What Is The Best Ferret Diet?
The diet you give your ferret is very important if you want to maintain his healthy, playful nature.
Your ferret’s diet, as recommended by most veterinarians, should have at least 30% protein, 30% fat, and as low as 3% fiber and carbohydrate content. His food must be stored in a dry place to avoid formation of mold that will cause health problems for the little guy.
Another thing you need to remember is that ferrets have a small intestinal tract, which means they can only consume a little amount of food at a time. And because they generally eat in short cycles of 3 to 4 hours, the amount of food they consume needs to be concentrated rather than being plenty in quantity.
As your ferret grows older, around 4 years, you may start giving him adult food, gradually changing from the cat food by mixing both old and new diets. Dog food should be avoided because it lacks some of the content that is required for ferrets. On top of that, ferrets do not really have the ability to digest the high carbohydrate content of the dog food.
Can ferrets go vegan? No, sorry. Ferrets cannot get the nutritional value of plants, so high protein food is best for them to avoid nutritional imbalance.
The cute little animals like to also feed on fish. Cold water fish like salmon are very good for their protein content. Poultry fat is usually a good source of fatty acids required for the ferrets. Grains, sugar and fiber are best avoided in the ferret diet.
Ferrets love water, which is good because water is a very important part of their daily diet. As a matter of fact, ferrets love water so much they actually stop eating if they haven’t had water for 24 hours.
Always make sure your ferret is properly hydrated, as he is very susceptible to Diarrhea. Ferrets drink more from dishes rather than bottles, but then again if there is water kept in the dishes all the time, they are likely to play in it and litter it.
Ferrets may be fed in the form of dry pellets. Moisture in the food causes it to sour in warm conditions after a few hours which might not be healthy for the ferret. Additionally, the moisture content can cause ferrets to develop a plaque on their teeth, so keeping their food dry helps maintain your ferret’s sparkly teeth.
You may use deeper bowls when feeding ferrets as they love digging out their food. If you have more than one ferret, separate bowls should be used rather than overfilling one.
Ferrets love the idea of treats and can be trained using them. Eggs, dried frozen liver, cooked meat are all excellent treats for your ferret. Vegetables, raisins and fruits, on the other hand, should be avoided at all costs.
