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Post by Chelsea on Nov 11, 2008 11:45:21 GMT -5
So, my dad has pretty much okayd the whole breeding mice thing. He said okay to in the garage, but doesnt like the idea of them in the house. But i know he will let me just for in the winter, and then in the summer when its warm they can more into the garage. Since now besides just having my semi new ferret, i have another new ferret. Hes only been here since sunday. So blah blah blah long story here he is, now I have 2. So now I have to plan on feeding 2 ferrets not just one. I should? wait until the new new ferret settles in and the semi new ferret gets used to the new new ferret. And they both deffinetly need names too lol. But I want to start breeding mice before i start "the switch" so ill be prepared and wont have to go buying mice when i run out. So ive been looking up how to breed mice and such. Im trying to get an idea of how many i will need to get to feed them (obviosuly not just mice every day, but how many will feed them for just 1 day then something else the next day) How many mice, say fuzzies/hoppers, could 1 average ferret eat in a day? ( I know it varries per ferret, but im just trying to get an estimate...) How many full grown mice should 1 ferret eat in a day? Im planning on feeding them mice and possibly dwarf hamsters? for them. Then buying chicken at the store. They sell chicken legs in bulk at a store near me, and I get it for my dog all the time. Bailey, a 70 pound dog eats a good sized chicken thigh for a meal. Or 2 drumsticks. And that could be his food for the day (It varries, sometimes more sometimes less, but thats average. He doesnt get chicken every day obviously, but thats about the size of what he would eat in a day) Anyways so my question is, how much of a chicken leg would 1 ferret eat in a day (trying to figure out how long it will last) Next question, if they get whole mice a couple times a week at least of different size/ages, do i still need to buy organ meat for them? Or is what they are getting from the mice enough? Thanks again to everyone on this forum who answers my dumb questions
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Post by bigsis7 on Nov 11, 2008 12:12:28 GMT -5
No questions are dumb ;-)! I think with fuzzies and hoppers ferrets could eat 4 each a day, but I'm not sure and with adult mice I think maybe 2 per ferret. My ferrets usually eat one to half a leg. I'm not sure about the organ meat...Hope this helps some what!
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Post by Heather on Nov 11, 2008 16:49:58 GMT -5
Ahhh, there's no such thing as a dump question....got to remember that Feeding 2 ferrets....guess that rather depends on their appetite I think that 2 ferrets should be able to do justice to 1 chicken leg....how's that I know that Pooka and Babushka can eat a whole chicken leg in about 8 to 10 hrs depending on their amusement. Now they're small, little things and they're getting rather plump....wellllllll....maybe more than a little plump. It's winter and they're fat . As far as mice go...whole adults...1 or 2 per ferret again depending on appetite. You will have to add more offal to your mix even if you feed whole mice and small prey. My guys get a little every day, so even if you fed it every other day or offered it a treat if they weren't getting a mouse that day. Think whole prey....you get offal, right. So when you feed raw, you're feeding frankenprey....you have to have bone, offal and meat...there's your goal. It is balance over time, but if you work the set up like this you don't have to worry. It's not a matter of getting all upset because you couldn't get any at the market today...you just feed tomorrow. Very similar to feeding your dog I hope I answered a few of your questions ciao
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Post by Chelsea on Nov 12, 2008 17:56:13 GMT -5
How many times a day do they need to eat?? You said they could eat a whole chicken leg.. but is that at once or over the whole day? Is it okay for them to eat once a day? I dont really have time in the morning to take them out and feed them. I spend time with them at night usually around 6ish. Is there any other prey other than mice that i could breed for them? Ive heard about dwarf hamsters but thats it. Id like give them more of a variety of whole prey but buying it online is so expencive.
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Post by bigsis7 on Nov 12, 2008 19:22:47 GMT -5
Well I feed Oliver one to two times a day and he usually downs a whole leg, while Chewie has to have food all day or else he'll start eating other things that aren't food... You can basically feed any small animal you want to your ferrets, just so long as they're not poisonous or toxic in some way.
