# Can ferrets eat fish????



## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

am now feeding my ferrets the barf diet thanks to meny people advice on here,they get fed alahp ferret or docter johns merlin or well beloved they can be quite fussy on there dry so we like to change it for them every once in a while the meat side of things they get,rabbit g pigs deer heart pheasant duck bones.but i was wondering can they eat fish?? i just want to give them someting they have never had before and i just want to know people advice before giving my babys fish thank you very much for reading


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## angoraferret (Jan 18, 2009)

Mine get sprats once a week they love them, they are full of natural oils. Bit stinky though!!!

The Barf diet is solely meat with no kibble. We are trying the Food 4 Cats website and are waiting on an order their minced rabbit is an excellent price.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Yep, cod, sprats, plaice and pilchards are good for them once every couple of weeks or so, but only feed along side a proper BARF diet (the correct balance of Meat, Bone and Organ with no kibble). I recommend only feeding it in the Winter or late night in the Summer and scooping their litter trays or poop corner ASAP (as in...hours) after feeding it.


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

angoraferret said:


> Mine get sprats once a week they love them, they are full of natural oils. Bit stinky though!!!
> 
> The Barf diet is solely meat with no kibble. We are trying the Food 4 Cats website and are waiting on an order their minced rabbit is an excellent price.


 
i might have to look that up and i might buy some sparts today!!! i know the barf diet is meat only but mine do enjoy the kibble as well and thank you and hows the angoras?? i cant wait to get my baby angora from you


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey. Id really like to lean more about the barf diet? When you say the correct balance of Meat, Bone and Organ with no kibble how do you work this out? As in what meat do you use and how much do you give and such?

As you may have seen on my other thread im doing some pretty intensive research into ferret nutrition at the moment and would really appreciate any veiws you may have on meat based diets compared to kibble diets.
I do have ferrets of my own and must admit they are fed only on kibble and ocasional meat possibly once or twice a week... this is puerly because i feel i dont know enough about a meat based diet..how to prepare it where to get it from etc..also the dis-advantages compared to the advantages..Suerly meat based diet would be better for them?

Is it possible to have a half half diet?
Again any advice would be great as even though I am reading books etc I seem to have gatherd the vast and somewhat best of my information from peoples opinions, views and their knowledge.


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## Shadowz (Aug 6, 2008)

yes its perfectly fine to do half and half.
my ferrets and all the rescues we take in have a mix of kibble available 24/7 ( vitalin , jwb , alpha , science selective and burgess ) 
Every evening they have raw meat ( mince , rabbit , pheasant , chicken , chicken livers , steak , pork , ox tail ect ect ) 
They also have warm cat milk ( or lactofree milk ) every evening. 
A lot of people feed half and half - i personally dont want to feed a 100% raw diet as I find it a struggle in summer feeding meat in the day time due to it going off and flies setting in ( which is why i feed at meat at night when cooler )

Mine hate fish by the way LOL wont touch the stuff


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## Someboy (Mar 31, 2008)

Hi, 

Not wanting to hijack this thread. :whistling2:

Do any of you feed your ferrets dead rats, mice or guinea Pigs like the one's people would feed to their snakes?

Also could someone provide a plan of a barf diet i.e. 50/50 dry and meat they feed to their ferts i.e. weekly menu plan including meat and quanitity.

Thanks

:2thumb::2thumb::2thumb:


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

does the fish have to be cooked or can it be raw??? and do i have to take the bones out??? mine like how am doing it know for today ive picked up for them some rib eye steak it was on offer in asda and thought the ferrets will love that the hubby threw a fit and said why does he not get rib eye steak and i said sorry my babys need it more then you :whistling2:


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

Someboy said:


> Hi,
> 
> Not wanting to hijack this thread. :whistling2:
> 
> ...


 
mine wont touch dead rats or mice but for a treat for them i do order them in g pigs but they only get them once a month as quite pricey i feed mine dry all day so they can graze on it throught the night then they get 2 rabbits a week and i swap aroun like pheasant one week the next deer then the next week duck so on and they do seem to enjoy this diet


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## angoraferret (Jan 18, 2009)

Laura-jayne - ferrets are obligate carnivores so a meat diet is way better for them, however summer months can be a problem with meat spoiling so is not ideal to leave in all day. The best diet for them is whole prey rabbits, game birds and carcass is what they would eat in the wild. Some try to subsitute that with wings and liver, heart etc once a week. Imo whole prey is better i was looking on honeybrook farm and they sell unskinned whole rabbit which is fab to know, but Food 4 Cats also sell whole diced rabbit in small portions.
My ferrets thrive on rabbit and pheasant when i can get hold of eat they rarely touch the kibble at all when they are on that.
Ferrets fed solely on kibble tend to drink a lot more, as any animal fed on dry does, this can lead to kidney problems later on.

