Feeding ferrets properly has become relatively easy now that more and more commercial ferret food is available. Why was it so difficult in the past? For starters, ignorance was a huge problem. Lots of people fed their fuzzies bread and milk…I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a polecat buy bread and milk (maybe we don’t frequent the same grocery store). Secondly, fuzzies are built to digest meat, nothing else. Click here if you’re wondering what do ferrets eat.
Let’s take a look at all the things you can feed your fuzzy. And what NOT to feed him.
Commercial Ferret Food
This is what I feed my fuzzbutts. Chances are, depending on where you live, you still have to go to a pet store or online shop to buy commercial ferret food. But hey, that’s a small price to pay to give your fuzzbutt healthy kibble, which is easy for you to handle and store as well. Go to the Best Ferret Food page to see what’s available in stores.
Premium Cat Food
If you prefer to give kibble but can’t get your hands on real ferret kibble, high quality kitten food is a good alternative. Try to stay away from kibble containing fish. It makes their poo stink tremendously (don’t say I didn’t warn you). The cat food should contain a minimum of 32% meat based protein and 18% fat and a maximum 3% fiber. Only feed your ferrets food for kittens, not adult cats.
Meat
Your fuzzy is a carnivore, through and through. So feeding ferrets fresh meat is a good choice. Provided you add minerals and vitamins to it. You can get the meat where you buy your own meat, or find a pet store that sells fresh meat.
Prey Animals
If you don’t want to worry about vitamin and mineral supplements, you can give your fuzzy a complete prey animal. Good options are; rabbit, chicken (including day-old chicks), rodents (like baby mice/rats). Personally, I think this is probably the best, most natural option. So why don’t I feed my fuzzbutts prey animals? Because I can’t. Seriously, I just don’t have the heart to buy dead little chicks (that still look like little chicks) and feed them to my fuzzies. My brain says yes, everything else screams NOOOOOOOOO. I am considering switching from kibble to the next best thing to prey animals, namely…
Frozen Raw Food
There are several varieties in this. But what I’m talking about is the kind where they put a whole prey animal through a grinder to produce patties (just so the food wouldn’t remind me of an animal…). Read more about the pros and cons of frozen raw food diet here.
Ferret Treats
Ferret treats are important. First of all, your fuzzy will love them. Secondly, my fuzzies want to interrupt here to say no more reasons are necessary…. Anyhooooo, treats help you bond with your fuzzy. You can give a treat when your fuzzbutt is being a good little boy or girl. Or for training purposes (works especially well with housetraining). Read all about ferret treats here, how much you should give, what to give, when to give treats,..
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