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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 30, 2011 9:40:19 GMT -5
In about 7 weeks or so, I'm adopting a 10 week old female ferret. Apparently the breeder already feeds them frozen whole prey and kibble... so I don't think there will be too terrible of a transition. However, I really want to know everything there is to know about feeding raw ahead of time.
I have Ferrets for Dummies and I'm halfway through it. I have already read the section on natural diets and I have read the pros and cons and misconceptions online. I have a good understanding of the basics.
What I need help with is being prepared before I adopt. I want to go ahead and order some frozen foods to have on hand. I want to know how often to feed my 10 week old ferret and the best choices of meat and whole prey to cycle through.
I understand that with whole prey, it's good to feed a variety of ages and types of prey. My breeder linked me a site that ships bags of whole prey so that is an option, but any links or suggestions from any of you on sources for whole prey and meat would help a lot. I can always buy fresh meats from the local Whole Foods which has the best quality stuff, but is very expensive.
I know that I can separate meals into baggies for the caregiver when we go out of town, but what if that person doesn't feel comfortable feeding raw meat to my Ferret? I am thinking of feeding a bit of high quality kibble on the side in case this happens... but ideally, I will find someone who doesn't mind feeding it the way I do on any given day.
I also need to know what the best treats are. I have heard conflicting reports of ferritone and some people say olive oil is great. My olive oil can be just a slight bit spicy so I don't know what the Ferret would think of that. And I have read about freeze dried meats. Any suggestions about my healthy treat choices would be great.
I am thinking about getting a small freezer for the garage to keep the frozen meats in because my wife doesn't want that stuff in our main freezer... and we don't really have the room anyway.
If I could get a good understanding ahead of time so that I'm prepared, I am joining the mentoring program as well to help move things forward. I'm excited about getting my ferret and feeding it a nutritious diet!
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Post by Sherry on Aug 30, 2011 10:01:54 GMT -5
Links for the US I'm not sure of, beyond rodentpro and haretoday. We've got a section on suppliers here: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rawwholepreyprovAs for grocery store meats, lamb, goat, cornish hen, chicken, pork, beef are good to have on hand. Organ meats would be liver, lung, spleen, brain, reproductive organs, basically anything that secretes in the body. Heart is essential. Doesn't matter what from. That needs to be fed at least once a week, preferably twice. You'll want to do 8-9 bone in meals a week, 3-4 boneless meals(one of which MUST be heart), one organ meal(2oz liver, 2oz other organ). Personally, I won't have kibble in the house. Freeze dried raw is a good option. Wysong's Archetypal 1 Ferret, Stella and Chewy's, AFS are three good ones. Some people have less of a problem with feeding commercial raw instead of whole chunks for some reason. Nature's Variety frozen raw, Primal, Urban Carnivore are 3. Hare today also has some grinds. How often are you planning on whole prey for meals? Good ones for ferrets are mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbit, quail. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of right now. For amounts- a kit can eat you out of house and home ;D Give as much as she will eat. They are pretty good at regulating themselves.
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Post by cubsfanhaynes on Aug 30, 2011 10:10:02 GMT -5
I think once we get our new girl on raw we are planning to try pinkie mice as a treat and possibly work our way up to fuzzies and maybe rats. All of those are available at PETCO and any pet store that sells snakes really. I have to give PETCO a bravo real quick. While ferret feeding is not why the frozen mice are there once they found out we fed raw they called our fuzzies "spoiled" then readily suggested the mice.
