I've desided to get a ferret :)

[Rio and Me]

So when my peycheck has clear i'm off for the day to find one from a SHELTER, then to buy a cage and goodies.
I cant wait, ive always wanted a feret since i looked after a friends 4 ferrets.
So any ferret owners, info is wanted on like food treats etc
Ky and Rio

[tikeyas_mom]

they like poopin in corners, and they love cat foos, although it isnt very good to eat just cat food all the time IMHO.
I have a friend that has a house ferret and it poops everywhere. Ferrets are wild animals, IMO, and they can be unpredictable.
They love playing under covers and with fake mice :).
They are very cute to, BUT they smell, I find they sstink, they are related tot he skunk and they have a sent gland that both males and females have to attract a mate. It can be removed, but it is pricey.

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
they like poopin in corners, and they love cat foos, although it isnt very good to eat just cat food all the time IMHO.
I have a friend that has a house ferret and it poops everywhere. Ferrets are wild animals, IMO, and they can be unpredictable.
They love playing under covers and with fake mice :).
They are very cute to, BUT they smell, I find they sstink, they are related tot he skunk and they have a sent gland that both males and females have to attract a mate. It can be removed, but it is pricey.

cat food is bad for them,

they are NOT & NEVER have been WILD!!!! ferrets have always been a domestcated animal, they are related to wild ferrets (black foot ferrets & pole cats).

They can have a slight odor to them but most from pet stores are already descented. also the more you bathe them the worse it smells, you are stripping the oils from their coat & they have to produce more. Most people think it would be the oposite thats why they stink. But as long as you wash their bedding & clean their litter boxes you should barely notice any odor.

[kevinrats]

If you're gonna get a fert, you should buy "Ferrets for Dummies." Its a super informative book on everything relating to ferrets! I think you can get it at pretty much any book store.

[HoRsELUvR]

I heard that ferrets are really hyper because my brother's friend has one..They seem like really fun pets though.

[tutebugs]

I would suggest doing a TON of research before you get a ferret. It really sounds to me like you haven't done much at all. A ferret requires a lot of attention and money. Make sure you know everything before you get one. You can email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.

[Rio and Me]

Well thanks for your email addy, and concern for my ferret to be but I know enough to care for the ferret well, my friend is very experianced and will put me right on anything i do wrong.
I've planed the cage and everything (not got it yet but know what i'm getting).
It's things like meat treats and how often i dont know, and if they like a small piece of bone to chew and what kind etc, he/she will be on highly recomened top quailty manufacted biscuit.
when ive got one, (very hard to find one round here :( ) i will post pics of cage etc.
Ky and Rio

[tutebugs]

Sometimes top quality food is really top quality junk, I'm sure there's someone on here that can post a food comparison chart so you can see just what foods are good. I wouldn't let a ferret chew on a bone, they could choke or get too big of a piece and get a blockage. They have lots of special treats for ferrets, giving one daily is probably good. Make sure you give lax daily and probably ferretone for vitamins. You can also feed a straight meat diet, making up your own food. Also, you can try duck soup, most ferrets, but mine, seem to like it.

[Rio and Me]

Finding anything for a ferret like food, toys, treats and eccesories are very hard to find, the brand of food that i will be getting (the only brand ive ever seen) is James wellbeloved ferret complete.
My local petshop sells only this, a couple of harness etc the bare minnimum.
I will have to ask my friend where she getts her ferritone.
ok so bones are out of the question.
my friend feeds boiled chicken, boiled fish and beef, a couple of times aweek (she allso feeds James wellbeloved).
What is Lax?
and we dont get duck soup or anything like that here.
Thanks
Ky and Rio

[tutebugs]

Duck soup isn't something you get, it's something you make. http://www.wuzzles.com/ferrets/documents/whatisducksoup.htm
That's all i could find on it right now, I'm in a hurry but just maybe search this forum and you might find some recipes. Lax is a laxative that ferrets should have weekly so they don't get hairballs or blockages because surgery for blockages is very expensive.

