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Post by tss on Jun 27, 2008 17:46:36 GMT -5
I don't feed ground food but next weekend there will be a raw suppiler in town. He can bring me ground quail for $1.35 a pound and ground green tripe for $1.05 a pound... The quail comes in 2lb tubes and the tripe is in 5lb tubes.. Is there anything "wrong" with feeding ground as a treat? The quail would be for the ferrets and they would get a bit of the tripe but it would mostly be for the dogs.
Thanks
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 27, 2008 20:38:33 GMT -5
The only reservations I have about ground foods are:
1. They dont clean the teeth or exercise the jaw
2. Grinding exposes more of the surface are to bacteria
But I think if you give it as a treat it should be fine. There are people that feed ground, commercial raw foods without an issue, so I guess they will be ok.
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 2, 2008 11:12:51 GMT -5
Tss,
You can up the teeth cleaning factor of ground meats by freeze drying it. If you have a frost free freezer, mix the gound meats of your choice together then press into an icecube tray.
Freeze, after aday or so popout the meat cubes onto a shallow pan, or dish and leaveopen and exposed to the freezer.
Being frost free, the freezer will remove the moisture from the meat cubes and after several days you'll have a lightweight fairly dense meat cube.
The dryness and density will polish the ferret's teeth better than just giving them the raw ground meat.
Broken up these meat cubes also make great training aids!
Cheers,
Kim
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Post by tss on Jul 6, 2008 11:31:55 GMT -5
I'm only going to feed the quail once a week or so. I got it Yesterday and gave the ferrets some mixed with a egg yolk, they LOVED the stuff!!!!
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Jul 6, 2008 15:55:56 GMT -5
Feeding it once a week or so mixed with egg i personaly do not think that there is a problem with that. Its a treat as you said and not a part of their diet. If they like it once a week is not going to hurt.
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Post by jennifer5799 on Jul 11, 2008 19:28:57 GMT -5
I don't see a problem with it even as a part of their diet (provided it is the entire quail, including bones and organs). It may not have the teeth cleaning/jaw exercise/etc advantages that whole prey or chunks of raw does, but it won't cause the build up that kibble does on the teeth. I certainly wouldn't feed ground alone (unless, of course, you're feeding a toothless animal, LOL) but I don't see a problem with it making up a small portion of the diet. (btw I realize the op was addressing it as a treat)  |
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