New Ferret Parent

Question
Hello.. Me and my boyfriend recently bought a ferret and it was instant love when we were picking one out however there are a few questions that I have.We know that our lovebug is still young when we bought food (the store that we bought her from was specific on care)we bought the regular Ferret food but when she eat there have been numerous times when she starts to choke one incident was so bad she fell over and we had to dig it out of her throat we've tried soaking it, breaking it to pieces and nothing seems to work! What do you recommend that we do to prevent this situation from happening?   Question 2 We know that you cant use a clump litter so would something like CLEAN sand work ? and finally she doesnt like being in her cage she finds a way out and our apartment is ferret proof so is there really anything wrong with her not sleeping in there (unless we leave then of course she goes in)

Answer
ASHLEY I have added a response to your question and comments at the bottom, please read.

Thanks!

Dear Ashley,

First let me congratulate you guys on your new ferret! They are delightful animals and wonderful to own. What did you name her?

This is not meant to offend in the least but the likelihood that the petstore you got her from understanding or knowing anything about ferret nutrition is slim to none. They are told what the ferrets should be fed by the breeder, and unfortunately that was more than likely Marshalls and they are anything but honest and are not in it for the ferrets best interest.

I'm assuming they more than likely told you to feed Marshall's ferret food...that is one of the worst foods to feed a ferret.

It's very unhealthy, full of sugar which will increase the likelihood of your ferret getting  insulinoma by a lot, it contains by-products, corn which no ferret should ever have in a diet, grains which should not be a in a ferret food, low protein and the protein is does have is from plants which is harmful to ferrets, and it has very little meat.
If they didn't say Marshall's they might have recommended Kaytee (dubbed as Blockage in a bad), Purina (horrible), Zupreem (not that great), Totally Ferret (bad), 8in-1 (not good), Iams (terrible), Hills Science Diet (Stay far away from it)

If by some miracle they recommended a healthy food I am amazed and very impressed. If they did then you are going to a good petshop and you are very very lucky.

Here is a quick brief breakdown of a ferrets nutritional needs.

They are obligate carnivores and their ideal diet consists of raw whole prey such as f/t (frozen and thawed) mice, rats, quails, chicks, rabbits etc, incests and eggs. This is the healthiest diet to feed your ferret but requires a lot of research, time and space.

When feeding a dry diet for a ferret you want to feed a mixture of high quality meat based foods by switching the food around, such as feed one on this day and a different one on another day.. Ferrets will imprint on foods at a young age and can be tricky to switch to a new food. Having a mixture makes it easier to change them over to different foods and gives them a variety.

You want a food with a high protein content but it is necessary to make sure that that protein comes from meat sources not plants. The first two or three ingredients (more is better) should be a meat source and not a by-product.

By-products are supposed to be organs of the animals but unfortunately they can be anything from the organs they are supposed to be, to melted down feathers, hooves, horns, etc. They are the left-overs of the left-overs and have little to no nutritional value and can even be harmful.

Grains are another ingredient that shouldn't be in ferret foods. Corn is a grain that is put in many ferret foods as a cheap filler (as are all grains) and not only is it hard for a ferret to digest, many ferrets have allergies caused from it. Grains serve no nutritional value to a ferret and are detrimental to their health.

The best foods out there for ferrets as it stands right now (and in my opinion) and foods that I highly recommend feeding are...

Innova Evo Feline
http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500

Innova Evo Ferret
http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1502

Wellness Core Feline
http://www.omhpet.com/wellness/cat_wellness_dry_core.html

Orijen Feline
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orij...gredients.aspx

Nature's Variety Instinct Feline
http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...56ysN180FC8 7
http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...56ysN180FC8 7

Nature's Variety Raw/Freeze Dried Medallions (this is only for supplementing, not for a complete diet)
http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lass...38BA5jqM286D780

Wysong Ferret Archetypal-1 (only this one, all of their others aren't appropriate for ferrets)
http://www.wysong.net/Merchant2/merc...roduct_Count=3

Two decent foods that aren't as high a quality as the ones mentioned above are

Natural Gold Ferret Food
http://www.fuzies.com/natural_gold_ferret_food1.htm

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul....kitten_formula/

The bad thing (or good thing depending on the opinion) is most, if not all of these foods can not be purchased at chain pet stores such as Petsmart and Petco. They can be bought at smaller independent feed, boutiques and supply stores. Just go to each website and go to the "where to buy" then place in your address, that will get you many stores near you that sell these foods. And who knows, this was how I got one of my jobs after I walked into an independent holistic store for animals looking for ferret food.

