Not only is the popularity of keeping pet ferrets steadily increasing with ferrets seeing strong year and year growth but the popularity of using the frankenprey diet for ferrets is also sky rocketing right now too!
Due to this, in addition to the regular questions that we see people asking about caring for their pet ferret each day, we have seen a huge number of questions about offering your pet ferret a frankenprey diet to live on.
The frankenprey diet is an excellent option for ferrets that closely resembles the natural diet of your pet ferret that they would naturally eat in the wild.
Although a frankenprey diet can be very simple, quick, easy, and cheap to feed your pet ferret, we constantly see people over complicate it for no reason so we wanted to publish this article on using the frankenprey diet for ferrets to try and help our readers.
What Is The Frankenprey Diet For Ferrets?
A frankenprey diet is a term that covers a few different types of diets but in general, it means feeding your pet ferret whole or partial prey animals.
This can include anything from feeding them raw chicken wings to an entire raw rabbit (fur, bones, organs, and all).
In most definitions of the frankenprey diet, people do only use partial prey animals allowing the feeder to hot swap different prey animals in and out as required to meet the need of their pets diet.
The beauty of the frankenprey diet is that it can be incredibly cheap to feed while also being very simple and easy to do while also often being better than many commercial ferret food products on the market.
Is The Frankenprey Diet For Ferrets Safe?
The biggest concern that most people have when hearing about the frankenprey diet is if it is safe for their ferret to consume.
This is a valid concern as feeding your pet ferret whole or partial prey animals does go against everything that we have been taught about handling and preparing meat for human consumption.
The good news though is that the frankenprey diet for ferrets is actually very safe and in many cases, can actually be much safer than feeding your pet ferret a kibble based diet or even a wet food diet.
The reason that the frankenprey diet is so safe for ferrets is that they have a very short and simple digestive system that is designed to digest and break down raw meat very quickly and efficiently.
Although some people have had problems with the frankenprey diet for their ferrets, this is usually due to them over complicating it or using unsuitable foods.
If you do notice any potential health problems with your pet ferret on the frankenprey diet then you should instantly seek assistance from a professional veterinarian.
What Meat Should I Have In My Frankenprey Diet For Ferrets?
Now that we have answered the most frequently asked questions about the frankenprey diet for ferrets, we want to share with you some of our top tips for what meats you should be feeding your pet ferret.
As we briefly mentioned above, one of the benefits of using the frankenprey diet is that it can be very cheap to feed your ferret as you can use meat that would otherwise go to waste.
This means that you can often find very cheap or even free sources of high-quality raw meat to feed your ferret.
We will be taking a look at some of the best options for a ferrets frankenprey diet below.
Edible Bone-In Meat!
Frequency – 7-9 Meals Per Week!
One of the most important things to remember when creating a frankenprey diet for your ferret is that they need to consume a lot of edible bone in meat products to mimic their natural diet.
This means that you should be looking for sources of raw meat that have bones in them that are small enough for your ferret to eat without any problems.
Due to your pet ferret being an obligate carnivore, edible bone-in meat food styles should be the primary food source but the actual animal the meat is from can vary as much as you like.
Here are some of the better meat types that you are able to use as your edible bone in meat sources for your ferrets frankenprey diet:-
- Chicken
- Quail
- Rabbit
- Turkey
- Duck
- Frog
You can also use a cornish game hen one per week as a treat too but most people stick to the core options above.
Depending on your local area, you may be able to get alternative small birds cheaper and easier than some of the birds listed above such as pheasant, partridge or ptarmigan but most small birds are also fine.
That actual cuts of meat that you should be going with for a frankenprey diet for ferrets are:-
- Wings
- Legs
- Thighs
- Necks (Turkey/Duck)
- Ribs
Muscle Meat!
Frequency – 2-4 Meals Per Week!
As well as needing to consume a lot of edible bone-in meat, your ferret will also need to consume some muscle meat to get all of the nutrients that they require from their diet.