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Post by Heather on Aug 30, 2011 10:44:32 GMT -5
Another prey is guinea pigs, I've heard a number of my switching students say their guys love them. I can't get access to frozen and just can't bring myself to breed them to feed them...I'm a sap Like Sherry, I won't bring kibble in the house except when I'm switching new rescues over. When I have someone in to feed my guys, I just make sure I have frankenprey or commercial ground...feeding that is no different than feeding canned and doesn't smell near as bad. My house/pet sitter is vegan but she understands that a carnivore is a carnivore and has no problem feeding raw...just not prey ;D ciao
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Post by katt on Aug 30, 2011 13:17:34 GMT -5
In about 7 weeks or so, I'm adopting a 10 week old female ferret. Apparently the breeder already feeds them frozen whole prey and kibble... so I don't think there will be too terrible of a transition. However, I really want to know everything there is to know about feeding raw ahead of time.Congrats and good for you for researching ahead of time! I want to go ahead and order some frozen foods to have on hand. My freezer was stocked well before I brought Koda home. "Just in case" I did get a ferret you know... (I was a gonner the second I found this site) I want to know how often to feed my 10 week old ferret As much as she will eat every day. There are several ways you can organize your feeding schedule, but the most common method is to feed 2 meals daily (breakfast and dinner) and leave the food in the cage 24/7. Meat stays good for quite some time so don't worry about that. You will learn quickly how to tell when meat is bad. Trust me. At each meal remove any bad meat, leave in the good leftovers, and top off with fresh food. Ideally you should always feed enough that there are just a few bites left over so that you know the ferret is eating its fill. and the best choices of meat and whole prey to cycle through.The more the merrier! you want as much variety as you can get, with a Bare Minimum of 3 proteins (i.e. chicken, beef, pork). Anything sold for human consumption (that is NOT processed, preserved, injected with saline, etc) is safe for ferrets, and many things that are not "safe" for human consumption are okay too (like commercial raw, and rodents etc). Most people use chicken as their base food (unless they have a ferret who is sensitive or allergic) because chicken is healthy, and inexpensive, easy to find, easy to find pieces of (liver, heart, gizzards), and it has a lot of edible bone (most ferrets can eat all the bones in chicken - some need the leg and neck bones crushed though). Other foods you can feed include (this is NOT an all inclusive list): beef/veal, pork, turkey, venison, fish (whitefish, mackerel, halibut, salmon, goldfish, etc), bison, game hen, quail, pheasant, mice, rats, hamster, guinea pig, gerbil, rabbit, duck, goose, lamb, goat etc and ANY part of the above animals (i.e. chicken feet, turkey necks, beef liver, pork brain etc etc etc). I understand that with whole prey, it's good to feed a variety of ages and types of prey. This is true. But keep in mind as well that adults' bones are fully developed and thus provide a good source of calcium, so you want to feed more adults than young mice so as not to cause a calcium deficiency. This is why often pinkies are referred to as "candy" as they are NOT a nutritionally complete meal. So you DO want a variety of ages, but leaning towards a little heavier on the adults. My breeder linked me a site that ships bags of whole prey so that is an option, but any links or suggestions from any of you on sources for whole prey and meat would help a lot.RodentPro is one of the best online rodent providers - their prices are good but shipping is KILLER. It helps if you don't live in Alaska though. Also a lot of people here order from HareToday. I can always buy fresh meats from the local Whole Foods which has the best quality stuff, but is very expensive.I buy most of my meat from the local grocery store, and especially ethnic markets. I get rabbit and duck (my staples as Koda is allergic to beef and sensitive to chicken) from the Asian market, and Goat (my 3rd staple) from a Halal market. I get commercially ground raw mixes and freeze dried from a local raw pet store. I raise my own mice. I get rats occasionally from a local rodent supplier (who I believe orders most of her stuff from RodentPro - it's illegal to own/raise rats here). I know that I can separate meals into baggies for the caregiver when we go out of town, but what if that person doesn't feel comfortable feeding raw meat to my Ferret? I am thinking of feeding a bit of high quality kibble on the side in case this happens... but ideally, I will find someone who doesn't mind feeding it the way I do on any given day.IME the biggest problem with getting a pet sitter to feed raw is not the feeding part, but the cleaning part. Because meat can harvest bacteria (and SMELL) when it gets to be bad, it is important to clean the feeding den and food dishes very well. Ferret jerky, sloppy leftover bits of liver, and stinking meat residue are yicky. A lot of people can't handle that. I also need to know what the best treats are. Slivers of raw meat hand fed, small pieces of freeze dried raw, olive oil, fish oil, dehydrated raw... I have heard conflicting reports of ferritone and some people say olive oil is great. Ferretone is great stuff to have on hand to get ferrets to do things they don't want (like sit still for nail clippings or try new foods) but it is NOT good for the ferrets - lots of sugar. So other treats are best, and Ferretone should be kept to a minimum - as needed only. My olive oil can be just a slight bit spicy so I don't know what the Ferret would think of that. Do NOT feed them spicy olive oil. Only plain ol' olive oil (virgin, extra virgin, etc) with nothing extra added in. And I have read about freeze dried meats. Any suggestions about my healthy treat choices would be great.Freeze dried is great as a treat, for road trips, or while you are gone. I would recommend Stella and Chewey's - you can go to their site to see if anyone near you carries it, or you can order online at Casey's Hidden Pantry. I am thinking about getting a small freezer for the garage to keep the frozen meats in because my wife doesn't want that stuff in our main freezer... and we don't really have the room anyway.GREAT idea. that's really the way to do it. I REALLY want a little deep freezer but I don't have the $ or the space... If I could get a good understanding ahead of time so that I'm prepared, I am joining the mentoring program as well to help move things forward. I'm excited about getting my ferret and feeding it a nutritious diet!Do lots of reading. Read the mentoring threads, and read the threads in the nutrition section of the forum, as well as doing your own research. Ask questions as you go and we would be happy to help.
