Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello every one, i'm so glad to be joining the ferret forum and i hope i will be able to help others who may post questions. i'm 18 and have two ferrets around 6 months old. i will post pictures as soon as i can. my boy is a panda and his name is simon (hes such a sweet heart) and my girl is a DEW with dark grey on her back, her name is Bo (not so sweet but shes nicer to me than other people)

my favorite book of all time has got to be ferrets for dummies, if people who have ferrets dont have it they are missing out!!! it has every thing you would ever need to know about ferrets and much much much more.

i was reading about ferret diets the other day in my book and i did not know this but ferrets can be fed an all natural diet. over in europe thats what they feed their ferrets and they rarely get diseases. it just seems so strange to me that we have special ferret foods yet many diseases are actually common to them (such as adrenal disease) and many people believe it is caused by poor diet.

so the only thing that made sence to me was to put my ferrets on a natural diet too. this consists of meats such as hamburger, turkey, chicken, pork even fish as well as whole prey items like mice (live or dead) i read to switch them over you mix canned cat and dog foods into their kibble and then introduce meats and such. so far my ferrets are just geting use to the canned food, they dont seem to like it so much but i bet they'll like the meat. im wondering if they'll even know what to do with the mice when they see them, go put them in a hidey hole or gobble them up.

sorry for the 1 mile long post, i was just wondering if any one knew more about natural diets for ferrets because i still have questions about it. hope to be chating back with you soon.

I've heard about the fresh meat diet, but I don't use it as you've mentioned. Just like dogs and cats, ferrets here are given processed food. I don't believe the majority of health problems with ferrets have come from the food. I believe the majority of the problems are due to breeding...JMHO. Some, just like in cats and dogs, are due to the foods we feed our pets. All the sugars, the salts and things they just don't normally eat. A special treat once in awhile ok, but so many people give these treats to their pets every day...especially the ones that have a lot of sugar.
Dog food, whether canned or dry, isn't good for ferrets. It doesn't contain the protein and fat they need. The dried cat or ferret food is better. I give both of mine a 'duck soup' made with plenty of chicken as one of their treats. This I give every day, twice a day to my Daffy who has insulinoma. I do give some boiled hamburger and turkey, not seasoned, when I make it for myself.
Another thing, ferrets in pet stores are neutered/spayed and a very young age. From what I've heard from people in England and Europe, they have that done at a later age. That to me is also important. I would love to get a kit from a good breeder, but there are so many ferrets from 'mass breeding' places in shelters that I adopt those instead of getting a kit from a breeder.
These are things I've read up on over the years and formed my opinions on. Feeding your ferrets cooked, fresh meats is good, but because so many people get their ferrets from pets stores, and they get them from 'mass breeders', you will most likely still have health problems. Just like certain breeds of dogs and cats have their health problems.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

thanks for the reply. i definetly agree that alot of heath issues can come from breeders and all that other stuff. by the way i didn't mean i only feed them cat food, they only get a little bit of it mixed in with their ferret food. the idea is to get them to eat something with higher protein. the book also sais to try wet dog food and even meat baby food. even when feeding them meat it recomends still giving ferret food, especialy the hard kibble so that it keeps their teeth clean. do you (or any one else reading this) know any thing about feeding them mice? if i am to feed them mice i just want to know how many your supose to feed them.

It is a good idea though to give your ferrets a variety of foods when they're young. If not, they get used to a certain food and won't eat anything else. My guys are 5 years old and will only eat Marshall food, which isn't the best food out there.
As to the natural diet--someone posted something further down that made real sense to me. A "natural" diet for ferrets isn't just butchered meat. It's whole carcasses, such as baby chicks. The innards, beaks, feet, etc., have nutritional values the meat does not.

thats basicaly what i meant from the book, the natural diet is the whole prey food-mice and chics and things. but it says to also give them meats and ferret food.

Quite often, listed on pet food ingredients, is chicken by-products. That's the other parts like beaks, feet, etc.
As for feeding them mice, I don't know of anyone who does that. Just a word of caution here, I wouldn't give them these because they could get damage to their bowels/stomach from trying to eat bones. I don't know if they even try to eat them, but those bones could splinter and cause problems if swallowed.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

I've heard about the mice, actually. Some animal nutritionist or something guy wrote an article on it around here once. He swears that the live food has amazing nutritional benefits as well as psychological benefits when you give them live mice.
Here's what I wanna know though
Who really wants to clean up THAT kind of mess later!??! Good GRIEF! Talk about blood blood everywhere!

Ferrets are designed to eat whole prey, it won't hurt them. Just make sure that your prey animals come from a reputable dealer/breeder and are disease free. I don't suggest letting them eat wild mice because you never know what they might have or what kind of chemicals they may have recently ingested. I have a friend that breeds her own mice for her ferrets. I'd be afraid of getting attached to the mice.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

Do it matter if the mice are live or prekilled before feeding to ferrets? i also have a small kingsnake that feed off fuzzy mice, but i use prekilled most of the time since it is easier to keep on hand.
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Rose

Nutrionally, not that I'm aware. Live prey will give your ferrets more mental stimulation though.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

for some reason i didn't see your post i love my pets, live or dead does not matter with ferrets. they are able to catch and kill them without geting bit. some people think feeding live will make them mean but thats totally not true, they are just like cats, cats can be very loving to their owners but kill tons of animals at night and still be just as sweet. as for snakes, it is best to pre kill their food because a mouse can jump on the snake and bite it before the snake bites the mouse. i plan to feed mostly frozen thawd prey but may once in a while give a live treat.

