THE POWERS OF A SPECIES APPROPRIATE DIET.

THE POWERS OF A SPECIES APPROPRIATE DIET.

This is a timeline of Haru (♀) from the starting weeks of her raw (frankenprey) transition, all the way through to today, where she is on a combination diet of Raw (frankenprey) + Wholeprey (Mice/Rat/Quail) Diet. 

Since there is difference in coats, due to seasonal changes, I have listed which is which. Currently Haru has her winter coat growing in (Coat colours still changing!) so she is a little on the fluffy side.

Haru wouldn't be in such an incredible condition if it were not for the assistance of the Holistic Ferret Forum Mentoring Program (and Poncesmom, my mentor) That impulse application I submitted, really paid off. I did not think I was "ready" but I jumped into it anyway, not thinking I would get a mentor for a long while, but hey, it happened before I knew it and look at the incredible reward!

Transitioning for new ferret owners, or new to raw ferret owners, can be incredibly intimidating- trust me, I was freaking out and thought "what If I do something that could risk the health of my ferrets?" - Push those worries aside, and get a mentor! You're not alone, you have support, to ensure that you do NOT do what you worry about. Step by step, we'll even hold your hand (virtually of course) if you want! 

tongue emot

 The benefits, out weigh the anxieties, and worries. Raw bone in meats, organs,muscle meats and even whole animals, is the BEST DIET you can offer your ferret. It is WORTH pushing through, it is WORTH learning something that seems intimidating to you- Start small, work your way up and your ferret will LOVE YOU for it!!! 

Forum > http://holisticferret60.proboards.com

HFF Website > http://holisticferretforum.com

Hakibe Ferret Blog > http://hakibeferret.net

Blog Update! | 4 May 2016

I've received a question in regards to ferret biting a few days ago.  
I really feel that I should apologise as I have had to knock back a lot of the question received in emails. I have indeed read them all regardless of if I have personally replied or not. I do intend to create a blog post on them once I have free time to write and research. A majority have already been written, I just need the time to go through and do final editing prior to posting.  Some examples of those which are complete but require second reading/ adjustments prior to posting are:  

1# Being Vegan/Vegetarian and feeding a species appropriate diet. Status: Requires editing and second opinion, other than that, it is complete.

2# Product review on Ferretone treats.
Status: 98% Complete, requires read over and a few minor adjustments prior to posting.

I have several others however those are either held complete, or on hold until I complete the most asked choices. I have a list of products to review, but unfortunately I have not been very active with research the past month or so, however I will get around to it in my free time. :)

Since life has becoming more busy lately and I'm just about to start a new (In-class) course, so I have had to put quite a lot on hold. I am currently on a break from mentoring with HFF and look forward to taking on mentee's once I become settled in my new course. After I figure out my time tables and prioritise my schedules then I will look into doing a lot more in the future.

Speaking of courses, the course in particular I'm currently in the process of enrolling for is the Certificate II in Animal Studies. I dropped my last course due to a very incompetent course provider (Eeek- thanks for wasting my time and money A****e). Once I complete animal studies, I will be going onto my Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing, then maybe further down in the track I hope to go for my Diploma of Veterinary Nursing, or simply get my experience up and see how I feel about going to Vet School. ;)


This year, 
I've had to really get out of my shell, and having anxiety among other health issues, it has been quite a complicated thing to do. Last year since I brought home ferrets, I've been able to get off medications which I was using for "Depression". I went from, on the verge of destruction, to being able to get a grip on my life again, and this was mainly thanks to bringing home ferrets, finding my passion, and the encouragement from ferret raw feeding communities like Holistic Ferret Forum. 

Mind you, I never mentioned I was on all these types of medications, I was ashamed and embarrassed about it. Now that I think about it, its wrong to think that way. I had nothing to be ashamed about... I was on and off medications, from one med to the next, nothing helped me. I was barely hanging in there, but after hearing all the positive words from others, how I was someone who was unique, and helpful... How I had talent, and skills I never knew I had, all these wonderful things, really helped me to overcome (A large majority of) my demons. If I looked back 2 years from now, I was a mess. I had to leave school, had to drop out from accomplishing anything. I was so discouraged and felt utterly pathetic as a human being.  I was an artist, and had so many people tell me to be this, to do that, saying that its not a real job and even saying that Its a useless dream. Being stubborn, I did not let them win on the outside. I was strong, I told myself that countless times but then I lost my way and lost my passion. I ended up thinking art as a chore, and that was something that hurts to think about now. I adore drawing, I do. I love it. Its my life. But the thing was, I had no goals. I said I did, but I could not see them through. It wasn't something I felt confident that I would be able to see through. Eventually I stopped drawing, and became depressed and felt really lost.

