No supplements

[mustelidmusk]

I agree with Heather, I would always feed raw.

Heather feeds more naturally that I do. I have a hard time finding heart meat on a regular basis. If you can find heart meat, its a great way to add a little extra taurine. Plus, when you feed commercial raw mixes rather than raw meaty bones and whole prey, you get food that has probably been frozen on the shelf longer than human foodsfor raw meaty bones . I have no idea about the frozen whole prey and how long it may have been frozen before it makes it to your ferret!

I still have more to add to this thread (probios and trace mierals)- but I have to do this a little at a time(going nuts these days!)

More later
-jennifer
-jennifer

[Heather]

How you feed is indeed directly affected on supply. I couldn't agree more. I'm lucky in that I have a rawfeeding coop (that actually has links to a big raw feeding coop in the city), a specialty pet food store (that actually caters to the raw feeding people of the community, expensive but allows some of the more exautic meats) and a butcher who thinks I'm weird but because I'm willing to pay will cater to his weirder pet clients These places sometimes take a little coordinating and some investigating but they're out there. I was actually surprised as to how many. I just picked up 50 lbs of heart meat last week. It's presently sitting very frozen on the floor of my garage ...the freezers are too full (that's ok in the winter, rather stupid to overstock in the summer)
I agree, I sometimes have questioned how long some of the rodents have been frozen which is why I went looking in the reptile community for my stock and raising my own mice. My concern with the frozen mice is that they have been in the freezer so long their nutritional value is compromised. My rats from my supplier have usually only been in the freezer for the week before I pick them up.
The bonus with raw feeding is the multiple levels that you can feed at. It means that there's really no reason why someone cannot do this. I mean if my 87 yr old mother in law can raw feed her cats then anyone can
ciao

[cristina]

I would like to get fish oil for Boomers coat, its always been very coarse like bristley. What kinds (brands, etc..) do people use? I dont know what exactly is "good" and "not good" for ferrets.

[mustelidmusk]

I've used Grizzly salmon oil (you can find this at pet food stores that specialize in raw foods and better products.
I've also used the sardine oil that's sold in these same types of stores. I can't recall the brand.
I've used barlean's flax seed oil (the refrigerated stuff.

Do NOT use cod liver oil. The balance is not great for ferrets.
Use the salmon/fish body oils.

That being said, I think the very best quality stuff is a high-quality soft-gel supplement for humans because the oil does not get exposed to air. The problem with using the big, conveneint bottles is that the oils lose their effectiveness and go rancid over time when exposed to air. This is why the gel caps are good.
I store all oils in the fridge for freshness.

The thing I hate the most about the gel caps is that I'm so afraid a used one will get left out and my ferret will eat the "shell" of the gel cap and get an obstruction. The oily stinky things are just like "ferret candy". My brat will eek out one of those used gel caps and devour it on a heartbeat! Ugh!!! Freaks me out just thinking about it!

-jennifer

[Forum Administrator]

I like Nature Made Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsules. I just poke a hole in the capusle with a tack and let each ferret have 1 pill every other day.