HI From Queens NY

[bellamonster]

Hello all

my name is Joel. I'm from queens NY where ferrets are illegal but aren't in long island a few miles from me. I'm here on this forum because Ive read about all the benefits of natural/ raw feeding but i don't want to switch completely. i just Want to give my Bella monster a variety of foods, not just kibble. well now to introduce my fuzzie, shes a Jill kit, was born in the 1st week of November and is very playful. looking into getting another ferret in the next month or so. well while I'm here writing this post, i have one question. how can i start to introduce raw foods like chickens and beef to her and is it a good idea to start her at such a young age

[sherrylynne]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
When you consider most reputable breeders start their kits on a raw meat mush at about 2-3 weeks of age, as soon as they are able to eat solids, I don't think your bella is too young . To be honest, the younger, the better. The longer a ferret is on kibble, the higher the chances of illnesses like insulinoma when they get older! And they take to it very quickly, not having imprinted on kibble. Youngest I've personsonally switched was 12 weeks. She was chowing down on bone within a couple weeks!
Any particular reason you want to keep feeding her kibble?

[Heather]

Hi and welcome to you and little Bella Monster
Please feel free to prowl the site, check out various threads, post questions and generally have fun. Everyone is friendly and are usually quick to respond to your questions.
I agree with Sherrylynne....they're never too young. My little Napoleon was munching and crunching on a raw diet before he left the pet store....he was 7 weeks. I've been feeding raw for over 11 yrs and presently have 14 little fuzzies (I run a private rescue/hospice) who are eating a mixture of commercial, ground, frankenprey and whole prey (both live and frozen)
I hope that I will be seeing you both around.
ciao

[bellamonster]

well to be honest she really enjoys the kibble. and i like to leeve her kibble for her at all times because im not home all day everysingle day. i still want her to be able to eat on her own even when im not home to feed her. but now that u tell me about the insulinoma youre makine me really consider switching her completely.

and heather, everyone here does seem extremely friendly hope to make new friends here and learn aswell

[sherrylynne]

As for leaving out food- I leave raw for mine all the time. They're built to handle it like that

[odin]

Hello and welcome!

I wanted to extend a special greeting to you because you live pretty close to me. I'm out in long island and can help you out if you need the name of two excellent exotic specialist vets. One of the veterinary practices specializes in small mammals only and doesn't even treat dogs and cats. That place is overflowing with ferrets and their parents. And there is also a 24 hour emergency critical care pet hospital out here. The facility has every piece of equipment you can imagine, including pet MRI, and has a surgeon on call 24 hours a day. We had to use them for a pretty scary intestinal blockage. They don't do normal vet stuff, only emergency care specialists.

I can also give you info on pet stores to avoid and ones you can actually find decent stuff in.

I consider myself VERY lucky to be surrounded by so many vets and specialists who treat ferrets regularly.

Also, I was a little confused by your introduction. You called your little fuzzy a jill, is she unaltered? usually jill indicates an unspayed and un-descented female. A spayed female is a sprite. I didn't want to be rude and presume anything, its just that i'd be interested in where you got an unaltered kit if that was the case.

[bellamonster]

Odin thanks for the info i had no idea that altered female was called a sprite and id love the name of the 2 specialists name whenever u get a chance thanks in advance.

and sherrylynne aren't u ever afraid of the food going bad or spoiling?

[sherrylynne]

Considering in the wild, weasels will hunt and kill a jackrabbit, and then continue to feed off it for a week
Our guys have exactly the same digestive system their wild brethren do, so no. It takes about a max of 4 hours from the time it goes into their mouths to come out the other end, and takes bugs like salmonella about 8 hours to brew in the gut. It's out of them before it can affect them
Besides- if it's bad, they won't touch it, spoiled brats they are

[bellamonster]

lol nice. so how can i start introducing these foods to her

[odin]

Here is the vet info.

www.oldcountryanimalclinic.com/

This is Dr. Monaco's practice. we use him mostly b/c he's literally 3 minutes away from us. He's an exotics specialist. Lots of birds see him, but don't let it fool you, he knows his ferrets. He performed Cassi's surgery 2 weeks ago, there was almost no bruising at all and she was up and dooking like a nut in 3 or 4 days.

www.heidihoefer.com/pages/whah/whah.htm

This is Dr. Hoefer's practice. Her practice is what they call "predator free" because she doesn't treat large animals, only small mammals and birds. She has written articles about gastric diseases in ferrets, so she really knows her stuff. We actually used both Dr. Monaco and Dr. Hoefer to troubleshoot the mysterious intestines our little monster seems to have.

These are probably a bit of a hike for you from queens, but you're probably also not going to find a ferret familiar vet in queens since they are technically illegal there. Some people on this forum say they can't get to a decent ferret vet without a five hour drive, so i count my blessings everyday, especially with a sick little fuzzie.

www.livs.org/

LIVS is the emergency place i told you about that is open 24/7 with a surgeon on call. I've brought Cassi here a couple times and have shared the waiting room with dogs, ducks, pigs... all kinds of stuff. It's pretty good to have this place around, since my little monster seems to always get REALLY sick at around 7pm on a Sunday.

[bellamonster]

theres about 2 24/7 emergency vets near me and an emergency vet a few blocks away . i jsut have to find out if these guys know the ferts before i take them there. if anything i wouldnt mind taking bella to long island being that its not too far from me
thanks odin

[sherrylynne]

I would definitely double check with the e-vet! I thought I'd had one(had been referred there by my former exotics vet), until I had an emergency one morning about 6am. Called them, only to find out they no longer treated ferrets!

[Heather]

Continue checking too. I had a vet that I worked closely with and never had a problem, phoned with an emergency (Odin broke a major tooth doing cage wars with Fun-Go) only to find that my regular vet was on a leave and that their exotic vet wouldn't deal with his teeth. That was some horrible couple of hours while I searched for someone who would deal with his tooth (it was broken off at the gum line...silly little sod) I did find a vet, a really awesome vet and we work really well together but that was a scary few hours because my furbaby was in serious pain and I could do nothing for him and no one would treat him.
ciao