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Post by wronka on Feb 10, 2011 1:00:33 GMT -5
I have been feeding my 2 ferrets raw for about 3 months now. I feed them based on this schedule weekly: 4 days a week bone-in of either chicken wing or turkey neck/ 2 days a week chicken hearts & gizzards/ and 1 day a week chicken livers for 1 meal and bone-in the next. I have two concerns. I cannot seem to switch them to eating bone in without it being chopped up before serving. Any suggestions? Second, I am wondering if there is anything easier to prepare that i can serve to take the place of the turkey necks, also I would like to know of a cheap easy to serve bone in type of fish that I could give them as well, to give them more variety and help ensure they get helpful omega-3s from the fish oil.
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Post by Heather on Feb 10, 2011 1:05:38 GMT -5
Your basic outline for your diet is good, but you need to add some different proteins. In doing so you might find some other bone in meats. Try things like quail, pork are a couple of easy proteins that are readily available. The bones are easily consumed by ferrets. Another protein source that you might try is rabbit or lamb. My guys like salmon (fresh not canned) ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 1:20:08 GMT -5
For bone-in, try some of these (from Sherry):
Bone in meats that they can eat are: cornish hen, chicken, duck necks, wing tips, ribs, rabbit, turkey necks, ribs, wing tips, almost any tail bone, pork rib ends, fish(try to stick to smaller, fresh water fish, any whole prey.
Avoid feeding fish too often. It can make them stinky and you don't want to feed too much mercury.
For muscle meats, anything that isn't processed, salted, cured, altered, injected, is fair game. Pork, beef, venison, quail, lamb, goat, hen, duck, etc. Get whatever is available where you are. You also need to be feeding heart or supplementing with taurine. You should try to add another organ such as spleen or kidney. 5% liver, 5% other organ.
Some ferrets are picky. Slowly make the pieces bigger until they start eating. I let my girls skip a meat to encourage them to use their jaws. Hunger can be a great motivator. (When I say skip a meal, I mean I leave the food in the cage and let them get hungry until they decide to try the larger pieces.)
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Post by Sherry on Feb 10, 2011 1:21:43 GMT -5
I second the extra proteins. They need a minimum of 3 different ones. Another good bone in is cornish game hens. And yes, they can have some fish(if they'll eat it), but no more than once a week, and preferably smaller, fresh water fish if possible(trout, smelts, sardines are also good). A couple of mine like salmon as well, though Pork rib ends are greeted well. Pork tail if you can find it. Duck necks. Rabbit and quail. As for getting them to eat it larger? Just keep slowly increasing the size. With some VERY slowly, lol!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 1:30:41 GMT -5
my guys like the shiners and minnows that I get at the bait shop!
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Post by tinytippytoes on Feb 13, 2011 16:05:50 GMT -5
my guys like the shiners and minnows that I get at the bait shop! OOHH another place to get a protein source. I live 2 blocks from a bait store.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2011 0:56:22 GMT -5
Shiners and minnows are like killing two birds with one stone for us... I put them in a 9 x13 clear pyrex baking dish and the ferrets get to "fish" (enichment) for them and then eat up! The dogs and Sid kitten like that "game" too!
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