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Raw Diet And Care Questions

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Ftmevan:
I'd like to feed my ferrets the best that I can. However I'm unsure a little bit about what kind raw stuff I should be feeding my girls. I've heard people feeding chicken, liver, ect. Would I be able to give them those round bones that have the marrow in them? Or will the bone be too big for them? What would be good to put in their litterbox? As for kibble type foods I've heard a high quality kitten food. Are there any special brands that are best? How much should I give them a day? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

htsr4:
You can feed any raw meats. Its best to feed as many as possible but I think you need at least 3 different meats. You also need to feed heart, liver and other secreting organs. They can eat bones and they need to with raw. I feed chicken, game hen and some smaller turkey bones. Though you shouldnt feed bones by themselves. They need to have meat on them. 
A guideline is 75% muscle meat (including heart), 15% bone, 5% liver and 5% other secreting organs.

Here is a kibble chart
http://moredooks.herobo.com/search.php?chart=ferret
Chose at least 2 different kibble because ferrets are picky. That way if they change the formula or for whatever reason you can no longer get a kibble there is another the ferret will eat.

Canned cat food is another option. Its better than kibble but not as good as raw.

For any food you just pretty much give them as much as they want. With kibble they need to always have food available. I forgot why. With raw and I think canned they don't always need food. 

I use hardwood stove pellets for litter.

Critter Crazy:
Litter you can use any pelleted wood stuff or cat based litters. No clay or any fine clumping stuff, they wipe their bums & it tangles in their fur, which is gross for them & you, plus painful when you have to remove the lumps.

Raw food they need 3 different meat sources (chicken, beef, lamb for example). Heart needs to be in their diet, or brain, as both are high in taurine but not all ferrets will eat brain (so I've found). 5% isn't what I was told, I was always told 10%, but anything between those will be fine.

Bone, muscle meats (which is heart), plus organs (liver is a must in the diet, but kidney, spleen, lungs, brain are others). You can feed chicken, duck, goose, turkey, game fowl, lamb, beef, pork, rabbit, goat, rats, mice, deer, kangaroo... the list goes on. Basically anything from another animal will work, though bones are best kept to the smaller side of things. Feed them as much as they'll eat in an hour or two, but you can leave large chunks in the cage for a while without worrying about making them sick. You can also give them oily fish, crab, lobster & prawns/shrimp. My own get a dish of sardines once a fortnight, though it can make them really stinky for a day or two. Raw they eat less, as they receive all the nutrients quickly.

Kibble isn't good because they eat more of it so they can acquire all the nutrients out of it, as their digestive system is only short so they can't break down all the grains & stuff in it effectively (hence why herbivores have long guts), it also ruins their teeth, gives them pancreas problems, some kibbles have preservatives that are linked to cancer, plus it makes them really, really, really smelly.
Canned is bad & they need bones or something to clean their systems out from it anyways. Also about the same stuff as kibble.

htsr4:

--- Quote from: Critter Crazy on December 09, 2011, 05:39:55 AM --- 5% isn't what I was told, I was always told 10%, but anything between those will be fine.

--- End quote ---

Do you mean 10% liver and 10% other excreting organs or 10% total organs?


Canned is a better because it has water and because it has less carbs than kibble. Carbs and lack of water are what causes many problems in ferrets.

Critter Crazy:
10% liver & 10% other organs, though I've also read 15%, so I guess I've gone with the middle ground.

Canned is better than kibble, yes, but it can still cause the same range of problems. You can get canned foods which are nothing but meat, but not all places have this & even canned can have the same amount of carbs, which are not particularly good for a ferrets system. In saying that, people still feed kibble or canned  so it's entirely up to the individual & what they wish to feed, though raw is best it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

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