# Any other Farrents?



## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

I just got a ferret, the first since my two old ladies passed on this last summer. He is a DEW and a total kibble addict (spent 20 minutes trying to dig through a rubbermaid tub to get into the dog food), but he is a sweetheart  Working on getting him to eat his raw soupies today  

Here is the little chunker


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I wish we could...but they'd surely become a dog snack in our household (not intentionally of course)! They are so darn cute!


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Eeeek! He is adorable! I have three, all three of them were eating kibble before I got them. Norman dug right into his raw and never looked back - Ramona and Ralph gave me a hard time the first month (with eating their raw). Now they've been eating PMR supplemented with some cat Stella & Chewys (freeze dried raw) for the past 6 weeks or so. I found that if I smeared chicken or turkey babyfood on something they would at least mouth it and taste it. 

My ferrets seem to really love rabbit, duck, cornish hen and turkey heart the most. David (Tobi is his screenname on here) actually informed me that turkey hearts are higher in taurine than beef hearts, so I've been buying those more. We still give them beef heart though, they love it!

I'm sure you'll enjoy your new little one. How did you get him? have you thought of a name yet?


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

DaneMama- They are wonderful, you can never be sad with a ferret loose  

Catahoulamom- His name is Goose  I was interested in a ferret at a shelter, but someone else had applied first and was approved. Well later that day I happened to be looking on craigslist (habit, lol) and he was free without a cage or anything, so I email them and picked him up within the hour  Right now his soupies is made of chicken, deer heart and beef liver, with a little oil oil and bone meal.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

What a little fatty! I've had ferrets since 2005, we've had eight over the years but down to only two now, last couple years have been rough ones. I have a 8-9 year old male with adrenal and a 5 year old girl left. I switched mine to raw last year, wished I'd done it earlier.


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

GoingPostal said:


> What a little fatty! I've had ferrets since 2005, we've had eight over the years but down to only two now, last couple years have been rough ones. I have a 8-9 year old male with adrenal and a 5 year old girl left.


I know how that goes  My ex and I raw a rescue of sorts (it seems like once people know you own them they think you want to take theirs once they are bored with them) and had around 17 I believe at one point. I have tons of awful stories, I can't believe the way some people treat their animals! This last spring my two girls that started it all (both petstore Marshalls girls) passed away at 12 years old, and I had had them from just widdle kits. A couple months later the two remaining, both older (8 and 9) passed on. I wasn't sure that I could open up my heart to a fuzz again, but this guy weaseled (no pun intended) his way in. I've owned ferrets for more of my life then I haven't, so it just felt weird not having one


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

RedneckCowgirl said:


> (it seems like once people know you own them they think you want to take theirs once they are bored with them)


I always warn ferret people about this because it's so true! The last 5 we got were all off other people and I've been offered more than I can count after that. My sister is really bad about talking me up and finding people who want me to take their ferret/cat/iguana/pit bull/etc, because since I already have them I must want everyone's. She hinted about another two that need a home yesterday and there's a 1 year old on the local swap and shop, the owner said "the novelty is long gone". People suck. My girl is a holy terror about new additions and with my male elderly and ill I don't feel comfortable adding more, especially a young one. My girl is the last one we bought from a pet store and the only kit, she's my monster baby. 

My two


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

They are adorable!  And I LOVE that bedding set  I've decided once I need to get a cage I'm getting a 142, we used to have a couple and they are so much better then any other cage on the market!


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

They are really nice cages, it was a little hard convincing the b/f we needed one since they have their own room and aren't ever caged but we use it to hold water dishes and litter pans and they seem to prefer sleeping in there most of the time. They were on a good sale when they switched to the new tool-less FNs and I didn't want to miss my chance to get one. I have a basement full of crappy cages we've accumulated over the years.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I would love to get a ferret someday, but from what I've read they are very prone to various diseases especially cancer and hormonal issues. How would you go about getting one if you want a healthy ferret? My guess is that pet stores arent the best choice. I always imagine them to be like perpetual children on sugar high, constantly running around and getting into trouble. I'd probably have to have a separate room just for them to run around and play in and a large cage.


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> I would love to get a ferret someday, but from what I've read they are very prone to various diseases especially cancer and hormonal issues. How would you go about getting one if you want a healthy ferret?


