Ferret Food & Supplements

Food

When choosing a food for your ferret, it can be really confusing. Here’s the major rule to follow: Make sure the first ingredient is an actual meat and not a “meal” such as chicken meal. It should be actual chicken. The thing to avoid is any type of “by-product”. Ferrets require a very high level of protein that a meal or by-product just doesn’t provide. Sot food is also a no-no unless you ferret has a health problem that requires it. Crunchy food helps maintain healthy teeth. We tried several different foods before finding the ones that worked best for our ferrets. The one we liked the least was Marshall’s due to the smell left in the litter box. This seems to be a common problem. Our favorites are 8 in 1 Ultra-Blend Ultimate and ZuPreem. Our ferrets thrived on these foods.
ZuPreem Ferret Diet:	8 in 1 Ultimate:

There are a ton of treats available and most treats are fine in moderation. Our ferrets loved peanut butter and did tricks for raisins. We did buy some prepackaged treats as well from time to time. Here are some of our faves.
Cheweasels: these are fantastic if you have a chewer. They digest easily and satisfy destructive need to chew. Great for kits!	Healthy Chicken Fillets: These are just about the healthiest treats I’ve come across. The protein levels and ingredients are some of the best available.

There are all kinds of nutritional supplements and medicinal products available for your ferret. Here are some of our favorites:
Marshall Ferret Lax: This is a great supplement to use for prevention of hairballs. We use it more often when ferrets are shedding. They have a very short digestive track and a hairball can be fatal if it causes a blockage. This keeps things moving smoothly.	Marshall Furo-Tone & Furo-Vite: Furo-Vite is a high calorie supplement and appetite stimulant. We almost lost a ferret that had not eaten in 12 hours. This product saved his life. The Furo-Tone is fabulous for their skin and fur. It also makes nail trimming much easier!

Nutri-Cal: This is alternative to Furo-Vite as a high calorie appetite stimulant. Ferrets need to eat every 2 hours or so and missing 12 hours of feeding would be like us not eating for days. This is a must to have on hand in case he stops eating or is getting over a recent illness.	Duk Soup: This is a great product for any ferret with loss of appetite or any ferret getting over an illness such as ECE (epizootic catarrhal enteritis) or any illness that has caused diarrhea, which is extremely dangerous for ferrets.