Rescued Ferret Can't Crunch?

[Foxhole 22]

I recued a ferret a few weeks back. The thing is he has strange eating habits. First of all he will not eat meat. Secondly he will not eat dry food until the point where he will bite your finger clean off than touch it and he is friendly when fed.

He eventually got fed as i soaked the food in water until a mush and he ate a whole plate!. All the same with 4 different brands...?

 

Could this be a sign of age ?

He has all his teeth and i can't see any swelling in his mouth.

I was thinking perhaps he was only fed on cat food or something simalar.

He has had his nuts cut off at some point...

[joe14 98]

dont know maybe he was fed wet cat food. I would keep feeding him that if thats the only thing he will eat and add tiny tiny bits of raw meat to it eventually reducing the water untill its dry.

You say hes had his nuts off, id also get him scanned at the vets for a microchip as someone as obviously cared about him at some point

and could be missing him.

If he was mine I would have him at the vets just for peice of mind to look at his mouth. Make sure hes got a heavy bowl of water down, they get more water from bowls and might encourage him to eat more.

Edited December 14, 2013 by joe14

[northern lad 2,292]

Probably right it was fed tinned/soaked food from a kit,3 of my jills wont eat anything but dried even though I bred them and weaned them on rabbit/pigeon etc as well as dried just switched off from it...all work well,but wont eat it

[Huan72 687]

Have you checked his back teeth, there easy to miss while checking, everyone's done it and sometimes the canines can be ok whilst the rear teeth are bad.

[GreyRake 108]

Some of it's down to the way they are brought up during the early weeks and some of it's down to their individuality. My hob eats anything, he scans my floor/table everytime I let him out. His sister tastes rabbit but never feasts on it, but she loves the hunt. The kit eats everything too but the dry is preferred overall by all because of the lack

[GreyRake 108]

Effort needed to eat it. Starving him max (I said max) 48 hours maybe worth a try. Otherwise soaking dry for the time being won't do any harm. He should come round and gain a taste for other things over time, unless he is really ancient.

[The one 8,493]

If hes eating it when its soft it sound like toothache

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

I was told years ago that if a ferret hasn't eaten a certain food by 6 months old then it won't eat it in future.

 

Not sure what truth is in this but I always raise my kits on a varied diet, biscuits, birds, rabbits, tinned meat, mince etc. And now they eat anything.

 

I took in a hob not long back though and he wouldn't touch raw meat or tinned meat. He would only eat dry biscuits. And he was quite old with terrible teeth.

[joe14 98]

It is pretty hard work trying to get them to eat meat but it can be done. I would soak the dry and add tiny bits of mince/chicken.gradually reducing water in the dry and increasing the size of the meat. Feed a small amount though 2/3 times a day so none gets wasted and you can monitor what he eats.

Edited December 15, 2013 by joe14