In my experience with rescuing them, after some groceries and regular good care about 75% of them are healthy and live a fairly long life (around 8-10 years) I would go to a rescue to get one instead of a pet store. Ferret rescues are usually packed (like talked about previously) and while you won't have a history usually you won't have to deal with training kits and the rescue will make you aware of any existing health problems. The only thing I have ever had issues with is adrenal problems, but that can usually be maintained with Lupron injections or in some cases surgery


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

Ferret Frenzy - YouTube

How could you not love an animal that does this everyday without fail  Ferrets are always so silly!


or this 
http://youtu.be/wERJGWUuCEE


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Thats what I figured since so many people get them as impulse gifts for their kids and end up dumping them because they cant handle the constant supervision. I also wonder how many of those health/disease statistics are based on the fact that so many people feed completely inappropriate commercial food. 
Do you know anything about the early neutering/spaying and adrenal disease connection? I dont have a problem leaving a ferret intact if it doesent make a drastic difference in their behavior/marking. But from what I've read, a lot of ferrets are already fixed/descented prior to being sold.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

You've had way better luck with them than I have, I've never had one die of old age and had several "free" ferrets become $1-3,000 ferrets. I plan to buy from a breeder after these two are gone and I work my way out of debt. Doesn't help that the nearest ferret vet is a couple hours away although she is awesome. My family thinks I am nuts for the amount of money we've dropped on those little weasels but what else can you do? 

Precious-adrenal at age 1, had adrenalectomy, dead of insulinoma and lymphoma at 4
Hobo-adrenal by 4, had some sort of stroke and was put down same year
Pandora-my girl who is still living at 5, only real issue a mast cell tumor we had removed last winter
Tweek-died in his sleep a year after we got him, was supposedly only 2-3
Blackie-lymphoma age 4 was put down
Koda-no idea, became deathly ill one day, local vet couldn't figure it out and he wouldn't make it out of town, even opened up after we put him down they didn't figure out what the problem was although they did find out he was adrenal. He was 4-5
Craven-male who's still alive 8-9 years old, adrenal for past two years, has des implant, no reaction to lupron, he had a liver infection earlier this year but recovered well 
Pip-signs of adrenal a year after we got him, spent a year on lupron, had a urinary blockage and needed surgery, had to put him down due to lymphoma a few months later, he was 4-5


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> Do you know anything about the early neutering/spaying and adrenal disease connection? I dont have a problem leaving a ferret intact if it doesent make a drastic difference in their behavior/marking. But from what I've read, a lot of ferrets are already fixed/descented prior to being sold.


Males are fine left intact (a bit stinkier, yes, but fine) but females will stay in heat till they are bred and can get anemic and die, we had this happen to one of our petstore bought Marshalls girls who must have missed getting spayed somehow.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Unosmom, another reason why ferrets are so unhealthy is because 99% of ferrets (in the US at least) come from Mashall Ferret Farms where (as you know) they are spayed/neutered way too early and overbred. Basically a giant "ferret mill". The exotic vet I take my ferrets to said the reason they have so many problems is because pretty much all the ferrets you see today came from the same two ferrets at Marshalls (meaning they are all horribly bred/inbred). I don't know how true it is but it makes sense. 

If you want to have a ferret one day, I would get one from a breeder. Two out of three of ours are rescues, one is an impulse pet store buy (thanks to my boyfriend), all three of them are Marshall's ferrets, and I'm hoping they do not end up with a tragic death from lymphoma/adrenal/etc. I think the only thing I can do to help decrease the chance of those diseases is to not over-vaccinate and feed a species appropriate diet. I hear the ferrets from breeders are much more intense and weasel-y, they take a lot more training and a firmer hand. I've heard people that own both Marshall and privately bred ferrets describe the Marshall ferrets very sweet and snuggly compared to "real" ferrets from breeders.

That being said, I really can't imagine my life without a ferret or two (or three).


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I wish we could have them...the girls are just too reactive towards small animals so I wouldn't trust them to not harm them. 

I will just live vicariously through DFC members with them LOL


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> I wish we could have them...the girls are just too reactive towards small animals so I wouldn't trust them to not harm them.
> 
> I will just live vicariously through DFC members with them LOL


Lol! I was really worried when we got Maddie, because she has a HIGH prey drive (she is a Mountain Cur, so it was expected, but still took getting used to) At our local dog park if she sees a squirrel, well, lets just say if she is on a leash I better hope and pray that I see it first and can brace myself lol, other wise she will rip the leash right out of my hand. She is the same with wild rabbits, birds, pretty much anything that is on the ground and runs when you chase it  But she is really good with the ferrets. She seems to know the difference between things that are ok for her to chase and things that aren't. I'll probably get flamed for this but my ferrets have always had free roam of the downstairs (the main living area) with the dogs and the cats, even if no one is home.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Thats what I'm torn between, rescue or breeder. I guess when become a vet tech, at least i'd get a discount on medical procedures so it wont be such a financial strain. Thanks for the info, it'll still be a while before I have the time/space/finances for more pets.


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## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

Another thing I feel obligated to warm prospective owners about is "ferret math", and the phrase "What's one more?" Lol. They are definitely like potato chips, you can't have just one


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Aw, I bet. I cant imagine having just one ferret since they are such social little animals.


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

Congratulations on getting Goose!
He is adorable!


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