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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 17:55:59 GMT -5
Hello all! I'm new here, and had never heard of raw or whole prey diets before scanning the boards here. I've taken a peek around, and it seems pretty obvious what a huge benefit feeding raw foods is for fuzzies. I just have no idea where to start! Currently my two babies are on 8-in-1 Ultimate, which I know isn't totally horrible, but I guess the starches and carbs are bad for them? Anyway, I'd really like to try to get them on a diet that will keep them their healthiest. My main obstacle is that I am a college student, and neither my husband nor I bring home very big paychecks I don't want that to keep me from taking the best care of my ferrets, though! So I guess my question is, is there an inexpensive way to feed a raw/whole prey diet? Any advice you guys have would be very much appreciated, the whole process just seems so intimidating!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 18:15:14 GMT -5
Yes, its intimidating at first, and likely for quite awhile after, but its an amazing thing for your ferrets, although obviously a lot more work is involved. In the process you'll also learn how to take care of their needs better overall, I believe. People much more knowledgeable than me will chime in and help you, but my advice is to try varying levels of raw chunks of a certain type of meat with them. Be that rice sized bits, long slender slivers, or bigger chunks. Some ferrets take right to it, but most need a lot of coaxing at first. If they decide they don't like that right now, your options to start are to try an all meat baby food, or to make it yourself with a blender. Any meat, raw or cooked, as long as its pureed and mixed with quite a bit of water should be fairly enticing to them, but maybe not at first. Tricks to get them to eat it are to mix a bit into their regular food or dab it on their noses so it pretty much forces them to lick it off. Even now after many months mine are resistant to the food to the point of starving themselves if I don't add a certain amount of water to it (even if its a completely pureed mixture). Consistency and patience are needed. When first switching my first ferret Mika, she would eat a few mouthfuls and then I would let her run off. Few minutes later I would bring her back and do the same then let her run off again. This repeated over and over again for a few weeks but didn't take long for her to start going at it by herself. It may or not be (very) hard at the beginning, but don't lose heart. Your little guys will switch to it soon enough and you'll all be happier for it.
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Post by Heather on Feb 24, 2012 18:15:43 GMT -5
Hi.... If you want to take a prowl through the mentoring section, read how some people started their wee ones up that might help too. You can't post to these threads (they're their personal threads between the mentor and their switching partner) but you can read them as a reference point. Prey is expensive, it's that simple. Most of us feed frankenprey with the odd mouse on the side but it's as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. Check out for cheap cuts of meat and sales. Ferrets, unlike us require a considerable amount of fat to stay healthy. If it's not processed, flavour added or smoked they can eat it. If you feel totally overwhelmed and really want to switch your little ones sign up for a mentor. That way you can work one on one with another person who can assist you through the rather confusing (but really simple) ideas of raw feeding. Switching the furbrats is often more difficult than grasping the idea of what their needs are (you just have to convince them ) I feed a mixture...commercial grinds (usually exotic meats that I can't normally get for them...bison, venison, boar), I also have created my own grind that contains all the organ meats and bone that's necessary to balance their diet if they get finicky or sick. I feed frankenprey (grocery meats ) and whole prey...usually rabbit, rat and mouse. I probably pay no more than most people who buy high end kibbles (I was a little horrified at how much that cost ) Oh, by the way...just so you know....pictures of your little ones are given in trade for information ;D ;D ;D ;D ciao
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Post by Sherry on Feb 24, 2012 19:44:17 GMT -5
Hi! You could likely feed them fairly cheaply where you live Chicken could be a mainstay for bone in days, organ and heart days. You need a minimum of 3 different proteins, so if you can get pork and beef cheaply(think stewing meat, etc), then they've got their three proteins. If you can get something like cornish game hen cheap, then add that in even on a monthly basis. Same for any other meats. Check out any local ethnic markets. You can frequently find inexpensive cuts of things like goat stewing meat, or some cheap lamb stew meat as well as various organs. It would likely run a bit more than the kibble you feed now, but done properly, not by very much I buy a lot of 'last day" meats. If something is on sale, I try to stock up on it. Use coupons, etc.
