# Ferret Food Packaging



## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Im currently doing an assignment on nutrition for small animals.
Im basing my study on ferrets as I have a fair few of them and have easy acsess to them.
I was just wondering if anyone has any ferret foods (dry or moist) bags or packaging that they would either be willing to scan and send to me or send to me in the post. The reason i have none myself if that i buy in bulk and have thrown out the bags and wont be buying more for some time. 
Im going to be looking into each individual ingredient and working out those foods that are good and high in quality and those that arnt and how much the ferret actually gains from dry food compared to meat etc.. Also working out the ratio of how much food should actually be given and how much is advertised on the packaging. Any help would be fantastic. 
Also if theres any nutritionists on here that have something to add it really would be great. 

Thank You in advance to anyone that helps =]


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## Shadowz (Aug 6, 2008)

I will have empty bags of Alpha ferret feast , James wellbeloved and Chudley tonight and happy to send them to you.


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Shadowz said:


> I will have empty bags of Alpha ferret feast , James wellbeloved and Chudley tonight and happy to send them to you.



Thank you =] You are a life saver. Id be happy to share my results on here if anyone was intrested =]


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

Please do post the results I'd be very interested! This site lists the full ingredients of Vitalin: Ferret on Vitalin Complete Pet Food


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Rum_Kitty said:


> Please do post the results I'd be very interested! This site lists the full ingredients of Vitalin: Ferret on Vitalin Complete Pet Food


Thank you for that link =] Just about to print it off and add it to my research portfolio.
Do you buy any chance have a bag with you? As the site dosnt tell me what allowances they say to feed the ferret. Would br great if you could either scan that section of the packaging or just list it on here. The calculations and such apply to pretty much all animals as far as i am aware. This is a ongoing project and will go over about 6 weeks but as i pick things up ill be sure to post them on here for you =]


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

I am picking up a bag tomorrow, I will post on here when I get it. : victory:


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Thank you so much it is greatly appreciated =]


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

laura-jayne said:


> Thank you so much it is greatly appreciated =]


Damn it was out of stock. As far as I remember the advice on the bag was to free feed and that ferrets will eat on average between 40-60 grams a day. Sorry I can't be more precise than that. I have a pets at home bag handy if thats any use to you? Don't normally feed pets at home but I was desperate. The bag does imply that ferrets are rodents which doesn't really fill me with confidence, but here goes:

Adult ferret feeding guide 80g in 2 meals.

Says kits can eat dried from 4 weeks old. Ferrets teeth can grow extremely quickly and can get long and painful...hmm yes so maybe not the best choice of food to be feeding! Ingredients list:

chicken meal (min 37%), wheat, herring meal (min 5%), linseed, poultry fat, soya, maize, soya oil, wheat bran, chicken digest, fructo-oligosaccharides (Profeed min 0.3%).

Typical analysis: Moisture 9%, protein 36%, oils and fats 19%, fibre 4%, ash 7%, vitamin A 20'000iu/kg, Vitamin D3 1500iu/kg, Vitamin E 200mg/kg, copper 14mg/kg.


I am off to apologise to my ferts for feeding them such shit now. Damn pets at home when no other shops are open. :bash:


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## RutlandFerrets_Liz (Jan 25, 2010)

I look forward to seeing the results.

Mine have a constant supply of vitalin and also get meat 2 or 3 times a week.

It is also worth mentioning about the actual grade of meat used....

i.e if the ingredients lists state it is (for example) fresh meat, dehydrated meat, meat meal, or meat & animal derivatives.

fresh meat = exactly that, fresh.
dehydrated meat = meat that has had it's water content taken away so you are actually getting more meat that you would if it was fresh.
meat meal = meat that has been cooked, ground up and then cooked again. (Every time meat is cooked it loses some of it's nutritional value)
meat or animal derivatives = parts of animals that are yak! eg beaks, legs, feet, feathers etc

the first ingredient listed should be the ingredient that there is most of in the food. so for example, if cereals is the first ingredient, then there is more cereals than meat in the food.

