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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 4:48:31 GMT -5
I'm not sure why I haven't asked this before but I guess i should since its been on my thoughts lately.
With feeding entirely Raw, is it best to divide certain meats for certain days?
Example: Monday Muscle, Tuesday Organ, Wednesday Bone etc.
or is it okay to feed two or three kinds twice /or/throughout a single day, like i've been currently doing.
Example: Monday, Muscle/Organ/Bone.
I'm trying to figure out a low cost but most effective diet plan at the moment that suits my ferrets.
Availability with meats isn't always the same either, like one fortnight they could have chicken hearts while another fortnight they may not, but would have lets say liver or something. Is it fine to feed them whats available at the time, or would that upset their digestive system? (probably a common question, but worth asking anyway)
I'm also going to start looking into getting them some whole prey soon. I don't think there are any providers in my area,(but there should be some places in Melbourne/which i don't mind traveling to get some every so often) What should I be looking for in a Whole prey provider? What Sizes or types are best to start with?
Thanks, yet again!! ^^
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 6:43:03 GMT -5
This is a sample schedule given by my mentor. As u see a bone meal always followed a heart and muscle meal to help stools as those meals can give loose stool. A furry mouse or rat would be a good choice,too. Sun AM: organ meal (½ liver, ½ other organ) O Sun PM: edible bone-in meat B Mon AM: edible bone-in meat (or muscle) B Mon PM: edible bone-in meat B Tues AM: heart H Tues PM: edible bone-in meat B Wed AM: muscle meat M Wed PM: edible bone-in meat B Thur AM: heart and organ (½ liver, ½ other organ) H+O Thur PM: edible bone-in meat B Fri AM: edible bone-in meat (or muscle) M Fri PM: edible bone-in meat B Sat AM: muscle meat M Sat PM: edible bone-in meat BRead more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/16051/abbeytheferret6s-switching-thread-abbylee22#ixzz3eM5sUQpO |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 10:54:12 GMT -5
Don't ever worry about asking questions. Sometimes it occurs to all of us that we don't know something that is basic or have realized that we don't have a good handle on something that seems easy to understand. What worked for me was to build and follow a basic menu and stick to it. After awhile and while watching how my ferrets eat, I made some adjustments to it. Now with summer here, I've adjusted it again because they eat less. They are eating very little at dinner time and a bigger breakfast. On days where they have Cornish Game hen, I make that a day of two Bone In meals and they eat the CGH for both meals. I like to follow my organ meals with a bone in meal, to keep their poops firmer. Organs make for looser poops. So does Heart ( a muscle meat meal). It's really a matter of learning your ferrets and what works well with your schedule. The Key is to keep the balance of proper meals over the week. How you configure that, is up to you. Just remember to keep to 7-9 meals of Bone In meats 3-4 Muscle Meats with Heart being a muscle meat meal and ten percent of the weekly menu. Organs meals will be Five percent liver and five percent other organ. Liver is the organ that you need to watch and be careful to stick with the correct amount. Liver is full of Vitamin A and can build up in their system. A minimum of three proteins over the week. If you keep to those guidelines, everything stays balanced. Adding Whole prey means that you subtract that meal from the Frankenprey and adjust your percentages. Thérèse is in Australia and may know some good providers. I know it's a big place, so hopefully she is not too far from you. Does all that make sense and answer your question? |
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Post by Thérèse on Jun 30, 2015 6:16:42 GMT -5
Whole prey in Australia can be very, very, expensive. Many people that I have known who want to feed whole prey end up raising their own because it is really expensive as the market is mainly geared towards those with snakes and snakes eat in a completely different way.
Having said that, how to find them....some pet stores carry whole prey feeders. They will be in a freezer somewhere in the store but the freezer is often not obvious (have even been in stores where it was out the back) so it is often easiest to ask. Some may not have them in stock but will offer to order them in as required. I don't order in because the one store I tried that with, there were endless delays and they arrived about 2 months after they originally said they would. If that had been my only supply my ferrets would have starved to death before they got there.
