BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Exotic Pets Only Kibble diet?

I have 3 ferrets, all grown up now, my son breed his one time thats what started me off, he gave me my first ferret as a 5wk old baby, that baby is now nearly 2yrs old, Ber I called him, they eat CAT FOOD, like Whiskas a good quality brand name they love it, should they only be eating kibble, and not cat food, my son fed his on it, that's why I do, should they not be having this, what other food should they be on then? When I bring them into the house they get a treat of ham or whatever meats we have in fridge. I found that a kitten kibble had best ingredients for them. Anyone help? Thank you

Use dry ferret kibble get the best or use a meat diet, ground up chicken or turkey. Do not use cat food it has only 30-33% protein, it�s full of corn and other plant matter that a ferret cannot digest. They also need healthy fat, vitamin E, Taurine, amino acids and a variety of other required nutrients. I highly suggest supplementing their diet with Ferretone 8-1 or an equal vitamin like Marshalls. The ferret has a very short digestive system that does not have a caecum. They cannot digest corn and other plant foods. They are a obligate carnivore meaning they have NO choice but to eat meat. They need a very high meat protein diet ( 38% meat protein), with fat (at least 18-20%).They metabolize their food very quickly, and can quickly starve. In fact, on a cat food diet even if they appear to be eating plenty they are still starving. They are not getting the protein, healthy fat , or nutrients they need. Totally Ferret, Marshalls, ZuPreem Premium Ferret Diet, and Mazuri are all good choices.

Years ago before Iams changed their formula, it was possible to feed a ferret Iams kitten food. Kitten food had more protein than food for an adult. Now that Iams has changed owners and formulas it is no longer used for ferrets.

Whiskas : "Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with BHA/BHT), Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Flour, Rice, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Turkey By-product Meal, Caramel Color, Calcium Carbonate, dl-Methionine, Taurine, Trace Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), White Fish Meal, Vitamins (dl-Alpha Tocopherol)" - There is next to nothing for ferrets in a Whiskas diet.

how do I get that Marshalls diet for them then Diana my son told me to feed them cat food (tins) that is what they eat since born, then it was mixed with soaked kibble. I would love to fee them their proper diet though, I do buy the kibble from Jollys Pet Store it is especially for Ferrets. but they cannot live on this kibble alone or can they? thank you

Welcome back. I am glad they are off the Whiskas

They should be on a high quality diet specifically formulated for ferrets. Cat food does not have a high percentage of protein and quality fat that a ferret needs. Marshalls is just one of the high quality ferret foods on the market. The ferret�s digestive system does not include the caecum which is needed to digest food from plants; an example is corn. They are meat eaters and do not have the ability to digest grains, vegetables or fruit. If the kibble that you are buying from Jollys Pet Store is made for ferrets, just using dry kibble is fine. You should also use a vitamin oil especially made for ferrets. Don't put the oil in their food dish. It will spoil too quickly. Just put a little in a special separate dish or let them lick it off a spoon. Make sure the ferret food has a high percentage of protein from a meat source.

Ferrets should always have food available they have fast metabolism and can starve after a few hours.

Within this article there is a ferret food comparison chart Pet Ferrets

If you change their diet do it slowly. Adding a bit of the new food at a time until you have changed over. They have a sensitive digestive system.

I do have a new book in EBook form that should help you alot. Ferrets: A Complete Guide

I have put them back onto a meat diet, along with their kibble, it is James Wellbeloved kibble. I think that stands up along with Marshalls, perhaps just below their grade. Diana, I cannot find were the food comparsion chart is in the article, but I do have the ebook downloaded. I recently had much trouble trying to introduce two baby hobs, though fairly big in size into my litter of 3 older ferrets, what a delima that caused. I had to return the one hob my son gave me, and try just adding the the other one, I had to keep them both in a seperate cage until they had grown until a fair enough size. I was having trouble with just one gill, my wee Rosie was the culprit, she is so loving and friendly towards me I could hardly believe she was so very aggresive toward the two hobs. She really wanted to kill them, doing crock rolls etc, I had to then put Rosie in solitary, into their cage and leave them with the other two older ferrets who were fine with them. They do all have so different natures indeed. After keeping her away for a week, I brought her in again, I sat with them and just kept taking her off them when she attacked and shouting no right into her face, after 3/4's of an hour she settled down and began ignoring them, phew, was I glad too that that technic worked as I didnt know how to get her to accept them at all. Just writing this Diana case it might help someone else in the same situation, I'd love to hear more stories about similar things that happen to other ferret owners.....PLEASE!!!!

It is wonderful when people share their experiences. It really does help others. We all have a lot we can learn from each other. There are a couple of other editors here at BellaOnline that have ferrets too.