My ferret wont eat anything but marshall ferret food and he is getting fat how can i change his diet?

Question

My ferret wont eat anything but marshall ferret food and he is getting fat how can i change his diet?

Answer 1

I doubt marshalls food is making your ferret fat.  This time of year, heading into lat summer and early fall, ferrets begin to 'bulk-up'.  They put on a little fat and their coats get more plush.  This is nothing to worry about.

Marshalls really is not a bad ferret food at all.  It contains some fish, which people argue promots odor, but if your not worried about it neither am I.  Learn to read labels and compare foods!  (I will post a 'ferret food chart' at the end of my answer.)  If you really want to switch your ferrets food do it slowly.  Go out...but the food you want your ferret to be eating...mix a little in with the marshalls...keep increasing the amount of 'new food' weekly until all your ferret is eating all of the new food.

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_tr...

Answer 2

don't change the food....... they're cute when they're fat, marshall ferret food is the best food for them.

Answer 3

I am sorry.  I don't like Marshall ferret food for many reasons. One, they use corn as the base product and two because there is so much fish in the product, three, maybe I am unjustly prejudiced.  

Marshall farms raises animals mostly for fur or laboratory use and they are very experienced and good at what they do.  They are very concerned about their animals but I don't think that longevity is one of their primary concerns. This food seems more like a mink diet than a ferret diet with the cod fish and herring meal.  The carbohydrates from the corn is too much sugar. I also like a meat product.  I think a better choice is one like Innova/Evo kitten or ferret. If I can't find the ferret formula I use the kitten because they are so close in the ingredients.  They don't use corn in the food but use brown rice.  It is better if you can get your kids on a meat diet like mix a can of AD Hills kitten canned food with a jar of baby food chicken or turkey.  I feed this daily with a free choice kibble.  If your guy is getting chubby, make sure he gets plenty of free time outside his cage.  When you feed a higher protein diet without the carbs, they eat less and don't get as chubby but get heavier due to muscle mass.  

Now, I get rescues from people who can't take care of their ferrets any more and they always tell me the ferret won't eat anything but purina cat food or some other type of food.  I just fill the food dish with Evo and then work with them twice a day by rubbing the meat mixture on their faces with a baby food rubber spoon.  I also add ferretone to help them with the flavor.  Then when they are eating the meat mixture, (it usually takes about 2 days ) I smash up the Evo to a fine crumble and add that to the meat mixture, very juicy at first so they can still l**k up the meat.  In a week's time, they start eating the Evo on their own.  

Here is a fairly good ferret nutrition chart

http://www.destinyink.com/spyral/animals...

If you really like Marshals ferret food, I wouldn't worry about his chubbiness, he may be one of the chubby types and probably looks really cute.  

Answer 4

You can change his diet by mixing some high quality cat kibble in with his Marshall food. This will slowly get him use to the idea of a new type of food. After time you should have to add less and less of the Marshall food and have weened him completely off of it soon after that. When you are looking into cat food get a good quality ex: Purina,     Friskies ... do NOT get some knock off store brand. Also if you want your ferret to make less stinky poo then look at the ingredients and avoid any that have fish very close to the beginning of the list. The lower on the list it is the less there is in the food, getting one with absolutely no fish is the best though.

Answer 5

change it slowly over a period of 2 to 4 weeks mix in very little new food and mostly old food. here is a diet chart to help you pick a food

http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_tr...

Pick one without corn

I feed this

The Ferret Store Superior Choice Original

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

Here is a link with info on how to switch

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/articl...

Answer 6

Do you keep your ferret in a cage all the time? Maybe it just needs more exercise. I only put my ferrets in the cage at night, the rest of the time they run around the house free and they are round, but not fat.