For whole prey, the only things incorporated in my ferrets diets are adult mice. This is partly to do with my squeamishness (I couldn't cut up a bunny and one is too big). I am fussy about the mice I get and only get one particular brand, other brands I have tried the size varied too much and the smaller ones didn't seem big enough to actually really be adult mice. The brand I always get are the Dr Dolittle ones. I have noticed rabbits, rats and quail in the freezer too but have never seen guinea pig, so it may not be available. My ferrets do get quail but the kind that is for human consumption and comes from Coles or the markets and is dressed (ie. plucked, beheaded etc. so it is just like a tiny raw chicken you would buy to cook for yourself). I get my mice from Best Friends Pets. They are currently the best I can do pricewise. Because I am buying them for ferrets, I make sure they know how many I require (reptile buyers tend to buy some and then not get any more for a while whereas I buy some every week). Most stores will only keep very limited stocks on hand and not worry if they run out because they are catering to the reptile market. All the stores round me who have mice and have been used by me know me and what I require. The mice I get come in a pack of 7 adult mice (I know overseas they seem to come in much bigger packs but here the most common size pack for other brands is a 5 pack). I give each ferret one adult mouse every day. That means 1 pack equals 1 week for each ferret. I get 3 packs a week and with my VIP discount I get change in cents from $73, so very expensive. If I have to get them from Petbarn I think my change in cents is if I fork over $87! Having been down the insulinoma road once (and that was more than enough) I will not consider feeding anything but a natural raw diet. The rest of their diet is frankenprey and isn't nearly as expensive as the mice but I get them because they are a little perfectly balanced meal and I know that every day they have had at least a bit of everything they should and that relaxes me about how exact I have to be with the rest.
Another way to find whole prey supplies is to google reptile suppliers. I don't know if you can buy online as I am not a big online shopper, especially for something that would require specially treatment as it is frozen. Also I believe some have sourced them from excess culls at univerities who use mice in their labs. I have no experience of this and am only basing this on hearsay but believe they are usually cheaper if you find a source that way.
Hope this helps.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2015 10:25:07 GMT -5
abbeytheferret6, That was a great visual aid for me, since i was having a hard time thinking what should be when sort of thing, thanks for that!
poncesmom, I've just started noticing the poop changes, especially with organ so what everyone is saying makes complete sense.
I haven't tried them on Liver just yet since I wasn't able to find any in our supermarkets where I live. I decided I would try the butcher in the next town (since ours closed down ;A;) What your saying makes some sense, But since i'm still new and everything is settling in, I will have to come back and study. ^^
Thérèse, Its also quite hard to find ;A; Well from where I am it is. I probably have a better chance with finding some in Melbourne. I live just out of melbourne, Closer to Ballarat and as far as I've searched, I've found no Pet stores, or reptile shops that sell whole prey. I don't think i would have it in me to breed since i used to own rats/mice and plus I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to do everything right. ;A; I was looking online and found this site (www.rodentfarm.com.au), I was thinking "Oh wow, thats cheaper than what i was expecting" but then the shipping cost was a big big no go for me. I then found this site, (www.biosupplies.net.au/)which is $25 for shipping, which was better than the $150 from RF. It would probably be best to buy in bulk. I think if I was wanting to make it part of their full diet, then it would be best to breed them. (which is not really what i think i would be doing at this stage.) Thanks for the information also, Its a great help ^^
Haru is getting desexed in about 9 hours from now. (Its a "Yay' thing but also 'ahh my poor baby is going in for surgery and is probably going to be sore and out of it for a while ;A;') Would it be best to make soup for her to eat?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 0:12:37 GMT -5
Today I found some Chicken Liver so I got two packs of it. (Also tried some with Yuki, who ate it up already on the first go!)
I also got some writing pads so i can start writing things down and monitor their eating ^^ Haru is coming home shortly so I'll try her with some soft food like mince later on and if she has troubles eating I thought I'd make some Raw meat soup for her ^u^
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