bestferretforum  General   Ferret Advice Support Search RSS runboard.com       Sign up (learn about it) | Sign in (lost password?) unofficialyruthie Registered user Global user Registered: 07-2007 Posts: 1 Karma: 0 (+0/-0) Reply | Quote Ferret Advice I've been wanting a ferret for about 3mths and after doing a fair bit of research, Ive finally decided to get one, though i would really appreciate some advice regarding what i need to get! I have already decided which cage i am getting! and i know there is loads of stuff out there to get but what would people reccomend that i would need and what food people would reccomend, stuff like that, any advice would be greatly appreciated! 7/24/2007, 5:17 pm Send Email to unofficialyruthie   Send PM to unofficialyruthie ferretjane Registered user Global user Registered: 04-2006 Posts: 35 Karma: 0 (+0/-0) Reply | Quote Re: Ferret Advice Hi there The best thing to do is get in touch with your local rescue and talk to them direct. There are several ferret biscuits aroung all of which are good - most people use James wellbeloved and Vitalin Hammocks and fleecy bedding are popular with ferrets Make sure you are able to afford the neutering and vets costs of your new pet Make sure where you are keeping them is ferret proof - indoors any small spaces must be safe, outdoors not able to get out, be let out , dig out or climb out etc hope this begind to help Jane 7/31/2007, 8:08 pm Send Email to ferretjane   Send PM to ferretjane Wanda88 Registered user Global user Registered: 05-2008 Posts: 4 Karma: 0 (+0/-0) Reply | Quote Re: Ferret Advice Hi unofficialyruthy: That's a mouthful. If you wish, you can feed your pet commercial ferret pellets, available in most pet stores. They can be costly. I feed mine cat kibble. If you choose to use kibble, make sure it is at least 31% protein. Although some ferrets may nibble on vegetables and fruit, they don't get enough nutrition from them, so a high protein level is extremely important for your ferret to stay healthy. I also supplement the diet with other foods (see some examples below). Basically, if your ferret likes it, let him have it. I don't throw away leftovers; I give them to my ferret. Just like us, cake, candy and other sugary foods are not good for them, so use it sparingly. Absolutely DO NOT GIVE CHOCOLATE or you will have a sick or dead ferret. Any dairy products can be used, but only a tiny bit once in a while. leftover meat from supper raw or cooked meat raw or cooked chicken raw or cooked ham raw or cooked eggs bones with some meat shreds on them mushrooms toast bananas and other fruit dental stix chew cake (not chocolate) as an occasional treat only dairy – cheese and milk (a tiny bit) as an occasional treat only cat treats Ferret Tone Skin and Coat Treat (will do anything for it, including toenail clipping) coconut (chunks preferred) is a fave food for ferrets You can stuff treats in a rubber kong and put it in the cage to keep your pet occupied. You can use a plastic water bottle, throw away the cap, put some treats in it and you have a homemade kong. As long as your ferret can get its paw (and only its paw) in the bottle, he'll be occupied for hours. You can also hide them around the house. Once they realize you hide treats for them everyday, they'll go crazy trying to find them. It's enjoyable to watch, too. Once you know what their favourite treat is, you can use it to teach your ferret tricks. Only give this treat when they are doing their tricks. That makes the treat special to them. 10/2/2008, 10:06 pm Send Email to Wanda88   Send PM to Wanda88 Elfaerin Registered user Global user Registered: 02-2009 Posts: 2 Karma: 0 (+0/-0) Reply | Quote Re: Ferret Advice Hallo hallo! A couple of pointers on food-ferrets are meat eaters through and through. It takes about 3 hours for food to pass from mouth to bum, hence why you should only give fruit and veg as a treat. Their digestive system works so fast that they cannot get the vitamins and nutrients they need from fruit/veg. We recently took on another couple of ferrets that had been fed purely on kibble. They were slightly over weight and their coats weren't in the best condition. Now that they've been fed on mince with only kibble as an extra their coats are now in better condition and a lot softer. They have also started losing weight and getting closer to their ideal weight for their size. Ferret kibble is good, and works really well as a supplement, but nothing can beat actual meat. Unfortunately I don't know where in the world you are, if you're in the uk, I can recommend you pop down to pets at home. They have a freezer section at the back full of minced meat. I think it's aimed at dogs but work excellently for ferrets. All the mince is is whatever it is e.g if it's chicken, then it's all minced chicken with bones etc. Pork is generally a no no, along with liver. This advice was given to me by a ferret resuce centre so unfortunately don't know the full ins and outs as to why this is so. Pets at home do chicken, turkey, rabbit, lamb, fish and beef. We've tried them all apart from the beef and it all goes down a treat. I'd suggest splitting one of the small packs into 8 portions and giving your lovely ferret one portion a day. We feed ours in the evening after their playtime. We do however make sure that there is always a bowlful of kibble in their cage for them to munch on throughout the day. As said before they have a short and quick digestive system so they tend to eat little and often. You can also vary their diet with day old chicks, or rabbit. You can get these from most pet shops, or plenty of reptile suppliers online. Day old chicks are relativly cheap, especially the more you buy. All depends if you can cope with them being in your freezer!! The only downside to the chicks is that they are quite pongy when they're being eaten. If your ferrets cage is in the living room, i strongly suggest you feed them the chicks before you go to bed. Personally I like to vary their diet and give them a mixture of all. When it comes to playtime, most things will do. We've tried buying ours toys but they much prefer a carierbag! Trevor loves chasing cat toys on string and having a good tug o' war with you when you've got the other end! Tunnels are fantastic, our boys love nothing more that chasing eachother in and out, round and round etc. You can soend as much or as little as you like on these. Pets at home (again! they should be paying me commission!!) do fantastic fabric tunnels for ferrets. These retail at about £4/5 each and are all interlinking. What I like (and the boys) about these is that not only can you join them all together, but they also have a hole midway down which is always fun for jumping out of and pouncing on another ferret!! Failing that, large soil pipe from B&Q can do just as well, might be cheaper per length but make sure you cut it down some as you don't want your poor little furry friend suffocating. We've also found that carboard boxes are fantastic. We've got a few large ones that we've sealed shut but added entrance ways and use some of the tunnels to interlink between the boxes, making a little ferret fort. You can also try puzzle toys, it all depends on your ferrets personality. Some toys will always get played with, others won't. It won't be long until you find out the way you ferret likes to play. As your ferrets health is concerned, you might want to check out some vets in your area first. Get in touch with a local sanctuary and see which one they'd recommend. Vets will take on ferrets but unfortunately might not give them the best of care, no matter how well intended. Be certain your vet is familiar with ferrets and knows their physiology. We took ours to a local vet for a check up and got thoroughly ripped off. The vet didn't even bother to check for ear mites or anything. Luckily we found a vet afterwards that does know ferrets (recommended by a ferret sanctuary) and they gave them a full check up, did their castration and chipping. Absolutely fantastic and I'm so glad know we looked into it further. Ferrets are stupendious creatues, full of fun and playfulness and cheekyness! I'll warn you though, they are addictive! Please let us know how your getting on with your new ferrety frolicks! Love and light, E X 2/24/2009, 7:31 pm Send Email to Elfaerin   Send PM to Elfaerin Add a reply Powered by AkBBS 0.9.5b  -  Link to us   -  Blogs   -  Hall of Honour   -  Chat Click here to get your own free message board You are not logged in (login)      Board's time is: 11/25/2009, 1:00 pm