I work at as pet care advisor and dog & cat nutritionist, and deal with the analytical side of pet food on a daily basis when advising customers which foods to feed. I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can.


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## laura_aldridge1987 (Dec 6, 2009)

I have a few empty bags of aaall different sorts if you want them! What are you studying for, just out of interest!?


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

laura_aldridge1987 said:


> I have a few empty bags of aaall different sorts if you want them! What are you studying for, just out of interest!?



Im currently doing animal science/studies but hoping to move onto vet nursing ..Thank you for all your advice and offers they are greatly appreciated =] Pets at home dosnt seem to be selling the best quality food but ill be looking into it more this tuesday =]


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

laura-jayne said:


> Im currently doing animal science/studies but hoping to move onto vet nursing ..Thank you for all your advice and offers they are greatly appreciated =] Pets at home dosnt seem to be selling the best quality food but ill be looking into it more this tuesday =]


Pets at Home sells one of the best Ferret foods currently on the market, their own brand.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Rum_Kitty said:


> Damn it was out of stock. As far as I remember the advice on the bag was to free feed and that ferrets will eat on average between 40-60 grams a day. Sorry I can't be more precise than that. I have a pets at home bag handy if thats any use to you? Don't normally feed pets at home but I was desperate. The bag does imply that ferrets are rodents which doesn't really fill me with confidence, but here goes:
> 
> Adult ferret feeding guide 80g in 2 meals.
> 
> ...


Why do you feel Pets at Home is sh*t? It's just about on par with Vitalin. And everything except the Rodent thing, is true. Kits can _start_ eating kibble from 4 weeks, their teeth _have_ to grow quickly, and they _do_ get relatively long and very painful if they bite out of aggression.


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

LoveForLizards said:


> Pets at Home sells one of the best Ferret foods currently on the market, their own brand.



Thank you for this. I hadnt fully looked into it just going on what a lecturer had said..would you say the quality is better than some of the higer more expensive contenders in ferret kibble? x


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

laura-jayne said:


> Thank you for this. I hadnt fully looked into it just going on what a lecturer had said..would you say the quality is better than some of the higer more expensive contenders in ferret kibble? x


Yes, Pets at Home Ferret Nuggets are better then James Wellbeloved, Chudleys and Alpha Ferret Feast. It's also on par with Vitalin. People are quick to put the Pets at Home brand down, and whilst I personally wouldn't want to buy anything from Pets at Home, if it was urgent, I wouldn't be hesitant to grab a bag of Pets at Home Ferret food. I fully understand why people are quick to knock it down but there really is no need. It has a short ingredients list, it is high in real meat products (You will probably know this already but for future reference for others also, "Meat and Animal/Meat Derivatives" should be avoided in the first ingredients, as Derivatives is generally the feet/claws, beaks, teeth, trotters and feathers/fur of an animal and whilst the above are OK to feed, being the first listen ingredient means there is a high percentage thus the protein source is low quality, Ferrets have a hard time digesting protein other then that from proper meat/whole prey and thus Derivative, Prairie Meal [maize/corn starch by-product] and Potato protein shouldn't be accounted for in Ferret foods), has a relatively easily digested grain (Wheat [Whilst Ferret food with no grain would be ideal, it's simply not feasible for this country at the moment unless you go the BARF/Whole prey route]), has perfect Fat/Protein content, has good coat conditioners in it (linseed), low content of Maize (unusual for Ferret food!), uses proper fats (poultry fat), the chicken digest they use is an Enzymatic substance as opposed to chemical. The only thing I can think of that I would 'like' to see changed, is the fructo oligosaccharides, basically it is a pre-biotic which is used as both a preservative and a sweetner, it's not too bad but it has been shown in some studies to encourage the growth of bacteria such as E.Coli. Now as you will know E.coli naturally grows on raw foods, so along with the raw foods Ferrets should be eating along side their kibble it _could possibly_ encourage the growth of E.coli if fed with BARF however providing the Ferret is healthy this should not be of significance, Ferrets have such a short digestive tract that E.coli and other bacterias are rarely (as in, extremely rarely) a problem. And obviously, that would be easily avoided by feeding BARF/RAW and the kibble at different times in the day. 
Hope this helps. : victory:


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## laura-jayne (Feb 15, 2009)

Sorry for the long reply have been a tad bit busy. I picked up a bag of pets at home nuggets today any my lot seem to love it I havnt sat down and properly read the indredients but it seems a fair bit better than some of the contenders in ferret foods.
Also what is your veiw on feeding your ferrets insects? im really sat on the fence and to be honest heavily straying towards a dislike as although they are on kibble now as soon as ive finished my research and stuff im hoping to gradually introduce a barf diet. But my uni has 2 ferrets and they are fed meal worms etc on a ragular basis?
Im looking into ferret nutrition books at the moment aswell so hopefully they will shed some light on a few matters =]

Love for lizards thank you for your imput its been greatly appreciated =]


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

laura-jayne said:


> Sorry for the long reply have been a tad bit busy. I picked up a bag of pets at home nuggets today any my lot seem to love it I havnt sat down and properly read the indredients but it seems a fair bit better than some of the contenders in ferret foods.
> Also what is your veiw on feeding your ferrets insects? im really sat on the fence and to be honest heavily straying towards a dislike as although they are on kibble now as soon as ive finished my research and stuff im hoping to gradually introduce a barf diet. But my uni has 2 ferrets and they are fed meal worms etc on a ragular basis?
> Im looking into ferret nutrition books at the moment aswell so hopefully they will shed some light on a few matters =]
> 
> Love for lizards thank you for your imput its been greatly appreciated =]


Sorry for the late reply!

Ours get insects every now and again, usually a few large meal worms and locusts. The way I see it, whilst there's no proof that wild Polecats would eat insects, bottom line is they do have the option, thus that's what we give ours. Providing the insects have a healthy diet before hand and every precaution is taken to avoid parasites, I see no issues with it. Some eat the insects, others don't, I don't try and encourage them to eat the insects but they can if they want. Everybody with Ferrets (a fair few people considering we used to rescue and attend loads of shows!) I know does or has fed insects in the past and never had problems, so providing the Ferrets can tolerate the insects and they digest them properly personally I see no reason to be against feeding them. Makes no real difference and IME they don't really have any up sides other then enrichment, but like I say I haven't experienced any downsides so a bit of change and enrichment for the fuzzbutts is nice. Not too many insects though as they're quite fatty and addictive! 
Just thought I'd throw this in their on the subject of feeding insects; We had a hob into the rescue who had eaten nothing but insects for his whole life (he was 2 when we had him) and he was fairly healthy, he had a minor taurine and B12 deficiency but that's about it. He supposedly (I say supposedly, 'cause at the time there was no real way to tell, he just wasn't responsive to things fairly far away yet he was immidiately responsive to people close to him) was short-sighted which would most likely be due to the lack of taurine in his diet, so whilst I wouldn't recommend this diet obviously, it obviously didn't do him much damage. He's now a happy, healthy, BARF eating working country Ferret, living out in the sticks of Yorkshire, we get regular updates and he just seems to be getting better and better with his new owners and the Vets say other then his sight his past diet has had no lastin effects on him and he should go on to live a normal life for plenty more years yet. :flrt:


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

LoveForLizards said:


> Why do you feel Pets at Home is sh*t? It's just about on par with Vitalin. And everything except the Rodent thing, is true. Kits can _start_ eating kibble from 4 weeks, their teeth _have_ to grow quickly, and they _do_ get relatively long and very painful if they bite out of aggression.


I wasn't criticising the part about kits, but the entire bag basically implies that ferrets are rodents. TBH that is what I was annoyed about. And I will admit to being biased against Pets at Home. Apologies about that. :lol2:


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## xautomaticflowersx (Sep 7, 2009)

I've started using Merlin Ferret Food because it's only £25 for a 15kg bag and is nutritionally up there with the best. Here are the nutritional details...

Merlin Ferret Food


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