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Post by Leafwhisp on May 25, 2015 19:38:30 GMT -5
How much food in lbs do you use for one ferret per month? How much does it cost? This will help with my "parents get me a ferret" paper. Been researching for so long, and hope to get one
Long as in like I started last year, gave up on convincing parents after a few months and got 3 gerbils ( I am leafwhisp on the gerbil forum on pro boards) and then started back up again 2 weeks ago.
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Post by Leafwhisp on May 25, 2015 19:42:13 GMT -5
Should I get a forum account even though I may never get a ferret until I'm out of college and can get one without parent consent?
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Post by Sherry on May 25, 2015 19:54:36 GMT -5
You can if you wish  We have had many members spend a year or more researching prior to getting their first. As for costs it will depend on where you live, and how many outlets are near. Many of us use Asian or other ethnic markets, farmers markets, butcher shops, grocery stores, or online sources. Generally I find raw frankenprey is less expensive than a higher end kibble. One ferret, depending on a variety of factors, will eat 1-5oz of meat/bone/heart/organ a day on average. |
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2015 20:00:34 GMT -5
What you spend and what you buy, will depend on which diet your ferret (s) eat. The costs depend on whether you go with Frankenprey (a natural diet), Commercial grinds (ground raw) Whole prey (live or frozen) FDR (freeze dried raw) or kibble. The average grown boy eats 3-4 ounces a day. The average female eats 2 ounces a day. They eat a little less in the Spring and a little more in the Winter. Frankenprey costs less than commercial grinds. Whole prey can be a little more expensive unless you breed your own. FDR is expensive. A good quality kibble can be reasonable but you want to find a good quality kibble and those usually will need to be ordered online. As a Holistic Forum, kibble is not the first choice here. We do have ferrents who feed kibble and they research first and choose a quality kibble. I have five ferrets and feed Frankenprey. I'd say that my costs run under $100 in a month. I buy in bulk and shop specials. Organs are inexpensive in an Asian Market and make up a small amount of the weekly menu. Ten percent hearts and ten percent liver plus another organ. You learn to shop for specials and your local grocery store supplies most of the other meals. You can read more about Frankenprey in the Natural Diet section under the Home page. I can't speak for the price of commercial grinds. I fed FDR for awhile and that ran $200 a month. A good quality kibble will depend on the brand. A poor quality kibble isn't worth the savings. Ferrets are carnivores and kibble is filled with starches and grains. They can't digest starches/grains/fruits or veggies. That leads to illnesses like Insulinoma and will shorten their lifespan. They will smell more and their poops are larger and smellier because they digest less nutrients and produce more waste. Their fur is also coarser. Kibble is worse for their teeth and ferrets tend to stay slightly dehydrated on a dry food. Here is a link to help give you some info on feeding ferrets: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/17480/intro-raw-newbies-read :wave2: |
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Post by Celene on May 25, 2015 20:38:21 GMT -5
I have two girls and feed about 7.5 lbs of meat/month between the two of them. They eat a little less than that though because there is usually a little bit of meat leftover from each meal.
I tend to splurge on fancier meats for them such as partridge and rabbit, although some "fancy"/exotic things such as frogs legs are dirt cheap. So are organs and gizzards, and generally the cheaper cuts of meat are actually BETTER for them since they are fattier.
Overall I would say I spend about $30/ferret/month but I honestly buy whatever looks "cool" without looking for sales or worrying about prices. I could probably feed them for $20/month each if I didn't go for the fancier/more expensive items and bought stuff on sale. Although they are tiny girls. If I had a boy it would be closer to double that.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2015 21:14:58 GMT -5
My fuzzies eat about 8 Oz of meat a day each, which is 28 pounds roughly a month. I have a Mexican market with insanely good prices here, so I can feed my babies with 20-30 dollars a month
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 8:27:11 GMT -5
switching to whole prey here as my babies do not well with fowl---lot of diarrhea. Yikes on the shipping!
Can't get up the nerve to raise my own then have to euthanize them----although there is good info on how to do that on this forum..
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