The good news is that almost any source of raw muscle meat that you can think of will be fine for this really opening up the animal you can use helping you go with whatever is cheapest.
Be sure to avoid processed muscle meats though. Anything that has been smoked, pickled, cured, preserved or injected with saline is not suitable for the frankenprey diet.
In addition to the same animals covered in our bone in meat section above, you can also add muscle meats from the following animals to your ferrets diet:-
- Lamb
- Goat
- Beef
- Venison
- Elk
Please note that for the most part, the gizzard of the animal is considered a muscle meat rather than an organ.
Heart Meat!
Frequency – 1-2 Meals Per Week!
We class heart meat as its own stand alone meat source in your ferrets frankenprey diet due to it being the best source of taurine in your pet ferrets diet and it being essential for at least one meal per week.
Most people will try to use heart meat twice per week though just to make sure that their pet ferret is getting all of the taurine it requires.
All of the animals listed in our previous section excluding rabbit are excellent sources of heart meat for your pet ferrets diet. Rabbit heart tends to be low in nutritional content and lacks taurine defeating the purpose of including heart meat in your ferrets diet.
Rather than having a set number of meals in their ferrets frankenprey diet each week, some people will add a small amount of hear meat to each of their ferrets meals. Both methods can work but we will be sticking with the set number of meals method for this article.
Organ Meat!
Frequency – 1-2 Meals Per Week!
Organ meat is another important part of your ferrets frankenprey diet and you should be looking to include it in at least one meal per week but again, most people will look to use it twice per week.
There are a lot of different options when it comes to organ meats and almost any animal you can think of will have some form of organ meat that you can use in your ferrets diet.
Some of the best sources of organ meats for your ferrets frankenprey diet are:-
- Liver
- Kidney
- Spleen
- Brain
- Pancreas
Liver is definitely the best source of organ meat for ferrets and some people will not use any of the other organ options in their ferrets frankenprey diet due to how food liver is.
If you do use a range of organs then at least half of all organ meals should be liver to maximise the benefits of liver in your ferrets diet.
Beef liver is considered the best option by far but it is usually very expensive so the other sources of liver from the animals mentioned earlier in our article will often be used to keep costs low.
Example Frankenprey Diet For Ferrets!
Macronutrient Requirements Of Your Ferrets Frankenprey Diet!
Ferrets are obligate carnivores meaning that they require a diet that is almost entirely made up of animal tissue to meet their nutritional requirements.
The primary macronutrients that your ferret requires are fat and protein with minimal to no carbohydrates at all.
Thankfully, the frankenprey diet for ferrets naturally meets these macronuteitns when following our breakdown above so there is usually no need to worry about potential problems with the macronutrient content.
Try to make sure that at least half of the bone-in meat options are the fatty cuts of meat such as thighs or legs to ensure that your ferret is getting enough fat in their diet as well as protein but other than that, the frankenprey diet is good to go.
Eggs In The Frankenprey Diet!
Eggs are a great source of nutrients for your ferret and can be used as either a muscle meat or an organ meat depending on how you prepare them but many people leave eggs out of the frankenprey diet diet with only a small number of people including them.
Another way that ou can use eggs in the frankenprey diet is as a weekly treat meal on top of their normal food intake as most ferrets love eggs.
Fasting On The Frankenprey Diet!
Some people will fast their pet ferret one day per week but this is not essential if you control the total calory intake in your ferrets diet correctly so there is usually no need to fast a ferret on the frankenprey diet.
If you do plan to use your ferrets for hunting then fasting them the day prior to hunting to increase their prey drive can be a good strategy but for the most part, for a pet ferret, there is no need to fast your pet on the frankenprey diet.
Conclusion
The frankenprey diet for ferrets is a great way to ensure that your pet receives all the nutrients that they need to stay healthy. The diet is made up of a variety of different animal parts, including organ meat, which helps to provide a well-rounded nutritional profile. You should aim to include organ meat in at least one meal per