[Rio and Me]

opps sorry for my ignorance,lol
Do you get Lax from a vetrenarian? that duck soup looks worth a shot, when i eventually get one.Ky and Rio

[tutebugs]

Originally posted by Rio and Me
opps sorry for my ignorance,lol
Do you get Lax from a vetrenarian? that duck soup looks worth a shot, when i eventually get one.Ky and Rio

No no no, you're not ignorant, don't say that. A lot of ppl aren't sure what it is. You can get lax from a pet store or online. The one site I know for sure has it is www.theferretstore.com

[Rio and Me]

Thanks i'll look for a UK site to buy it as petshop are highly unlikly to have it on sale. Thanks Ky and Rio

[tutebugs]

You can order it right off the site I gave you, shipping is quite cheap for overseas according to a friend that ordered.

[Rio and Me]

Ok thanks ill have a brouse, you wouldnt imagian how impossible it is to find hammocks and assories in any petshops round here,lol Ky and Rio

[tutebugs]

Order them of theferretstore.com too....

[lv4dogs]

Lax is short for laxatone it is only one of many many different brands of hairball solutions, you can even use vasaline, I know many ferret & cat owners that do & lots of ferrets also like it! You can add ferretone to the vaseline to give it an extra taste. this will not illiminate blockages & hairballs just helps to prevent them, they can still get them though.

I personally feed my kids raw meat right on the bones (anything but pork & that is only because of the intestineal parrasites & other diseaeses & such).

duck soup can be made in many different ways here is one site w/ recipes:
http://ferretville.net/health/soup.html
once i get a good grinder I will be using a very similar recipe to the first one listed on that page


These are the main ingredients I ussually use, sometimes I may leave out one or 2 things:
1 can a/d (science diet from vets)
1 jar gerber chicken baby food (stage 2)
1-1.5 cup left over kibble crumbs (ferret food)
approx. 1-1.5 cups water or homemade chicken broth (canned is too high in sodium, even the low sodium)
1-1.5 cups cooked chicken (dark meat is better for them)

Cook the chicken, save the broth, tear into small chunks, set aside
grind kibble in blender until tiny chunks/powder like substance
slowly add all ingredients into the blender, add water/broth last so you can determine the thickness of the soup you want. If you want to make it more concentrated leave it thick. then pour into ice cube trays & freeze. To feed thaw one cube per ferret, melt in microwave or just leave in fridge overnight, if it is too thick just add a little water right before serving.

You can add pedialyte instead of water if your fuzzie is sick/dehydrated.
You can also adda touch of heavy whipping cream after you thaw the cube to put a little weight on a skinny ferret.

it may take a ferret a little while to take to it but dont give up, be persistant, it is important you get your ferret on this in case it should ever becme ill.



as far as ferret food goes i feed a mixture of
zupreem
totally ferret
sheperd & green (sometimes)
felidae cat food
walmarts maximum nutrition kitten food

i'm also going ot start to feed the ferret stores supirior choice

[lv4dogs]

as far as toys go you can make lots of them yourself, & you can use lots of other cheap alternatives. Just be careful you dont get any rubber toys (kongs may be ok or other really hard rubber but supervise to make sure they dont eat it) here are some examples of what i use

empy boxes (most ferrets like these better than the toy that came in the box)

rice box (fill a rubbermaid type container w/ LONG GRAIN UNCOOKED REGULAR RICE ONLY) they love it

fill a box w/ shredded paper, toilet paper (no rolls though they can become lodged into the tube), old clothes

blankets (they love blanket piles)

dryer hose (the plastic type that stretches)

baby toys (great & cheap at garage sales, thrift stores etc)

most cat toys

plastic easter eggs (can fill w/ pieces of kibble so it jingles & they get a treat if they open it)

plastic grocery store bags (under supervision)

let your imagination run wild, they love just about anything. They do get bored of the same toys so I divide my toys in different groups & alternante what batch they get. I do this every 2-3 days, you can also place them outside so they get different smells on them, its like new toys all over again to them.

[lv4dogs]

http://www.neeps.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=10

this is a great community (from the ferret store)
hope to see you there, i'm chaotic chaos on that board!!

[Rio and Me]

Thanks for the tips, i know they are mad on plastic bags and piles of blankets,lol
Ky and Rio

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by Rio and Me
Thanks for the tips, i know they are mad on plastic bags and piles of blankets,lol
Ky and Rio

anytime, if you have any more ?'s just pm or e-mail me.

cant wait to see pics of your fuzzie when you get one!!

[Rio and Me]

It may be some time but when i get do get one youll defenatly get pics.
I have let my two local petshops know that i would like thwem to to keep an eye out for one for me.
I have 2 cage's lined up from each shop (in case one gets sold)
In the mean time its reseach,lol
Ky and Rio