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Post by passion4poultry on Dec 15, 2010 7:12:26 GMT -5
So I made the switch to raw a few days ago, hopefully switching to some whole prey in the near future. The hardest information to find seems to be exactly what vitamins and nutrients a ferret needs to on a daily basis. I understand they need 30% fat, 40% protein, 10% Organ meat, and I know these are all rough amounts as there is not a lot of study into ferret nutrition in comparisson with other pets. I know they need calcium and taurine, but amounts are hard to figure out. What am I missing from my little girls new diet. Does anyone have a list of the specific needs of an average ferret in terms of vitamins, nutrients, minerals?
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Post by bluemoose on Dec 15, 2010 7:28:38 GMT -5
Taurine isn't really an issue because all meat has taurine. Many of the users on this forum feed heart at least once a week because heart is very high in taurine. You can also supplement taurine in powdered form. As for an amount, you can't really overdose it. If you're feeding lots of meats low in taurine like rabbit, you will need to supplement it. But as long as you're feeding a variety of meats, they will get enough taurine and adding heart ensures they're getting enough. In addition to meat, fat, and organs (half of the organ content should be liver), ferrets need bone in their diet. Bone should be approximately 10% of the diet and this should provide enough calcium. You can also supplement with eggshell powder as eggshell is pretty much pure calcium. If you're feeding whole prey, there isn't much need for supplements. Mine eat exclusively whole prey and the only supplements I use are fish oil and extra virgin olive oil with occasional taurine and eggshell powder just to make sure they're getting enough. For more info on supplements, check out this thread: holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gen&action=display&thread=6312
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