Ciara - the aggies are doing great, i will giv Chanel and Yinthe a sloppy kiss from you, raw fish would be the best i use sprats cos morrisions do a huge bag for very little cash and the kitties love to pinch a few and mash them into the carpet too. Sods!!!


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

laura-jayne said:


> When you say the correct balance of Meat, Bone and Organ with no kibble how do you work this out?
> *The general ratio is 80% Meat, 10% Bone and 10% Organ, but this varies from Ferret to Ferret. If their poop is a little too dry, feed more Organ, if it's too loose (Keep in mind, Ferret poop is supposed to be firm - almost solid, it's generally not 'good' on a kibble diet, and smells much more then on a BARF diet!), feed a little more Bone, if it's firm but moist and doesn't smell excessively, it's fine). You will know when your Ferret is healthy - they will have the bundles of energy they are supposed to have, glossy but not greasy coats (greasy coat usually means too much Organ is being fed), clear shiny eyes, clean ears, their poop will be healthy, their teeth will be sharp whites, their gait will be free and 'wide', the list is endless. *
> 
> As in what meat do you use and how much do you give and such?
> ...





Someboy said:


> Hi,
> 
> Not wanting to hijack this thread. :whistling2:
> 
> ...


Yep, whole prey is always best for them! Ours have everything - Goose, pheasant, Mice, Rats, Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Gerbil, Hamster, you name it! Don't bother with weekly plans as they mess things up and put out restrictions as to what to feed - keep a good variety going, feed roughly 80% Meat, 10% Bone, 10% Organ, you can't really go wrong to be honest! I think way too many people are hesitant to try out BARF diets with Ferrets as they think it will be difficult - but it's mostly down to common sense. 



wolfmagicrattery said:


> does the fish have to be cooked or can it be raw??? and do i have to take the bones out??? mine like how am doing it know for today ive picked up for them some rib eye steak it was on offer in asda and thought the ferrets will love that the hubby threw a fit and said why does he not get rib eye steak and i said sorry my babys need it more then you :whistling2:


Either cooked or raw, personally I don't like feeding bones from big fish (we buy the bags of white fish fillets from iceland) but Pilchards, etc are fine to feed with bones IME providing your Ferrets don't gulp/'inhale' their food.


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

Ciara - the aggies are doing great, i will giv Chanel and Yinthe a sloppy kiss from you, raw fish would be the best i use sprats cos morrisions do a huge bag for very little cash and the kitties love to pinch a few and mash them into the carpet too. Sods!!![/QUOTE]


thank you i cant wait to get my full angora my mum has first dibs on names and she cant wait for the new member of the family lol


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

Either cooked or raw, personally I don't like feeding bones from big fish (we buy the bags of white fish fillets from iceland) but Pilchards, etc are fine to feed with bones IME providing your Ferrets don't gulp/'inhale' their food.[/QUOTE]

thanks only spirit trys to gulp his food down he is a right greedy guts and when i gave him rabbit he ripped the anus of first and tried to go up the body now that was grim and it dont help he is white


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

wolfmagicrattery said:


> thanks only spirit trys to gulp his food down he is a right greedy guts and when i gave him rabbit he ripped the anus of first and tried to go up the body now that was grim and it dont help he is white


Hehe bless him, let him, he just wants the bloody guts (kidneys, heart and lungs) 

If he tries to gulp his food then give him filleted fish mashed up a bit with a bit of water poured over the top. Have to be careful with Ferrets who 'gulp' when feeding fish as it can get stuck in their throat easy compared to other meats, so putting a bit of water over it will mean if he does get it stuck then he'll be able to cough it back up easily.


