What is Freeze Dried Raw?
Freeze drying is also known as lyophilisation or cryodesiccation. It is a water removal process that is used to preserve perishable food. When the raw pet food is freeze dried it basically means that all moisture is removed from the food whilst still keeping it frozen.

Freeze drying works in a three step process:
1. Freezing phase, where the temperature is lowered until all liquid in the food is turned solid,

  1. Primary drying/sublimation phase, where the pressure is reduced in order to reduce the water in the material,
  2. Secondary drying/absorption phase, where the temperature is raised in order to break the bonds between the material and water molecules.

This process preserves more of the nutritional content of the food when compared to dehydrating because the proteins, vitamins and minerals stay intact due to the freezing before the drying, thus making FDR a perfect alternative to fully raw diets!

How much will I be spending on FDR?

Unfortunately most FDR are more pricey compared to fully raw foods. You're looking at around $10USD through to $40+USD depending on the size of the FDR packet. It's a perfect alternative to raw if you don't have the freezer space for raw foods and it's lighter than feeding canned foods. Very convenient and straightforward method of feeding. How long it lasts depends on the size of the packet and your ferret(s).

How to feed FDR to my Ferret(s)?

Rehydrate according to the guidelines on your packet and start off by feeding 1 ounce to a single ferret. Every ferret is different and usually the bigger the ferret the more they will likely eat so as a general rule of thumb, if they eat the entire 1 ounce, feed them some more until they don't eat any more. The amount you feed in one sitting should be a good guide to how much you should feed your ferret for future references. When they're satisfied they will stop eating. Remember when feeding FDR you want to feed the ferret at least twice a day unless a Veterinarian has said otherwise and like raw food, it is good to stay out in the open for a period of time. (approx 8-12 hours.)

What to look for in a FDR?

The ideal ferret diet is high in protein (42-55%),fat (18-30%), fibre under (<2%) and carbs (8-15%.) Make sure that there is around 98% animal based ingredients on the packaging, including organs and heart. Fibre content should preferably never be over 2% in ferret foods as it may be possible that a high fibre diet of 3% or more may cause digestive upsets, stool issues, and potentially irritation of the bowel. Ferrets can have around 8–15% carbs in dry food and generally when it comes to commercial raw and FDR, you'll find that they tend to have <1% carbs and even fibre, which is excellent! Go for that!

Funky stools?

During the transition process with any diet change, you will more than likely see a lot of funky poop and or diarrhoea that could be greenish or even seedy in feature . The funky poop is the detox phase which is when their bodies begin to eliminate all the toxins from kibble and start using the nutrients from raw. Seedy looking stools are just undigested fats from the ferret's body, as he continues on the diet this will resolve in the next week or two.

If you're unsure about poop you can feel free to post to our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheNaturalFerret

Ferret lover and enthusiast from VIC, Australia. Machan currently has 5 ferrets who are fed a combination of raw frankenprey model diet and wholeprey. She is a major species appropriate diet for ferrets advocate, co-creator/admin/writer for The Natural Ferret. Machan loves writing and research, her favourite topics being toxicology, infectious diseases & holistic veterinary medicine. View all posts by Machan