I've wanted to let my guys have a go at a live feeder mouse for a while now--I know they'd love it, but I can't get my wife to go for it. She's afraid of the mess and the Ick factor. My boys are 5 and have never seen a mouse since leaving the pet store. I'm not sure they'd know what to do with one.

jeffferret- i have a pretty srong feeling your ferrets would atleast kill the mouse, its in their blood. ferrets kill rodents and small animals out of instinct, they'll also kill just about ANY thing else. if you were worried about a mess this is what i think i'm going to do..take the stuff out of their cage i dont want geting bloody or gutty like their towels and beds and stuff and maybe even put newspaper down. or just put them in a big tupper wear containor, not sure what other people do especialy because live mice can obviously run away. if i were i would do it no matter who didn't like it.

What size mice to you think would be a good size to use? From what i can see you are talking about mice that can move own its own. A larger one, smaller one, or does it matter much?
Thanks
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Rose

I don't know that it would make much difference but when I did it I used young mice.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

i would imagine people who feed their ferrets mice give them adult mice. pinkies are almost nothing but fat and probably wouldn't be too good to only give the ferret. the adult mouse has all the best stuff and it would probably be the apropriate sized meal for an adult ferret.

The bathtub is a good place to feed live prey. Escape is nearly impossible and it's easy to clean.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

Actually, European ferrets are starting to be diagnosed with more cases of adrenal/insulinoma than in the past. Part of this may be due to them being viewed more as pets than as working animals and thus getting better vet care. Part of it may also be due to them being viewed as pets and being kept indoors more now. Historically, European ferrets have been housed outdoors in natural lighting.

What causes adrenal and/or insulinoma in ferrets is a huge debate. Some say breeding, others diet, lighting, or early altering. It's most likely a combination of factors esp. in relation to adrenal. Insulinoma, I think, is more heavily influenced by diet but I also think genetics play a large role.

The more natural diet you can get your ferret to eat the better. Ferrets need whole carcasses though and getting them to eat that can be difficult. I have several who will kill live prey but none that will then eat it. I've only had a few over the years that would eat meat that hadn't been pureed into soup first. I do make them a soup/gravy that is primarily chicken and I add a good vitamin to that. How well this works against them getting adrenal or insulinoma I have no idea. The vast majority of my ferrets have been older rescues. I do know that it works very well with maintaining insulinomic ferrets.

I believe there are some natural diet yahoo groups. You might look into joining one of those. Someone there probably has some good ideas on how to convince your ferret that whole carcasses really are food. Personally, I'm afraid my stashers will have body parts all over my house. LOL
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

wow lots of good replys, thanks every body. i have no problem with feeding live or dead mice, i have kept snakes and carnivorous lizards for many many years now. i have never gotten attached to a mouse or rat unless it was labled as a pet in the pet store and i have had pet rats. most of my animals eat forzen thawed prey which is best because freezing kills off parasites which i'm hoping i would be able to get the ferrets eating if they will eat mice at all. i would also look for chics and i know there are wesbites i can buy them from. i'v had my ferrets for 5 months and every time i buy them food i buy something different and they always eat it so i'm pretty sure i have gotten them use to having to eat new things. they are starting to eat the cat food fine, i think the problem was it was totally different from ferret kibble so it may have confused them.

i have heard about ferrets being put on a natural diet after they became diseased with adrenal disease and insi

wow lots of good replys, thanks every body. i have no problem with feeding live or dead mice, i have kept snakes and carnivorous lizards for many many years now. i have never gotten attached to a mouse or rat unless it was labled as a pet in the pet store and i have had pet rats. most of my animals eat forzen thawed prey which is best because freezing kills off parasites which i'm hoping i would be able to get the ferrets eating if they will eat mice at all. i would also look for chics and i know there are wesbites i can buy them from. i'v had my ferrets for 5 months and every time i buy them food i buy something different and they always eat it so i'm pretty sure i have gotten them use to having to eat new things. they are starting to eat the cat food fine, i think the problem was it was totally different from ferret kibble so it may have confused them.

i have heard about ferrets being put on a natural diet after they became diseased with adrenal disease and insulinoma and they did not worsen. i also have read lighting for ferrets is very important. they suposedly should have about 14 hours of no light. my ferrets are in the corner of the room and even when the lights are on its pretty dark there and when i leave, most lights go out and there cage isn't pitch black dark but it is dark. i know i cant do every thing they tell me that may keep diseases and things away but i try.

i'm definetly going to look into those yahoo groups, i really never thought about that but thanks very much for that suggestion. if i find any secrets i'll let you all know. thanks abunch.

You should check out www.wysong.net. They carry canned meats like rabbit, venison, etc. It might help you to transition your ferrets from kibble to whole prey.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

I know the larger farmer's markets and the ethnic markets in our area sell baby chicks. You might want on where you are.