How to feed a ferret at home: a list of products and how many times a day to give

The ferret is an animal that lives in nature, but sometimes it is kept at home. This is an unusual pet, so you need to know what to feed the ferret, what you can give him and what not. How to make a diet depending on the age and condition of the animal's body, what natural food to feed, what mixtures, vitamins and supplements can be given at home.

What do ferrets eat in the wild?

Animals are active mainly at night, consume almost exclusively animal food. They eat small rodents - voles, shrews, amphibians - lizards, frogs, attack muskrats, moles and hedgehogs.Ferrets destroy bird nests, eat chicks and eggs, can hunt hares, hazel grouse, black grouse and even snakes, and are not afraid of poisonous species.

Ferrets diversify their diet with large insects. If there are villages near the habitat, the animals are not averse to climbing into the poultry house, where they can get poultry.

Feeding frequency

Ferrets are energetic and active, constantly on the move, so it is not surprising that they often chew on something. Food in the body of animals should come fractionally and in a small amount. In this they differ from dogs and cats, which are enough to feed 2-3 times a day. Ferrets need to have free access to food throughout the day.

Animals can go to the feeder 7-10 times a day. Food should be there all the time, you just need to make sure that it is fresh. The same goes for water. It also needs to be changed every day, keep the drinker clean.

Making up a diet at home

Ferrets can be fed natural animal food or ready mixes. In addition to the main food, they can be given vitamin and mineral supplements, treats.

Natural food

Balanced nutrition can be achieved by giving animals different types of meat, poultry, offal, fish, cartilage, animal fat. The recommended foods include eggs, cereals, some vegetables and fruits. From dairy products, only cottage cheese can be given, milk is contraindicated, even for small ferrets. It can cause indigestion.

Dry snacks

Easy and convenient to feed your ferret dry ready-to-eat food. Feed manufacturers already include special formulas for ferrets in their product line.They have well-chosen ingredients, nutrients are in a balanced state. The dry mix feeding option is suitable for beginners who do not yet know how to properly compose a diet for a pet.

If pre-mixed feeding is chosen, it is important to choose premium feed for the animal. Despite the fact that they are more expensive than budget ones, elite feeds are made from good quality meat, dyes and preservatives are added to them in a minimal amount.

Dry food is not only easy to use, long shelf life, does not take up much space, but also useful for ferrets because they can keep their teeth he althy by chewing on hard granules.

Live food

If possible, you can give ferrets mice, small birds, insects, worms. They eat all living food with pleasure. But, of course, this method of feeding is not suitable for every owner, because it is not easy to get live food.

Treats

To please the animal and diversify the diet, you can sometimes give him delicious foods. Ferrets love not only meat, but also the taste of vegetables and fruits. You can give your pet a slice of cucumber, but first you need to peel it. It is believed that the cucumber is useful for the functioning of the kidneys of the animal. The ferret will not refuse sweet pepper, which also needs to be given to him peeled. From fruits and sweet vegetables, you can give a pear, apple, banana, currant, strawberry, melon and watermelon, grape berries without seeds and skins. If fresh grapes are not available, washed and soaked raisins can be substituted, but only a limited amount of dried fruit is available to ferrets.

From animal food, chicken stomachs, low-fat cottage cheese, eggs, especially quail eggs, are considered a delicacy for a ferret. Eggs can be boiled and raw. Feeding frequency - no more than 1 time per week. Animals love to crunch on corn flakes. There is no particular benefit in them, but they will not bring harm either.

Vitamins & Supplements

Special pastes are produced for ferrets, they can also be classified as treats, but, first of all, these are supplements containing vitamins. Pastes have an attractive sweetish taste and supply the animals with a daily dose of vitamins. They make the animal's coat smooth and shiny, have a positive effect on the mood.

