Premade raw

[chichi93]

So i understand the benefits of a raw diet as i feed raw to my dog. I was wondering if commercial grinds would be ok. I love “answers brand” and was wondering if their complete cat raw grind would be ok to feed? I know most complete and balanced grinds are geared more toward dogs which have ingredients not necessary for ferrets and assume that the cat grinds would be more appropriate. I prefer not to do DIY because i don’t have the time.

[Corvidophile]

I’m concerned about the goat milk and carrot fiber in the ingredients- goat milk can cause diarrhea from the lactose they can’t digest and carrot fiber has sugar in it. Other than that you’re correct in your assumption that you need to look toward cat food, not dog food. Cat food will include the necessary taurine.

[abbeytheferret6]

Here is a list of grinds at Hare Today
hare-today.com/raw_food_for_cats
Info on how to feed cats is on this page, which I hear people can mimic to raw feed their ferrets.

Ground Chicken/Bones/Organs
Ground Duck/Bones/Organs
Ground Quail/Bones/Organs
Ground Rabbit/Bones/Organs
Ground Turkey/Bones/Organs
Here is whole ground  cavies(guinea Pig)
hare-today.com/product/raw_pet_food,_ground/whole_carcass_ground_cavies_1_lb_fine_ground
( I feed mine whole prey guinea Pig and cut them up myself)

You can freeze in portions of 2-4 ounces.
U have to get up an order of at least 10 pds
If you have a freezer that would be great or room in your refrigerator freezer.

[PatienceTheVirtue]

I order grinds from My Pet Carnivore. I emailed them half a dozen times just to verify that the grinds are the WHOLE animal despite the labels being incomplete. They said all animals are whole ground except the large ones, which are only missing the head. Intestines and fur/feathers are also removed, but otherwise it's everything your pet would eat if they took down the animal on their own. Which is funny to think about when you start ordering things like beef and pork, but those are fine too haha

[eclipso]

What would be the best prey items to feed?

[Corvidophile]

Mice are well loved, a balanced meal, the right size, and require no work from you. You may wish to gut them beforehand, but it’s not a requirement. Smaller lizards, like green and brown anoles. Quail and frogs are also conveniently sized- a bit larger than mice, so you’ll have to feed them over multiple meals by locking the uneaten food away after they finish their fill until next time, or you’ll end up with a carcass inside your house hidden and rotting, HAHA sorry but it happens! Quail probably should be gutted due to their increased size. Rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, squirrels all should probably be gutted too, but are still within the size range where you can toss the whole animal into the ferret’s cage and let them have at it. Rabbits, chickens, ducks, muskrat, beavers you definitely need to gut and manage the portions of- chop into quarters or smaller and freeze or refrigerate the next piece to be fed. Unless you have a lot of ferrets who are all going to eat the carcass at once. That’s about the largest bone they can eat without assistance. Larger animals can be fed whole prey style, but you need to supplement with bone meal powder because they’re not going to be able to bite through the bone.

[eclipso]

Ooh, thanks! So I'd have to cut them up and refrigerate and give a bit at a time? I plan on getting only 1 ferret, but he will have a lot of enrichment. How much should I give him/ kg body weight or just in general? Thank you, hope your ferrets are doing well ☺️

[Corvidophile]

With prey that’ll be around the size of rats, you can leave them at room temperature for I believe 48 or 72 hours, my mind is blanking right now. If the ferret takes longer to finish than that, throw the rest away and next time cut it in half and fridge the other half until they’re ready for it. For larger than rats for one ferret, yes, you’ll definitely have to cut it into manageable chunks and freeze/fridge the rest.

As for how much to feed them, it varies a bunch from ferret to ferret, but an adult will typically eat anywhere from 2 to 6 ounces a day. Kits can eat more than that as they grow like weeds. Unless you are feeding grinds, which are soft and easy to eat quickly, ferrets will rarely overeat for their size. They tend to be fatter during colder months and thinner during warmer months, and the changing appetite can spook some people into thinking they’re sick, but when raw feeding we tend to just go with the flow of their weight fluctuations.

[eclipso]

Ohhh, ok. I plan on feeding mice, small rats, chicks, quail, pork, and guinea pig. The pork and guinea pig would be ground whole and the rest would be whole. Occasionally chicken or beef too. Doesn't the food spoil after 2 hours because the bacteria multiply or is that just for people? Their wild ancestors would eat carrion and dead things. Thanks! This info is really helpful ☺️

[Corvidophile]

Nope, that’s a rule for people. Ferrets have much stronger stomach acid and much shorter digestive tracts, so the level of bacteria present in that amount of time doesn’t affect them. I believe the shortest raw leave-out period is for soup and grinds, at 12 hours of air exposure.

Edit: Keep in mind small rats and chicks aren’t as nutritionally balanced as an adult animal would be, so we recommend them as treats instead of a diet staple.

[eclipso]

Ok, thanks! Phew, I was wondering how I would do it to change the food every 2 hours 😅