Variety is the Spice

Or so they say! I want to offer a variety of foods to the ferrets, this will help keep their diet balanced and hopefully them used to trying new things.

Our next step was to try some egg, I got a little wild too and threw in a very small bit of ground beef. Both were added to the standard chunky chicken soup. It went over very well with all 6 of them. It's moments like this that help keep me motivated to continue with the switch.

In the photo you see Mojo on the right, Cracker Jack in the upper right corner and that is Ozzy sneaking in from the left. Of all the things I've tried so far this has been one of their favorites.

Determination

Before heading down this path to transition my ferrets to a more natural diet, I had been warned that I should be prepared for it to take time. I'm feeling good about our progress thus far as I really don't have high expectations for a quick transition. Ferrets can be stubborn!

Really it has more to do with olfactory imprinting. At a very young age ferrets determine what is food based on the smell of the food items offered to them. The 6 Pack have been kibble fed up until now, with my youngest being about 14 months old I am certain that the only things they recognize as food are items that smell like kibble.

Every time I start to get a little down about our progress they surprise me and try something new. Sometimes it is one of the not so daring kiddos finally deciding to give something a try. Thus far I think the best motivation for me is Cracker Jack, he gets this look each night when I come in to the ferret room. I can only describe this look as an expression in which he is saying "Where's my meat Mommy?" I'll have to try to get a picture of his look, so you can truly understand what he is saying.

Gizzards?!

What kind of word is that? I can tell you it is one that strikes me funny, it looks funny and sounds funny to me.

While at the grocery store I found I could by a package of chicken hearts and gizzards so I decided to give it a try. Cost was less than $2.00, I was sure I would end up throwing it all away but I would never know if the ferrets like it or not if I didn't try.

I warmed a few up by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes and then finely chopped them up by hand. I had no idea what I was actually serving, if it was hearts or gizzards or maybe both. I guess I've lead a sheltered life and I don't know how to tell which is which. Any way I chopped them up and served them mixed into the nightly soup.

The addition to the soup didn't stop them from eating their soup, but they sure did pick around those hearts and or gizzards.

Natural Feeding week 1

So I got all excited about the thought of switching my ferrets to a more natural diet that I soooo went there and tried to serve them some pinkie mice. Nothing doing, and I'm not really surprised. I'm not even sure what possessed me or how I even found the courage to do this.

At the same time I did serve up some chunks of raw chicken and one small chicken leg, bone and all. Nobody seems interested in chewing up the bites of chicken, Cracker Jack thought they were fun to run off with and hide. I dutifully followed along behind him, cleaning up his stash. It was a sight to watch him run off with the chicken leg with a look of excitement. He looked so proud of his new possession, but he didn't try to eat any of it.


I decided that we would maintain through my work week, having a chunky soup dinner in the evening with kibble available 24 X 7 as it always has been. We'd do the experimentation with new things or ways for me to serve it on the weekends. We'll see where that leads......

Always learning...

One thing I have learned in my time with ferrets, is that I myself am always learning. What works for one ferret will not work for other ferrets. Additionally what works today may not work tomorrow as the ferrets learn themselves.

We started with a plexiglass gate, standard 2' x 3' that we just velcroed to the door frame. This successfully kept up to 6 different ferrets in the ferret room for over a year. Then one day Moki realized if he pogo'd long enough he had enough momentum to grab on to the top and pull himself over.

I figured I'd fix him, and just raise the height by purchasing a larger piece of plexiglass. Now we were at 2' 4" X 3' and this worked successfully for another year.

Then one day Ozzy realized that if he pogo'd long enough he could reach the top and pull himself over. This left me in a quandry if I raised the height again I would not be able to climb over it. So our cleaver idea was to put some tubing at the top edge, so the little 'devils' couldn't get a grip to pull themselves over.

Not pretty but functional all the same. This lasted all of about a month, and then Ozzy realized that he could leverage himself just right on the actual door to the room that he was able to push the plexiglass away from the velcro at the bottom and squeeze through. Aarrghh!

Now we are trying this, they can't push it out based on how it is positioned, it is too wide for little ferret paws to grab on to the top edge if they jump up. It's working for now!!

Anyone betting on how long it takes for one of them to figure a way out?

Natural Feeding, where do I start?

I've done lots of reading, there are many sites out there. I have found several threads on various ferret forums where this topic is discussed.

One of my favorite articles on the subject was the Bob Church series on the FML from 2003. It was actually this article that convinced me to try switching the 6 Pack over. I gathered from this article that chicken necks might be a good place to start.

After work one night I went in search of chicken necks and found out that these are not something I can just pick up at the grocery store. Silly me! I did find turkey necks, but opted for some chicken legs instead.

Now I wasn't completely comfortable with the thought of raw chicken so I boiled the legs for a few minutes something that was mentioned in the Bob Church series. I still pulled the meat off the bones and instead of making the soup the ferrets are used to I just made it chunkier instead.

The results were really mixed, everyone checked it out and sort of nibbled at what I served. It looks like Cracker Jack and Moki were definitely enjoying the meal.

Not bad for a first attempt I guess.

The 6 Pack ponders Natural Feeding

Well if the truth be told, it's me pondering how to convince them it's good for them. After much reading, I have convinced myself that there are health benefits to my ferrets in feeding a more natural diet.

What does that mean? RMB (raw meaty bones) or whole prey? At this time I really don't know. I do not know that I will completely abandon kibble. I do know that I would like to greatly reduce kibble consumption in our household. For now it's a matter of how do I convince them that this is a good idea.

The 6 Pack regularly gets duck soup as a treat, to keep them interested in it should I ever need it to care for a sick ferret. They love their duck soup, but it is very liquefied. I have always made what we call 'Chicken Smoothies' by boiling chicken thighs. I pull the chicken off the bone when done. Using the chicken stock, a small amount of soaked kibble, some Nupro and the chicken everything is whirled in the blender until liquefied.

I know they are used to the smell and 'taste' of cooked chicken. Can I get them used to eating chicken in a form other than liquefied? Will they eat it raw and with bones? I do not know the answer to this question but I am going to try, see what happens and post our journey here.

Moki turns two! May 22nd, 2007

Moki San our Kamikaze Ferret Ruler of the Universe has turned two! His birthday was a couple weeks back and of course we celebrated in style.

As usual the celebration started out with traditional soupy.




Totally not related to the party, but I wanted you to see the 6 Pack knows how to use "napkins" after soupy. This is Moki demonstrating at the bash...





See Mom...all clean!



Moki & Bobo investigating the box that appeared in the room while everyone was distracted by soup.



Moki checking out the new tube toy.



Tube Jam!! We've had lots of these lately and lots of tail wags too!



As with any good party you should be tired when it's over...




Looking back at life with Moki...
Baby pictures:





Growing up and changing colors:

Long time No blogging

We're not doing so good on updating the world on our antics, but we are alive and doing well.

We've been going outside to play now that spring is here and the weather is nicer, it won't be long before the weather is too hot for us to be outside.

We are also in the beginning stages of trying out a diet more natural for ferrets. This includes eating raw meat for better health. Ferrets are after all carnivores. There are signs that this transition will be successful, but the ferrets aren't gung ho over their new food choices yet either.