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I have switched dozens, and possibly hundreds, of ferrets to new diets. And yes, they can be picky. Some ferrets will instantly try any new food that's offered to them while others will take months of effort. I've personally never met a ferret that I couldn't get to switch diets (although there is one at the shelter challenging me now, I will update later!). It can be frustrating, but just remind yourself how important it is for your ferret's health and happiness, and don't give up!

Here are my biggest tips for switching diet:

1. Switch to a better dry food first

The most common situation I see where someone is struggling is when they're trying to switch from a low quality kibble to a frozen or even whole-prey raw diet! That is a huge change for the ferret and it's less likely that they'll be willing to try something that's completely new in smell, flavor, texture, size, and wetness.

I know if you're researching diet you're probably starting to panic and thinking that you need to get them off their bad diet immediately! And while yes, these foods have negative long term effects and some urgency is important, you can improve their diet incrementally over time.

Air-dried raw foods are nearly as good as frozen and freeze-dried raw foods. The only downside is the lack of moisture (which is good for hydration and dental health). But when it comes to preventing insulinoma, they are equally as good because they have no grains or starches.

If you can't afford air-dried raw or it's not available in your country, there are some kibbles that will probably be a step up. The point is to feed anything that's better than what you're currently feeding, you don't have to jump all the way from low quality kibbles to raw in one go.

Switching to a higher quality dry food is much easier because you can mix it in with their existing food. I would start with a 50-50 mix. You'd be surprised how many ferrets start trying the new food immediately. It's similar size, smell, and texture to what they're used to eating.

Once you see them eating the new food on their own with no prompting, you can phase out the old food. It's best to do this gradually so that a) they don't get hungry and b) they don't get any digestive upset.

I've also found that once a ferret tries one new food, they're more willing to try others too. Once you've gotten them on a better dry food, then you may have more luck switching to a wet food if you want to continue on that path.

2. Offer small pieces of food by hand

The second tip is just to offer food by hand. Most ferrets are very curious and trusting of their humans, so if you keep offering them small bits by hand (really force it close to their mouth), they're much more likely to try it. The first time they'll probably take it from you, slowly turn away, walk away and stash it somewhere, since they don't know what to do with it. But even that is a baby step which shows they're starting to understand what it is.

This works for all food types!

3. Give them soupies as a supplement

Now this may appear to entirely contradict the first tip, but that's because every ferret is unique. If anybody ever tells you something like "every ferret does X" or "no ferret will ever Y" that kind of tells you that they don't know what they're talking about and just haven't met enough ferrets yet.

If you're unable to get your ferret to try other dry foods, you can try offering soupie instead.

There are many ways to make soupie, but the easiest is just to blend high quality canned food with water and warm it. Please be careful because, just like kibbles, canned foods range from very low quality to very high, so make sure to check my chart to see what I recommend. Also, many canned foods contain peas which are deadly for ferrets.

Soupie sometimes works better for ferrets because the scent is very strong and appealing to them, and it's easy for them to eat. Again, you will probably need to dip your finger it and offer them small licks to get them started. And it may take days or weeks to get them to start eating it on their own.

Also please be aware that soupie should never be a diet by itself. Even if it's made from a balanced canned food, if they're eating 100% liquid diets that's extremely bad for their dental health.

Again, the point of the soupie here is to a) get them to try something new so that they're more willing to expand their culinary tastes later, and b) to get them a healthy treat to try to balance out their poor dry food diet. But of course, once they do finally switch to a better food, you can continue giving them their soupie as a treat!

Important considerations

Some ferrets will starve themselves rather than eat any new food. You should never force your ferret to change diets. Always keep the old food available to them until you are 100% positive that they are eating the new food.

I also strongly recommend weighing them regularly with a kitchen scale during and after the transition. It's very difficult to notice small variations in their weight by hand. The numbers on a scale will be much more accurate and will tell you if they're losing weight because they aren't eating. If you're seeing weight loss, lethargy, diarrhea, etc. then make sure they have their old food available and take them to the vet if they don't improve.

Finally, use caution when switching older ferrets' diets (especially if they have insulinoma). If they're eating a kibble diet that's high in carbohydrates (most kibbles), that diet could be artificially boosting their blood sugar. In other words, they might already have undiagnosed insulinoma. When you take those carbohydrates away from them, you might start seeing signs of insulinoma like drooling, pawing at their mouth, stumbling, and staring off into space.

That does NOT mean that their new diet caused their insulinoma. And does not mean that you shouldn't switch them or that switching them was a mistake. In fact, pretty much every vet will agree that you should switch your ferret to a high-protein, low-carb diet after they have been diagnosed with insulinoma, because it will keep their blood sugar more stable. Even VCA, which is owned by Mars, Inc., which also produces many kibble diets, agrees on this point.

So improving your ferrets' diet will always be a good thing for them. Just use caution and watch out for signs of insulinoma if they are older.

• Diet
• Beginners
• Behavior