Can Ferrets Eat Eggs?

Ferrets are carnivorous and even though they are small in size they are really, good hunters, coming to our question “can ferrets eat eggs?” the answer is Yes! Ferrets can eat eggs, but there are other factors needed to be taken into account, more information will be discussed below.

Can I Give My Ferret an Egg?

Eggs are one of the most nutritional foods available. Egg whites contain high levels of protein. Chicken eggs contain rich protein content as well as essential nutrients for the growth of ferrets. Minerals and vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and K can also be found in these eggs.

When it comes to feeding a ferret with an egg, one thing that should be remembered is that an egg should always be considered as a dietary supplement, not as a dietary staple, Whereas red meats such as chicken, lamb, turkey, and beef can be considered as a dietary staple.

Let’s come to the main question – can ferrets eat eggs?

To give a short answer, yes! Ferrets do eat eggs with pleasure, since ferrets are considered carnivores they feed on anything related to animals.

Why Feed Ferrets Eggs?

Eggs have been one of the most essential foods for most animals.

Choline is another nutrient that is present in eggs. It is known to aid the neurological system, the cardiovascular and the human brain. Just a single egg can be able to supply you with 300 micrograms of choline. This nutrient comes from the yolk part of the egg.

Raw meat is one of the most preferred food for ferrets, wild ferrets get their raw meat from eating remaining bodies or from hunting small animals.

When compared with raw meat the concentrations of biotin found in an egg is higher.

The best thing about eating eggs is the high amount of protein you can get from them. A medium-sized egg can give you six grams of protein.

Also, there are only a very few foods that naturally contain vitamin D and eggs are one of them plus egg seems to have all the essential vitamins.

One of the most vital vitamins is vitamin B, an egg has around 80 mg of vitamin B-9,5.4 mg of vitamin B-12, and 0.023mg of vitamin B6.

B vitamin complex supplements can help your body digest and break down food when you’re carbo-loading. Vitamin B1 is necessary for breaking down simple carbohydrates while the B5 vitamin turns carbs into energy and also breaks down fat, and the list of advantages goes on and on. In-order for ferrets to grow they require proper nutrients.

Raw eggs vs Cooked eggs

It was listed on a website written by an anonymous author that “There are no nutritional benefits to feeding raw eggs compared to feeding boiled eggs, and which can cause a big mess”, he further adds that scrambled eggs or boiled eggs are better.

Now this imposes the question of how did the ancestral ferrets eat their egg, ferrets don’t boil or scramble eggs.

If we look back on the ancestral diet one of the drawbacks was being infected by a virus or bacteria, bacteria such as salmonella can cause intestine illness and these bacteria are found in poultry products such as eggs, in severe cases even deaths.

Talking about salmonella even humans could be affected by this bacteria leading to deaths in some cases.

In conclusion, it is the decision of the owner to feed their pets with raw or cooked eggs, One of the factors being the age as well as the immune system of the ferrets. An adult ferret might be able to withstand a bacterial infection it’s digestive system might have to fight a battle.

How are you Going to Feed Eggs to Your Ferret?

You can feed your ferrets with a whole egg or just an egg white in some just the egg yolk. The best is to avoid just feeding them with egg whites because of the risk of causing biotin deficiency; egg yolks are rich in biotin but feeding them just egg york can cause biotin deficiency.

Egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which can bind with biotin(also known as biotin-binding) and cause its absorption more difficult, this can cause symptoms such as “hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin), alopecia(fur loss), graying of fur, and fatty liver”.

If you decide to feed raw eggs to your ferrets, you can encourage them to eat the egg yolk by gently scrambling the raw egg. And for cooked eggs, you can scramble them before cooking or mix together both cooked white with cooked yolk (ex – Boiled Eggs).

It is always advisable to cook the eggs at least slightly, a healthy diet needs proper preparations.

It is easiest to incorporate eggs into a ferret’s diet if she tries them at a young age. So let those kits have some eggs and remember that eggs are an occasional treat, not a daily staple for ferrets.

The owners can slightly incorporate eggs into the ferret diet at a young age baby ferrets do enjoy eating egg york. It would also be recommended to incorporate a mixture of eggs in the ferret food(canned foods)

FAQ: Below

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