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Post by Heather on Nov 13, 2008 0:50:58 GMT -5
Ferrets were created to eat many small meals during a 24 hrs period. Think about their digestive tract...from the time that they eat 3 or 4 hrs later that meal is on its way out. So legitamately a ferret should never go longer that 3 or 4 hours without a meal. To ensure this ferrets stash food. It's ingrained into their very makeup to make sure there's always food for them. Multiple small meals every day, that's how a ferret should eat. Then comes the problem of how to feed them when we work. If you're feeding whole prey...then it's easy you feed them in the morning, enough to last them all day. You let them play and stash and eat and stash some more. Raw whole meats is the same. Ground raw maybe you have to be more inovative. I create a dish within a dish. You fill a large dish with water and then place a smaller dish in the water. Place both in the freezer, let them freeze. Take this bowl out when you know that you're going to need to be gone for 8 to 10 hrs. Place the ground meats in the "chilly" bowl that you've created I would suggest if you do use this method that you place a towel under your "chilly bowl" so that you don't wind up with a bunch of furbabies "belly whopping" through the condensation left by the melting bowls . Well, I'm presently growing mice, (you will let us know about the mini hamster things, right? Maybe, ask Guili to allow you to create an instructional about raising these furry little creatures?) and I found a lady who raises rats for her snakes (her snakes don't eat a whole lot of them) so I buy everything that she has left over . I feed everything from ground to frankenprey to whole prey so I've got most of my bases covered. Non of the online whole prey companies ship to Canada so I had to find sources for myself. I work through contacts that I've found and coops. Just how I do things here ciao
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Post by Chelsea on Nov 13, 2008 6:40:20 GMT -5
So like.. in the morning, i could throw a mouse or 2 in their cage for from to eat through out the day while im gone? (Obviously make sure thye kill it before i leave so it doesnt escape out the cage) I leave for school at like 7. I walk Bailey between 6 and 7. And i usually get up at like 5-5:30. I get back from school at like 3ish, but i dont really get back to the house to see them until like 6. Is it okay for the mouse/or whatever food they get, to be in the cage for that long? Does anyone know if breeding rats is hard? I heard they smell reeally bad compared to mice/hamsters, and that males and females cant be kept together? I want to breed so much different prey for them but i only have so many cages lol
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Post by Heather on Nov 13, 2008 11:10:13 GMT -5
Yes, definitely make sure that the mouse is dead before you leave Also make sure that your guys are eating prey too (but that's a given....I just want to make sure ) What I would do is leave 2 per...if they don't eat the whole thing by the time you get home then leave 1....it's really quite simple that way My guys look at 1 being a snack, 2 is more of a meal....they eat rat a lot Someone mentioned, Guili maybe, how many mice it takes to make a meal for a full grown ferret. If you go to the prey subsection of this section you will find a number of threads on how to breed prey. Sometimes you have to bounce through them (there's a lot of information and some links to other sites as well that are really helpful). None are rat specific but we do have a member who breeds rats and she has posted in that section a number of times when comparing mouse breeding with rats. They are different and it does appear to be a little more complicated (more space required I think more than anything) I have a rat supplier and I figure for the price that I pay for them I can't grow them any cheaper I gather if space is a premium there is a discussion about raising dwarf hamsters (seemingly they're communal like mice) I'm hoping that there will be a thread regarding the breeding of those little animals soon as I'm interested in breeding them, escpecially if they breed up like mice.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Nov 13, 2008 14:48:13 GMT -5
Thanks guys this has been helpful for me too since I have just started my mouse colony (still have months before babies) and am interested in breeding another prey given the mice breeding goes smoothly.
I believe Bullet is the member you are talking about who breeds rats. I know she is very busy right now with her rescued ferret, but she is very knowledgeable with breeding and has been helping me with my mice.
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