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Post by catznfertz on Aug 11, 2012 14:14:50 GMT -5
I have two ferrets, Lucy and Chuck, that will eat whole prey (mice, rats, chicks and quail) and was wondering if it is better to feed a couple of smaller items vs one larger one. I know adult prey animals tend to have more minerals, but with eating smaller ones, I think it's a lot more likely that each ferret would get to eat the whole thing, instead of just picking or fighting over the good parts. I think it is probably cheaper on a price per pound basis to get larger animals, but I also don't want to feed anything they can't polish off in 24 hours or less between the two of them. cleaning up the odd wingtip or mouse tail is not a big deal, but dealing with half of a rabbit or something three days later is beyond my acceptance level.
Right now, in my freezer I have adult mice (I feed four at a time for two ferrets, which is crazy expensive) XL mice (2 at a time) 1 wk quail (2) 2 wk quail (1 between them), rat pups (2-3) and day old chicks (2). It will be some time before I make another order from RodentPro, but I was thinking about getting larger rats and quail that they can share between them, and only getting the XL mice. I just don't know the likelihood that each weasel will get everything they need. I really can't afford to get three different sizes of each species.
They do also get regular raw for about 1/2 of their meals, chicken, turkey, pork, duck, rabbit and occasional dressed quail. I am thinking about moving toward more whole prey, though, since it is SO much easier.
Any wisdom?
Amanda, 7 Kitties and the Peanuts Gang
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Post by Heather on Aug 11, 2012 14:43:42 GMT -5
Adult prey offers the best nutritional value. Baby animals are treats
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2012 15:19:10 GMT -5
If I were to feed prey, I would prefer to feed small prey vs large prey (adults mainly, though). If i had whole rabbit, they would dig in and eat their favorite parts and then go. If I fed mice, however, I don't think they'd be able to pick and choose as much. Some goes with other small prey, mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, etc. if you have non-picky ferrets I think you would be fine with larger prey (rabbits, guinea pigs, etc).
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Post by goingpostal on Aug 11, 2012 16:33:55 GMT -5
When I was feeding four ferrets I would buy small whole rabbits and let them work on it for a couple days or chop it into quarters and feed part instead. I bought large/xlarge guinea pigs, they would last a little over a day, quail were usually gone very fast, half a day or so even adults.
Now I only have two ferrets, they will finish off an adult quail 5-7 oz in a 24 hour period, or a medium guinea pig, or 2-3 adult mice. Sometimes I will chop the GP in half, feed in morning and night so it stays fresher. They do probably pick and choose a bit on larger stuff but I don't really worry about it and I feed a very similar diet to you.
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Post by catznfertz on Aug 11, 2012 16:54:45 GMT -5
Ok, then I will start leaning more toward adult prey, but I really don't want to deal with anything larger than a rat. Once you have to start thinking about chopping them up and stuff is about the time my squick factor kicks in.
I figure the day old chicks may not have as much nutrition, but the ferrets love them, they're cheap as far as whole prey goes, and they get regular chicken or CGH on a regular basis anyway. Kinda like Sugar Pops are "part of this balanced breakfast...". Plus, it kind of amuses me how they poop white after a meal of fuzzy yellow feathers!
Amanda, 7 Kitties and the Peanuts Gang
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 17:15:54 GMT -5
im surprised everyone can get their fuzzles to eat all this good food  mine litterally will NOT make the switch from soup to chunks of meat. gah so annoying! i have all these rats from rodentpro just sitting in my freezer now! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 18:00:16 GMT -5
I feed mine small prey and larger without any problems. I guess I'm lucky in that my guys think all the bits are the good bits (plus I decided that I would absolutely NOT fiddle with it - they'd eat it as it came - no chopping, skinning, gutting for me, and there are never any left overs besides tiny tufts of fur/feathers!)
(My guys are chow hounds, though - my two baby girls (bit over a year now) will demolish a small rabbit in a day and a half and still want snacks, the gluttons.)
I will say, it took my older guys YEARS before they'd actually eat whole prey. Raw, they accepted, whole prey was :\ for a long time (they love it NOW, though)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 18:12:32 GMT -5
dooksandwardances: not to be gross, but to teach mine to eat rats, I took a frozen rat, cut it in 3-4 pieces, put some hot water into the blender, put in the rat chunks, put on the lid, CLOSE MY EYES, and turn the blender on. once it turns to soup, put in several baggies one Baggie in fridge, rest in freezer. take a tiny bit (maybee 1/8 tsp for 8 oz of normal soup), mix it in there normal soup. every couple of days adding a bit more rat soup to the normal mixture. then once I got them eating just rat soup, I put in a TINY less water every couple of days (I measure all water each day) until it becomes the texture of cat canned food. then I start adding in TINY slivers that slowly get bigger. our foster kitty has just started eating tiny slivers of meat mixed in her soup.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 18:24:23 GMT -5
I did the same as Shelia to introduce mine to mice. Ferret food only blender, water, and whole mouse. Lid on, punch button.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 4, 2012 19:01:24 GMT -5
Dooksandwardances- start yourself a thread In the "newbie diet questions" board, and we'll talk you through advancing to chunks  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 23:56:29 GMT -5
sherry: sounds like a plan! the ferrets need to get properly eating  sheila: great advice. my current soup is made from beef heart and liver, ground pinky mice, turkey neck, kibble, egg shell, and egg yolk. I was hoping the strong flavour of the beef would mask the mice but man they want nothing to do with them  any time i add slivers they get all stupid about it and lap up their soup like its the best thing in the world--ignoring the meaty chunks  |
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Post by Sherry on Sept 5, 2012 8:59:07 GMT -5
We'll get them there Freyamarie had the same problem with hers, and we got her past it |
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