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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2015 6:32:27 GMT -5
Would rats, mice, and guinea pigs be an OK variety for a ferret? 10 meals of those, 3 bone-in meals and 1 meal of 50% heart and 50% liver? yes Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/19488/separate-freezer-animal-meats?page=1#ixzz3rH72TRz9U have at least 3 varieties of protein which is sufficient with what you mentioned. Some people count guinea pig as frankenprey because one ferret can not eat a whole guinea pig in a day,thus eliminating organs for a day or so, but you can always cut up organs and add it with each serving of guinea pig. They do have a big liver . I do give hearts once a week anyway--- no matter how much whole prey. Got this thing about taurine, sometimes I give one a day as a treat-----I do not know how much taurine is in guinea pig For more variety: Ferret can have a 1 whole egg as a meal once a week--make sure yolk is always included- some people beat it all up. Quail is easily gotten from any little Asian store in their frozen section ,a great bone-in meal. You can get 6 birds for about 10- 12 dollars. No organs-- would be considered a bone -in meal Not a seasoned whole prey feeder,yet.
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Post by RedSky on Nov 12, 2015 16:05:21 GMT -5
It depends on the ferrets and their appetites. One rat may feed a ferret for a day, or may feed two, depending on the ferrets and the size of the rat.
For example when I had three ferrets 1 quail would be 1 meal in winter (when they were eating more) but two meals in summer (I normally gave it on a night so PM and then AM meal rather than leaving out during the heat of the day and then overnight). Now I have the 2 ferrets I'm learning that they in winter struggle to get though half a quail. I knew Mako ate much more than either of them but hadn't worked out he was out eating the other two put together. So I'm going to have to start preparing the quail for them or end up throwing most of it away each day, especially when summer comes back around.
As for taurine, any excess is passed out of the body, so feeding a chicken or duck heart every other day as well as whole prey should cause too many issues. But keep an eye on stools, if they are too loose and dark I'd cut back to every three days. Keep in mind the size of the heart and the ferrets appetite. My female in summer would class a chicken heart as pretty much a meal, which that amount of muscle meat (1 meal out of 4 so 25%) would throw everything else off, especially since she LOVES heart and wouldn't eat the bone in when they're on offer. For anyone who doesn't know taurine is produced in muscles when they work a lot, which is why hearts are the best source, they beat constantly (unless you're dead...). Tongues are often the next best, especially in animals like cows that chew so much, they are moving that food around with their tongues. Wild rabbits are better than 'meat' rabbits that live in little cages since they run around so much more (which I think is also why 'meat' rabbit meat is classed as white and so much lighter, while wild rabbit is darker). Chicken thighs are better than breast, both for fat content and taurine and free range would be better than caged etc. People used to believe that taurine content was lost when meat was frozen but that seems to have been disproved (luckily).
'Other' organs (and I say it in '' simply because in the eyes of us raw feeders heart isn't an organ but muscle meat and I'm not referring to liver) can be fed a bit in excess but best to stick to 5% especially if just feeding one variety eg just kidney (alongside the liver of course). Try to vary it if and when you can, but just sticking to one doesn't seem to harm them, especially if they are getting whole prey too. Liver is a must, it's the largest organ in the body and our ferrets primary source of Vitamin A. Which is also why it CANNOT be fed in excess of 5%. Vit A cannot be passed out of their little bodies, it builds up and causes toxicity if over fed. Of course there is a little lee way and some ferrets do better with say 6% while others 4%... but stick to 5% and watch stools. A bit of looseness is always expected, and darker when feeding organs and heart but it shouldn't be watery or last long. Also NEVER feed your ferrets the liver from another carnivore. A bit of meat every now and then is okay, but only as a rare treat.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2015 17:46:38 GMT -5
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Post by msav on Nov 12, 2015 19:27:30 GMT -5
I was always told that Carnivores never do well eating other carnivores, organs, meat ect.
Probably has to do with the type of toxins that are in the liver of carnivores putting extra strain on the other carnivores system.
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Post by Corvidophile on Nov 12, 2015 22:27:37 GMT -5
Yup, same concept as those warnings about possible mercury poisoning from eating too many large fish- various toxins that build up in one animal's cleansing organs get multiplied as you move up the food chain.
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Post by RedSky on Nov 14, 2015 7:26:55 GMT -5
I think it's simply that the liver is where vitamin A is, so in a herbivore they just have the 'normal' amount that our fuzz butts need. In a carnivore it would be much greater and would cause vit A toxicity. Also carnivores are more prone to carry disease, parasites and toxins due to their diet, the more mice a cat eats who have eaten some corn sprayed with pesticides the more pesticides in the cat. Something eats a few cats and it's much greater. Works the same for any toxin or parasite really.
So ideally feed mainly herbivores (or animals fed as herbivores), a few meals of omnivores and rare treats of carnivores. Of course you don't have to feed any meals of carnivores or omnivores really as long as you are still feeding a nice variety.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2015 11:32:25 GMT -5
Even feeding premade raw from the petstore my roommate & I have a chest freezer. Their food takes a good amount of space as we buy 8lbs at a time and it basically takes up half the freezer. There is no way we could fit that much food without the 2nd freezer though its not just for the ferrets, we share it for human food too.
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