Hello, new ferret owner here!

[savagedestiny]

Hello there! My name is Staci and I live in Central Oregon. I am a brand new (and accidental) ferret mommy! I got Vivi from a family who found him in their garage, could not find his owner, and could not keep him. I offered to take him temporarily and find him a home, however within a couple days we had fallen in love with him, and now he's here to stay.

Vivi is fitting in quite well with my four cats, Monstee, Puck, Riot and Ewu. He also really likes my Pit Bull, Riddle. There is a snag, however- poor Riddle is terrified of little Vivi. She's getting braver, since he's been here a week, but she's still not sure he can't devour her. Heehee.

I joined the forum because while I know a good bit about dog and cat nutrition, I know zilch about ferret nutrition. I also need some advice on switching Vivi to raw, as he's a kibble addict! I'll be posting in the appropriate sections a little later. For now, here's pics of my family!

Riddle sniffing Vivi (she leaped away terrified right after I snapped this):


Riot sniffing noses with Vivi:


Puck and Riot checking out Vivi in his cage:


I don't have and of Monstee and Ewu with Vivi though.

[Heather]

Hi and Welcome Staci
Welcome to being a ferrant If you've switched your kitty you're looking at approximately the same regime for your ferret. If you check out our raw feeding section you can read through some of the methods that people have used to switch their fuzzies. If you want some help, all you have to do is fill out the newbie applications and read through what is involved. You will then have a mentor assigned to help you out, offer support and generally be a shoulder when your fuzzbutt is just about driving you crazy through the switch. They will also try and help you with any questions regarding habits and health as well. That's not entirely true some fuzzies switch like a dream and leave you shaking your head and wondering what happened.
Good luck, I hope I will see you around. You have a cute furfamily.
ciao

[Forum Administrator]

Hello and welcome!

Ferrets, like cats, are obligate carniovres, so all their food should be animal-based. NO fruits! No veggies! No grains!

Here on the Holistic Ferret Forum, when we feed a raw diet we feed either a commercial pre-made raw diet or a raw diet based on the prey model. This diet uses whole raw foods (like chicken wings) and then raw muscle meats and organs.

Another thing that ferret feeders do is sometimes we feed "whole prey" or whole animals. Because ferrets are so small its alot easier to feed these foods then to say, a large dog.

Many people buy their feeder animals online through rodentpro.com The animals are frozen and you thaw them out and feed. IMO a whole prey diet is best, because it comes "pre-balanced". It can be a little more expensive then JUST a raw diet, so many people choose to feed raw AND whole prey.

Whether you decide to just go raw, or you decide to do raw and whole prey you'll be better off then feeding kibble

Welcome aboard and if you have any questions, just ask!

[savagedestiny]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Right now with my other pets I do a mix of things. The cats get premade in the morning (I usually use Primal, my cats run away from Nature's Variety) and either chicken necks or wings at night. Riddle I do a little different with- she gets ground meat and bone which I buy from our store in the morning, with a little veggie/fruit mash I make mixed in. I use the ground meat stuff because the company has a lot more protein options than just chicken, beef, or lamb, which would otherwise be the only stuff available. She also gets chicken and turkey frames, beef or elk knuckles, and when our butcher has them whole rabbit or quail. Everybody gets supplemented with various oils, eggs, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, raw honey, organ meats, etc. at various times during the week.

I'm very familiar with raw diets for cats and dogs, mainly I just don't know what ferrets' exact requirements are. Plus the little bugger is giving me way more trouble about switching than my cats ever did.

[suds]

hi Staci
You came to the rite place there are several friendly experinced people here who can help you , Ferts can be very picky as you have seen lol read some of the threads in newbies switching it will give you a ideal of the differnt ways others have tried and you will see there is not 1 magical way to do it each fert is different some are very easy and some will fight you tooth and nail to switch but I can asure you the mentors here will help you get him switched . So read and check out some of the good info they here and when your ready start a thread in the newbie switching
BTW he looks great for being found in a garage

holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbie

Be sure to fill out one of these forms and copy/paste it into your first post in that thread:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/in....play&thread=822

[whipple]

Welcome! Its great to have another raw feeder!