Ferret Diet Help!

[Britknee247365]

So as I learn more about ferrets I am seeing so many things that we have been doing wrong, wince taking in a ferret that a friend could not care for. 

Right now Bandito is on kibble. I need help getting him on an actual meat diet. Cost effective methods would be preferred, as we aren't exactly in any top salary brackets. I have watched some videos and read some things about a raw diet, but there is a ton of information out there. Where/what can I buy to make sure our ferret is healthy and getting everything he needs? 

[caitmonster]

Hey, we all started somewhere! And ferrets certainly aren't an "easy" pet, especially in terms of all the conflicting information out there. I fed kibble to my first ferret because that was all I knew about.

The Holistic Ferret website has a ton of information (this forum, too) regarding raw diet. Start out here: docs.google.com/document/d/1hmNTiunSOsm7BOy6BgjlId_GkYTUwvIFBDKGDQtzon8/edit

Here's a menu for "frankenprey," which is a meal plan that includes a specific amount of meat, bones, and organs to approximate a prey diet: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/basic-frankenprey-menu/

And finally, how to introduce your ferrets to raw, starting with soup: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/the-switch/introducing-raw-soup-and-hand-feeding/

---

Feeding frankenprey really is the cheapest way to feed raw. The average cost varies by location--depends on your area's cost of living--so it's hard to give an estimate. But, since you're doing the work yourself, and not paying for pre-frozen or freeze-dried food, it really is the cheapest.

[PatienceTheVirtue]

The resource given above are fantastic, and I agree Frankenprey is the most cost effective. Here's a personal example:

I feed 3oz per meal (1.5oz per ferret) for a total of 6oz a day. Using the frankenprey menu of at least 2 muscle meals a week, that's only 6oz a week, and a pound is 16oz. That's roughly 2.5 weeks of muscle meat and it's only like $3 near where I live for a pound of, say, ground pork (higher fat version). If you buy in bulk the cost will go down and you'll be set for even longer.

I feed more bone-in meals on the muscle meat optional days currently because my ferrets' stool is still soft from transitioning, but even if they increase to 3 muscle meals a week, 1 pound is more than a week's worth of food. Plus variety is important, so the pork would theoretically last up to a month since it would only be once a week and the other muscle meals would be beef and venison or whatever else. Super cost effective! They're very little so they don't eat too much, lol.

[Charlie]

On average it would cost me around $40 a month to feed 1 ferret. Mine is a male and he eats around 4 oz of raw a day. Now it costs me a bit more because I lost my original mouse supplier and can't find one that's at a reasonable price and I don't want to mess up my ferret's diet because of it. I feed frankenprey and whole prey.