Food Storage, Waste and Being Penny-Wise and Pound Foolish
By L. Vanessa Gruden in Paw Printz, September - October, 1999

Recently, I ate at a buffet for dinner.  Around 5 a.m., I awoke with a pounding headache, nausea, etc…all the happy symptoms of food poisoning.

If you watch a busy buffet staff, you’ll see that they try to always keep selections from emptying.  As soon as the spot gets low, they bring in another platter of the same item.  If you’re really observant, you’ll see that the older food isn’t thrown out; it is scraped on top of the new platter and replaced on the buffet board.  While in theory the older food should get eaten first and be perfectly fine, it is possible that a  piece or two could slide by through several of these procedures.  Enough, perhaps, for it to spoil and cause the unpleasant food poisoning I experienced.

So, what’s the point?  No, I’m not trying to turn you off forever to buffets!  I want to relate this process to the process you use to replace the food in your ferret’s bowl.

You know how ferrets munch each piece of kibble, usually leaving little crumbs in the bottom of the bowl, right?  When you fill your ferret’s food dish, do you just pour more in?  If you do, eventually you’ll end up with a big pile of old, nibbled kibble at the bottom.  And if you glance quickly at it, think “oh, they’ve got food” and leave, they’ll end up eating that old stuff.  And you’re risking a really nice case of food poisoning for your little friend.

Is the risk of illness and a trip to the vet really worth a few cents worth of dry kibble?  While it should be ok to let the kibble stay in the bowl for a day, to be safe the bowl should be completely emptied every other day.  While you’re at it, this would be an excellent time to wipe the bowl out with a paper towel.  The oil in the food builds up inside the bowl, and it is the most likely to go bad.  The bowl should be thoroughly washed and dried at least once a week.

Don’t forget the water bowl!  Ferrets are notorious for dipping food in their water and it gets scummy pretty fast.  Water in a bowl should be changed every day and the bowl wiped out with a paper towel.  Take a look at the towel after you wipe, and you will see all the icky kibble scum that’s accumulated in a short time.  Again, once a week their water bowl should be thoroughly washed and sanitized.

“Ah,” you smugly say, “I use a water bottle, so I don’t need to constantly clean it.”  Beep!  Wrong answer!  Don’t you think that little weaselly tongues leave residue behind?  Clean that nozzle at least once a week, and scrub out that bottle with a bottle brush, or run it through a high-powered dishwasher.  (Make sure to rinse it well, so no detergent residue remains.)  Are you still using a plastic water bottle?  Honestly, my taste buds are not that extraordinary, but I can definitely taste the difference between water that’s been kept in plastic and water that’s been stored in glass.  And I can taste when the water has sat for a couple of days, too.  Think how much more of a taste difference there is for our little sensitive furry buddies!  If you can’t find a glass water bottle in your local pet store, call FACT.  Glass bottles used to be very expensive-even the kits to convert glass soda bottles to water bottles were pricey.  But Lixit came out with a good-sized glass bottle that is reasonably priced, which we carry and will be happy to sell to members at a discount.  And sometimes an old plastic bottle nozzle that will fit on some glass soda containers.  Try it!  Your ferrets will be happier and healthier.

While on the subject of the containers, are you using a plastic bowl for their food, too?  Besides the fact that they’re probably kicking it around constantly, plastic will permanently pick up food odors and oils.  Try storing some spaghetti sauce in a cheap plastic container, and you’ll see exactly what I mean-that red stain NEVER goes away!  Ceramic bowls are inexpensive and colorful, but be sure they are good quality so they will survive frequent washings.  Eventually, ceramic glazes can start to crack, and the bowl should be thrown out.  Stainless steel is a wonderful material, long-lasting and easy to keep clean.  Heavy bowls can be expensive, but for inside cages, bird cage cups are reasonably priced and will last forever.

Now, for a last lecture, how do you store your bag of dry food?  There doesn’t seem to be much sense in spending $40-plus for a bag of the best ferret food around, having it shipped next day air to your home, then allowing it to sit in the bag with the top loosely rolled up for a month or more.  You may scrutinize every ingredient and protein percentage on that bag, but have you ever read the part that says, “Store in an airtight container?”  How fresh would your cereal stay if you left it like that?  Sure, it would be ok for a while, but eventually it would get pretty stale, wouldn't it?  (Trust me, I’ve done this with my crackers!  Soggy Triskets are pretty nasty.)  5 or 10 gallon, airtight Rubbermaid or other brand containers are priced about $10-$15 at any department store, and often go on sale.  Spend the few dollars to keep that expensive food fresh, please, and don’t forget to occasionally wash this container out, too.

So many people are so fanatic about what brand of food their ferret eats.  Myself, I sincerely feel HOW you feed your ferret is even more important.  Who is the “better” owner-the one who only buys Totally Ferret but lets the bag sit in the hot sun, open to the bugs, and leaves kibble in the bowl and lying on the floor until every piece is eaten (because it’s SO expensive)?  Or the owner feeding Purina Kitten Chow who cleans the ceramic food and water bowl daily, throws out all crumbs, and vacuums around bowls religiously?  What do you think?