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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 30, 2011 14:36:17 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Aug 30, 2011 14:43:47 GMT -5
The age of the kit is irrelevant. They will eat the same foods as an adult (only MORE of it), the only real difference is that they are still developing their jaw muscles and may need more of the medium to large sized bones crushed a little (usually cracking them open is enough to give them a starter).
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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 30, 2011 14:49:06 GMT -5
Right... got it. So given that, should I buy two different ages of mice on that page or will just one age do? I'm also feeding them raw and probably freeze dried.
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Post by Heather on Aug 30, 2011 15:00:56 GMT -5
If I remember correctly you've said he's already eating frozen mice when he comes from the breeder then I would lean toward the adult and older juvenile...think of those other wee babie mice as candy...snacks. Don't offer them as food as ferrets are a lazy chew and if they think they can get away with younger soft bones they will do it and ignore older harder bone that is better for them. ciao
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Post by maddiesmom on Aug 30, 2011 15:12:43 GMT -5
I alternate, but mainly feet either the "large" and/or "extra large" age ranges - Isaaac started on those as a kit, too It's my understanding that the pinkies and the younger ones have less calcium than the other ones, so should be fed less often. If you can, see if there are any reptile shows in your area - if you can pick up locally it will save on shipping. Or, if your breeder is close, maybe you could order together (to save on shipping)? Just a thought Kits will eat you out of house and home LOL I can't wait to see pics *hint Hint*
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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 30, 2011 15:23:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice everyone.
Also, I am heavy into photography and I own a Nikon D90... I'll be taking tons of pictures of my new ferret(s)!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2011 17:06:34 GMT -5
Welcome! Your mileage may vary, but my ferrets' favorite healthy treats are slivers of chicken heart, or a few licks of heavy whipping cream, chicken baby food (just meat no veggie), cod liver oil, olive oil, grapessed oil, or coconut oil on my finger. It seems like licking treats off my fingers or hands also helped my youngest ferret become gentler, more careful with human skin, and overall less nippy. When I first got him, if I put my finger through the cage bars with some treat on it, he would actually grab my finger with his teeth and try to pull it into the cage. It seems like licking treats helped him become more familiar with hands and fingers and now he's very gentle with them. My ferrets each have different favorites. My youngest boy Finn likes chicken or turkey baby food better than anything else, and also loves all types of oil, but is not a huge fan of cream. My other boy Fenton, on the other hand, likes cream the best of all, and likes the plant-based oils, but will not even touch cod liver oil, nor will he eat baby food. Fiona's favorite thing of all is chicken hearts but she will eat all of the above. I did some little taste tests to find this information ;D I guess the bottom line is, for my ferrets, chicken heart slivers are probably the best choice for treats since all 3 like them, and they are healthy in every way. Another thing to watch out for, is that too much oil will cause loose stools, which can be sloppy. Enough oil, and your ferret can even get the squirts, and it's gross. Oily poo running down a furry leg is not a pretty sight... Also cream produces VERY disgusting smelling poo. It's like the smell of dog poo mixed with a fine cheese ;D I have not had any issues with baby food, and I wish Fenton liked it, because meat baby food is a good to feed them when they are sick with stomach trouble, because it's easy to digest. Katt, re: the spicy olive oil, I think he means naturally spicy olive oil, not olive oil with added spices. Olive oil can have a natural spicy or peppery taste, especially if it's a greener or less filtered oil. Extra virgin doesn't mean it won't be spicy. I ran into that problem too, the olive oil I had on hand was a very robust oil with a lot of the peppery olive flavor, and my ferrets didn't like it. Fenton actually sneezed when he tasted it! Then I tried a much cheaper, "light" olive oil, and they liked that just fine. The olive oil sold as "light" tends to be filtered more, so they filter out more of that peppery olive flavor. For this reason the more natural, more gourmet olive oils might actually be worse for ferrets taste-wise Can't wait to see the pics! I am not a photographer but often wish I was and I'm jealous of you guys with the nice cameras. You owe it to us to post some really nice pictures
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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 30, 2011 17:32:09 GMT -5
Chicken heart slivers sounds great... I'll look into that. And yes my extra virgin olive oil is the expensive kind and is naturally spicy. I'll find something else for the Ferret. Here is my Flickr... I'll post lots of Ferrety pictures there as well as pictures of the Great Dane puppy we are getting this weekend. www.flickr.com/photos/dmcreations/
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Post by Sherry on Aug 30, 2011 19:36:19 GMT -5
Wow! Great pics!
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Post by revolvingsheep on Aug 31, 2011 7:41:55 GMT -5
Thanks!
I'm looking into Stella & Chewy's to have around for whatever reason... which type should I look into?
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