Ferrets, with their playful antics and curious nature, make delightful companions. Ensuring their health and well-being hinges significantly on providing them with a proper diet. This article serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the nutritional needs of ferrets, covering everything from commercial kibble to raw feeding options.
Understanding the Ferret's Nutritional Needs
Ferrets are obligate carnivores, meaning their bodies are designed to thrive on a diet primarily composed of meat. They require high levels of animal protein and fat to meet their energy needs and maintain optimal health. A ferret's diet should closely mimic what they would eat in the wild: small prey animals.
- High Protein and Fat: Look for ferret kibble with at least 35% protein and 20% fat.
- Avoidance of Certain Foods: Cereals, grains, sugars, fruits, and vegetables are difficult for ferrets to digest and can even cause bowel obstructions.
- Water is Essential: High-protein diets require more water for processing, so ensure fresh, clean water is always available.
Commercial Kibble: A Convenient Option
Most ferret owners opt for commercial kibble as the foundation of their ferret's diet due to its convenience. When selecting a kibble, careful attention must be paid to the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so the first ingredient should always be a meat or poultry source. Fish and fishmeal are acceptable but can result in a strong odor in the food and stool.
Reading the Label: What to Look For
- Meat as the Primary Ingredient: The first ingredient should be a named meat source (e.g., chicken, turkey, lamb) or meat meal (e.g., chicken meal, turkey meal).
- Limited Carbohydrates: While most kibble contains some carbohydrates as a binding agent, the amount should be minimal.
- Avoidance of Harmful Ingredients: Be wary of ingredients like peas, which have been linked to bladder stones in ferrets. Also, avoid kibbles with high fruit, vegetable, and/or grain content.
The Importance of Mixing Kibble
To provide variety and protect against potential manufacturing issues or recalls, it's recommended to mix two or more different kibble brands. Introduce new foods gradually to prevent digestive upset. Start by adding a small amount (e.g., 1/2 cup per 4 cups of existing food) and increase the proportion over 1-2 weeks.
Ferret Food Chart
A ferret food chart can be a useful tool for evaluating the nutritional quality of different kibble brands. These charts typically assign scores based on protein and fat content, as well as the quality of ingredients.For example, the FerretEdu food chart is derived from the MoreDooks chart scoring system. Each percentage of protein and fat in the food earns 0.51 points. The first 6 ingredients are rated on a weighted scale: +6 for the first ingredient, +5 for the second, +4 for the third, +3 for the fourth, +2 for the fifth, +1 for the sixth.
Read also: Premium Ferret Food Analysis
Named meats and meat meals, named animal fats or oils (chicken, turkey meal, chicken fat, etc) get +3 for the first ingredient, +2.5 for the second, +2 for the third, +1.5 for the fourth, +1 for the fifth, +0.5 for the sixth. Unnamed meats, meat meals, fat, or oils (poultry meal, poultry fat, etc) get 0 points awarded. Named by-products (chicken by-product meal) get -3 for the first ingredient, -2.5 for the second, -2 for the third, -1.5 for the fourth, -1 for the fifth, -0.5 for the sixth. ALL vegetables, fruits, and grains (corn, wheat, peas, oatmeal, beet pulp, etc) get -4.5 for the first ingredient, -3.75 for the second, -3 for the third, -2.25 for the fourth, -1.5 for the fifth, -0.75 for the sixth. Sweeteners (raisin juice, molasses) get -12 for the first ingredient, -10 for the second, -8 for the third, -6 for the fourth, -4 for the fifth, -2 for the sixth.
Examples of Kibble Mixes
One example of a kibble mix is: 4lb per kibble. Marshall Select, Zupreem, Mazuri, Oxbow, InTune, Totally Ferret Turkey Venison Lamb, Wysong Epigen 90, (cat kibble) Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit, Nature's Variety Instinct Duck, Dr Tim's Chase (from Chewy).
Raw Feeding: A Natural Approach
Many ferret owners are drawn to raw feeding as a way to provide their pets with a more natural diet. Raw feeding involves feeding ferrets uncooked meat, bones, and organs, mimicking the diet of their wild ancestors.
Types of Raw Food
- Frozen Raw and Freeze-Dried Raw (FDR): These are considered the healthiest options, offering the benefits of raw food with convenient storage.
- Air-Dried Raw: A healthier alternative to kibble, air-dried raw foods are typically high in protein and fat, with limited ingredients and no fruits or vegetables.
- Canned Foods: High-quality canned foods can be a healthier option than kibble, often containing no grains or starches.
Transitioning to a Raw Diet
Switching a ferret from kibble to a raw diet requires patience and a gradual approach. Ferrets imprint on their food at a young age, so it's essential to introduce new textures and flavors slowly.
- Kibble Soup: Start by creating a "kibble soup" by soaking kibble in warm water and blending it to a soupy consistency. Finger-feed the soup to acclimate the ferret to the new texture.
- Introducing Raw Soup: Gradually replace the kibble soup with a raw soup made from blended meat, organs, and bone.
