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Post by forgetmenot on Oct 23, 2008 12:33:45 GMT -5
Hey everyone! Cassie here! My 3 fuzzies, my husband, and I live in Lewisville.
Kodo- Albino, almost 1 year old, male
Podo- Sable, almost a year, female
Trixie- Sable, a couple months younger than the other two, female
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Post by jennifer5799 on Oct 23, 2008 12:37:20 GMT -5
Hi Ya'll! I live in Pasadena, TX with 2 ferrets and 4 dogs (and 2 skin kids and a hubby!). I'd LOVE to be able to find other ferret owners in the area who feed whole prey and would be interested in sharing orders (from big cheese, rodentpro, etc)! This board's a great idea!
~Jenn
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Post by sombercarousel on Oct 24, 2008 14:00:06 GMT -5
Hello forgetmenot and Jennifer5799! Welcome! I tried to feed my ferrets (along with my friends 3 ferrets) any other kind of food aside from Kibble. They ALL looked at me like "uh what do you expect us to do with that?". Jennifer5799 - I honestly haven't had any luck with anything aside from Kibble. I never ever thought about purchasing the same food for my ferrets that I feed my reptiles! Do your ferrets like it?!?!?!? Did they just start munching or did you have trick them into tying it? I learned yesterday that Eagle Pack makes Ferret food. I haven't looked into it. I know they make a Super Duper dog food. *shurgs sholders*
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Post by sombercarousel on Oct 24, 2008 14:10:08 GMT -5
Eh, just looked into the Eagle Pack food. It has Fish Meal in it. I'm not sure if anyone else notices how bad ANYTHING with FISH ANYTHING in it makes their furbabies smell....... P-U icky!
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Post by Jen on Oct 25, 2008 9:22:02 GMT -5
Welcome to Texas Ferret Group, forgetmenot and Jenn! sombercarousel, I feed my ferret Weasel raw chicken (slowly broadening this and possibly moving to live prey in the future). I chose this because I can't get quality ferret kibble locally. I started by moistening and mushing his kibble. After he willingly ate this, I did the same, but added tiny chopped pieces of semi-cooked chicken. Slowly, in baby steps, we got him eating plain raw chicken legs, wings, and thighs (we're moving on to the organs and other animals now). For this progress I give thanks to Holistic Ferret: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi This forum answers all of your questions regarding natural diet (raw meat and whole prey- dead or alive). There's also a mentor program, if you want help along the way (switching from kibble to natural diet). You fill out a questionnaire, start a new thread with it and update about every other day. They will give tips and answer any questions you have along the way. Here's Weasel's diet switch thread if you're interested: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbie&action=display&thread=1575(didn't mean to overload there, just added in case it helps)
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Post by sombercarousel on Oct 25, 2008 12:08:17 GMT -5
Oh, don't worry about overloading me! I'm am willing to learn. I wonder if it is to late in my Ferret's lives to try to switch. I don't want to sound dumb, but isn't feeding raw chicken dangerous with Salmonella and all?
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Post by jennifer5799 on Oct 25, 2008 22:26:29 GMT -5
Somber - go to the holistic ferret forum that Jen linked above. They're GREAT! I was a mentor/moderator there, but I didn't have enough time to commit to it, so I've taken a leave of absence They'll give you any info you need to know, and walk you through it step by step if you need them to! ~Jenn
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Post by Jen on Oct 26, 2008 6:07:09 GMT -5
There's no dumb questions It might be a little harder getting older ferrets to switch, but there's little to no worries of ferrets catching salmonella: salmonella takes 6 hours to form and ferret's digestive tracts are so short (2-4 hours), the meat is out the other end by that time. Of course, you'll have to clean their feeding areas and potty areas with a spray disinfectant (or vinegar and peroxide) and wash feeding bowls with soapy water (you should do this regardless because even kibble has a chance of being contaminated). Also, you could put the meat in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to kill surface bacterias (any longer would also kill useful nutrients). The "Ferrets for Dummies" book also talks about natural diet (if you have access to the book) - I really like this book; its extremely helpful and FULL of useful ferret information.
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Post by sombercarousel on Oct 26, 2008 10:14:13 GMT -5
Okay, I'll def check the link and look in to doing it! I had the ferrets for dummies book a long long time ago, but gave it to a person more needy then I. I don't remember a chapter on a Natural Diet.... I may look in to purchasing it again.
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Post by Jen on Oct 26, 2008 15:27:52 GMT -5
There's not an entire chapter dedicated to natural diet, but they do discuss it in Chapter 8: Filling Your Ferret's Belly.
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Post by jenletx on Oct 27, 2008 14:59:05 GMT -5
Hi, my name is Jenney and I am from Arlington. We have 2 cats (Rex and Buford) and 2 ferts (Beckham and Lily.) My kids got the ferrets for Christmas last year. This is our first experience with them. They are great! Thanks for starting this board!
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Post by sombercarousel on Oct 27, 2008 15:59:39 GMT -5
Hi Jenney, we are all glad you found us! I'm glad you are enjoying your furkids!
I'm sure this forum will be a weath of information for you and your ferrets!
~Dooks
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trish
New Member
Posts: 9
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Post by trish on Oct 27, 2008 17:49:28 GMT -5
Hi all, I am Trish and I live in Mansfield. So glad to see a Texas forum. I would love to get to know more Texas ferret people. I have 10 ferrets at the moment. 6 are my personal ferrets and 4 are fosters. I foster for Millie sanders of the texas ferret rescue.
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Post by Jen on Oct 28, 2008 11:01:03 GMT -5
Welcome Jenney and Trish! Glad to meet you both and look forward to meeting your furries Trish, that's awesome that you're helping the Texas Ferret Rescue www.txferretrescue.org/ I'd like to adopt a brother of sister for Weasel from them but am waiting for the right time/funds. If anyone has any ideas on how we can make the forum more useful, I'm all ears. Y'all take care!
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trish
New Member
Posts: 9
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Post by trish on Oct 28, 2008 13:24:43 GMT -5
Thats great Jen....Millie has lots of cutie bugs right now. She would love to hear from you.
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