>Hey, I was wondering about the frozen rodents.  How do you feed them to
>ferrets?  I am still trying to get my ferrets to eat pieces of chicken.
>I am very skittish around dead rodents, animals in general, is it
>disgusting to watch the ferret eat it?  Do the mice come alive or dead?
>And are they really the best and easiest to eat?  Is it messy?  Do you
>think all ferrets like mice?  Where would one put the mouse for the
>ferret to eat?
 
hi Krista,
 
All the mice, chicks, etc. come dead, and sometimes frozen.
 
I was a bit iffy about feeding prey at first too, but it does get easier!
 
Knowing that my ferrets have better nutrition and dental health more than
makes up for any "grossness" factor :)
 
My boys have the house to roam, so I just put a plate on the floor with
the meal of the moment.  I also have a few plastic crates (with holes
cut in the side) for them to hoard food into.  I find it is easy to clean
out the plastic crates, and they prefer hoarding the food into the dark
"caves" than anywhere else.
 
There are people that feed prey who cage their ferrets, in which case
they just put the food into their cage 1/2/several times a day.
 
It isn't really messy; my lot sometimes eat in the middle of the floor,
and it doesn't leave any residue.
 
I think once you get a ferret to eat meat, the next step (meat -> prey)
is even easier :)
 
Email me if you have any other questions, and good luck!
 
shona
[Posted in FML issue 4726]