how often do i feet my ferrets on raw food i am new to raw

[Deleted]

how many times a day do i feed them and at what times thankyou

[LindaM]

I responded in your other thread. : ) But just in case for anyone else looking at this for an answer, I'll copy below too.

"How old are your fuzzies? Do any of them have health concerns, eg. Insulinoma?

Mine are all healthy and adults, so we feed 2 meals a day. An AM and a PM meal. It also depends on what raw plan you offer, as I know the whole prey feeders can even get away with feeding just once a day depending on what they throw in there, bigger animals last them longer so they can eat multiple meals from say a rabbit for example.

Kits and sick ferrets require more meals than just the general 2 per day though, and need to be fed more often."

[Deleted]

One is a year old and has a lot of tarter on his teeth I got him as a rescue brought up on kibble but transferred him to raw in hopes it will start cleaning up his teeth and my other one was born 1st July 2017 so is about 10-11 weeks

[LindaM]

The year old one should be fine with doing an AM and PM meal plan, though the kit will likely still need more meals than that, especially if you take bowls back after meals. Kits should technically have food available to them all the time, and they will also eat more than the adults, up to 4x what an adult would average. This is simply because their wee bodies are using all that food to fuel their growing process. I always free-fed (meaning I put out food at a meal time and left the bowls until next meal time at which stage there should at least have always been a bite of food left) all of mine, whether as kit or adult. I found that to be the easiest, especially if they will eat the food by themselves. If yours are still in the stage where you need to sit with them and finger or spoon feed for them to eat, then offer the kit some extra meals versus just doing the 2 meals a day.

Are you doing Frankenprey or Whole Prey? Kits need the full 9 meals of bone-in, as compared to 7 or 8 in the Frankenprey menu. The calcium they get from that is very important for growing strong bones.

You should also keep a journal of how much food you offer and how much remains after a meal. Using a kitchen scale helps a lot. This will allow you to see if you need to offer more or can offer less and get a better idea of how much they are eating on average. This won't work for the kit though mind you, they follow their own rules when it comes to food, LOL. You should also be weighing them every once in a while, so that you can see if anyone is gaining or losing weight. That way, if there is a problem you can spot it and work to fix it.

[Deleted]

So what meal would be suitable for the kit to grow ? Chicken thighs ? Could you give me a little example of a menu

[Sherry]

Here is a basic menu plan. Kits will need the higher end of bone in meals holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/146/meat-bone-organ-weekly-menu

[Deleted]

and what to do about mess ? my guys dont seem to eat over the bowl they like to get peices into there mouth and run into the litter or into a corner and eat it

[crazylady]

Hi its normal for them to eat in a litter tray believe it or not lol( mine wait until I have cleaned out the poop corner then stash meat there lol )you could give them a feeding den ( box with a hole cut into it ) or simply hang meat from the cage using hangers ( heather and sherry can explain about these ) mine are free fed with whole prey and cut up meats your kit will need at least 4 meals a day if it is living with your other ferret you may find the older ferret wins in the food stakes taking extra meals from the kit resulting in one over weight adult and one very hungry kit good luck
Bev

[LindaM]

Bev is entirely correct, that's just natural for them to do. If you have no issue with it, you can let it continue. Or if it bothers you, try offering a feeding den. You may need to offer separate feeding dens, and you may need to show them that it is meant to be used for food by offering a bowl of food in there for a few days. The feeding den helps provide the secure feeling they want while eating that nobody will disturb the ferret and steal their food, the same reason they go eat in corners or a dark hidden spot, as well as hiding their food where the smell of feces can mask it from predators. It's an instinctive reaction, so entirely natural.

The other solution that has been mentioned I believe involves hooking meat onto shower curtain hooks, and hanging those inside the cage, and you can also zip-tie a plastic pan or the like underneath it to catch scraps that fall.

PS. Eventually a trust level may also be reached where YOU are considered a safe spot to eat against. My furkids feel that way about both myself and my husband, often using our legs to provide a buffer between them and another, or magically all trying to use one of us at the same time to eat a treat or piece of food, and thus ending up in a clustered pool around our feet, but still not willing to each scatter to different spots, haha.

[Deleted]

they wait for me to put the bowl in side of there cage then they just pull all of the peices out of the bowl and hide them all over they hide them under there bed sheets in each corner of there bed sheets in side there hammocks under the stairs in mostly every corner... will this behaviour not contaminate the cage ? theres raw chicken in almost every corner evemn in there beds they dont ever eat in the bowl lol its so annoying

[Sherry]

I don't worry about contamination- they are built to handle it no problem. Out of curiosity- how much meat is left by the next meal time? If more than a piece or so, then you are feeding too much.