Hello from Ontario!

[Sapphyr]

My ferrets love to play with my pitbull~ She knows to be careful and not hurt them since they're small in comparison, but they have fun jumping at her and chasing her, and the cats, around the room.

Yours seem to not be so interested in other things, Owlie ;c Mine get into anything and everything they can, very curious about what this or that is.

And Corni, they aren't really all that expensive. Most ferrets are neutered/spayed before being sent off to pet stores. It's even a law in some states. Most ferrets are supplied by a large breeder in New York, thus will normally have a small tattoo on one of their ears(all of mine share this tattoo, it looks like two dots) and are normally neutered/spayed. The only thing expensive is their food. It's $20 a bag here but it normally lasts a month, anyways, so no big deal.

The only thing I don't like about them, besides their determination to investigate things, is that they crap A LOT. Have to clean out their cages 2 - 3 times a week, or more, to avoid a large poo build up, and, of course, keep an eye on areas in the room they wander. They, for the most part, go in corners.

[Jendee]

awww love the ferrest!!! welcome to the forum!

[Little Wise Owl]

Oh trust me, my ferrets get into EVERYTHING. If I'm cleaning, they need to be in the garbage bag... even if it's filled with their poopy litter. They need to throw my old nintendo games across the room right after I'd organized them... They also like to hide my cellphone at the far corner behind my bed where I can't reach.

[Jendee]

aww i thought i posted in here but it didn't show up sooo again!!
Cute ferrets!! I love ferrets! welcome to the forum Im sure you will love it here..good job posting pics in your introduction thread..we demand them lol

[marvelfreak]

Hello and welcome cool animals and sweet pictures.

[Sapphyr]

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

Oh trust me, my ferrets get into EVERYTHING. If I'm cleaning, they need to be in the garbage bag... even if it's filled with their poopy litter. They need to throw my old nintendo games across the room right after I'd organized them... They also like to hide my cellphone at the far corner behind my bed where I can't reach.

Ha! Exactly the same, 'cept the cellphone bit. Instead, they hide my glasses under my bed. I get so frustrated when they're trying to check out the poopy garbage bag and I'm like,"Agh! No, that's smelly, yours, and you don't need to be -in- it!" Silly ferries~ Mine really need a bath right about now. Starting to get that strong ferret smell to 'em.

[Little Wise Owl]

I kind of miss that ferret musk... My ferrets' musky smell is a little vague since they're on a natural diet.

[Sapphyr]

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

I kind of miss that ferret musk... My ferrets' musky smell is a little vague since they're on a natural diet.

I feed mine Marshall's diet, but only bathe 'em once every 4 - 6 weeks. Don't want to dry out their skin or strip essential oils from their coat. Panda kinda smells like... smoked ham right now. I find it weird but oh well. She's actually on the 'Duck Soup' diet right now, though. We house the males with the females and we think poor Panda was getting shoved from food, so she got really underweight. Moved her to her own cage and we've had her on the Duck Soup for about a week or two, she's really bounced back. I think she's ready to be put back with the others, but I'm probably going to be feeding them separately from now on, and also on a schedule.

[Little Wise Owl]

I can't bring myself to feed ferrets any of the "ferret" foods. There are VERY few brands I deem suitable for ferrets. I think the only one I will feed is EVO's Ferret Food.

I had ferrets many years ago and they were fed ferret food and thinking back and comparing them to my ferrets now... Whew, BIG difference. High protein, absolutely LOW carb foods made such a huge difference. The ferrets poop much less, eat less, their coats are soft as soft could be (my previous ferrets had... wirey... rough coats).

It's honestly something you wouldn't notice until you saw the change.

[Sapphyr]

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

I can't bring myself to feed ferrets any of the "ferret" foods. There are VERY few brands I deem suitable for ferrets. I think the only one I will feed is EVO's Ferret Food.

