Partial raw?

[Deleted]

Hey all! 

for those who are unaware I currently don’t have Ferrets but am doing as much research as I can before I get them, more the better right? as a result I have a question about feeding. 

Could i I have a partial raw diet? I’m personally not a lover of the idea of feeding whole prey. never have, and was abit unsure about feeding just raw at first, mainly due to not being able to store their food (I live in a large household with a smallish freezer so not ideal) 

However i have thoughts about a partial raw diet, where they’re fed dried food (kibble, pellets whatever you want to call it) but a few times a week they have raw meat, boned chicken leg, organs all of that lovely stuff. 
I would make sure the kibble is of high quality if this could be done. 

I am am fully aware they don’t take to trying new food with ease unlike other pets, so if I introduced them to raw food would they stop eating kibble all together? or is it just something else I could add to their list of safe foods? 

Also another thing could they eat chicken rib bones? Reason I ask is my family normally buy whole chickens and cut of single parts that way (its cheaper) as a result there are a lot of bone left over, why let it go to waste? But I’ve noticed that rib bones are somewhat small and could potentially get stuck in their throat would they be ok?

im sorry this was a long post, I just want to make sure they’ll have the best possible care

thanks for reading 

[LindaM]

Having fed a partial raw diet before, I am not one who will advise it. It was a lot of headache to make sure it remains balanced, to make sure it doesn't lead to a bacterial overload (raw and kibble digest at different times), to make sure nobody tries to boycott their food.

Also, mine did after a while end up refusing kibble at one stage and preferred the raw, the cat was still on kibble back then and I shared their mix of high-end kibbles, and they flat refused to touch the cat's kibble bowl that had the same that they got. Other ferrets will boycott and refuse the raw in favor of the kibble. So it can honestly go either way.

Instead of dealing with offering kibble and raw, if your main reason is lack of freezer space, I would suggest offering them a commercial raw option (if your wallet can afford it, it's not the cheapest out there). In this specific case, a shelf-stable one such as FDR (Freeze-Dried Raw) will do very well. It is STILL raw, and you offer it rehydrated, thus it remains better than kibble as it can have a higher percentage of meat vs indigestibles, as well as offer moisture that a carnivore needs. Carnivores are simply not meant to eat kibbles, it's truly awful for them overall.

They can eat the ribs of certain birds, yes, but just to clarify, you cannot just give them the bones.. a bone-in meal is meat with edible bones, so eg. bones with meat scraped off or very sparse meat isn't appropriate, but something like the chicken wing with all its meat still on is.

[Deleted]

Oct 22, 2017 14:54:22 GMT -5 LindaM said:

Having fed a partial raw diet before, I am not one who will advise it. It was a lot of headache to make sure it remains balanced, to make sure it doesn't lead to a bacterial overload (raw and kibble digest at different times), to make sure nobody tries to boycott their food.

Also, mine did after a while end up refusing kibble at one stage and preferred the raw, the cat was still on kibble back then and I shared their mix of high-end kibbles, and they flat refused to touch the cat's kibble bowl that had the same that they got. Other ferrets will boycott and refuse the raw in favor of the kibble. So it can honestly go either way.

Instead of dealing with offering kibble and raw, if your main reason is lack of freezer space, I would suggest offering them a commercial raw option (if your wallet can afford it, it's not the cheapest out there). In this specific case, a shelf-stable one such as FDR (Freeze-Dried Raw) will do very well. It is STILL raw, and you offer it rehydrated, thus it remains better than kibble as it can have a higher percentage of meat vs indigestibles, as well as offer moisture that a carnivore needs. Carnivores are simply not meant to eat kibbles, it's truly awful for them overall.

They can eat the ribs of certain birds, yes, but just to clarify, you cannot just give them the bones.. a bone-in meal is meat with edible bones, so eg. bones with meat scraped off or very sparse meat isn't appropriate, but something like the chicken wing with all its meat still on is.

FDR sounds like the way to go then, I’ve had a quick glance at some sellers who can provide to the UK all has come up with dog meat so far but I will keep looking, the only other options I can think off is seeing if mini freezers are a thing so I can store  just raw meat or they eat high quality kibble till I am in a position to supply them with raw meat. 

If i cant supply them with raw meat 24/7 would just having it as a treat be ok temporarily? 

[Sherry]

If you have one or two ferrets, the freezer space wouldn't take up much room. A female will eat an average of one to three oz per day. A male from 2 to 5oz a day. So at the maximum, let's say you have one male. So just over 2lbs a week. The size of a couple packs of ground beef You don't need to do whole prey at all.
Just something to think about over the time until you get one.