- Adding Chunks: Once the ferret is consistently eating the raw soup, start incorporating small slivers of meat, gradually increasing the size of the chunks over time.
- Introducing Bone: Once the ferret is eating chunks of meat, introduce ground bone, such as chicken necks, into the diet.
Important Considerations for Raw Feeding
- Balance: A properly balanced raw diet is crucial to avoid nutritional deficiencies or excesses.
- Variety: Offer a variety of protein sources, including muscle meat, organs, and bone.
- Taurine: Ensure the diet includes adequate taurine, an essential amino acid for ferrets. Heart is an excellent source of taurine.
- Calcium: As you decrease the soup you will also need to start adding in calcium (bone).
- Fat: Ferrets derive energy from fat. Make sure to pick fattier cuts over leaner cuts when buying meat.
Sample Raw Diet Composition
- 80% Muscle Meat: Any boneless meat that has not been processed (smoked, pickled, cured, preserved, injected with saline). While heart is a muscle, we include it in its own separate category because it is ABSOLUTELY necessary for adequate taurine.
- 10% Edible Bone: Meat with bone included. It is NOT bones with just a bit of meat on them.
- 10% Organs: (half of this should be liver, and half should consist of other organs such as kidney, thymus, pancreas, reproductive organs, brain, basically any part of the body that secretes.
Switching Methods
Something to remember: Your ferret has NO IDEA that raw meat is food. A ferret imprinted on kibble has to LEARN that raw is not only edible, but delicious as well. This takes time, patience, and above all persistence!PLEASE NOTE: Ferrets should not be transitioned while pregnant or nursing without guidance by an experienced mentor and supplementation. Adult ferrets, target at 10% body weight at 2 meals a day. Start by finger feeding the kibble soup to your ferret to adjust them to the new texture. First it is important to remove your ferret’s kibble a few hours before offering the raw soup. It is best to remove the kibble about 3-4 hours ahead of time. NOTE: If your ferret has insulinoma, please watch them carefully for signs of hypoglycemia and remove kibble at about 2-3 hours (instead of 3-4). If your ferret has shown ANY signs of illness or odd behavior, they should be seen by a vet. If your ferret has been on kibble for 2 or more years, or has an unknown history (e.g. If after an hour trial of soup feeding your insulinomic ferret has not eaten a substantial meal of raw, give them their kibble back (and make sure they eat some!) to avoid sending them into a life-threatening crash. Dangle your ferret and look at their sides - their sides should be roughly parallel. Bulging sides means they are overweight (OR can be a sign of organ enlargement requiring a vet visit). Hourglass sides indicate that your ferret is underweight. If you think your ferret is too skinny, we suggest that you attempt hand feeding the raw soup to ensure your ferret is eating enough.
Read also: Comprehensive Ferret Diet
Adding New Proteins
Try mixing in a couple of very small chunks of the new meat into the chopped chicken (or other meat they are already familiar with) and coat in a light layer of soup or oil. Make a dish of the new meat, and use Soup made of chicken (or other familiar meat) to coat the new meat - think of the soup as being a “gravy” to coat the new meat in to hide the flavor.
Adding Bones
Using the scissors/shears or knife, cut the necks into small chunks, about the size of the meat chunks your ferret will eat or smaller and give them a smash with the mallet, turning the bones into a pulp. You may want to hand feed a small piece of the bony pulp so that your ferret can taste it.
Considerations for Variety and Food Quantity
Your ferret should regularly receive a bare minimum of 4 proteins. However, the more variety you can offer the better! Even mixing in new meats on occasion is better than never. A minimum of 4 proteins should be fed year-round (for example, pork, chicken, and beef); one of these should ideally be a red meat (beef, goat, lamb, venison).
Ferrets typically eat significantly more during the fall/winter, and less in the spring/summer. Males typically eat more than females. Raw fed ferrets very rarely over-eat; they are great at self-regulating. Unless you have a ferret who is overweight, they should be offered as much food as they will eat.
50/25/25 Mix
Many find the 1.5 meals of heart and 1.5 meals of organ (1/2 liver, 1/2 other organs) confusing. To simplify things, you can instead make a single heart and organ mix. To do this, blend 2lb heart, 1lb liver, and 1lb other organs.
Read also: Choosing the Right Ferret Food
Treats: Moderation is Key
Treats should be given in moderation and should be appropriate for a carnivore. The more meat, the better. Avoid treats containing sugars or peas.
Additional Tips
- **Food should be switched out about every 12 hours. This means 2 meals a day: the am meal given at “breakfast” and kept available in their cage all day, and the pm meal is given at “dinner” and available all night.
- Monitor Stool Consistency: Dry, chalky, and firm stools indicate too much bone in the diet, while loose, unformed stools suggest a need for more bone.
- Consult with a Veterinarian: If you have any concerns about your ferret's diet or health, consult with a veterinarian experienced in ferret care.
- **A note on Pork: Please note that pork ribs are NOT edible for most ferrets.