Home  |  Pets Other Pets  | 

How to Care for Your Ferret

Ferret Care - Proper Diet

To properly view this site, javascript must be enabled and Flash version 9 or higher must be installed.
Get the latest Flash player
Robin Hochgertel
Ferrets First
www.ferretsfirst.org  
703-849-8911

FerretsFirst is a no-kill shelter and rescue dedicated to ferrets. Our goal is to provide homeless ferrets with a warm, loving environment and medical care while nurturing their individual needs and personality until a permanent home can be found. Older and sick ferrets often find their permanent home right here. FerretsFirst provides education and counseling to promote a greater understanding of the needs of these deserving animals. For a nominal charge, boarding services are available.

We recognize that every ferret has a unique personality which is taken into consideration when matching ferrets with potential parents. What every ferret does have in common is that they are playful, they are dependent on their owners for care and attention and they have feelings. Ferrets also become dependent on other ferrets if they are raised together. We call these 'bonded' ferrets. If you are thinking about adopting a ferret or ferrets make sure you have the time, the love and the resources to provide adequate medical care. Adopting a ferret should be a commitment for the life of the ferret.

FerretsFirst is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donations to FerretsFirst are tax deductible.

Ferret Care - Proper Diet

In this video series, Robin Hochgertel of Ferrets First, shows you how to take care of your ferret. She explains what ferrets are, what they should eat and demonstrates basic grooming techniques.

This series: 23,145 views

Download to Mobile Device
Tags:

Ferret

,

Ferrets

,

Animal

,

Pet

,

Mustilide

,

Carnivore

,

Burrow

,

Burrowing

,

Food

,

Feeding

,

Hoarders

,

Odor

,

Control

,

Musk

,

Litter

,

Hygiene

,

Treats

,

Hairballs

,

Training

,

Play

,

Toys

,

Cage

,

Housing

,

Pen

,

Water

,

Bottle

,

Bedding

,

Outdoors

,

Safety

,

Illness

,

Disease

,

Sickness

Comments:

0 (Read Comments) (Add Comment)

Print

Transcripts

Robin Hochgertel: Hi! I am Robin from FerretsFirst Rescue. We are here to teach you how to care of your ferrets. So lets get started with the food.

First of all, ferrets are obligate carnivorous. That means they should only have meat and meat products, no carbohydrates, no vegetables, no fruits. You try and avoid any foods that have grains in it. So what you are looking for in a food is a food that's high in protein, anywhere from 36%-40%+, high in fat 22% and very low in carbohydrates. Try to avoid the grains, try to avoid the sugars. Several of them have no grain in them. That's just the best thing for them because they can't process it. Whatever carbohydrates they take in, they just eliminate it without using it. So the better the food you feed your ferret, the less they are going to eat and the less they are going excrete and the more they are going to utilize. A lot of us are now feeding our ferrets, cat food because cats are also obligate carnivorous. They have come out with some very-very high nutritious, high protein, high fat foods for cats. They are very good for ferrets. When it comes to giving ferrets treats, there is an awful lot of treats out there in the market, a lot of which are not good for the ferrets.

The ones that are good for the ferrets are the treats that are made out of chicken cartilage and then formed into little sticks. There are also treats that are made out of sweet protein. Then it is a protein that they can digest. They don't get a whole lot of nutritional value from it, but chewing on these silly sticks helps clean their teeth and they are digestible for them.

Last but not least, it's not the best treat in the world but it's one of the better treats and those are bandits. They come in a variety of flavors. They do have a little bit of sugar in them, but not really that much. One important thing is to always make sure that your ferret has food available for it and it should always have water available 24 hours a day. Now that we have talked about ferret diet, next we are going to talk about ferret hygiene.

Other Videos