*only* whole prey

[maddiesmom]

Hi

the fuzzies are doing so well on whole prey, and I am doing MUCH better with feeding it I was wondering if someone could help me take "the next step".

I'd like to get to a place to where I would be feeding only whole prey, or at least Mostly all whole prey

But, I'm not sure how much, or if I should add MM, or Organs... Since they're getting that in the whole prey. Plus, I'm not sure how much variety in meat sources or ages I should be shooting for. Can someone give me an example of a good "menu"??

TIA

[sherrylynne]

Same general rules apply. A minimum of 3 protein sources(mice/rat/rabbit), more is better(guinea pig, hamster,quail), and you need to vary the ages in those sources. The menu would be based on whatever you could get hold of.
And if they are eating all/only whole prey, they don't need extra liver. they'll get it in the meal

[Heather]

Use older prey vs younger. I'm not saying feed only older prey but use the younger prey sparingly. Varied ages is best but older is better for true nutritional value. Just to add to what Sherrylynne has already told you.
ciao

[maddiesmom]

Thanks

I keep forgetting that mice and rats are two different sources... Kind of like chicken and chc... I don't know why I keep forgetting that

also, I have a friend who's a hunter, and he's been giving me some of what he doesn't want. It's usually rabbit - hair & skin, feet, stomach and intestines removed but everything else is still there... if I add this to the mix, would I need to add or cut anything to the "menu"? Since it's not technically whole ... lol

[sherrylynne]

It's got liver and kidney left, along with heart, lung, etc? Other than fur, whole enough I remove the digestive tract from rabbits for them as well.

[josiesmom]

Something to keep in mind; while I DO believe feeding WHOLE is an ideal WHOLEsome manner of feeding don't STOP feeding them raw items. And also introduce freeze dried and dried items for them to chew on. This means that should you ever get into a position where whole prey is not available the ferrets won't feel like they have to learn to eat something new. And this also ensures if you have to use alternate caretakers you the ferrets will get fed - you'd be surprised how many animal caretakers are squeamish about handling dead feeder animals ( or live).

I enjoy seeing that many other people are moving in to whole prey for their ferrets! Its great !

Cheers,
Kim

[maddiesmom]

VERY good points Kim - thank you!! I didn't think of that

[bluecoyote]

Oct 10, 2010 20:49:05 GMT -5 josiesmom said:

And this also ensures if you have to use alternate caretakers you the ferrets will get fed - you'd be surprised how many animal caretakers are squeamish about handling dead feeder animals ( or live).

this is where i love my mom lol she pretends disinterest but she really loves to ferretsit- last time she asked me "can she eat popcorn??"
noooo!
i can imagine her sitting on the sofa watching a movie with a popcorn buddy lol
but i do know she wouldnt feel one iota of shame for feeding mice to a ferret. she absolutely abhors rodents...
if i have to go out of town i know she'd be cool with the job of ferret feeder.
but ..... i think she's my only option at this point
my husband and i usually travel together and sometimes my mom comes with.
short of taking the fert with us i really dont know who else would keep her, and keep her safe

ETA - since she's been eating raw i have to ask about the organs.... in the mice she'll eat the heart/liver just fine.... but when i offer those individually to her.. forget it. she thinks i'm trying to poison her! do i need to make it taste better? hide it in something or do something else different?

[Heather]

I mix my organ meats up in a ground raw mix. Some of my brats have the same problem, they don't like the organ meats on their own. You can work with it and see if you can get her to eat it, but it's just as simple to put it into something she will eat without too much hassle
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Only way I got mine eating organs/liver, was to puree, and add about a tsp of heavy cream per ferret And even at that- I had to keep doing that for almost a year. Lately, I've been using commercial raw every morning simply because I've got some really lazy eaters. They eat all the way around the bone, without actually eating much of it

[bluemoose]

Mango will sometimes eat around the liver in her whole prey so I started trying to give her a little extra liver but not surprisingly she didn't want it. I also ended up pureeing it and to get her to eat it I spoon some out and cover it with fish oil. When she licks up the fish oil she ends up licking up the liver smoothie too.

[bluecoyote]

good ideas there we'll certainly try these!