In addition to pastes, the pet is fed feed supplements with vitamins A, D, E, K and group B. Deficiency of these substances negatively affects the physical he alth of the animal. Vitamin supplements should not be included in the diet if the ferret consumes dry complete food. They already have all the necessary vitamins, the addition of substances in excess of the norm will only harm the pet.

Recipes for minced meat

Ferrets are carnivores, they need animal proteins and vitamins. This need is dictated by the peculiarities of the structure of the gastrointestinal tract and metabolism. The most useful for these animals will be raw, thermally unprocessed food. It is recommended to feed domestic ferrets with minced meat, offal and vegetable ingredients.

Composition of the mixture:

• minced meat, pieces of meat or fish, offal, passed through a meat grinder;
• fat animal;
• warm porridge from any cereal;
• shredded vegetables.

You can add cottage cheese to minced meat, 0.5 tsp each. fish oil or vegetable oil every other day, a couple of times a week - an egg, a quarter tsp. bone meal. Cooking features: rinse fresh meat, dry, remove large bones from fish. Remove the skin from the chicken. Grind everything in a meat grinder, add vegetables, cottage cheese and other ingredients to the mass, mix until smooth.

Ready minced meat can be packed in bags and stored in the refrigerator. Give your pet warm. On the day, a male can eat 200-300 g in 2 doses, a female - 100-200 g.

Drinking mode

Water should be poured into the drinker constantly so that the animal can drink whenever it wants. This is important not only with dry feeding, but also if the pet eats wet food. Pour warm water, not cold.

Peculiarities of feeding in different periods

You need to pay attention to the age and physiological state of the body of the animal. Feeding is slightly different depending on the age of the animal. There are features of feeding pregnant females and molting animals.

Growth period

Until 3-4 weeks of life, babies eat milk and do not consume other food. Then their teeth begin to grow, the ferrets can already chew solid food. Small ones can be given liquid minced meat, to which foods with calcium and phosphorus must be added for normal bone growth. At this time, you need to accustom them to water.

Shedding season

Hori moult in spring and autumn for 1-2 weeks. At this time, their coat quickly changes. Shedding pets are fed with B vitamins, sulfur-containing foods, and brewer's yeast. While molting lasts, ferrets are often licked, wool can enter the digestive tract. To prevent lumps from remaining in the digestive tract, pets are given special pastes that remove hair. You can buy them in veterinary shops.

Pregnancy period

Females bearing offspring should receive not only more food, but also additional vitamins, calcium and phosphorus. With natural feeding, the female must be given cottage cheese, fish oil, meat and bone meal. If the female eats dry food, you need to choose food for pregnant animals. It is also necessary to feed intensively the nursing female while she feeds the milk of the cubs.

What should not be given to ferrets?

Some owners may think that cat and dog food is fine for a ferret, but this is a misconception. They are different animals and need to be fed differently. If you feed ferrets with dry granules, then only those intended for them. In any case, the pet should not be fed fried, smoked, fatty, sweet, pickled, sour and s alty foods, spiced food. Confectionery, white bread will not suit the animal, you can only give small pieces of crackers.

You can not feed foods that have a lot of flavors, dyes, preservatives and other synthetic substances, milk, unpeeled potatoes, especially green ones, citrus fruits, spicy vegetables - garlic, radishes, onions. Do not include mushrooms and nuts in the diet, prepared food not intended for animals of this species, food from the table.

Feeding junk food will lead to digestive disorders, metabolism, can cause diseases, obesity, allergies. It is necessary to pay attention to the quality of meat and, especially, fish. Some foods may be contaminated with parasite eggs; You can avoid helminthiases if you give the animal well-cooked food.

If you decide to get a ferret, feed it properly. Even domestic ferrets are in many ways wild animals and have not yet adapted to eating food that is different from what they are used to. For the most part, their diet should consist of meat products, either raw or cooked. But you need to add vegetable for the intake of fiber and vitamins into the pet's body.Their share should be small, you can not make plant foods the basis of the diet.

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