ferret grooming

[Faolan]

What are the best ferret products? I mean coat supplement, shampoo, and conditioner. Thoughts?

[DooLittle]

You need Satomi. She is our resident ferret expert.

[GoingPostal]

Don't buy any of that crap. Ferrets are like cats, they don't need to be bathed unless they actually get dirty, the more you wash the more oils you strip, the more they overproduce and smell. Plus they are already prone to dry itchy skin. Mine get baths never. Ferretone is well accepted, but it's also preserved with BHT/BHA, you can use a high quality fish oil instead but I only ever use oils for distraction during checkups or nail clippings. Stay far away from ferretvite or furovite or the commonly sold laxatives, all are chock full of sugars, insulinoma disease in a tube basically.

[Crazymonkee]

Good food... that's about it
I do not supplement their diet, I bathe mine very rarely.
Good food will keep the poop and their smell down.

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[Shann]

The key to a good ferret coat is a good diet! Best option is a raw diet. Unfortunately, that's not feasible for me right now (reasons too numerous to explain here, but my next ferrets will be on it, and these guys will be too next year). If you can't feed raw, there are some decent options, and mine do very well on Wysong Ferret Epigen 90.

Check out this chart :http://moredooks.herobo.com/search.php?chart=ferret
It is a good place to start when selecting diets, though honestly I'd just go with the top ones and have them shipped to you. Most that you can find in petstores are junk. I don't just feed kibble, however, and give them homemade soupies (lots of great recipes online - search for duck soup) and give them natural healthy treats (like meat). I completely stay away from pretty much everything marketed towards ferrets, as far as supplements and treats go. I DO use ferretone in soups from time to time to mask other flavors they aren't fond of, but it's not a regular thing, and I don't use much when I do. I do think it's important to keep a varied (healthy) diet for several reasons. One, it keeps them open to new options in case you can't get their normal food, and two, I tend to find that they do better and stay interested in eating when I do.

I don't know if there is a specific shampoo to be used, because I seriously almost never bathe mine. I bathe them if they've gotten a little over-energetic while wrestling and end up in the litterbox, but that's about it. On a good diet, they don't smell bad. That natural musky smell is always kind of there, but I'm fond of it. And bathing them doesn't do anything to help that, it just makes it worse (as was stated above, it dries out the skin and causes them to produce more oils). You will find that on healthier diets their coats (and poops!) are completely different. The fur becomes soft and silky and thick, instead of course and brittle like the ones you see in a pet store.

Another benefit to proper diet - they tend to eat less (bad kibble goes right through them) and they poop less. It also doesn't smell as bad, and is easier to clean.

[satomi325]

Its 99% diet and 1% regular cage cleaning.

A ferret does not need baths or supplements. They groom themselves. If one gets poo or dirt stuck on them, plain water will suffice in cleaning them. Soap dries out their skin and washes away their oils as the others have mentioned. Baths actually make them smell more/worse.

A raw diet is the best you can give them and species appropriate.

My experience:
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. They cannot digest grain/carbohydrate, fiber, or any type of plant based material. And sugars are very bad for them. Kibble has too much junk ferrets cannot digest. And its from a poor diet and the junk in it that actually make a ferret and their waste smell worse.

Since switching my ferrets from kibble to whole prey, I have seen a vast improvement in body condition and overall health. They have great teeth, decreased appetite due to getting more nutrients/energy in less volume of food, less odor, less waste, more energy, more muscle mass, and softer and shinier coat (they glitter in the sun). My particular business of ferrets have been feeding on a variety of prey for the past 3 years and I couldn't be happier with their health and looks, especially with how prevalent Insulinoma is within the U.S.


*IF* you have to feed kibble, feed Wysong Epigen 90 or Orijen Cat. That food chart provided above is a good guideline, but I still personally think Orijen is a second best to Wysong. And I would advise against Evo because they have been going through many recalls in the past 2 years.

If you can't feed raw, but don't want to feed kibble, look into freeze dried commercial raw. Stella and Chewys, Wysong Archetype, or Nature's Variety have good stuff.

Stay away from most other commercial ferret products. They're full of sugars, which does cause Insulinoma. Ferretone has a carcinogen in it too so be careful. I would advise using fish oil or a raw egg instead. Fish oil is also great for skin and coats.


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