FERRETS NEED FOOD 24/7

Question
Hi, I have two baby ferrets and they are 8 weeks old (Mila and Raine) I have
just recently purchased them from a pet shop and they said only to feed them
once in the morning and take theyr'e food out  for the rest of the day and
don't feed them at night. I was wondering if thats right?. And if it makes a
difference I am feeding them Marshall premium ferret diet also adding some
water to soak for a few minutes.I'm doing some more research on them on so
any other helpful hints would be great. Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Carrie:

Gosh, I'm SO glad you wrote!! Whoever told you that needs to be fired! I hope you will print out my letter and take it to the pet store owner personally. Feeding any ferret once a day WILL KILL IT - feeding baby ferrets once a day will absolutely cause them to NOT THRIVE and they will die in a very short period of time - days at most.  You need to speak up to save the lives of the other ferrets at the pet store so that uninformed person can be educated!! Please?

Baby ferrets should have moist food - just use the dry and add warm water; change this three to four times a day to keep it from getting moldy or yucky. At about 8 weeks old, your kids should be able to eat DRY food. ALWAYS KEEP A BOWL OF FRESH WATER NEAR THEIR FOOD BOWL AND CHANGE THE WATER DAILY. This is as important as the food because ferrets dehydrate quickly and can also die from that.

Ferrets have a very very short intestinal tract and it only takes food about 3-4 hours for food to go from their mouth to the litterbox, so the rest of the time, the ferret is literally EMPTY unless it is eating in between. HEALTHY ferrets will eat every hour or two, nibbling a little at a time. Their growing bodies NEED constant nourishment to build strong bones, muscles and organs. If they don't get it as babies, they will be sickly their whole lives.

SO, I commend you for seeking out the right answer for your ferrets, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, for the sake of the rest of the ferrets in the store and all the other ones that will come in probably every week from now on, take this email to the store manager and be SURE those ferrets have moist food and clean water available to them at ALL TIMES.  

If ferrets have DRY FOOD too soon, their anus (where they poop) will actually turn inside out and bleed, so it's important to keep their food moist until they are 8 weeks old and their digestive system can handle dry food.

THANK YOU for standing up for the ferrets, Carrie - PLEASE, I hope you will get the book FERRETS FOR DUMMIES and read it all through.  CALL THEM ON THE PHONE if you can't drive there, then ask the manager's name and follow up by MAILING THIS TO THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The sooner they get the information, the sooner the ferrets will be cared for properly and hopefully you will save lives! It only takes a few minutes and one postage stamp - AND for YOU to care enough to do it...just as you did this letter. When you see things like this that are wrong and can even KILL ferrets, please speak up and SAVE A LIFE - SAVE LOTS OF LIVES!!  If every ferret owner will be responsible, think of the innocent little lives we can save!!

Speaking out for the precious little innocents,

Jacquie Rodgers