I had ferrets many years ago and they were fed ferret food and thinking back and comparing them to my ferrets now... Whew, BIG difference. High protein, absolutely LOW carb foods made such a huge difference. The ferrets poop much less, eat less, their coats are soft as soft could be (my previous ferrets had... wirey... rough coats).

It's honestly something you wouldn't notice until you saw the change.

Really? I thought Marshall's was one of the top ferret 'pellet' formulas around. What would you recommend, then?

[Little Wise Owl]

You'd be very surprised. It's quite grain heavy. Corn and grains (carbs) are highly suspected contributors to Insulinoma (the common neoplastic disease which many ferrets fall ill to).

I personally recommend raw/whole prey diets. 80% meat, 10%bone, 10%organs (5% of that being liver) and anything from mice, rats, quail, rabbit, chicks (anything you can get from a reptiles feed supplier, really) There are also commercial raw diets available with 95% meat.

If researching and getting into raw isn't your cup of tea you can try these brands:

Innova EVO's ferret and cat/kitten formulas:
EVO Ferret Food
EVO Cat & Kitten Food

I wouldn't feed this brand myself (it's not grain free) BUT it's a better brand.
8-in-1 ULTIMATE Ferret Food (NOT "Ultra" that formula has corn in it)

Go! Natural Chicken, Turkey and Duck cat food

Please check out this chart. It's up to date and lists all ferret/cat foods from best to worst:
Ferret Food Chart

[Little Wise Owl]

If by chance you are interested in raw, natural diets you can check out this forum: Holistic Ferret Forum - Home

This is where I learned how to feed raw to my ferrets when they were kits.

[Sapphyr]

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

You'd be very surprised. It's quite grain heavy. Corn and grains (carbs) are highly suspected contributors to Insulinoma (the common neoplastic disease which many ferrets fall ill to).

I personally recommend raw/whole prey diets. 80% meat, 10%bone, 10%organs (5% of that being liver) and anything from mice, rats, quail, rabbit, chicks (anything you can get from a reptiles feed supplier, really)

If researching and getting into raw isn't your cup of tea you can try these brands:

Innova EVO's ferret and cat/kitten formulas:
EVO Ferret Food
EVO Cat & Kitten Food

I wouldn't feed this brand myself (it's not grain free) BUT it's a better brand.
8-in-1 ULTIMATE Ferret Food (NOT "Ultra" that formula has corn in it)

Go! Natural Chicken, Turkey and Duck cat food

Please check out this chart. It's up to date and lists all ferret/cat foods from best to worst:
Ferret Food Chart

Well not to sound morbid or anything, but I personally think it'd be interesting to watch them consume whole prey items. I just think getting them to switch to this will be difficult.

What size mouse/rat would a full grown ferret eat? Would there be a size difference for adult males and females(since females are smaller)? I'm sure they're fed daily, but how much per day and how many suitably sized mice/rats per day?

[Little Wise Owl]

Not morbid at all! (although it would be to me if it was live... I'm very against feeding live rodents to ANY pets)

These are my ferrets eating two mice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soW2F_24OYU

Ferrets could eat something as big as a rabbit (a medium rabbit could probably feed 4 ferrets for an entire day and a half) I feed my ferrets 2-4 frozen adult mice a day (they get 1-2 mice each) if they're not fed anything else. Sometimes I'll throw in 1 large rat for the day and maybe some chicken hearts on the side.

There's no real specific size to give... You learn what your ferrets like and how much they like to eat as you go.

As for switching... It can be hard, I hear. My ferrets were tiny kits when I started them so it was super easy for me. If you want more info on switching, I DEFINITELY recommend checking out the Holistic Ferret Forum. The moderators will personally help you by providing step-by-step methods to switching picky ferrets.

Then again, you could have ferrets that are eager to switch. Never know until you try.

[Little Wise Owl]

Haha, I just realized... I came onto a reptile forum and am now having a conversation about ferrets.