Ferret and meat!

Question
Hi,
I recently adopted a ferret from my local ferret society. Her name is Peppi. She is a beautiful female black eyed white, who is around 2-3 years old. She doesn't bite, she is litter trained and is so much fun to be around..but for some reason she wont eat meat on her own. She will eat small portions out of my fingers, but even after a few nibbles she doesn't even want to know about what's for dinner. I want to include meat in her diet so what should i do?
I was also wondering if you could list some alternative treats that can be found around the home?
Kind regards,
Sophie and Peppi!

Answer
Hi Sophie and Peppi!

Congratulations on your new little one! What a lucky little girl she is!

Ferrets "imprint" on their food very early in life, so if your ferret was not exposed to meat very young, she probably doesn't realize that it's meant to eat.  I have one ferret who gags when I offer him meat! LOL  

Even tho neither of my 'kids' will eat meat (neither cooked nor raw after multiple tries), I feed them a premium quality ferret food (actually a mixture of 3 or more at any time).  Totally Ferret, Marshalls, Zupreem, Path Valley Foods, 8 in 1 ULTIMATE (ONLY their ULTIMATE is adequate; the other stuff they put out isn't very good). NEVER feed Kaytee Fiesta, as it contains dried fruits, which commonly cause intestinal blockages.

Here is a link so you can compare the various ferret foods. My 'rule of thumb' is that four of the first five ingredients on the list of ingredients MUST be meat and/or meat byproducts of some kind.  You can find a list here:

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html  

Some great treats for ferrets are: Cheweasels, Foamy Fries (by the same folks who make Cheweasels), Ferretlax or any cat laxative, as they should have this at least once or twice a week anyway; and Ferretone.   Ferrets don't really *need* treats - that's something that people think as a 'treat', but ferrets aren't big on them. If they don't get any, they don't miss them. I try to give only things that are good for them when I do give them treats. Totally Ferret also makes a ferret treat that my kids love....but that's the only kibbled type treat that I purchase. I more commonly give them Ferretone (liquid) or Ferretlax.  If your kids are eating a good, premium quality food, they really don't *need* any other supplements to their diet.

Hope that helps answer your question, Sophie.  It sounds like you are going to be a great ferret mom.  You can get information galore about ferrets here:

http://www.ferretcentral.org   and click on "FAQ's", then scroll down to whatever topic you are interested in - be sure to be thorough in your ferretproofing and supervising play so Peppi doesn't get ahold of any shoe insoles, etc - foam or rubber of any kind can be deadly to Peppi!  The more you read about ferrets and what is safe for them, what is dangerous, etc - the more likely Peppi will live a long and happy life.

There is also a great book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kium Schiilling that is excellent for new and old ferret owners alike.  You can get it really reasonably at http://www.half.com .

Best of luck and don't ever hesitate to come back if I can be of help to you and Peppi!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers