Ferret Food Packaging

[laura-jayne]

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 =]

[Shadowz]

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

[laura-jayne]

Originally Posted by Shadowz

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 =]

[Rum_Kitty]

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

[laura-jayne]

Originally Posted by Rum_Kitty

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 =]

[Rum_Kitty]

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

[laura-jayne]

Thank you so much it is greatly appreciated =]

[Rum_Kitty]

Originally Posted by laura-jayne

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.

[RutlandFerrets_Liz]

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.

[laura_aldridge1987]

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