Pixel's Menu

[Deleted]

Hello all you lovely people!

First off I would like to apologize for adding to the "LOOK AT MY MENU PLEASE HELP" but as someone who has never fed raw, I want to make sure I'm not doing more harm than good. Especially after reading the potential dangers of feeding an imbalanced diet.

I have owned several ferrets in the past, but after the passing of my previous one I took a year to mourn. It hit me really hard. However I've recently purchased a privately bred ferret from a very lovely lady. (Say no to marshalls!) The little girl is about 3 and a half months old. I named her Pixel because I'm a huge computer nerd, hehe.

Luckily for me the breeder had already introduced her to raw meats, so I'm happy to say we've been able to skip the soupie stages. At the moment she is being fed most of the meats on this menu with a couple exceptions as I haven't yet went out to get them. I've been feeding her meats twice a day, but have been keeping kibble in the cage for now (Orijen Cat & Kitten). She seems to prefer the meat and won't touch the kibble unless hungry! 

Anyways here is the menu I'm thinking of doing, based on the newbie skeleton one (I've marked in red the meats I haven't yet purchased/tried. I will be purchasing them later this week):

Monday am: edible bone in meat - Rabbit

Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle) - Turkey Wing Tip



Tuesday am: edible bone in meat - Chicken Neck or Wing or Drumstick

Tuesday pm: muscle meat - Lamb Chunks



Wednesday am: edible bone in meat - Rabbit

Wednesday pm: heart - Beef Heart



Thursday am: edible bone in meat - Turkey Wing Tip

Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle) - Chicken Neck or Wing or Drumstick



Friday am: edible bone in meat - Rabbit

Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organ - Beef Heart + Chicken Liver + Beef


Kidney



Saturday am: edible bone in meat - Turkey Wing Tip

Saturday pm: muscle meat - Lamb Chunks



Sunday am: edible bone in meat - Chicken Neck or Wing or Drumstick

Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organ - Chicken Liver + Beef Kidney


Ferretone and eggs for treats.

A couple questions/ concerns however.
First off, the lamb I've found seems very fatty and has some pieces of bone. So far I've only fed it to her once to see if she liked it, no problems there! However it did make her poops white.. is that alright? I left the bone in and she just ate around them. I can only assume they're too hard for her. Should I just remove the bones entirely next time?

Secondly, she will NOT eat beef liver. I offered it to her a few times, she showed interest, even going as far as licking it...but she gagged immediately after. So I decided to scrap the idea and go with beef kidney, which she has no issues with. I have yet to try the chicken liver but I can only assume it will go well as chicken seems to be her favorite.. This is fine, yes?

I will not be doing pork of any kind, but am open to any other meats(Except mice, as I've had mice as pets and I'm not sure if I can handle that..). I'm lucky enough to have several large international grocery stores in my area so I can find most things. 

Any advice or criticism would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks and hope you all have a wonderful day! 

[Heather]

The white stools are just undigested fats. Heavily fatted meats or just large chunks of fat will result in funky stools. Very common
If she won't eat the liver you can throw that into a blender (it will become a liquid and then you just poor it on her regular meats or mix it with some ground meats to get her to eat it) Any liver will work, chicken, beef, pork, lamb...no matter but it is a necessary part of the diet, so you will have to find some way of getting her to eat it
If you don't want to use pork that's fine. It's an ok meat if you're in NA. Just use another protein that you're more comfortable with.
You don't have to feed prey if you don't want to Some people cannot. I like food in small pre-balanced packages
Looked through your menu, it doesn't look bad. You may not get her to eat the wing bones themselves, too hard. You may have to get a smaller type of bone but give it a try, you never know. My guys love rabbit
ciao

[abbeytheferret6]

I always tell people about quail. Not sure where you live though. In the USA, we can get it easily at Asian stores. If you find it at grocery stores, make sure it contains no spices or additives of any kind---just plain. 

Rabbit ribs r good bone in meals. I put extra meat when feeding ribs. 

[Deleted]

Thanks for the suggestions! I went and got her everything she was missing from the menu, with the exception of getting her pork liver instead of chicken for now since they were out and the only alternative was beef liver.. Didn't want to over do the beef since she's already getting heart and kidney. Don't want to deny the poor little thing of her needs.

I also picked up some quail as Abbey recommended. Seems like a big hit so far, but it's rather expensive so I'll have to see if I can buy it bulk some where else.

I tried giving her the turkey wing (lower parts of the wing) and so far so good, she ate it all. We'll see if she can handle the larger parts.

Just one last question, I read that since she's so young I should be feeding her more often. How much more often, and how should I adjust the menu? At the moment I've been feeding her 2oz in the morning and at night. But this clearly hasn't been enough as she's been eating kibble in between.. lately she's been "holding out" for the meat but I don't want her starving herself waiting for more meat.

Thanks again!

[abbeytheferret6]

My baby always wanted lunch as well. I made sure that there was food before i went to bed to carry her through the night.

Even my adult ferrets will eat very late in the night.

[Heather]

Babies get fed 4 times a day and no 4 oz for the day isn't enough for a growing ferret. 2oz fed 4 times would be closer. Babies are bottomless pits, little furry tummies with teeth. They grow so fast and need so much nutrients it can seem overwhelming
ciao

[Deleted]

Wow! Glad I asked. So how would you guys recommend I adjust the menu? Just double up on it or will that mess up the balance?

[Deleted]

I'm updating this for anyone who might be looking for information or whatever!
I've made some changes to the menu.

Each "meal" is portioned into snack baggies and frozen. Currently I'm feeding about 1 oz per meal. Originally I was feeding 2 oz per meal, when she was a kit. As she grew up I started noticing more and more waste/uneaten meat so I adjusted the portions.

Monday am: edible bone in meat - Rabbit

Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle) - Duck Wing



Tuesday am: edible bone in meat - Chicken Neck

Tuesday pm: muscle meat - Lamb



Wednesday am: edible bone in meat - Quail

Wednesday pm: heart - Beef Heart



Thursday am: edible bone in meat - Rabbit

Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle) - Egg



Friday am: edible bone in meat - Duck Wing

Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organ - Beef Heart + Chicken Liver + Beef Kidney



Saturday am: edible bone in meat - Chicken Wing

Saturday pm: muscle meat - Turkey Gizzard



Sunday am: edible bone in meat - Quail

Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organ - Chicken Liver + Beef Kidney