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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 15, 2008 11:35:45 GMT -5
Ok, so I have a few mammal species I want to breed for the ferrets (Damien is making progress with whole prey. He took a full grown mouse today!). I want to breed the following mammals...
Mice Rats Gerbils Hamsters Rabbits African Soft Furred Rats
In my current living situation (2 bedroom townhouse where every animal I have except the dog and one cat is not allowed) I can only breed mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, and asfs. I can't breed the bigger mammals. Currently I'm breeding gerbils, mice, and rats (though the mice are just getting started, the gerbils have only had one litter and I think I'm going to start the rat colony over)
But I was wondering what other kinds of whole prey I could breed to use as part of the ferrets' diet. In the wild I'm guessing that they would catch not only small mammals but also small reptiles and amphibians. So I was wondering if it would even be a good idea to start researching frogs as a source of food. If so, what kind would be easiest to get and breed as feeders?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Dec 16, 2008 0:34:03 GMT -5
Frogs would make up part of the summer diet of polecats. I am not sure WHAT frog I would breed/feed though. Be careful, as some frogs are toxic. I know that house geckos and anoles are good LIZARDS to feed. One of my old ferrets, Wednesday, used to LOVE green anoles.
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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 16, 2008 0:38:44 GMT -5
Anoles as in the anoles you can get in the pet store? Those are rather inexpensive and I bet I could set up a breeding group of those. Since I don't want to rely on meat and prey items from outside sources, I want to provide for myself and humanely raise feeder animals, but I need to provide a wide variety for my fur kids so I don't miss any nutrients they might need.
I'll talk to some herp people about non-toxic frogs.
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Dec 16, 2008 14:53:09 GMT -5
Please let us know what you find out about breeding reptiles and frogs... I am very curious!
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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 17, 2008 9:49:20 GMT -5
Here is the thread I posted about using reptiles and frogs as feeders. Again I got responses (even after asking people not to get on my case about the raw diet) about my ferrets' diet. I did get some good links though. So it is completely possible to breed reptiles and frogs as feeders. It just might be too expensive to do so.
So if I did start using anoles and frogs as feeders, how much would be too much per week?
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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 17, 2008 10:11:17 GMT -5
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Post by Kerit on Dec 18, 2008 15:55:32 GMT -5
Would there be any problem with parasites or similar with anoles? Because they're so plentiful in southern areas, most pet store anoles are wild caught... not worth it to the pet trade to captive breed them.
And leopard geckos as food? Sounds reasonable, but just like rats, I'd be too sentimental to do it. Little baby leos as snacks...
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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 19, 2008 6:57:53 GMT -5
I couldn't do the leos as feeders. A: Leos are expensive (in comparison to say an anole). If I were breeding leos it would be as a hobby and I would be producing morphs (like with my snakes).
I am thinking of starting with anoles. I have a 10g tank available, but I am not sure what they need as far as an enclosure so I'm going to do a bit more research, and I'll probably wait till I move in the next year.
For now I will be feeding mostly rodents.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Dec 25, 2008 0:16:46 GMT -5
Can't imagine feeding a Leo to a ferret, I don't consider them "feeder food". Anoles, yes. Leos----probably not. Anoles are more like the lizards a wild polecat would encounter. I cant imagine a wild polecat encountering a lepord gecko.
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Post by fuzzymom on Dec 26, 2008 8:48:31 GMT -5
I will look into reptiles and such as feeders for the future. I probably won't be able to breed my own feeders for a while. We might have the opportunity to move in with my mother in law and she will accept all our animals, except the rodents. She's ok with us keeping one or two rats as pets, but not the whole colony, so its back to strictly raw diet with one or two whole prey items thrown in that the snakes won't eat.
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