Stay far far away from foods such as Marshalls, Kaytee, 8in-i, Hills Science Diet, Iams, Purinia etc.

The food can add up but luckily that when fed a proper diet they will eat much less and require less medical care.

Feeding a high quality food decreases their smell by a ton, causes them to poop less because they are utilizing more of the nutrients in the food, their fur becomes so amazingly soft, and they just seem happier and healthier. It also reduces the risk of a ferret getting insulinoma to almost no chance of a ferret getting it, keeping your vet bills down and your ferret alive.

Good treats for them is raw chicken necks, raw wings, raw eggs, and raw or cooked meat.

I honestly wouldn't worry about her choking. It wouldn't hurt to wet her food till it's mush, especially because she might be too young to be on hard food depending on how old she is. Marshalls (if she is a Marshalls ferret) ferrets are sent out to stores at an extremely young (too young) of age and aren't ready to be on dry food yet.

Many ferrets though eat like that, so fast they inhale some of the food. Watch her, see how she acts and if she doesn't act like it bothers her, don't let it bother you.

I would highly suggest staying away from sad as a litter box. Sad will still clump slightly, but the major worry I would have is that it would be very dusty, causing respiratory problems.

I would recommend using Yesterday's News for Cats, it's cheaper than Yesterday's News for Ferrets or Marshalls paper pelleted litter but the exact same thing.

If you want to let her be a free range ferret that would be wonderful! That is such a great thing for a ferret, just make sure it's ferret proof.

I would also recommend that you keep the cage open so that she has a option of going in there if she wants to. I do that and my ferrets will do in there and eat or then curl up in their beds.

http://pets-galore.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=673  (not a whole lot of ferret people there yet, but I'm there and would be more than happy to answer any questions. It would be nice to see more ferret people on there...and you get to show off pictures!

http://www.petshub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15 (if you can deal with the ads this place has a lot of great ferret owners. Disable the Scripts to get rid of the ads)

http://www.ferretvillage.org/index.php?sid=c833a8c4485d71cfb75023729231c871

http://www.everythingfert.proboards36.com/index.cgi

I hoped I helped a bit, and please keep me updated and keep asking questions!

Lindsey

Added 1/21/08

Dear Ashley

Thanks for the very nice rating, I appreciate it a lot!

Hammy is such a cute name, I love it :)

For clarification, when you buy a ferret from PetCo you are buying from Marshalls.

Marshalls is a major breeder and distributor of ferrets in the US (think puppy mill for ferrets) and they sell to all the PetCo's and most other petstores. If you get a ferret in the US it's almost always going to be a Marshalls Ferret.

The problem with that, is they breed the ferrets with no thought to genetics, they use forced breeding programs to keep the females in season to supply ferrets all year round, they spay and neuter ferrets at such a young age that it is detrimental to their health, and then sell them to pet stores before they should even be on dry food.

They are overall, a very creepy and shady breeder, but unfortunately there is very little you can do not to get a Marshalls ferret, unless you go to a private breeder. Sadly though, Marshall ferrets tend to become ill and die at a much younger age than better bred ferrets.

And that is one of the reasons I am such an advocate for good food.

No 8in-1 is a low quality food and I highly suggest you change foods as soon as possible.

I would really really recommend switching to one of the foods I gave you in my earlier reply. It would be so much better for your ferret. It will help save you heartache, vet bills and lots and lots of poop :)

Ask any more questions you have, and if you wanted join http://pets-galore.net That's a great way to learn more about ferrets, ask questions, share stories and pictures and just make friends.

And I personally would love to see a picture of your little Hammy.

Keep me updated and good luck!

Lindsey