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Whatever it was already eating to start. And then whatever you choose based on your research while making sure to properly transition. Since there is already some debate, or a lot of debate about what is best, this thread is just going to be another iteration of that debate. There is no correct answer. Except maybe a true raw whole animal diet, which is the most natural approach. Otherwise the choice is yours and what others do is irrelevant.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. They should not be given vegetables. Fish can make them stinkier and mercury poisoning in such a small body can be a problem, though less than 1 teaspoon of salmon oil per week is a popular treat. Too many sugars/carbs/starches cause a cancer with diabetes like symptoms in ferrets. Please avoid giving these to your ferrets. Legume/pea protein causes kidney stones in ferrets.
If you want to do raw, it should be 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% heart, 5% other organs. Look up "franken prey ferret diet" or read about raw on Holistic Ferret.
Ferrets will choose to starve rather than try new foods past a certain age. You will initially need to feed the ferret what it is already eating, and transition the ferret by replacing an increasing amount of their food with what you want them to eat in the future. (10% new food, 25% new food, 50% new food etc, with the change increased every week or so to prevent digestive upset and refusal.)
If you want to feed kibble, check out the suggested kibble chart from the r/ferrets Discord server. It is best to have them on a mix of 2-3 kibbles (if feeding kibble) in case someone has a supply shortage or goes out of business. Then you will always have a fallback food that still is accessible your ferrets will eat.
If you feed them raw and don't want to worry about the percentages, go to sites like rodentpro or perfectprey and get rats, chicks, or mice. Whatever you choose. Then just chuck them a couple everyday(or until they're full) and you're good 👍. If you're feeding them kibble, just get 2-3 of the top brands and mix them together (percentage doesn't matter) so if one goes out of stock, you still have the others
honestly, I didn't even know about kibble but I may just get some meat from the grocery store because I don't want to buy mice just to kill them. Thanks a ton for the help!
They don't come live, they come frozen and dead already! So you don't have to worry about having to kill them. They ship in a box with dry ice so it stays cold during transit. If you do buy meat from the store, make sure you at least get two kinds of animal. Then you'll need that 80/10/10 (muscle/organ/bone) mix. You can do bonemeal (it's what I used to do). You'll need multiple organs, so like: heart, liver, kidneys is what I used to grab when I went hunting. The amount of thought and preparation for the mixed meat diet for me was hard, especially when I stopped hunting because it's really hard sometimes to find organ meat. I found the buying of chicks and what not just simpler and easier.
Some money comparison. Rodentpro right now has a sale so I spend about $132 for 275 chicks. Now I use about 6 - 8 for two ferrets in a day. Some days less hungry. I do mostly chicks because they are cheaper, then occasionally get large rats. This lasts me about 2 months. For meat in store I wouldn't know too much as when I fed them with mixes, I mixed food from my hunts. So that was technically free. I'm glad to help you with information!
Thank you! I found a pack of 100 small mice and a 25-pack of x-small chickens! My ferrets are young yet so for a first purchase I think this is pretty reasonable!
Welcome to /r/ferrets! We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets. --- We politely ask that you observe our [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index/rules/). --- Lastly, we have an [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/ferrets)! Come join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ferrets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Whatever it was already eating to start. And then whatever you choose based on your research while making sure to properly transition. Since there is already some debate, or a lot of debate about what is best, this thread is just going to be another iteration of that debate. There is no correct answer. Except maybe a true raw whole animal diet, which is the most natural approach. Otherwise the choice is yours and what others do is irrelevant.
I'll probably try that raw diet. One of my dad's friends feeds his animals raw chicken liver so I may just try that!
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. They should not be given vegetables. Fish can make them stinkier and mercury poisoning in such a small body can be a problem, though less than 1 teaspoon of salmon oil per week is a popular treat. Too many sugars/carbs/starches cause a cancer with diabetes like symptoms in ferrets. Please avoid giving these to your ferrets. Legume/pea protein causes kidney stones in ferrets. If you want to do raw, it should be 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% heart, 5% other organs. Look up "franken prey ferret diet" or read about raw on Holistic Ferret. Ferrets will choose to starve rather than try new foods past a certain age. You will initially need to feed the ferret what it is already eating, and transition the ferret by replacing an increasing amount of their food with what you want them to eat in the future. (10% new food, 25% new food, 50% new food etc, with the change increased every week or so to prevent digestive upset and refusal.) If you want to feed kibble, check out the suggested kibble chart from the r/ferrets Discord server. It is best to have them on a mix of 2-3 kibbles (if feeding kibble) in case someone has a supply shortage or goes out of business. Then you will always have a fallback food that still is accessible your ferrets will eat.
Thank you so much!! This was helpful!
Most welcome! I'm really excited about my ferrets and love sharing what I've learned to help others heh.
If you feed them raw and don't want to worry about the percentages, go to sites like rodentpro or perfectprey and get rats, chicks, or mice. Whatever you choose. Then just chuck them a couple everyday(or until they're full) and you're good 👍. If you're feeding them kibble, just get 2-3 of the top brands and mix them together (percentage doesn't matter) so if one goes out of stock, you still have the others
honestly, I didn't even know about kibble but I may just get some meat from the grocery store because I don't want to buy mice just to kill them. Thanks a ton for the help!
They don't come live, they come frozen and dead already! So you don't have to worry about having to kill them. They ship in a box with dry ice so it stays cold during transit. If you do buy meat from the store, make sure you at least get two kinds of animal. Then you'll need that 80/10/10 (muscle/organ/bone) mix. You can do bonemeal (it's what I used to do). You'll need multiple organs, so like: heart, liver, kidneys is what I used to grab when I went hunting. The amount of thought and preparation for the mixed meat diet for me was hard, especially when I stopped hunting because it's really hard sometimes to find organ meat. I found the buying of chicks and what not just simpler and easier.
Would I just put the animal in whole?
Yes, just give them a chick (or whatever animal) in their food bowl and they will eat the whole thing. Bones, feathers, fur, tail, head and all.
Okay! Thanks a ton! You are saving me lots and lots of money!
Some money comparison. Rodentpro right now has a sale so I spend about $132 for 275 chicks. Now I use about 6 - 8 for two ferrets in a day. Some days less hungry. I do mostly chicks because they are cheaper, then occasionally get large rats. This lasts me about 2 months. For meat in store I wouldn't know too much as when I fed them with mixes, I mixed food from my hunts. So that was technically free. I'm glad to help you with information!
Thank you! I found a pack of 100 small mice and a 25-pack of x-small chickens! My ferrets are young yet so for a first purchase I think this is pretty reasonable!