Hi there

[kayzfuzzy]

Hello. My name is Kay and I recently got a 2 month old male ferret who I have named Wyatt. I have had ferrets in the past but non for the last 9 years. I have been reading up on the importance of diet and sleep/ darkness. I am feeding my little guy mainly raw ground rabbit, turkey with beef heart, chicken, hard boiled egg yolk and dry kibble available at all times. Since I have been feeding Wyatt the raw food he pretty much turns his nose up at the kibble.
My two main concerns right now and would love some input on are the following.
Wyatt has been chewing fabric and yes ingesting it. Luckily no blockages- he is going potty fine. Why does he keep destroying things by eating the fabric and risking getting sick? He has toys to play with.
Second question is this. I cannot bring myself to feed prey so have been giving a variety of ground meats with ground bones maufactured by Columbia River Natural. Do you think Wyatt is lacking anything important like nutrients, vitamins, oils etc. that I should be supplementing in another manner?

Thank you. I am so happy that you are all there for me and maybe at some point I can be of help to others too.

Kay

[Heather]

Hi and Welcome Kay and Wyatt
Looks like your furbaby is off to a fantastic start. You don't have to feed prey to get the benefits of raw. Have you thought of perhaps feeding some whole meats, like chicken legs, quail pieces, chicken necks, pork ribs...things that will give his teeth and jaws a good work out. I'm not saying that this would cure his desire for sinking his teeth into fine flannel but it might help. My Mayhem always did have a taste for crisp cottons I never was able to cure this strange fettish. It never caused him problems but it did cause me some worry, especially when he got sick and we started thinking blockages It wasn't but it didn't stop the worry. How much out of cage time does he get? I don't know the company that you're choosing from but the easiest to remember is if you can get pure meat and bone grind (with offal is ok too) without veggies, then you're doing ok. I'm guessing that this is a more local co.? The co. that I use for some of my ground mixes is very local too, awesome foods but she doesn't deliver and she basically supplies only a couple of stores in the mid south Ontario.
Good luck with stopping Wyatt from eating his blankies (you can take them away too, or look at the types of blankies that he's eating, maybe he only likes certain types), there maybe someone else who has a better idea about the chewing thing. I hope that I will see you around. Please consider posting pics of Wyatt we always enjoy pictures
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Hi, Kay! Welcome to HF. This is a great site, and can really help with a variety of things, and the people here are really friendly. Can't wait to see pics of the little one!

[Jaycee]

Welcome aboard, and can't wait to see pictures of you fuzz!

[suds]

[bigsis7]

Welcome Kay!!! I'm glad that you are on your way to switching Wyatt to a raw diet. Like Heather said you don't need to feed whole prey if you don't want to. Kinds of meats that would be good to feed are pork, turkey, chicken, and beef. Other meats that are good as well, but not as readily available are duck, lamb, and Cornish game hen. You can feed parts of these meats like legs, wings, necks, basically anything with meat on it. Since you are new to the forum feel free to check out these links to get you started:

Post all questions about natural ferret diet here:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbquest

When you are ready to make the switch to a natural diet, fill out one of these forms:
holisticferret.proboards80.com/in....play&thread=822

and start a thread in this section (copy/paste the filled out form into your first post):
holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbie

Post all questions/updates on the progress of your ferret's diet switch in that one thread.

After making your initial post we will help you start the switch and we will assign you a "Holistic Ferret Mentor" to assist you and monitor your progress.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!! Hope you enjoy yourself here!