Ferrets are becoming more popular as pets every day, and people who have them as pets are discovering things they never knew before about pet ferrets. One question that came up recently was if ferrets can eat cooked bones.
The answer is NO. Ferrets should not eat cooked bones.
Bones that have been boiled can splinter easily and go into the ferret’s digestive system. If this happens, it can cause the ferret to have severe medical problems. The only bones that ferrets can have are raw, uncooked bones.
Ferrets have short but robust digestive systems. It is not a good idea to give them bones that are cooked.
Ferrets are Meat-Eaters
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. That means that they only eat meat. If you want your ferret to eat certain things, then you should not put them with anything that is not meat.
Originally ferrets were wild animals but have been domesticated for thousands of years. In the wild, they eat things like mice, rabbits, and small rodents.
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How to Make Raw Bones Safe for Ferrets
If you buy raw bones, buy bones that are cut. You could also purchase chicken wings or turkey necks. Both are excellent bones to give to your ferret. Just make sure it is raw and not cooked.
Which meats are Good for Ferrets?
Ferrets can eat any source of animal protein that’s in the form of raw meat.
Ferrets can eat raw meat, raw eggs, raw fish, or anything in the wild that is a large enough prey animal.
- beef
- chicken breast
- chicken wings
- turkey
- turkey necks
- ground beef
- eggs (sometimes)
- fish (sometimes)
- game birds
- deer
- lamb
- pigeons
- offal
- Lambs heart
- organs (liver, heart)
- …
Additionally, ferrets do need not only meat but also fat and bones. A good ratio of meat and fat is 32 – 38% protein and 15 – 20% fat.
The Frankenprey Diet
The Frankenprey diet is a diet that tries to resemble a whole prey animal by combining different parts of (other) animals.
This could be chicken wings combined with beef. Or chicken breast and turkey liver.
If you are interested in this kind of natural diet, you can find out more here.
How to make Frankenprey Diet
You can use any combination of meats and organs. Remember that the Frankenprey should have a ratio of 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs.
Whole Prey
If you want to be even more authentic, you could feed mice and chicks to your ferret. Those are available in most pet stores or in stores that sell snakes and other reptiles.
However, most ferrets, for one reason or another, will refuse to eat prey animals. This is because ferrets are imprinted to their food by the age of 6 months. So the chances are that when you are buying your ferret from a larger store such as Petco, that they grew up in a cage with kibble as the only food source.
In that case, you would have to introduce raw meat gradually. Start by mixing some beef with some kibble and adding a bit of water. Work your way up until you can offer fresh raw meat.
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It is not uncommon that retail stores and rescue shelters cannot offer raw meat as a food source.
Kibble offers everything your ferret needs in regards to nutrition. But wouldn’t you love to provide some variety?
What is the Best Food for Ferrets?
One of the most important things you can do as a new ferret owner is to start experimenting with different raw meat sources.
As a beginner, start small with, say, a quarter of a chicken breast and see how your ferret reacts. After seeing how your ferret likes the food, you can slowly increase the amount you give him.
Later on, start adding different meat and organs. Chicken liver is something my ferrets love. Just give it a try.
I recommend that you take some time and check which kind of meat your ferrets like. When I started with raw feeding, I only used chicken breast.
Conclusion
Yes, ferrets can eat raw bones. Please do not feed them cooked bones, as those could splinter easily. Cooked meat and cooked bones should not be provided to ferrets as they are not edible.
The Frankenprey diet is a way to approximate the whole prey system in a recipe. To get the most enjoyment out of the Frankenprey diet, you should stick with meat, bone, and organ parts.
Try to feed them raw meats. It may take some time, but after a while, your ferret will love to eat raw meat.
Last update on 2022-04-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API