they are willing to jump into it since they have had some chunks now right?

[vkp23]

tried out a little leg on them. I rubbed it down with a little powdered kibble. Not a lot of it just enough to make the meat smell a little like kibble. Timmy went right to chewing on it and ate some! Miko and Zip sniffed at it but didn't seem too impressed. I left it in there for them to see what they do with it. I've got some soup thawing out for them though to make sure they eat.

[sherrylynne]

With the leg, try slashing into it really deeply, so the flesh is basically just hanging off of it. That way, they've got something to grab hold of. You can also play "tug" with it, to get them really going at it
For Zip still taking the soup, one thing that might make sure she gets her fair share of it is to feed her separately from them for 10-15 minutes. That way, she'll hopefully fill up on it, and there won't be a lot left. Also, if she does, I wouldn't bother putting the soup bowl back in the cage, since you know the boys are going to finish it off anyway. And it might just give her the incentive to try the chunks they are eating.