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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 8:39:55 GMT -5
hmm.. well the cats got the mouse, so... it's in the freezer now, just in case it has anything bad. so I'll feed it to them soonish.
when would be ok, if the mouse did have something?
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 2, 2011 13:35:16 GMT -5
Two weeks is usually the minimum freezing time for wild caught animals.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 16:32:16 GMT -5
Just a little word of caution  Wild polecats (M. putorius) in this part of the world (Europe) do carry parasites. Both internal and external, which they get primarily from their wild prey. I would never deliberately feed my ferrets any wild rodents since I don't think it's worth the risk. Chances are that you will eventually infect your ferret. I think that ferrets that are fed that way should be regularly dewormed and you should be aware of what rodent parasites and diseases there are in your area. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 16:33:12 GMT -5
Just wanted to add, many parasites do not die from freezing in a regular freezer. You would need much lower temps than that.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 13, 2011 16:47:42 GMT -5
A longer term in most fridge freezers will kill most parasites, but you're right. It won't kill all of them.
There are a few that might survive a month in there.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 17:04:27 GMT -5
If a ferrets immune system is strong, wouldn't it be able to combat any parasites it might encounter in it's prey?
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 13, 2011 17:06:06 GMT -5
Not necessarily. With many parasites, the immune system has nothing to do with whether the animal gets infected.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 17:10:01 GMT -5
It certainly does not in polecat. I've seen and handled quite a lot of polecats (I was involved with rehabbing in my teenage years) and believe me, they do carry parasites and sometimes even succumb to parasites or other diseases they get from their prey. There are also a few studies on this (what parasites that polecats carry).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2011 17:29:36 GMT -5
I'm not saying that the immune system prevents infection, but that it can effectively eliminate the parasite through both the innate and adaptive immune system.
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 13, 2011 17:33:44 GMT -5
Not really. Often times the body doesn't recognize parasites as something that need to be eliminated (the body is stupid like that sometimes) so it leaves them alone.
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