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Post by goingpostal on Feb 24, 2012 20:03:30 GMT -5
I would sit down and figure out how much you can afford to put towards ferret food monthly. My two ferrets eat 5-7 ounces of food a day, so a pound of meat lasts 3 days or so, I can get chicken for $1 per pound, pork for $1.50, beef for $2.50-$3. CGH on sale are $2.50 for almost two pounds. I have a rabbit supplier and get it for $1.75/pound (.50 less if whole instead of skinned)
Even if you figure $3 a pound meat that's $30 a month. You need to have access to organ meat as well, kidney, brain, spleen, liver type of stuff, plus hearts, ethnic markets seem to be a good place to get stuff and there's co-ops for raw food in many parts of the country. I spend more because I do feed whole prey, and breed my own mice and I feed freeze dried raw sometimes for more proteins. If you can shop sales, buy and store in bulk that helps.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2012 21:14:37 GMT -5
Thanks so much for all the quick replies! lotro, I never thought about all meat baby food...maybe I'll give that a try and see how they take to it. Then I'll know how much of a challenge I'm in for Sherry and goingpostal, thanks for the tip about ethnic markets! I have one just down the road from where I live and I'm sure they would have a pretty wide variety of meats and organs! Heather, I will be sure to check out the mentoring section and see what other stuff I can find You all have been so helpful! Thanks so much Dexter and Molly thank you too, for educating their mommy on how to feed them better Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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Post by Sherry on Feb 24, 2012 22:01:53 GMT -5
On the baby food- mine have been raw fed for 4 years, and still don't like the stuff ;D
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Post by Heather on Feb 24, 2012 22:11:41 GMT -5
The only baby food my guys will eat (and they have to be really sick to consider it) is my home-made stuff. The baby-babyfood, like Heinz and stuff (I keep a couple of jars because it goes into a syringe better than mine) is never well received. Usually, by the time I'm using that stuff they're too sick to care anyway ciao
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Post by kpaz on Feb 24, 2012 22:27:46 GMT -5
AW! they are beautiful I started the switch to raw in January and at first they all looked at me like I was giving them arsenic. Gagging, retching, clawing to get away, turning their heads, etc. Now they loooove soup and are chunks are growing on them. And their coats are so much softer As far as I can tell it is much cheaper than freeze dried kibbles. My boyfriend and I are also university students and while we don't eat as much meat as we used to (probably from handling it all the time), it's manageable.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2012 2:56:11 GMT -5
Hello Lotro, welcome to the forum! OH, I sure hope your research and review of funds offers you the chance to convert your fuzzies. I've been feeding naturally since 2006 and have had good luck with converting many ferrets. The changes are stunning!
Personally I think feeding naturally is cheaper than feeding kibble , especially when you account for the reduction in vet expenses! The natural fed ferrets that converted for e when they were quite young (a year or less) most have only seen a vet for shots and wellness check ups!
They poop less on all natural - because they are actually digesting MORE of what they take in - so you save on litter too!
Like other members mentioned, buying in bulk helps a lot. If you can manage it, pick up a small frost free chest freezer. This not only offers you more storage room for the bulk items, but you can create your own freeze dried foods and treats! Directions are within the forum.
For instance, I picked up a 50 lb box of chicken necks ( frozen) from a local butcher for 16.00! The darn thing took three days in the Florida sun to thaw out to the point where I could peel off necks, cut them into thirds, bag them and refreeze! I swear the freezer was practically brimming with chicken neck hunks!
Turkey hearts can be purchased in one pound tubs and a box of 12 tubs runs about 18.00 I cut the huge turkey hearts into thirds or quarters and feed daily. A tub lasts my 8 ferrets just about a week as part of their daily rations. Tubs bought individually run 1.39 when on special!
Cornish game hens play a large role in my kids diet - 1 16 oz hen costs 2.58 and will offer three meals for 8 ferrets (plus the heart pieces).
A 16 pack of chicken gizzards and hearts offers 2 meals for 1.66.
I am raising my own mice for whole prey, so am saving gobs of money there - when compared to buying prekilled frozen shipped or even locally obtained pet shop mice - which never seem to be very big or healthy.
Common sense for you when handling raw meats prevails of course but is no where near the horrible contamination that so many kibble feeders would try to make you believe!
Stick around! Read, enjoy, learn some tricks and tips and our ferrets will bloom when they get to switch!
