|
Post by fursnake on Aug 11, 2008 19:42:28 GMT -5
Erm, how do I begin...
I plan on feeding a raw diet to my ferrets when I eventually own them, and I can easily raise mice (I've always wanted to, but had no reason. Odd...) and I'm perfectly fine with feeding frozen and thawed pinkies and babies, but I'm not comfortable breaking necks/yanking tails, etc. to kill the adults. I don't think just tossing them in the freezer will work, so I wanted to know what you all would recommend doing in this situation. I also don't exactly want to go buy carbon dioxide tanks etc. Is there a easy way around this? If not, I'll just buy prekilled mice.
|
|
|
Post by josiesmom on Aug 11, 2008 20:32:16 GMT -5
The very easiest way is to let the ferret dispatch its own mice! It isn't that messy and if started properly on young prey and worked up to adult prey the ferret learns the technique and its quick- most mice never even get out a squeak! I've posted about how to start ferrets on mice somewhere in these threads... here it is: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=gen&thread=1025&page=1You can let the ferret(s) have a killing day and then freeze the results for use later. That is my preferred method as it allows the ferrets enrichment as well as a proper outlet for using their teeth! A quick search on the internet can reveal many home made options for CO2 chambers either using dry ice or air rifle cartridges. But for me - I'll give my ferrets one more "natural" form of enrichment! NO, it DOES NOT make the ferrets aggressive towards people! Cheers, Kim
|
|
|
Post by fursnake on Aug 12, 2008 12:22:18 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm glad to hear that will work. I was planning on just letting the fuzzies do the deed, but then was concerned about some vicious mouse trying to chew their face off or something Well, I was concerned the mice might hurt my fursnakes. I will work up from pinkies then, when I have them!
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 12, 2008 14:05:05 GMT -5
The mouse CAN bite your ferret but if you moniter it things should go OK. I personally would only feed live mice, rats can be pretty d**m vicious, but there are people who feed live rats without a problem. Personally to me its not worth the risk to feed anything live that is bigger then a mouse.
|
|
|
Post by josiesmom on Aug 12, 2008 21:12:10 GMT -5
I pretty much agree with Giuli, mice are fairly easily dispatched by just about any ferret. Ocassionally you run into a ferret that has some aversion to killing; like Faylene, my old girl - but I think that stems from 5 years of kibble her teeth may not be sharp enough to properly pierce an adult mouse, but she does very well with pinkies and young fuzzies.
You'll need to watch your ferret and gauge their ferocity. If they are a fierce predator then moving up the ladder to rats, chicks, cavvies even rabbits is o.k. and will likely be o.k. IN my crew Roman and Crystal would do fine with larger prey.
But I would not offer the same opportunity to Bugsy Malone, Windy, and Fizzle. Windy might take down a chick or a juvenile rat but anything larger is likely to put her off of hunting.
Fizzle still hasn't figured out how to go directly for the back of the neck and she'll waste time trying to pin the mouse by its tail! Do that with a rat and it'll spin on her and likely do some real damage. The mice do spin on her and have bitten her on the lip, which only just ticks her off, but she's NOT waht I would call an adept predator.
Bugsy Malone is just too slow, he often looses track of the mouse and then has to search the bathroom for it. Not being able to keep up with a mouse, I know he'd NEVER get a rat!
Crystal, being deaf, has honed her other senses to a level the others have not. She has a super sense of smell and on rare occasions that the mouse manages to get free she quickly sniffs it out and is on it in a flash. Any mice that give her any grief get dispatched with extreme prejudice! She is a killer in the true sense of the word and as soon as one mouse is dispatched she tucks it away and looks for another!
Roman aka "The Romanator" has a HUGE maw and needle sharp teeth! With only 9 months of kibble eating and most of that apparently was moistened soft kibble for kits- his teeth have NOT been dulled at all.
Roman wastes no time at all in dispatching a mouse. I have learned to make certain the mouse is on the floor before I let him near it. He has grabbed the mouse as I lower it to the floor with his strong paws he holds the mouse while he goes for the death bite before he even sits back down!
I am amazed at his transformation in particular. From a chubby, very aggressive ferret that punctured me unprovoked several times- to a firm svelte ferret now that climbs up on me to kiss me and one I can now pick up without gloves and carry about. I attribute a LOT of this change in him to being able to just BE a ferret!
He would have no problems graduating to larger and more difficult prey. You'll see the signs as they learn their skills. Of course there is nothing preventing you from acquiring these animals and dispatching them yourself to allow the ferret to eat yet another nutrient source.
CO2 chambers are supposed to be the most humane, but you can also do a cervical separation(break the neck) which is quick and said to be humane also.
And many of these larger prey items are available already dispatched and prepackaged as well!
Cheers, Kim
|
|
|
Post by fursnake on Aug 13, 2008 12:46:12 GMT -5
Thank you all for the replies! Unless I'm certain my fuzzies are excellent hunters and easily have mice down, I won't try feeding live rats/larger, out of safety. I always worry about my babies. Unfortunately I plan on adopting, and the poor things will probably have been on crap kibble their whole life. I will probably just order all the larger stuff off of rodentpro or out of local petstores/butchers.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Aug 14, 2008 9:26:25 GMT -5
If you're adopting out, you can always put it in your contract. If I adopt out, my guys have to go to raw homes. I don't require the people to feed prey but they have to feed raw if they want one of my furbabies. ciao
|
|