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Post by susan4rest on Jun 17, 2008 14:46:27 GMT -5
 ;D New to ferrets and have two 7 1/2 week old babies...One (ZENA) a REW is doing great with eating and the other (Cora) a cinnamon is not so much... Feeding a mixture of quality kit kibble and cooked natural meat...Need advice...They are sisters and Z is growing rapidly and Cora does not seem to be growing very much at all... I was exposed to ferrets about 20 years ago when I was raising rabbits for 4h's and fell in love ...now my 21 yr-old son and I have these beautiful girls...Cora only nibbles on the dry kibble and eats better on the meats. While Z is constantly in either bowl eating every few hours... The breeder gave no shots, no descenting or spaying, so I have decisions to make as well...please help!
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Post by meli on Jun 17, 2008 14:58:52 GMT -5
Welcome! and you've come to the right place. I'm new to ferrets as well but shortly you'll more then likely going to get answers to your questions. We have breeders and raw feeders on here whom are always giving advice!
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Jun 17, 2008 15:00:44 GMT -5
HI welcome to the forum, i also have a ferret from a breeder and about to get another one, first of let me say that you will need to get them altered when they around 8 months old. Please do not do it sooner. Since they are females this is not a choice, as I'm sure that you know. I have not gotton mine descented and am not planning on doing so, so i would hope that you do not either.(i just reread what i wrote and i am sorry but i came off wrong, what i meant to say was I hope you look into the pro's and cons of descenting and make an informed choice, sorry if i came off snotty did not mean too  sorry) I always make sure that the babies have their shots after tthat I take it on a ferret by ferret by situtiation baises. Ok now on to the food, is this what the breeder was feeding them?? Same kibble ect... if it is try maybe changing thier cooked meat over to raw meat. and you may have to find a different kibble. If its not find out what the breeder was feeding. Also have you taken these sweet little ones to the vet yet to make sure that there are no problems that may explain why one is not eating as much as the other. I know that at this age they eat and eat and eat , just like human babies. Feel free to pm me or just post your questions we will all try to help out as much as possible. Sorry if i missed a question please feel free to smack me on the head and ask again  |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 17, 2008 16:11:24 GMT -5
First of all,  It's great to have you here! Please take a moment and let us know how you found us, by posting here: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=talking&action=display&thread=45 New to ferrets and have two 7 1/2 week old babies...One (ZENA) a REW is doing great with eating and the other (Cora) a cinnamon is not so muchWow, new to ferrets AND you've got TWO babies on your hands lol. You are a brave person Meli, is also new to ferrets and has two little ones on her hands. Feeding a mixture of quality kit kibble and cooked natural meat...I'm happy to hear that you are including some meat in their diet. Cooked is okay, but raw is IMO 100x better. Cooking destorys alot of nutrients and vitamins. Need advice...They are sisters and Z is growing rapidly and Cora does not seem to be growing very much at all... I was exposed to ferrets about 20 years ago when I was raising rabbits for 4h's and fell in love ...now my 21 yr-old son and I have these beautiful girls...Cora only nibbles on the dry kibble and eats better on the meats. While Z is constantly in either bowl eating every few hours...Buzzonesbirdie is right. These guys are at an age where they SHOULD be eating like pigs. Its good that Cora is eating the meat more then the kibble, she is trying to tell you something (feed me meat not kibble!). I would try and get BOTH girls off of the kibble (eventually) and onto RAW meat. If you can handle the though, frozen-thawed mice actually make a wonderful addition to their diet, but if you are uncomfortable about that, you CAN feed an only raw diet (although more then raw meat is required, so please check out this thread: holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=newbie&action=display&thread=336for more info on raw diets.) The breeder gave no shots, no descenting or spaying, so I have decisions to make as well...please help! Okay, Jas is correct about the spaying thing. Your babies need to be spayed (eventually) because when a ferret goes into heat they dont come out on their own (unless they are bred, or human intervention takes place). I also agree about not spaying until the girls are about 8 months old. Early spay/neuter is IMO one of the downfalls of ferrets (and a kibble diet is the other downfall IMO). I also agree about not descenting. No reason to really, ferrets don't "poof" unless they are alarmed or in select situations, the surgery is unecessary but its up to you to make the choice about whether or not to descent, they are your ferrets and its YOUR decision. As for shots, some people dont give shots at all. I give all my ferrets their basic distemper series (1 distemper shot at 8 weeks, one distemper shot at 11-12 weeks and one shot at 14-16 weeks. I give my ferrets 1 rabies shot at 15 weeks) After this initial series of shots, I DO NOT re-vaccinate each year. I am going to be participating in a study that is researching titer's for ferrets. Here is some info on titers: www.housepetmagazine.com/02/Vaccination.htmHopefully, you'll be able to take advantage of the board. I hope you like it here and if you have any questions feel free to private message me or any person marked as a "Holistic Ferret Mentor and/or Moderator" |
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Jun 17, 2008 18:02:48 GMT -5
whew, im glad i gave some good advice |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 17, 2008 20:18:21 GMT -5
whew, im glad i gave some good advice Yeah, if you gave bad advice I would just have my ferrets hunt you down and eat you  |
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Post by meli on Jun 17, 2008 20:35:31 GMT -5
Fugue has the fert bite of death...so I hear.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 17, 2008 20:39:40 GMT -5
Fugue has the fert bite of death...so I hear. LOL he used to. Now he only has the fert bite of death if you happen to be a mouse (or a chicken wing). |
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Post by susan4rest on Jun 18, 2008 9:26:22 GMT -5
Thanks for all of your great advice...The breeder is giving me almost the oposite to get the ferrets on kibble stop feeding so much meat, but it does not make sense to me, so...they don't like raw yet and with ones so small I don't want to fast...the vet will probably be this saturday because of work, but in the meantime I am giving cora anything she will try and hoping that they are eating the kibble when I am gone...my plan is to get them on wysong architype 1 for dry while I'm at work and feed meat when I am there...I will get back to you all on their progress...how much (oz) of meat will these little guys eat at one meal?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 18, 2008 21:06:51 GMT -5
lol they will eat ALOT of meat while they are growing. I dont know the exact number, but a general rule with kits is "let them keep eating till they stop". When they get older you can limit the food they get, but know they need alot. Growing takes alot of energy |
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ferretmaster
Going Natural
Ferretopia Ferret Forum[/color]
Ferret Slave
Posts: 120
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Post by ferretmaster on Jun 19, 2008 21:54:45 GMT -5
welcome to the group
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Post by smokeyanbandit on Jun 22, 2008 23:59:55 GMT -5
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Post by jennifer5799 on Jul 11, 2008 11:12:35 GMT -5
I know you've been here for awhile now, but I'm behind, So !!! |
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