If you are squimish, you may wish to skip this post.... Last week, I decided it was time to offer a defrosted small rat to my natural fed ferrets. I did what was suggested and took an Xacto knife and made a small incision in abdomen area of the rat. This allowed the ferrets to better understand that this was food. My Niko ate the whole rat in the "traditional" ferret manner - head to tail. Now let me explain something... If I had known when I got my first ferret that I would be feeding them rats, I'm not sure that I would have considered a ferret as the best pet for me. However, it's too late for that as I am totally hooked on my ferrets and want what I feel is best for them. I am not crazy about the idea that these rats were raised specifically for food, as my son has owned rats and I really loved them. On the other hand, I want my ferrets to have the opportunity of eating whole prey as I feel that it is a natural food source for them. So, there is a dilemma there, but one that I have worked out by feeding frozen animals from a reliable source. Having grown up on a small farm as a child gave me a better sense of the use of animals for food. We raised chickens, an occasional turkey and even a pig (which we kids named White Bottom). As much as we loved animals, it was necessary for my parents to use these animals to feed our family. I can still remember helping my mother dress chickens when it came time to fill the freezer. It was not a pleasant job, but a necessary one. Preparing food for my ferrets reminds me of those days and, because I love my ferrets, I spend a good deal of time in the kitchen now cutting up cornish hens, adding organ meats to the daily selection of pieces and packaging everything for the freezer. Preparing rats is not my favorite task, but watching the enthusiasm of Niko eating his first rat makes it easier for me to offer this perfect food source to him. I only post this so that others will understand that feeding natural (prey included) is a very personal choice and one that comes with some hard decisions on how much and how far you, the ferret owner, wish to go with it. Phyllis [Posted in FML issue 5196]