Cheers! Kim
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Post by katt on Feb 25, 2012 15:55:05 GMT -5
I am a college student and fully self supported (I pay my own bills and I paid my own way through school). I have found that raw is actually much cheaper than kibble. High quality kibble is pretty spendy. When a ferret is on a kibble diet, they have to eat much more in order to get the same amount of nutrients. This means more food per ferret, and the need to buy food more often. Also, ferrets on raw diet poop less often and have smaller poops (though they do urinate more). This typically means less litter waste and cleaning supplies. The BIG one though is vet bills. Being on a raw diet means almost zero need for at home teeth brushing and vet dental cleanings/care, far fewer health problems due to strong immune systems and overall better health and nutrition, and of course the big one - no insulinoma! I don't keep track as well now as I used to, but when I had Koda I would stock up on about $40 of meat which would last me several months. About a school semester give or take. So roughly $40 3 times a year. Since Koda was diagnosed with IBD though, and we have found he has allergies, plus adding another ferret I do spend more now. Even so, it is still relatively inexpensive to feed 2 ferrets for several months. I buy spendier meats such as rabbit, duck, commercial raw (for variety like quail, pheasant, etc), goat, chicken, cornish game hen, turkey, pork, the occasional buffalo, and whole prey (mice and rats). I breed my own mice as it's more cost effective, but I'm about to stop doing that and start just buying from the rodent supplier who I get my f/t rats from for my snake. My only reason is sheer laziness, I'm tired of cleaning extra cages so I'm taking a break. Anyways, even with all of the more exotic meats that I get, it's still inexpensive. Get meat on sale, find local meat supppliers, buy in bulk. I shop all at once, and spend a few hours chopping all of the meat up. I then put it into ziplock sandwich bags and fill up the freezer. Then all I have to do on a daily basis is take out a bag ahead of time to thaw, and dump the contents in their feeding box. I feed them frozen meals very often as well. The more variety not only in meat, but in presentation (mince, whole prey, soup, ground, warm, room-temp, cold, frozen, etc) the more itneresting and stimulating it is for them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2012 9:18:55 GMT -5
Wow, you all have been so incredibly helpful! I never thought about the amount of poop being different, but that makes sense since they're getting more of what they need and none of what they don't And besides just knowing that they're healthier, fewer vet visits is a huge plus! It seems like $50 a month is a good conservative estimate of what I'll be spending, which is totally do-able! I'm already pretty well-versed in bargain shopping for food for me and the hubby, so I'm sure I can translate that over to food for Dexter and Molly with practice I'm so excited, I think this is going to work out!! My little ones are gonna be so happy I guess my next step is getting straight all the different ingredients they need. I know from checking out the other boards that they need at least 3 different protein sources, one meal of heart, 2 oz of liver and 2 oz of another organ, and about 8 meals with consumable bone each week. I've also read about pumpkin or squash being added in- is that important too? And to start the transition, it's best to start with a soup- would this just be a ground up mix of whatever I'm feeding them for that day? How do I get the bones into that mixture? How soon do you usually start mixing in chunks of meat? Do I take them off kibble completely once I start the raw, or keep mixing it in? Haha sorry for the slew of questions, just want to make sure I'm doing this right once I take the leap
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Post by goingpostal on Feb 26, 2012 12:28:07 GMT -5
Sign up for the mentoring program, they will walk you through it, some people make a raw soup, some people use a cooked soup and slowly add raw, or use chicken baby food, my kids were used to eating canned Evo cat food for soupies so I added ground turkey and mushed up liver/chicken, and then worked my way up to chunked meat, there's lots of different recipes for soup mix but most start with a chicken base. It can take a few times of "scruff and stuff" to get them to eat it on their own, mine are still this way with new stuff lol.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 26, 2012 13:12:21 GMT -5
Signing up for a mentor is a great idea. That way, you'll also get a better understanding of what they need when, and why. You'll learn what and how to substitute depending on what you find on sale that week as well as the step by step progression most need to complete a switch to raw. But if you like, you can start with a raw soup. The ingredients are listed here: holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=meat&action=display&thread=145
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Post by orv420 on Feb 27, 2012 11:48:22 GMT -5
I just did my shopping for ferret food this weekend. I spent about $30 on meat for soup (16 lbs) and an additional $32 for bone in meats (wings, necks, CGH, quail, Bravo rabbit ($16 alone for 2lbs)) I made up an entire month's worth of soup and have enough bone in meals for at least three weeks. The estimate of $50 a month is easily doable with only two ferrets, I'm feeding five for a little less than that. Bone meal powder cost $11 for 12 ounces (estimate 3 months or more supply) Salmon oil is another $10 (about a month per 8oz bottle) EVOO doesn't get calculated into ferret food as we use it for cooking. Pumpkin is $1.99 for 16oz ~ two week supply.
Marshall kibble cost me $27 for a 7lb bag which only lasts about two weeks and is one of the cheaper kibbles. I switched my five over pretty quickly (less than 2 weeks till totally kibble free, and another 2 weeks to verify crunching of bones) using raw soup with homemade broth to start.
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