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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 5:43:18 GMT -5
Does anyone know if there have been any decent studies into a ferrets ACTUAL nutritional requirements? I have been searching for sometime but can't find anything like the AAFCO nutrient profile or the European version either. There seem to be a lot of half hearted attempts at explaining protein and fat needs on some pet food websites but nothing more scientific. The closest I have found is the Association of Zoo's and Aquariums basing ferret requirements on that of other species
www.aza.org/uploadedfiles/animal_care_and_management/animal_programs/animal_programs_database/animal_care_manuals/mustelidcaremanual2010a.pdf
I just find it interesting thinking about all the medical research that is performed on ferrets for humans but we haven't done research to find out how to keep them healthy  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 6:29:20 GMT -5
I think I saw one in one of my books. I'll go check and get back to you.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 6:47:17 GMT -5
"While most nutritional requirements are well established in production animals, very little exists in comparison for many laboratory species, including the ferret. Nutritional requirements of ferrets are still lacking, and most formulators utilise the requirements of mink or felines to determine suitability in the ferret." "requirements for ferrets are not well established, especially in comparison with other domestic carnivores. Data that are available for ferrets were derived using mink or cats as models for nutritional requirements." (Nutrition of the Ferret Chapter 5 of BDF3) I'm still in the process of studying this chapter.  It's quite interesting. drive.google.com/file/d/0By7dNLQT37_WcGFSUXVVcXN5WG8/view?usp=sharing |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 7:04:41 GMT -5
"While most nutritional requirements are well established in production animals, very little exists in comparison for many laboratory species, including the ferret. Nutritional requirements of ferrets are still lacking, and most formulators utilise the requirements of mink or felines to determine suitability in the ferret." "requirements for ferrets are not well established, especially in comparison with other domestic carnivores. Data that are available for ferrets were derived using mink or cats as models for nutritional requirements." (Nutrition of the Ferret Chapter 5 of BDF3) This is pretty much what I thought, I'm just glad I haven't been missing some glaringly obvious document somewhere! Thanks a lot for the link, I'm going to get stuck into this now  |
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Post by bitbyter on Oct 23, 2015 9:07:05 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 10:21:18 GMT -5
Thanks bitbyter, really good document explaining it |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 14:31:43 GMT -5
Wow! This is great!  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 14:42:24 GMT -5
bitbyter is there a link to all of the documents available? I can't seem to find it but would love to see everything you guys have put together, its always so helpful. @machan off topic but, I can't get over how cute your three look in your signature. They make my heart melt every time! 
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Post by bitbyter on Oct 23, 2015 15:14:13 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 15:30:00 GMT -5
Great thanks @bitbbyter :thankyou: |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 16:11:28 GMT -5
@machan off topic but, I can't get over how cute your three look in your signature. They make my heart melt every time! hehe! Thank you! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 18:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2015 4:37:16 GMT -5
@poncesmom Yeah I have a couple of his articles, they are great, I particularly like his papers on dentition and diet. Thanks for the links, I didn't know he's an author on the small animal channel, that's good to know! I was thinking about contacting him in order to get his opinion on some topics I am writing about so its good to know he's friendly with you guys :wave3:
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Post by ferretbrah on Oct 25, 2015 10:40:20 GMT -5
I wonder if you could feed a ferret the same diet as the black footed ferrets (pretty much all prairie dogs)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2015 11:18:40 GMT -5
I wonder if you could feed a ferret the same diet as the black footed ferrets (pretty much all prairie dogs) I'm studying BFF, European Polecat diets and other small related mustelid diets to figure out if it is better to use those species as nutritional model, rather than the cat which is most often used for ferrets. There's some interesting information about the diets of each including their preference of small mammals. I'm putting together a list of references which I can share a bit later |
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