Well, I'd like to start my ferrets (Bandit, Drake, Laura and Gloria) on a raw diet. But, I barely eat meat myself and no almost nothing about it, except you cook it and eat it. *Sigh*.Well lucky for your, feeding a raw diet to your ferrets is even simpler then "just cook it and eat it" because with them you just toss it to them raw
I guess starting with chicken bits would be good? How big, and would it be good to start with chicken breast? Do you need to wash the meat very good before giving it to them?There are several things you can do. Most people start out by slowly transitioning their ferrets to a wet kibble THEN to meat. If you just hand your ferret meat they probably wont have a clue what it is, much less how to eat it
Check out this method:
Now to help you with the switch, here is the switching method that one of the HF Mentors, aleronferrets (Nikki) reccomends. This is one of the best methods for stubborn switchers:Most ferrets are stubborn about food switching but if you stick with it, they can all be switched to whatever you'd like them to eat. My tried and true, fail proof switching plan is as follows (crossposted from another board, permisson to crosspost providing my email contact (AgileGSD@aol.com) is included).
Getting ferrets to switch to raw food is probably the biggest issue ferret owners face with the diet and is a major reason more ferrets aren't fed raw. Often owners try to switch their ferret but their ferret refuses to even try any form of raw meat. It is true that adult ferrets are quite difficult to introduce a new diet to. However, through trial and error I have created a step-by-step method to switch even the most stubborn, kibble lovin' fuzzy (or cats which are just as bad) to a raw diet.
All you need to start the transition is your ferret's regular food and some ground meat. The ground meat can be either pre-made commercial raw food or ground chicken/turkey from the grocery store.
1. Begin adding some moisture to the kibble by dripping some water over it before feeding. I like to use warm water - not too hot or cold. If your fuzzy already will eat canned food you may be able to skip to step 5 by taking away all kibble and just feeding canned.
2. Add more water to the day's kibble each day as long as your ferret is willing to eat the food. Most will eat wet kibble fairly easily and I think this is because their imprinting is more about smell than texture.
3. Once the ferret is eating the kibble with enough water to make it soggy began mashing the kibble up a little bit with a fork before feeding.
4. Slowly mash the kibble up more each feeding until the ferret is eating all of the food well mashed. The mashed kibble should look almost like canned food now.
5. Only is the ferret is eating the canned-food-looking-mashed kibble without a problem is it time for this step Now you will take just a tiny bit of the raw ground meat - maybe a pinch or two and add it to the kibble before mashing. Mash the kibble as usual and be sure the bit of raw food is well mixed with the rest.
6. As long as your ferret will eats the food with the raw meat mixed in you can double the amount of raw food added about every other day. Be sure you are mashing it up well with the rest of the food.
7. At some point there will get to be a lot of raw food in the bowl and it will no longer be hidden in with the mashed kibble. That's great as long as your ferret is consistently eating the food. Once this happens and as long as your ferret is still eating the food begin cutting back on the amount of kibble in the bowl. The kibble should be cut just as slowly as the raw is added in.
8. Cut back on the kibble until there is no kibble left in the bowl. Congrats now your fuzzies will eat raw! It should be mentioned that if at any point during this switch your ferret refuses the food go back a step or two. If your ferret decides mashed kibble is yucky go back to just adding a bit of water. I think the main issue with switching ferrets to raw is to be determined that you want to do it and that the ferrets will be switched. Don't let set backs make you give up - keep trying and they will eat raw
Now if you were using ground meat from the store to switch you will need to start thinking about what foods you are going to feed. Feeding all ground food is ok for switching but bone and organs are needed for a balanced diet. Pre made raw food (with bones, organs and meat all ground) is available but it tends to be the most expensive way to feed raw. Other options are chicken necks/wing tips, livers and hearts from any number of animals, frozen fish such as smelt, mice (live or frozen), frozen chicks or rabbit parts.
I would start with something easy and try to find chicken necks or wing tips. To switch your fuzzie to eating raw meaty bones:
1. Chop the RMB (raw meaty bone such as a chicken neck) into small parts and mix it into the ground meat your fuzzy is now eating.
2. As long as your fuzzy eats the meal as usual add the chopped RMB every day. Every other day chop the RMB into slightly larger pieces.
3. Soon you won't have to chop it up at all! Once the chopped parts are quite large try just offering the whole RMB.
In my experience once a ferret will eat raw meaty bones such as chicken necks and wing tips introducing new ones isn't hard. Other RMBs you can use would be chicken wings (all parts), chicken breasts and chicken backs. These all have some bones which ferrets can eat and some which are too large and they will leave. These shouldn't make up the bulk of the diet but can be used for variety - just remember to pick up the leftover bones before company comes An important part of raw feeding is variety so try to feed different things every couple days. My raw fed guys are fed twice a day.
Switching to mice is a bit different because they don't look like regular RMBs. With my ferrets who hesitated on mice (the older ones) I held the mouse near them and when they grabbed it to try to take it I held on. This caused the ferret to "open up" the mouse and see that it was full of meat. I wouldn't try switching right from kibble to mice unless you have a ferret who is willing to try new foods.
This method of switching works so well even on older ferrets because you are introducing the raw food in phases. To start you introduce moisture where the ferret is used to dry, second you add a different texture, after that just a hint of a different smell, then a different but now somewhat familiar smell, followed by a different but now somewhat familiar texture. Doing this tricks the ferret into accepting raw food as the norm instead of something totally weird and new.
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After that, should I start with food on bones? And how safe is it for ferrets to eat bones? I work at a vet, and I've seen what can happen to a dog that eats a bone. Well he swallowed it, but its made me a bit nervous.Might I ask if you remember if the dog ate a COOKED bone? Or was it raw? Also, are you sure it was a real bone and not a "bone" as in a smoked bone or a piece of rawhide? Carnivores are perfectly capable of chewing and digesting bone without any issues, as long as the bones are RAW (as they would be if found in nature). Cooking bone alters its structure and makes them brittle and easy to splinter. Raw bones are rubbery and soft. The marrow actually oozes out of them when they are cracked open.
Also, dogs have a tendency to gulp their food, which can be them into trouble. Ferrets are careful eaters and I've never seen a ferret choke on a bone. I HAVE seen plenty of ferrets choke on kibble (or get a piece of kibble stuck on the roof of their mouth) though
I've been reading that they need variety of foods, how does that work when your just getting started? To make sure there getting everything they need?Honestly, variety OVER TIME is important. During the initial transition its OK if they dont get much variety. The key is to make the switch and THEN work on giving them some variety. During the switch you'll need to supplement with calcium (using crushed eggshell....1tsp per 1 cup of meat) but other then that its okay to go a month or so without variety while you are making the initial switch.
I'm sure I'm missing other questions that I wanted to ask, but if I remember I'll ask again.Go for it. If you think of something, just ask
Any info you can give me on starting, that would be fantastic.Patience is of utmost importance
It can be difficult/frustrating at times but the results are well worth it. Kibble might keep them alive, but your ferrets will never truely thrive unless they are eating a biologically appropriate diet. So even if the going gets rough, dont give up! Just post your questions/frustrations here and keep on truckin'