Ideally, your ferret should eat a balanced meal containing 7-9 different pieces of bone every day. The bones, heart, and organs in particular, are essential parts of the diet. The raw food diet for ferrets should not be so high in bone that your pet will experience constipation or unpleasant stool. Meals should also be balanced for better digestion. Organ meats are also a good choice for your ferret’s diet.
Contents
7-9 bone in meals
If you’re feeding your ferret raw meat and bones, you can make the transition to boneless chicken relatively simple. These meats have fewer bones than raw beef or chicken, so they are easier to digest. If you’re unsure whether your ferret will accept boneless chicken, grind some up and add it to his meals. Small pieces of chicken will work just as well, as will bones that are less than an inch long.
Organ meats
Ferrets are natural hunters. To keep them entertained and stimulated, you should provide them with a secluded hiding spot where they can hide their food. Not only will this keep them entertained, but it will also stimulate their brain and development. A raw food diet should consist of a variety of different meats. Organ meats, such as heart and gizzards from poultry and beef, should be fed between ten to twenty-five percent of the ferret’s diet.
Heart
The heart of a raw food diet for ferrets is whole prey, such as mice, rabbit, chicks, guinea pigs, and quail. This diet offers several benefits, including a high nutritional value. Ferret poop can be bone-in or muscle meat, dry, chalky, or unformed. Ferrets become food-imprinted by nine months. Some ferrets are more easily accustomed to eating a certain type of food than others.
Organs
While liver is the most common meat to be fed to your ferret, other muscle organs can be equally useful to your pet. Heart is the easiest “muscular organ” to feed your ferret and should constitute about 10% of his total diet. If your ferret is prone to black or tarry stools, you can cut back on organs and only give him muscle meat.
Organ soups
While liver is the most important organ meat, do not feed it as its sole meal. It might cause runny stools, so introduce it in small amounts. Fish is not a good option for ferrets, but you can introduce it slowly. You can also provide Omega 3 supplements to your ferret. When you first start with organ meats, your ferret will likely be interested in eating chunks of heart and other organ meat.
Treats
Ideally, your ferret should not receive more than 10% of its daily caloric intake from treats, which should contain meat and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables should not exceed a teaspoon of carbohydrates per day. Raw egg, chicken and liver are excellent treats for your ferret, which can be cooked or softened in hot water. Avoid hard vegetables and ferretone, a carcinogenic substance, or insulinoma bomb.
Timing of feeding
The most important factor to consider when feeding a raw food diet for your ferret is its size and how much it weighs. Usually, small bones from bigger animals, such as pork riblets or button bones, make up the majority of a ferret’s diet. Check the poops of your ferret to determine how much bone is in the food. This is important because most of your ferret’s diet consists of bone attached to muscle meat. The more bone your ferret consumes, the healthier its teeth will be and the more calcium it needs to remain healthy.