But now, I know what I want, I know what I can do, I know about what I would like to do and or achieve. I want to be helpful. I want to help animals, especially exotic animals like ferrets, I want to teach people the species appropriate diets, I want to do so much!! For my entire life, I've had a scale of "Art" and "Animals". At the start of my teenage life, it started out with both art and animals. I remember wanting to be a vet but at the same time I wanted to be an artist. I went one minute from art, to animals. Then to animals to art. I worked with horses when I was younger, a huge passion of mine actually. I wanted to be a jocky because I adored racehorses and riding. Then I realised that was to be simply a dream. That dream turned into wanting to be a Strapper (A person who looks after racehorses, grooms, feeds, put on tack etc). Thinking about that now still makes my heart flutter. However now I see only helping all animals, or at least exotics, I would love to help wildlife also. While growing up, until my early 20's, I've not really known about what I could do career wise. Compared to others, I did not want to work in fast food places, I did not want to work in fashion stores, and so on.  I was more content with studying. I really was still trying to discover who I am as a person, now I feel strongly about becoming a vet nurse and to work in that area. 

I'm scared. I have so many worries and anxieties, and I may lose confidence when I first start out, but I know for a fact that my personality will not rest until I achieve something. The loss of confidence, the worries and anxieties, they all have one thing in common for me and that is that they fuel my need to learn, need to achieve aspect of my personality. I don't mind falling, I'll fall a thousand times if needed, but now I'll use that to my advantage. 

I still draw, but these days It's for my own enjoyment. I don't post it, I don't feel the need to share it, but I do draw and I love the fact that I enjoy drawing again. I'll always be an artist, I'll always be a writer, I'll always be creative, but career wise I only see animals at this stage.

Ferrets gave me courage.

I feel stronger. I feel more determined to achieve my goals. I am a whole new person, it's truly exhilarating.

 A ferret may not seem like very much to one person, but to me, bringing ferrets home was one of the best decisions of my life. They gave me meaning, they gave me something to focus on, something to learn, something to understand. It was a complete shock to me from day 1# where I was bitten. I had to start challenging my train of thought. I had to be patient with ferrets, I had to be kind, I had to respect them. I've learnt so much, and all that they taught me, and will continue to teach me, I will use that to help others and other animals.

I was lost, confused and blind, 

But now I can see,

very,

very, 

clearly.

I won't give up.

Ferrets are trouble

Today when I let out my dumplings for their daily dose of playtime, Haru decided to get herself stuck in the bathtub. 

Funny.

She hasn't done this in quite a while so I assumed that she must have figured a way out of there, anyway I had to go retrieve my mischievous little girl and on the way I picked up Yuuki, who was running off down the hall, straight passed me like he just did something cheeky. I decided It would be best to just grab him, and we both will go see what Haru is doing, in the bathtub...

This wasn't the only thing Haru got herself into today. It was the first, but not the last.

Sigh. 

Haru then decided that she would help herself to my water which was in the loungeroom... left unattended... because I had rushed off down the hall to retrieve Haru and forgot to move it out of ferret reach in the meantime. Oh. Fantastic. 

Water everywhere, all over the carpet and luckily no glass broken like the last time Yuuki knocked a glass off and it shattered. The trouble never ends with ferrets thats for sure. 


The other night, Haru actually managed to get into our cockatiels seed mix and got it all over the floor. I found her, using it as her own personal dig box.  Haaaarrruuu.

When I finally have some time to sit down and relax, I'm up and running down the hall to see the cause to a loud BANG. This is now the 3rd time I've rushed off after ferrets since letting them out for like 20 minutes. 

Upon reaching the location of said commotion, I come to find my -once neat- pile of study books on various veterinary subjects... all over my floor in my bedroom. Who did I see standing on my desk? Big brown eyes, staring at me with curiosity, questioning why I had a shocked facial expression on my face... It was BEAVIS. I had finally, FINALLY, figured a way to stop him from getting up on my desk, even moved my room around and he still got up there. Oh my goodness. Ferrets. I gave a huge sigh. I was annoyed, but I didn't ponder on it since it was only natural for these guys to be getting themselves into a whole heap of trouble. Usually, all my dumplings are quite well behaved. Maybe they sensed I was alittle under weather. Since I wasn't feeling too well, I was trying to find excuses to lay down or to relax. When I'm feeling healthy, I'm up and running around with my three dumplings, that is probably why they don't get into much mischief lol.

Yuuki, surprisingly enough, was the only well behaved ferret this morning.
The past two days, he had been alittle misbehaving and was giving me some real ninja attitude. This ninja attitude, is where he runs off like a racehorse down the hall way when ever I go up to him. He literally runs from me and avoids me completely. I guess you could call it "chasey" or "Tag" haha. Then when It was time for bed, I would go and look for him and he would be hiding under the couch, with this sheepish face staring at me every time he pokes his head out. I would go to get him, and he retracts his head  and runs off. Sigh Sigh. These games he plays with me. This is one of his personality quirks actually, it usually happens when he gets tired and cranky from being tired. When I do finally get him in my arms, I give him a cuddle and he literally dozes of to sleep. Its lovely. I then routinely tuck all three into bed and they go straight to sleep. They always play so hard, to the point where they just exhaust themselves and either go to sleep, or eat like a piggy. hehe.

Ferrets can get into so much trouble. I never get tired of it and these days I've become accustomed to it. Luckily its never anything serious, even though a majority of the time they like to give me a heart attack and a half. They do make up for their troublesome behaviour with smooches and cuddles, so I can't complain.