Herps as feeders

[Jay_Bunny]

Also I find that it is very funny that that webpage says the average life span of a ferret is 7 years. Average means there are a few below that line and a few above it. That number is incredibly sad. A healthy ferret can expect to live over 10 years, possibly even to 14 or 15.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Be careful. Anoles (that are very common in my area) often have lots of parasites and nasty stuff in them. If I sent my boys out in the back yard, it would take them 30 minutes to catch 20.

However, I would never feed them to my snakes or anything else because of the parasites.

If you check out the kingsnake link mentioned earlier in this thread you will see this disclosure:

Animals offered for sale have not been quarantined or treated for parasites. They are otherwise all in apparent good health. I strongly recommend that all animals (captive born and wild caught) be quarantined, checked by a vet, and treated accordingly. For more information please go to my web site.

[kitsunex]

I'm curious to know if the diet you are planning for your ferrets will have any effect on their lifespans. I used to have ferrets, and they all lived very short lives (all fed expensive ferret kibble). They all seemed to develop some disease or another (I had them vaccinated, etc., and very well taken care of. But all my care was according to what I was told by vets & other 'experts'). Keep us posted.

yeah i mentioned this in another thread. The reason they have short spans and got diseases (my guess is that yours got Adrenal first right?) is because you fed the expensive ferret kibble. it has too many carbs in it. Ideally a ferret should be fed whole prey as they are obligate carnivores and plant matter is only doing them harm. most people i know that feed whole prey, mostly feed chickens and whole rabbits. there are various sites online where you can buy the whole prey frozen.

the one problem is that ferrets are picky eaters, if they've grown up eating kibble, its really really tough to get them to switch to a whole prey diet, they don't see it as food any longer. you have to basically starve them and force them to eat it.

[Jay_Bunny]

My four eat raw meat like crazy. They love it. Three out of four will eat whole prey willingly and two out of four will actively hunt their own whole prey. Its a work in progress.

[dracovolans]

What is the best way to introduce a ferret that has been eating kibbles forever to a raw meat diet and later to whole prey?

Is there is any technique to do that?

[kitsunex]

What is the best way to introduce a ferret that has been eating kibbles forever to a raw meat diet and later to whole prey?

Is there is any technique to do that?

it can be very difficult. The best method i've heard is to take away all their kibble and let them go 6 hours or so without food. then offer them raw. you will have to start with boneless meat because they aren't going to have the jaw strength to saw through bone and such quite yet. They will probably turn their noses up to it at first and not see it as food, but if they get hungry enough they will try it.

essentially you have to somewhat starve them and force them to try the raw meat. but don't go too long either.

[dracovolans]

it can be very difficult. The best method i've heard is to take away all their kibble and let them go 6 hours or so without food. then offer them raw. you will have to start with boneless meat because they aren't going to have the jaw strength to saw through bone and such quite yet. They will probably turn their noses up to it at first and not see it as food, but if they get hungry enough they will try it.

essentially you have to somewhat starve them and force them to try the raw meat. but don't go too long either.

What about to mix it with the kibbles? I would like to try it but I'll be more confident if some one explain a few techniques!!

[Jay_Bunny]

One way we got Twitch, our oldest girl, to start eating meat was to withhold food for a few hours till she was really hungry. We then rubbed a piece of kibble with raw chicken and gave her the kibble. She recognized the kibble as food so ate it, but it being rubbed with chicken introduced her to the new flavor. We then tried wrapping a small piece of chicken around the kibble piece and gave it to her. Once she tried that, she was hooked and hated her kibble after that.

Another good method is baby food meats. They don't have to chew it and it introduces them to the new flavors.

If you are serious about switching your ferret to raw, try this forum. They are really great people. I am fuzzymom on the forum.

www.holisticferret.proboards80.com

[kitsunex]

some others i know have had good luck started them out with hamburger. scruff the ferret, and when it opens its mouth to yawn, stick a small piece of burger in there. i did that with mine and he had to chew on it and decided it was really food and i wasn't trying to poison him.