Ferret Caresheet

[Jay_Bunny]

I think I did mention temperature in one of the sections. As far as housing, as long as they are getting a lot of out of cage time, a single level cage is fine for a ferret. Most single level cages have an insert that serves as a "second level" so the ferret can sleep away from his toilet. I have a Ferret Nation 142 model cage, which is a two level cage with mini levels on each of the main levels. This cage can house up to 5 ferrets as long as they are given sufficient out of cage play time, which mine do. I house four ferrets in it right now.

[Boanerges]

Wouldn't feeding a ferret raw chicken make them carry salmonella? I don't know anything about ferret's, I just know my wife always wanted one and I was not aware that they ate raw meat.

[kitsunex]

Wouldn't feeding a ferret raw chicken make them carry salmonella? I don't know anything about ferret's, I just know my wife always wanted one and I was not aware that they ate raw meat.

nope. its what they would naturally eat in the wild. I know some ferret owners that feed their ferrets live baby chicks. they eat them, feather, beak, feet, etc. there won't be anything left.

ferrets are obligate carnivores, which means they don't have the physical ability to digest plant matter. Many theories suggest that feeding kibble to ferrets is the reason behind the high cases of adrenal disease and insulinoma. this seems to be supports by ferret owners who feed whole prey to their ferrets not needing the surgery at all or later on in life.

fact of the matter is that if you own a ferret, you better start putting money away because when they hit approx. 5 years of age, get ready for EXPENSIVE procedures. they are NOT a cheap pet by any means.

(sorry i sorta rambled off onto a tangent there)

[Jay_Bunny]

I don't think all ferrets over the age of 5 need expensive procedures. I guess we will see with my four. My oldest is almost a year and a half.

Eating raw meat will not hurt a ferret. Their digestive systems are too short to catch any food related illnesses. The bacteria doesn't have time to take hold in their system before being eliminated. Compare their digestive systems to ours and you will see why we humans would catch salmonella or something similar. Ours is long and the bacteria would sit there for a really long time, allowing it to incubate and take hold.

Raw meat and whole prey items to wonders for ferrets. I haven't had a chance to go to the store to get meat so my ferrets ate kibble last night. (I felt soooo bad) My oldest girl who is, by far, my best hunter, looked at the kibble, then looked at me as if to say "Ok mom, joke's over. Gimme a mouse!" I'm currently trying to get my feeder colonies up and going so I can switch them to a whole prey diet. It will be cheaper to keep feeder colonies going then buying them meat every week. Chicks are good snacks, but don't make much of a meal. I plan to feed the following to my ferrets once I have my own house and have the room for these feeder colonies:

Mouse (already producing)
Rats (already producing)
Chickens
Rabbits
Button Quail
Gerbils
Hamsters
African Soft Furred Rats
Frogs

[kitsunex]

well i guess i should clarify. the around age 5 part,was in regards to Marshall Ferrets. They all seem to develop Adrenal between 5-7 years of age. with most dieing around the 8-10 year mark. As far as the kibble,that is only partially at fault,with the early spay/neuter being the other part of the fault in this matter. Marshall fixes them before you get them,so they are being spayed/neutered at around 4-5 weeks of age. Whereas if you get a ferret from a private breeder, most will require that you wait until they are 5 months of age before doing the spay/neuter,which seems to lead to bigger, healthier ferrets.

granted Marshall is in a bad position. they are too large to trust the consumer to spay/neuter. the average consumer probably isn't aware that when a female ferret goes into Heat that she HAS to breed or she could potentially die from anemia.

I've been a part of the ferret community since 1991 having cared for and owned quite a few over the years. If your ferret doesn't get adrenal or something else around the 5 year mark, you are very very lucky. Ask around to other experienced ferret owners if you don't believe me.

the fact of the matter is, if you don't have a ferret health fund set up with at least $500 per ferret in it, then you will potentially be in for a rude awakening later on and your ferrets will suffer because of it. Adrenal is not fun to watch as your ferret loses its fur and wastes away.

a lot of ferret owners don't think about these things when they buy the cute little fuzzbut and take it home.

i don't own any at this time as i recently lost the last of my last brood of ferrets and my heart can't take it to own any more for a little while.

[Jay_Bunny]

Isn't adrenal caused by malnutrition over a long period of time. I know a friend of mine had a ferret die of adrenal and she fed him kibble. Actually all the ferrets I've ever met or seen have been fed a kibble diet. I'm feeding mine a raw/whole prey diet. I was told this would help prevent adrenal from developing. All my ferrets are Marshall ferrets.

[kitsunex]

Isn't adrenal caused by malnutrition over a long period of time. I know a friend of mine had a ferret die of adrenal and she fed him kibble. Actually all the ferrets I've ever met or seen have been fed a kibble diet. I'm feeding mine a raw/whole prey diet. I was told this would help prevent adrenal from developing. All my ferrets are Marshall ferrets.

nope, Adrenal is sadly very common amongst ferrets. Personally i feel that feeding the whole/raw diet will help with prevention. the last batch, i had 3 ferrets,all marshall. 2 got adrenal (one at 5, the other at 6 yrs old) and the 3rd didn't get it till he was about 7 1/2.

i couldn't get mine to eat raw, so they ate a combination of "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's soul" and "Eukanuba lamb and rice". i fed them the best diet i could find, even though kibble is in general bad for them because there are too many carbs. ideally they should be eating what you are feeding.

[Jyson]

Forgive me if I am wrong on anything, its been about 7 years since I have owned ferrets. From my experience, they have never had any problems while being on the kibble diet.

The three that I use to own were Marshall's Ferrets, and I fed them the Marshalls Kibble. My oldest was 7, my other two were 5 and 4 1/2, and none of them had any health problems what so ever. They were never under weight or over weight, and I took them to the vet on a yearly basis, all clean bills of health every time. And all were fixed at an early age.

When I was 13, my parents made me get rid of them, I still miss those lil boogers.

Keep in mind, that I am not trying to argue, or state that anyone's info is wrong, I am just stating my experiences on owning ferrets.