Q: "I don't recognize [my ferret] as "starving, living in a marginal
environment, bone starved" so I wonder if he just eats [entire bones]
because the prey is small and the bones less hard to crush then it would
be in case of a larger prey animal."
 
A: It sounds as if the bones are contained within the carcasses of small
prey animals.  Ferrets have the ability to consume almost any bone within
a rabbit-sized animal or smaller, especially if the bones are contained
within muscle tissue.  As the ferret uses their carnassials to cut, say
a limb, the teeth are cushioned (and protected) from the bone by a layer
of tissue.  My comments referred to larger bones, or those not covered
by tissue.  For example, if you boil chicken, the muscle is generally
stripped from the bone while boiling, or when serving.
 
My point is that if the bone is HARD to chew, then ferrets will NOT
purposely hurt themselves in an effort to consume it.  In wild animals,
especially those living in a marginal environment, or starving, there is
enough incentive to try (better to hurt a tooth than starve).  However,
well fed ferrets do not have such incentives, and if the bone is hard,
or enough of them are available to satisfy gnawing desires, then the
bones are quickly abandoned for something easier to process.
 
Q: "Is it ok to give my ferret fresh raw chicken wings?"
 
Yes.  Some people are paranoid about bacteria, so you can either lightly
boil the chicken for 5 minutes or so (drop the chicken into the water
once it is boiling), or you can dip the chicken in either 3% peroxide or
Clorox bleach diluted 1:49 for a couple of minutes.  If you choose the
later, make sure to rinse the chicken in running water for 5 minutes to
insure the elimination of all reactive chemicals.  If the weak bleach
solution worries you, you can effectively AND safely neutralize it with a
cup of vinegar before you rinse with tap water.  Just make sure to rinse
in well in running water.
 
Q: "Are chicken necks safe to feed my ferret?"
 
Yes.  The bones in chicken necks are mostly of the trabecular type,
meaning they do not form the types of splinters that bother the
worry-warts.  Most vets worried about bones have few objectsions to
feeding chicken necks.  The vertebrae are full of bone grease, meaning
they contain a LOT of trace nutrients, making them very good food.
 
Q: "Is it ok to give a whole mouse to my ferrets?"
 
Sure.  I personally dislike killing mice, so I buy them from a reptile
supply center, where they were humanely euthanized, then frozen.  I buy
the more expensive adult mice that were on a high-quality diet.  My
ferrets eat about six mice a week each.  They love them, and eat them
hair, hide and toenails=85maybe not all the tail.  I am convinced the
fur, non-digested connective tissue, and bits of undigested skeleton
scrubs the gastrointestinal tract clean.  In any case, my ferrets do not
have hairball problems, and gastrointestinal aliments are very minor.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4166]