Freeze-dried diets

[bindiferret89]

I was thinking of trying some freeze dried commercial diets with my ferrets at some point, even though I'm doing a frankeprey/whole prey diet with them. It would give them something different once in awhile and be more convenient when I'm out of town and someone else is watching them.

I was looking at Wysong, and I think I read that most members on this forum who use Wysong use Archetypal-1. I was just wondering why it has so many fruits in it, as I thought ferrets could really digest them anyway. Do you feed smaller portions of commercial diets to your ferrets or do you still feed approximately 2 oz. per ferret per meal? 'Cause at $16.09 for 7.5 oz on their website, I'm can't afford it--that's not even a meal for my five kiddos!

Can I serve this alongside raw or whole prey...for example, give them some Wysong (or other commercial brand) and a mouse or whatever?

Thanks for your help!

[lnsybean44]

I feed animal food service and stella chewy's as a supplement to my kids. They love the AFS and arent as thrilled with the stella's but i need the variety. It does get really expensive. For our family, each ferret eats one AFS " puck" per day or two stella and chewy's patties perday. When we were feeding three days of S and C and four days of AFS it was $1.03 per day per ferret. It was ridculous. That was why I switched to frankenprey and ground foods. I still give them one patty a week to supplement and it is good to have in a pinch or when people are ferret sitting for me though. Some peopl add water so Im not sure if this would decrease the amount of food the ferrets eat, my kids wont touch it wet.

[spiritualtramp]

I like to keep S&C and AFS and Ziwipeak around, just in case. It makes for easy meals in case I have to rush out, or when traveling, or when I need someone else to take care of them. They don't get it weekly usually as it is pricey but even still, it's worth getting them to recognize the foods, just so you have that backup option, just is case.

During the winter, we had a massive ice storm and lost power for about a week. Since I live in an apartment without any alternative heating source, it dropped into the thirties pretty quickly, so I brought all the kids in their playpen to my parents' house, where they had a woodstove and a fireplace running. Along came the S&C and Ziwipeak, too, as there was no way my parents would allow raw meats around. It worked out and we survived to tell the tale! And without those freeze dried products, where would we have been??

[sherrylynne]

I use Archetypal 1 for a little extra if they are piggies, and finish their meat early, or if they have to spend the day at the vet's. The fruits/veg are by no means ideal, but so far down the list of ingredients that they make up a VERY small portion. Many people/companies still believe all carnivores eat the stomach contents of prey, and try to make it up proportionately by adding this in.
Mine have flatly refused the S&C, or the AFS, so we stick with the Archetypal 1

[suds]

I use WA1 its is cold proccessed wich means it holds it nutrients much more then AFS and stella n chewies and my guys prefer it over them , the friuts and vegis are very very low and realy play very little part in the food . the only downside is its very expensive i buy it a case at a time which last me a little over 6 months because only feed as a suplement on the fasting day or as a snack when i am working late . the other benifit is that my mom or anyone can feed them while i am away the WA1 and i dont have to worry about them getting a good compleete diet .

[jojodancer]

Oops! Missed this thread.

I'll have to disagree with sud's comment. S&C and AFS are flashfrozen, thereby holding nutrients as long as anything else. In fact, if you look at the S&C, it looks just like the Wysong A-1.

Wysong is $15 per bag at CHP. A little better than the $16 at the Wysong website.

[sherrylynne]

And for the 2oz meal, that would be the freeze dried reconstituted. So, not 2oz of the dry matter.

[bindiferret89]

Thanks everyone for your input! Oh, and I'm planning on placing an order from CHP as soon as I get my paypal account sorted out. Thanks for clearing the oz. issue up for me too Sherry. Now I feel like that should have been obvious! DUH!

[sherrylynne]

You're still in the process of taking in a LOT of information. So don't feel too bad. Sometimes it's the most obvious things that escape us. I know it does with me

[murphysmom]

Just wanted to let you know that I just ordered from CHP and had great service! :)I highly recommend getting the sample packs. It is a great way to try different foods to see if the fuzzies have any interest in them.

[malestryx]

You have to excuse me; I am still quite new to the lingo. What exactly CHP, S&C, AFS and WA1? Thank you.

[sherrylynne]

CHP: Casey's Hidden Pantry. A web store some of us get freeze-dried from. She's also a member here- jojodancer.

S&C: Stella and Chewies freeze dried food

AFS: Not sure what it stands for , but it's another freeze dried food

WA1: Wysong's Archetypal 1. Freeze dried food

I get the above from Casey's Hidden Pantry

[Kerit]

AFS - Animal Food Services, www.animalfood.com/

[sherrylynne]

Thanks!

[malestryx]

Thank you for your responses.