How long do ferrets live and what is the best thing to feed them?

Answer 1

Ferret are living longer than they did a few year ago, with more vets know how to treat them and more thing come out to them they are living longer with proper diet and regular check ups with a knowledgeable ferret vet your ferret could live to be 9-10 maybe longer it hard to say the longest i had was 10.

You should feed them a high quality ferret or kitten/cat food because ferrets burn their food fast they need this to get their nutrition it also helps keep them smelling good stay away from fish foods.

Answer 2

The average life span is about 8 yrs, but some have been known to live 11 or 12 yrs. It all depends on their health and care.
As far as what to feed them.........fruits and vegetables are most certainly not it. Neither is cat food. The intestine of the ferret is lacking a part called the cecum and can therefore not digest fruits and vegetables properly. You CAN give them a cooked vegetable as a treat on occasion, raw vegetables may get lodged in their intestinal tract. Like I said, as a treat and very little of it, vegetables have little nutritional value for ferts and go right through their system. They can have a tiny helping of NONACIDIC fruit. Fruit is too high in sugar and ferrets are prone to a disease called insulinoma. You can give one or maybe two raisins every other day or so. I chop mine into tiny pieces, that way I can get my ferts to perform their tricks several times on one raisin. You can try one Cheerio or two a day, but not fruit AND Cheerios, it's one or the other. Ferrets are carnivores and need a diet high in protein and fat and very low-carb.
Cat food (and dog food) are nutritionally not complete enough to feed a ferret. They do not contain the right amounts of fat and protein and waaaaaaay too many carbs. They also lack Taurine, which is needed to keep your ferts eyes and heart healthy.
If you have to feed anything but Ferret food, chose Kitten food. Maximum Kitten is actually not the worst and it's available at Walmart.
I order my ferret food online at www.ferret.com, so availability is no longer an issue. It gets delivered right to my door.
I have here a list of differents types of foods, ferret and kitten, that ferret owners feed their fuzzies. It shows kind of a ranking according to ingredients. I liked that and added another food to my fuzzy dinner table. I was really surprised to see how poorly Marshall Farms food fared, especially when compared to some kitten foods.
Well, hope this helped. Enjoy your fur ball.
The site:
http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html

Answer 3

In captivity a ferret's life span is expected to be anywhere from 8-10 years long.
However, on occasions some do live longer / shorter then the expect life span.
Ferrets do not like the ferret mx u get from the pet store.

All of my ferrets like(d) the fruites and veggie mixed with the chicken flavored ferret food I buy from Walmart.
Make certain you have all of the necessary items for the pet except for the toys (pick them out when you take the ferret to PetsRUs).

WARNING: DON'T USE CEDAR OR PINE SHAVINGS FOR BEDDING!!!

ANSPEN BEDDING IS THE BEST USE WITHOUT SIDE AFFECTS OR ALLERGIC REACTIONS!! You can get it from petstores or regular stores like Walmart!

ENJOY!!

Answer 4

as someone who has been owned by 12 ferrets (not all at once) 5 here 4 there and 3 between, depending of a variety of factors ferret life span is 8-11 yrs. but with the insulinoma and adrenal problems and other ferrets medical problems there really is no known average life span and MARSHALL' FERRET FOOD IS THE NUMBER 1 food . course watermelon juice raisins and other small amounts of treats (very small amounts) make the fuzzies happy also!!!

Answer 5

Never feed a ferret cat food. I've asked more than one vet, as well as some shelter owners. It doesn't have the protein that ferrets need, and it can cause digestive problems. I was also told that Marshalls (Which I had been feeding my ferrets) wasn't good, because it is fish based, due to Marshalls raising minks (Which eat fish) They switched to ferrets, but never changed their food. Toally Ferret was suggested to me. :)

Answer 6

The average age is about 7-9 years. Feed them a good high quality ferret food that is high in protein. Do not feed them fruit or vegies, as they cannot digest fiber.

Answer 7

8-10 years. There is a website www.peteducation.com with some very good information regarding a ferrets diet.

Answer 8

average lifespan is 7-8 years.. although i have heard of ones living till 10... mine are 6 years old, their starting to slow down, they don't play as much but their healthy... i feed them Totally Ferret food, (i use the senior formula, but they have a reg. formula too) it's about $18.99 a bag, but they like it. I give mine fruits and veggies, it's safe, but like someone posted, it doesn't do anthing nutritonally for them. They like cucumbers,watermelon,green beans, lettuce. They can have sugary treats, but not too often. Mine love Fuzzy's Foamy Fries, you can get them at www.theferretstore.com. Don't feed them cat food, they need ferret food. As a treat mine like baby food.

Answer 9

usually 8 years, give them a good diet ferret food, or i give my 8 ferrets a good cat food, plenty of water to drink, and no sugar, they have cheerios in the am,

Answer 10

About 8 years. I heard Iams Kitten food is really good for ferretts. They need a lot of protein.