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Post by sam13161821 on Jan 11, 2011 21:44:21 GMT -5
My ferret is Felix, he is 4 months old. That's a picture of him I've been feeding him ferret kibble ever since I got him. He also sneaks my cat's food... but now I see that I shouldn't feed him that! So someone please explain the perfect diet for ferrets so I can get on the right track! Attachments:
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taratee
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 255
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Post by taratee on Jan 11, 2011 21:52:45 GMT -5
i think whole prey is the best for ferrets, because its the most natural its what a ferret would be eating in the wild. a diet with variety if youd like there are TONS of threads on nutrition here and you can even sign up to get a mentor to switch your ferret to raw
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 11, 2011 21:55:14 GMT -5
Browse around the nutrition thread for details but here's some info in a nutshell. holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rawwholeThere are a variety of raw diets and one isn't necessarily better than the others. Probably the most natural in terms of what a ferret would eat in the wild is the whole prey diet. This would consist of mice, rats, quail, rabbit, guinea pig, ect. You feed the animals whole, usually pre-killed to avoid possible injury to the ferret. This is the diet I choose to feed. There's also prey model (often referred to simply as "raw"). This diet uses approximately 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organs. This diet is meant to emulate the proportions found in prey using meats such as chicken, beef, pork, turkey, fish, lamb, anything really. These two kinds of diet don't have to be exclusive. You can feed some whole prey and some prey model. You should aim to use at least three different protein sources and more is better. Many people also supplement with fish oil, eggs, ect. The important thing to keep in mind is that ferrets are obligate carnivores so fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar, dairy, ect. are not nutritionally beneficial for them and can actually be harmful. I would recommend signing up for a mentor to help you switch your ferret. He's young so it shouldn't be too difficult for you but most ferrets don't recognize raw as food right away and take some persuading. Your mentor will give you one-on-one help with your switch and give you all the information on raw diets you could want. holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=newbie&action=display&thread=3454
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 11, 2011 22:01:15 GMT -5
And btw, you can switch your cat to a raw diet too if you want Ferrets and cats are both obligate carnivores so they have very similar dietary needs and kibble isn't any better for cats than it is for ferrets.
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