Ferret Food and Diet

Ferrets are quite amusing mammals when it comes to food and diet. (and believe me!) If you ask five separate parents you will receive five very different answers on how to fuel your ferret. The most crucial part is just reacting, if your baby is constantly getting ill from a particular diet, obviously it's time to change.

Ferrets are by definition obligate carnivores, with the key word being "carnivore", this means that their diet should be primarily composed of meat. Along with the fact that ferrets don't digest plant matter well anyway, they thrive on

high protein (30 - 50%) (and must come from meat products, not plants)
high fat (20 - 30%)
low fiber
and low carbohydrate diets.>
They have a quick metabolism which keeps them very healthy and slender. Because of this, they eat very often ( every 3-5 hours) which means that as an owner you should always have proper foods ready and stocked up.

In the past you had to feed your ferret a cat, or mink diet along with some raw meats and other items. While this wasn't miserable, it was wasn't perfect and led companies to start making ferret food exclusively. You can pick up ferret food at any pet shop or even some internet websites.

A common theme that i have noticed in my own personal experience is that fish is a bad idea. While some similar animals (cats, minks, fox's) can thrive on fish, ferrets don't seem to digest it quite the same and it can lead to malnutrition. Try and stick to other raw meats like chicken, turkey, and some beef.

Just as a final few notes, make sure to always have an abundance of fresh water readily available for your ferret. Treats should be given very sparingly to make sure you pet is healthy, and make sure if you give a protein based snack, it should be from a meat product.