How to Feed a White Tiger

The gene that makes some tigers white is recessive and except for that one gene -- white tigers are identical to orange ones. White tigers appear in Indian literature in the 15th Century; but they were never successively bred in captivity until the 1950's. One of these white tigers was given to the National Zoo in 1960 and the first white tiger born in the United States was delivered at the same zoo ten years after that. Nutritional deficiencies were blamed for the difficulty zoo keepers had breeding white tigers at the time. Now tiger experts are inclined to blame those early problems on general inexperience of zookeepers with breeding any large cat in captivity.

Things You'll Need

  • Raw horse meat and beef
  • Pepared big cat diet food in cans or casings
  • Horse and cow bones
  • Stainless steel bowl
  • Multivitamin tablets
  • 500 mg vitamin C tablets
  • 400 IUm vitamin E capsules
  • Chicken fat or chicken backs
  • Feeding log
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Instructions

    • 1

      Feed white tigers five days a week and make them fast two days a week. You can feed your tigers either a prepared "big cat diet" or chunks of raw horse meat and beef supplemented with vitamins.

    • 2

      Feed your white tiger about 3.5 percent of his body weight in raw meat each feeding day. A 350 pound tiger needs, on average, about 12 pounds of meat each time he is fed, although he should be fed more in winter than in summer. Never feed your tiger cooked meat.

    • 3

      Supplement both prepared and meat chunk diets with horse and cow bones twice a week, to help prevent gum disease and tartar build up on your tiger's teeth. Give your tiger bones on the days you do not feed him meat.

    • 4

      Give your tiger his meat in a stainless steel bowl. Aluminum bowls will discolor your tiger's teeth. Remove all unconsumed meat within 24 hours.

    • 5

      Crush two, adult multivitamin tablets and one 500 mg vitamin C tablet and add to every four pounds of meat you feed your tiger. Puncture and drip one 400 IU vitamin E capsule over every four pounds of meat you feed your big cat.

    • 6

      Feed your white tiger chicken fat or chicken backs one day a week as a source of fat-soluble vitamins.

    • 7

      Keep a log of everything you feed your cat, so that if your cat becomes obese or exhibits the symptoms of dietary deficiency, you have a written record to help you discover the mistake.