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Junior Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/17/2008 1:27:45 PM
Posts: 101,
Visits: 434
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| Harley will eat ANYTHING. Its official. None of the ferts like like pork bones (the t-shaped ones someone reccomended) or ANY type of liver. Ninja will eat only chicken and Slinky is almost as picky as Ninja. So now I have a freezer full of pork thingies, livers, turkey, fish, and whatnot and the only thing most of the ferts will eat is chicken. Ive tried everything from coating other things in kibble and ferretone to chunks, to babyfood and mixing things with chicken flavored broth, duck soup... everything I can think of. Im sure they will get deficiant if they keep eating JUST chicken. Any suggestions?
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Average Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/15/2007 8:43:51 PM
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| My guys eat mostly chicken, a little turkey, and a little beef. BUT they also eat whole prey. My guys HATE pork and they HATE lamb. With a little persistance you can probably get em to eat turkey wings and beef chunks. Its okay if they dont eat fish, pork, and beef. Try cornish game hen, they have more edible bones then regular chicken and my guys LOVE cornish game hen: http://willowandweezie.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album02&id=eating_meat I cut the game hen in half and feed half one day and the other half the next day. You can hold off on adding mice and bugs for a while. I didnt add whole prey to my guys diet until about a month ago. Let em get used to the chicken and they should be okay. What is important is that they eat the chicken meat, BONES, and organs. As long as they are eating those three parts they will be okay until they are ready to try whole prey. I feed gizzard, liver, and heart as my organs once a week (8 gizzards, 1 liver, 4 hearts) along with 2 raw eggs and 1/2 cup of beef chunks once a week for four ferrets each sunday. Are your guys eating whole chicken wings yet? Bones and all? If so thats a BIG step, keep up the hard work. I kept my guys on chicken wings for like 2-3 weeks (while giving them a vitamen supplement, 8-in-1 vitasol) before I added organs, egg, and beef. Let em get used to the chicken first, then try other stuff later. Dont despair, my guys HATED liver at fist and now they LOVE it. You can give em chicken wings, chicken thighs, chicken legs, and cornish game hens. That way the taste and texture are the same, but the shape of the meat is different. It will keep them enriched and its good for em to eat different parts of the chicken. In a few months when they are eating chicken AND other foods with gusto THEN you can add in whole prey. I'll be here to help you with that big step when the time comes. Keep us posted! and get pix if you can of your babies eating their new food!
--------------------------------- Love, Giuli 
Check out my pictures/videos of all my "furkids" by clicking on the links below! http://lugnutandhendrix.myphotoalbum.com (The cats album is also here) http://samsonanddelilah.myphotoalbum.com http://willowandweezie.myphotoalbum.com http://apollopuppy.myphotoalbum.com Interested in natural feeding? Join NaturalFerrets! (Just click on the button below) 
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/17/2008 1:27:45 PM
Posts: 101,
Visits: 434
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| Well, they seem to like the smaller chicken legs and wings and I know for certain that Harley and Rayn eat the bones. I havent seen the other two do so yet, but it doesnt mean that they arent. I tried frozen pinkies last weekend with no luck. I thought that 'tastes like chicken' might apply...lol. Lets just say it was a quick waste of $5. They can eat beef chunks? I thought it wasnt part of a 'natural' diet for ferrets as to what Ive read up on. It might be worth a shot trying. I dont think Ive ever seen a cornish game hen in the grocery store. I might have to ask the butcher about them and their prices. And how do you feed meal worms? Do you drop them in their bowl in the cage? Do they escape? Or do you do like a mousing trip and put them someplace contained like the tub?
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Average Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/15/2007 8:43:51 PM
Posts: 608,
Visits: 2,191
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| Well if they are eating the bones, thats a BIG step! Good for you! The other ferrets are most likely eating the bones as well. Yay! As for the beef chunks, I feed the beef chunks sparingly, there are no bones in the meat to clean the ferret teeth, but the ferrets enjoy them and do fine on them. The key is that you include plenty of bones in the ferret's diet as well. Cornish hen may/may not be available in your local grocery store, but definitly ask your butcher about it. I love to include 1 hen once a week in my ferrets diet. I split the hen in half and give half one day and half the next. The cornish hen just looks like a mini chicken, they run about $3 per hen where I live (MO). Mealworms I just give as treats, I really like waxworms better because I think they have more fat in them. I'll stick them in my ferrets bowl and dribble ferretone over them or I'll coat em in ferretone and give them to the ferrets by hand, just depends. My guys REALLY like earthworms, but only every now in then, like when the mood strikes. lol You are doing great! Hang in there, its normal that they turned down the pinkies. Just worry about getting your guys used to the raw foods, then slowly add bugs and then later you can worry about whole prey. I waited several MONTHS before adding whole prey, but that was just because I was seeking out a good supplier. Its up to you when to add the whole prey, but I would give your guys atleast a few weeks to really get comfortable with their diet before you add any new food items. The way I introduced whole prey was the same way I introduced raw foods. I took all raw foods away and gave them a mouse with the belly cut open. I waited it out and eventually they got the hint that they were supposed to EAT the mouse lol. Once they were eating whole prey with no problem THEN I reintroduced the raw foods back into the diet, so now they eat whole prey AND raw foods AND bugs every now and then. Hope this helps! You are doing great! Keep up the good work, that hard work will pay off soon!
--------------------------------- Love, Giuli
Check out my pictures/videos of all my "furkids" by clicking on the links below! http://lugnutandhendrix.myphotoalbum.com (The cats album is also here) http://samsonanddelilah.myphotoalbum.com http://willowandweezie.myphotoalbum.com http://apollopuppy.myphotoalbum.com Interested in natural feeding? Join NaturalFerrets! (Just click on the button below)
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