A "few" questions from a future-fuzzbutt-mom

[Deleted]

Welp, looks like it's time to bombard this thread with newbie questions :D

Ello~ for any of you who didn't read my introduction in the welcoming thread: I love the idea of owning a ferret or ferrets for a few years now, they're cool and absolutely adorable. It was last year when I considered adopting one from either a local rescue, shelter or taking in one in from Craigslist. Before I did that of course I looked up as much info as I could! (I'll try to keep this short, won't give you all the ups and downs of doing the hours and days of research lul) One of the infos that caught my eye the most was the ferrets diet. Raw meat looked to be the best kind of food, less poops, less stink (though personally the smell doesn't bother me much, but I have other people living in the house who have the nose of a bloodhound), and above all the most healthiest! Though top grade cat/kitten kibble would be the most convenient, as I already have a cat and thought of simply having them share the same cat food.

The idea of feeding them raw meat or even whole prey doesn't bother me, as I have seen my dad keep snakes (cute little scaly noodles~ <3) and fed them frozen mice and live chicks when I was younger. I even fed them myself a few times, thought it was pretty cool (though seeing baby chicks get eaten did make feel a bit sad if not guilty :c ).

So I did some more research, to find meat as well as frozen mice/rats. I went to walmart recently and checked the meat section up and down. They certainly carry the meat that ferrets need, namely chicken and beef as well as chicken hearts, gizzards and livers.

Which leads me to these questions (finally)

Q 1: Could any of you ferret parent professionals tell me how much 1 ferret eats per day when it comes to meat, for example one leg in the morning and one wing in the evening, while giving organs as snacks in between? And how often do you have to stack up on meat supplies (per month? per week?), how much does it cost per month? I ask so I can know how to balance my money right, cheap is nice and all, but I don't want give the little fella crud for the sake of my wallet ya' know? If I can find healthy food (kibble or meat) for a great/reasonable price, it would just be bonus points for me :p

Q 2: Is tyson meat okay for ferrets? Most of the chicken meat (hearts and livers included) looks to be of the tyson variety in wal-mart (note: walmart is the closest store, but there is a krogers and HEB nearby where I'm sure I can find other brands if tyson is a no-go. Sadly no meat markets :c )

Q 4: Is ground beef healthy, or should I just give my ferret sliced beef instead?

Q 3: If I feed high quality kibble (blue wilderness, instinct, evo ect...) to my ferret, is it alright if I give him/her whole prey once a week, will that give him/her all the nutrition he/she needs? Or perhaps other meat instead, for example giving him/her a chicken leg for the morning, hearts and livers for snacks, and a wing for dinner just for that one day at the end of each week?

I have yet to own a little fuzzball of my own, I do plan on getting one in the future and I just would like to know what's best for them. Seeing all the health issues a ferret can have, nearly scared me off from getting one, the last thing I want is more heart break from losing another pet (I've heard stories of people buying or adopting ferrets and only having them live for a few months to a year or two due to an illness/disease), wouldn't be fair especially for the animal. Seeing as meat (and what appears to be top quality kibble) can give them a longer healthier lifespan, I would prefer to try this out instead of going down the marshall's route.

I have more questions I'm sure to come up with, even with all the knowledge I have on ferrets from internet surfing, it's an animal I've never had the pleasure of fully knowing and caring for. I've only held and watched them before when going to various Petcos. My "expertise" is mainly in dogs and cats as these are the only pets I've ever truly owned and mostly been around.

Oh! And by the by, I live in the states, namely Texas if that helps :3

[raynebc]

1. On average, my four adults consume about 2 ounces each of each of their two meals per day. Young ferrets typically eat more. It will be harder to regulate snacks. Depending on what type of organ they are, it can cause their diet to be imbalanced. Overdosing on liver is particularly dangerous. Some people are good at shopping for meat and finding deals, I'm not one of them. Sometimes the meat I buy is on sale, but usually not. I probably average around $4-5 per pound for meat costs. The price per meal depends on what they're eating and ranges from cheap (ie. turkey neck)probably around Some of their meals are pretty cheap (ie. duck/turkey neck) to expensive (lamb, mouse). Luckily, fatty cuts of meat are often cheaper, and that's the kind of cut you want to get.

2. The brand shouldn't matter much as long as the chicken is not "enhanced" with anything like tenderizing solution (very common in cuts of pork), salt or any other seasoning. Other considerations are mostly about the conditions of the meat (ie. raised antibiotic free or organically), which add to the cost. Chicken shouldn't be the majority of a ferret's diet, some don't tolerate poultry very well.

3. You can keep kibble on the menu if that's what you really want, but the rest of their diet needs to be balanced. If the entire whole prey animal is eaten, that's considered balanced. Beyond that you'll generally need to break the meals out into percentages of bone-in meat, muscle meat, heart, liver, organs. Heart and liver are important parts of the diet and should be dedicated meals instead of snacks that might be over/under fed.

4. Ground meat is OK short-term if it helps your ferret try a meat, or if you want to mix it with water to make a raw soup. Some don't like the texture, and mine outgrew ground meat pretty quickly. Ground food does spoil faster too.

[Heather]

1. On average an adult ferret eats...1 to 3 oz for jills/sprites, 3 to 7 oz gibbs/hobs and babies about 3x that. This is dependent on season, age, gender, intact and health.

2. Some brands are more prone to flavour enhancements but the general rule of thumb, no salts, flavours or tenderizers, no processed meats (smoked or brined)

3. I don't believe in mixing kibbles with raw. I'm a bit of a purist. Why continue to feed something that can lead to insulinoma when you don't have to make the risk

4. Ground meat is ok...but not a great choice. Many use it to start a ferret onto a raw diet because it's easy to make a soupy. Soupy is only for the very sick and switching, it is not and should never be a major component of a raw diet. It does not allow for proper muscling, makes a mess of their teeth and also leads them to being lazy eaters and often overweight

Hope that helps a bit
ciao