Ferret Diet Facts You Should Know
Ferrets are becoming more and more popular as a family pet. They are cute little animals that will steal your hear with their playful antics. Their popularity has grown to point that in many areas they are no longer referred to as exotic. If you are thinking about adopting your own ferret they do require a little special attention especially in their diet. Ferrets are carnivores which means they only eat meat. The ferret diet is very important to the health and well being of the little animals and it must be low in fiber and carbohydrates and high in protein. Before the widespread popularity of ferrets the availability of food made exclusively for them was limited and owners had to rely on high quality cat food but today there are ample supplies of good diet food in most pet stores. The correct diet is extremely important to the baby ferret and it will determine if the young ferret will experience a long and happy life and consequently provide its owner with years of happy companionship.
Here are some specific standards to observe when setting up a diet for your ferret: it should have 18-30% fat, less than 7% ash level, 2% fiber and 21 amino acids. Brewer’s yeast and rice flower are good additions to their diet. Ferrets are particular eaters and will literally starve themselves rather that eat poor quality or inappropriate food so it behooves the ferret owner to provide the pet with the best food. This will pay additional benefits because a good diet will produce healthier ferrets that will save on veterinarian and medicine expenses. Another factor that makes the selection of high quality food is that ferrets are skimpy eaters so less food is required than for other type pets.
Ferrets are very active and even though they are awake only four hours per day they should be fed twice each day because they burn up energy fast. The food is available in both dry and damp forms. Damp foods are easy to eat but they are a little more bothersome to work with. Once they are opened and exposed to the air their benefits and freshness rapidly deteriorates within forty five minutes. Dry food in pellets have many advantages. It is easier to handle, dispense and store. Dry food can be left out all day and still retain all its nutritional benefits and it has an additional feature of providing an aid to cleaning the ferret’s teeth. When feeding dry food to the ferret it needs to have water readily available. They prefer water in dishes but water bottles are better from a cleanliness standpoint.
As with humans ferrets will succumb to the desire for snacks especially if the owner allows them to be given to the ferret. The best policy is to forbid any type of snacks for the ferret. Any food or snacks that are not on their strict diet can cause grave health problems for the ferret including diarrhea, insulinoma, hypoglycernia, intestinal blockage, obesity and tooth decay. Snacks will also get the little animal off its regular diet schedule which adds to the problem. The only recommended safe thing to give ferrets as snacks is boiled eggs.
Providing the best food and water is a great way for an owner to show their appreciation for the pet ferret. This will make a big difference in the health and quality of life of the little animal and this in turn will contribute to the ferret providing the owner many years of enjoyment. Let the ferret diet be your first consideration when making the decision to adopt a new ferret into your home.