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

LoveForLizards said:


> Hehe bless him, let him, he just wants the bloody guts (kidneys, heart and lungs)
> 
> If he tries to gulp his food then give him filleted fish mashed up a bit with a bit of water poured over the top. Have to be careful with Ferrets who 'gulp' when feeding fish as it can get stuck in their throat easy compared to other meats, so putting a bit of water over it will mean if he does get it stuck then he'll be able to cough it back up easily.


yes i will have to do that for mr greedy pants he maybe small but he has one big appiete on him when i buy g pigs for them i have to put a extra one in just for him as he hates to share lol all the other boys love to share but not him when it comes down to food the other ferrets can go eles where as they ant stealing his but he loves to share his toys with the gang


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

LoveForLizards said:


> Yep, whole prey is always best for them! Ours have everything - Goose, pheasant, Mice, Rats, Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Gerbil, Hamster, you name it! Don't bother with weekly plans as they mess things up and put out restrictions as to what to feed - keep a good variety going, feed roughly 80% Meat, 10% Bone, 10% Organ, you can't really go wrong to be honest! I think way too many people are hesitant to try out BARF diets with Ferrets as they think it will be difficult - but it's mostly down to common sense.


Where do you get the likes of goose and pheasant from? I would love to try BARF with my guys but it seems like knowing people who hunt is the best way to do it and I don't know any hunters (except ferreters who keep the rabbits for their ferts). Can I literally just walk into my butcher and ask for hearts and bones and things like that? Is the prey food you buy frozen for reptiles (mice, rats etc), good enough quality to feed to ferrets regularly? How much more does it cost to feed than a kibble diet?

I would love to feed this but I need to buy a big freezer first lol.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

wolfmagicrattery said:


> yes i will have to do that for mr greedy pants he maybe small but he has one big appiete on him when i buy g pigs for them i have to put a extra one in just for him as he hates to share lol all the other boys love to share but not him when it comes down to food the other ferrets can go eles where as they ant stealing his but he loves to share his toys with the gang


Just chop off the head and shoulders of the g.pig for him and pass it to him specifically, that will keep him busy for longer and that's generally where most of the nutrition from the animal is (supposedly, not sure on actual evidence to back this up?), so that'll give the others time to get their food whilst he's knawing away at the g.pig head/shoulders, then he can have what's left. 



Rum_Kitty said:


> Where do you get the likes of goose and pheasant from? I would love to try BARF with my guys but it seems like knowing people who hunt is the best way to do it and I don't know any hunters (except ferreters who keep the rabbits for their ferts). Can I literally just walk into my butcher and ask for hearts and bones and things like that? Is the prey food you buy frozen for reptiles (mice, rats etc), good enough quality to feed to ferrets regularly? How much more does it cost to feed than a kibble diet?
> 
> I would love to feed this but I need to buy a big freezer first lol.


My brother does beating for a local shoot so he brings home goose and pheasant every now and again, but we also have people offer it to us quite a lot. Get yourself on some hunting forums! Loads of hunters end up throwing away good Ferret food as their freezers aren't big enough, especially the people who do pest control. Yep, just walk into your butchers and ask if they'll save you back the scrap raw meats and bones. They have to pay to have it taken away and disposed off, so you're actually doing them a favor by having it for Ferret food, as it's free for both of you! Chicken backs, Beef shin bones ('marrow bones'), Chicken/Turkey necks, Beef/Lamb heart, Ox tail, etc are all great for the Ferrets and to butchers, they're just scraps. The reptile/Bird of Prey food from pet shops is fine to use. We pay less for a BARF diet then we did on kibble, keep in mind we payed £1/kg for Ferret food, so roughly £30 per month, now we pay about £23 per month, for 6. Even the branded pet raw foods (such as the pre-packed and free flow mince from berriewoods) is often less then £1/kg, keeping in mind they usually eat less on BARF as well, as it's made up of 100% Meat with no fillers.


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

thanks for all your adivce people it will come in handdy as am still learing about ferrets so all info is welcome


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

Thanks tonnes for the advice Loveforlizards, just need to convince them that raw is tasty for them now lol! I remember you left me a message ages ago about my ferret who was sneezy, I didn't get your PM but she is fine, think she was just having an off couple of days. Have only had ferrets for a year and a half so really still getting used to their fuzzy ways!


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Rum_Kitty said:


> Thanks tonnes for the advice Loveforlizards, just need to convince them that raw is tasty for them now lol! I remember you left me a message ages ago about my ferret who was sneezy, I didn't get your PM but she is fine, think she was just having an off couple of days. Have only had ferrets for a year and a half so really still getting used to their fuzzy ways!


If they've grown up on a kibble diet, using soup for weaning them over to BARF is the easiest way usually.
Glad she's OK now. :flrt:


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## wolfmagicrattery (Mar 16, 2009)

ive been keeping ferrets for 2 years now and am still learing about them and they strange ways :2thumb:


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