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Post by Jaycee on Jun 8, 2008 17:44:54 GMT -5
I am not keen on the idea of feeding my ferret other "pets" at this time (mice, rats...ect), but I think I can handle meat like I would normally eat myself. I don't know where to start, though. I hear beef is good...does that include hamburger, or is it the more "solid" beef products like steak? Also, what about fish? I have heard that fish can make ferrets actually smell worse.
If I try to switch, which meat is easiest to transition to? And, do I give the meat to them instead of kibble, or do I introduce it as a snack, or do I have to mix the kibble and meat together to introduce it. My ferrets are anywhere from 11months old to probably a year or two old, so it may be a litlle bit harder to transition.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 8, 2008 17:48:12 GMT -5
They aren't *too* old, so it shouldnt be terribly difficult (expect SOME resistance though).
I dont like to give ground meats. They can be helpful during the initial transition phase, but really, I see no reason to give it beyond that (except for use in all natural duck soup). Ground meat doesnt exercise the jaw or clean teeth like hunks of meat does. And I think its more expensive then buying a hunk of raw beef. You dont necessarily have to give top quality steak lol, but a good cut of beef should be on the menu.
As for fish, Yes, you can feed fish. I dont feed fish often because it doesnt really have the high fat content that ferrets need. I never had a problem with a smelly ferret OR smelly poop. I think the fish meal in kibble is more concentrated (from the lack of water) and thats what makes things smell. I tried to get my kids to eat raw (not canned) anchoives and sardines, but they didnt care for them. Thats okay. If your ferret will eat fish a meal of ancovies/sardines makes a good weekly addition to the diet, but I wouldnt feed fish more then that (except for treats). The fish I like to give is raw (not canned) anchovies and sardines. Its a good way to include "whole prey" in the diet, and most people dont get upset about dead, whole fish like they do with dead whole mice. Mackeral is another good choice. all fish mentioned are high in essential omega-3 fatty acids. avoid tuna (I have heard it can cause a vitamin e deficiency) and shark and swordfish (which are both high in mercury).
In regards to HOW to switch, there are many methods out there. Hopefully some of our senior members can share what method THEY used to switch their ferrets.
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Post by Heather on Jun 8, 2008 23:37:10 GMT -5
Hi I'm going to add my 2 cents worth too I personally would stick to animals that your furchild would normally hunt. No, I'm not going to try and convince you to feed rats or mice...not yet anyway Quail, rabbit, chicken these are all animals that your furbaby would or could possibly hunt. I'm not as adament about ground vs whole....anything is better than kibble. There are degrees of good. Ground raw meat and bone, mixed with offal (rmb) is good, chunks with bone is better, real food...rats, mice whole prey is better. To feed only meat with no bone or calcium is worse than kibble. Everything is done by degrees. There are as many ways to switch as there are people and ferrets. I've just finished switching a 9 yrs old and a 6 yrs old over to raw. For them, I used the old duc soup method. 1 heavily beaten egg to a ground meat, offal and bone mix of chicken. Chicken is a mild tasting meat and an easy switch (or I should say easier switch). You can see if your guys will taste some. Just put some in their mouth...see what happens. Some choke and gag and make like they're being poisoned. Some run off and stash it, then you get the ultimate where they just eat it up and look for more. Bonus!! The most difficult is keeping track of who is eating what and how much when you have more than one. When I first switch over, each fuzzy gets individual attention until I can figure they're actally eating what they're stealing LOL. I don't feed beef (occasionally the dogs and cats get beef and then the fuzzbutts will steal some, but they don't eat it very well so I don't feed it) It wouldn't be on their normal prey list anyway....can't you just see it....a whole business hunting down dinner....it's a good think the wee beasties don't work together for the most part. There's something to start on and mull over. Ask questions, we'll be here to answer. ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jun 11, 2008 23:24:40 GMT -5
Hi! There are a lot of meats that can be fed, and you can decide what you ultimtely want to feed as you go along. But to get started, I think chicken is the most readliy accepted food since most kibbles contain chicken.
-jennifer
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Post by tsslilsis on Jun 13, 2008 14:08:22 GMT -5
If you want to feed fish, but don't want to deal with a whole animal, another thing to try is Aqua Star fish fillets. They are sold for people. Our Kroger sales them as well as our local Dollar Tree (ours has a freezer section). They are only a dollar each, and come in 4oz packages which is plenty. They come skin on. They have cod, pollock, tilapia, catfish, orange roughy and salmon. We've given our ferrets a small amount of tilapia and they loved it. It didn't mess with their poos either.
I do agree with feeding chunks of meat instead of ground, but just because it is easier my ferrets main diet isn't large hunks of meat, but smaller hunks made into a soup. It has heart in it which still exercises their jaw muscles and cleans their teeth though. It has bone in it also. They also get rabbit pinkies about once a week.
Raw feeding isn't as hard as it seems. Hopefully you'll be taking "the plunge".
-~Ketlin
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 13, 2008 21:05:22 GMT -5
Thanks for all the help! Keep wishing us luck!! We need it!
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