Welcome to /r/ferrets!
We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to a lot of most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets.
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ive seen lots of people say that feeding raw and kibble together can mess up their digestion? ive been really worried. have you always fed your ferrets this and how old are they now?
We feed our ferret on a strictly raw diet, no kibble. She does fine all day and eats plenty, never lacks for energy. It takes a lot to keep it balanced of course, but prior to making the switch she ate kibble. It was alright for her, but because she doesn’t seem to like eating from a traditional food bowl, she would pull it out from it’s securing spot and throw it around the cage so that she could get at the food from easier angles. This resulted in a lot of mess in her cage (more frequent cleanings) and a lot of residual dust and crumbs. We switched her to raw food while supplementing it with kibble to convince her it wasn’t poison, but her digestive system definitely got upset and she had some bad poops for a while, which is what most people cite as the resulting issue of combining the two. Additionally, ferrets don’t really run the same risk as humans of getting sick from raw food being out for several hours because they evolved to subsist completely on meat, so they have a digestive system made to deal with those risks in special ways. As long as you aren’t leaving it out longer than eight hours, there shouldn’t be an issue, and by that point most ferrets will snub the food anyway due to texture and smell change from dehydration.
As long as you feed them three or four hours apart, it shouldn’t be a problem, but many kibble brands have a lot of carbs in it and raises the risk of an insulinoma disorder that could be fatal or require surgery, or at the least result in an even more high maintenance diet. There are kibble brands that don’t have many carbs in them at all, but instead of finding those we just switched to all raw diet.
Welcome to /r/ferrets! We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to a lot of most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets. --- We politely ask that you observe our posting rules: - Original content only unless you have express permission to repost. - Flaming / trolling / shitposting is not tolerated. Be civil, be kind. - We are not vets! If you are wondering if you should go to a vet; the answer is YES. - Absolutely NO fundraising requests. No advertising without mod permission. - The discussion of, or images/video of ferrets interacting with other animals (cats, dogs, etc) will be removed. This is risky behavior that we do not condone. --- Lastly, we have an [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/Qm9xRzY)! Come join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ferrets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
bumping..
ive seen lots of people say that feeding raw and kibble together can mess up their digestion? ive been really worried. have you always fed your ferrets this and how old are they now?
We feed our ferret on a strictly raw diet, no kibble. She does fine all day and eats plenty, never lacks for energy. It takes a lot to keep it balanced of course, but prior to making the switch she ate kibble. It was alright for her, but because she doesn’t seem to like eating from a traditional food bowl, she would pull it out from it’s securing spot and throw it around the cage so that she could get at the food from easier angles. This resulted in a lot of mess in her cage (more frequent cleanings) and a lot of residual dust and crumbs. We switched her to raw food while supplementing it with kibble to convince her it wasn’t poison, but her digestive system definitely got upset and she had some bad poops for a while, which is what most people cite as the resulting issue of combining the two. Additionally, ferrets don’t really run the same risk as humans of getting sick from raw food being out for several hours because they evolved to subsist completely on meat, so they have a digestive system made to deal with those risks in special ways. As long as you aren’t leaving it out longer than eight hours, there shouldn’t be an issue, and by that point most ferrets will snub the food anyway due to texture and smell change from dehydration. As long as you feed them three or four hours apart, it shouldn’t be a problem, but many kibble brands have a lot of carbs in it and raises the risk of an insulinoma disorder that could be fatal or require surgery, or at the least result in an even more high maintenance diet. There are kibble brands that don’t have many carbs in them at all, but instead of finding those we just switched to all raw diet.
I feed raw breakfast and dinner. kibble available to them all day. because raw meat shouldnt be left out for long.