What Do Ferrets Eat? The Ultimate Beginner's Guide

Welcome to the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Ferrets! This is Chapter 2: What Do Ferrets Eat?

If you already have a solid understanding of what ferrets eat, and why, you can skip to Chapter 3 (though we’d still recommend skimming this page for a quick zoology lesson).

For everyone else, this chapter will help you learn exactly why ferrets have specific diet requirements (that may surprise you!).

What Do Ferrets Eat?

The short answer: meat, bones, and organs. Read on to learn how we know without a doubt.

It only seems natural to describe the nutritional requirements (and misconceptions) of the ferret right after dispelling the ‘ferrets are rodents’ myth in Chapter 1. Once you understand where ferrets fit in the animal kingdom, it becomes much easier to learn about their diet.

How We Know

The easiest way to venture a guess as to what a ferret should eat is to look at their teeth. Does this ferret’s mouth (above) remind you of any other animals’ mouths you may know?

To me it looks an awful lot like a small dog or cat.

a dog’s teeth (left) vs. a rodent’s teeth (right)

Notice in the photos above the structure of a dog’s teeth (left). They are sharp in order to tear through the meat and bone of their prey.

Next, take a look at the teeth of this capybara (giant rodent) next to it (right). You will notice that the teeth are long and flat in the front (called incisors), while the rest of the mouth contains flat, short teeth for grinding plant material.

So, which photograph above does the ferret’s teeth most closely resemble? The dog (carnivore) or the capybara(rodent)?

Answer: the dog! Look at those sharp, meat shearing teeth! (Does it makes sense now why ferrets might be called ‘mouse-killers’ now?)

A stoat (related to the ferret) hunting mice

While feeding a pet ferret the real thing (whole prey, meat, bones, organs) is the best option for overall health, there are also a couple of high-quality kibbles that are acceptable. Most ferret owners recommend feeding Wysong.

Want to see a GIANT ferret and learn about the biggest mistake people make when choosing their first ferret? Check out Chapter 3 of our series.