My Ferret Care

Here is a great video I found of a great tool to use on your ferret called a halter. A ferret halter is simply a leash for your ferret. I have been asked before if it is alright to take a ferret outside. I always tell these people it is. If your ferret has a halter. The video below shows how the halter is put on. Which is great the first time I tried to put one on I put it on backwards.

Hello Every One I thought the best way to tell you all how to cut your ferrets nails was to show you using a video. Here is a great video which I found on YouTube. It shows a great method of how to cut your ferrets nails so they cannot run away making it much easier on you and your ferret.

CLICK HERE to watch this video.

Here is a one of my favorite parts of ferret care. TOYS! Buying toys is fun but making your own toys is even more fun. Figuring out what your ferret likes and what they don’t like its great. Here is an awesome video that I found on YouTube which shows how to make a fun toy that your ferret will love called a Crocheted egg

CLICK HERE to watch this great video

If your not one to make your own toys. Try checking out the My Ferret Care Store for some great toys and tons of fun for your ferret.

First of all deafness with ferrets is not a huge problem. It is still a very important part of Ferret Care. Ferrets don’t use there ears to to much this is why it’s hard to tell some times even if your ferret is deaf. Ferrets won’t come to you when you call there name like dogs will and saying NO! when they do something wrong won’t make them stop. The Best way I find to tell if your ferret is deaf is to put them on the ground and then either snap your fingers behind them or use something else that makes a noise (like one of there toys). If your ferret does nothing then they may be deaf. Don’t just do this once though because your ferret may just be ignoring you. Try it on several occasions before you make your “diagnosis.” If you find that your ferret is deaf you don’t have to do to much differently. One of the biggest things is scaring your ferret. You can very easily scare your ferret silly because they won’t be able to tell if your sneaking up behind them. So Just make sure before you pick your little friend up that you let them know you are there. This can be as simple as slapping the ground beside them or showing them your hand by putting it in front of them.

Thank you for coming to my blog. I hope you found it helpful as you seek to take better care of your pet ferret. Make sure to check back often as I continue to write more articles and make sure to check out the other articles I have written all about ferret care.

As I said I would look for a good video to show you how to wash your ferret. Here is a great one on youtube just follow the link HERE

A couple of things to note about the video. The person says to use puppy shampoo I would recommend just using ferret shampoo or if you can’t find any than use baby shampoo that does not hurt your eyes. The person also uses buckets I just used the bath tub it always seemed easier. finally about the treat at the end that person gave the ferrets milk. Milk is bad for your ferret in excess.

Over the years ferrets have worked up a reputation for being very smelly animals. While it is true that ferrets have an odour there are certain things that you can do to help control the odor. I won’t tell you that these methods will completely get rid of the odor because that would be lying but they certainly can help reduce the smell.

One of the biggest ways to help control your ferrets odour is by grooming regularly and properly. One of the biggest questions with ferret care is. How often do you bath a ferret? I would say every 6 to 8 weeks would just fine. You may think your ferret smells so you’ll just bath it more. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. Actually if you bath your ferret more often they’re skin will get dry because you washed all the oils off so they will start to produce more causing them to smell even worse. Bathing your ferret is not a hard process really but I will try to find a good video that demonstrates the process well and post it in the next few days Keep watch for it.

Just like a cat or a dog your ferret will need to have it’s nails trimmed from time to time. It is important that this is done regularly before they get to long. If left unattended a vein will grow in the nail. If you cut the vein this will hurt your ferret. Try not to do this early on in there life because it can make nail trimming a chore if your ferret is scared of you cutting its nails. Make sure you cut back your ferrets nails or else you will not be able to cut them short at all. If the vein gets to long you will have to take them to the vet and have them cut the nails for you.

Also a ferret will need to be brushed regularly. If you do this the Odor will not be able to pile up on its self making your ferret smell extra bad. You can get grooming brushes from your local pet store. Brushes that work on cats work fine on ferrets as well.

The other important part of ferret care is  taking proper care of your ferrets living space. This includes things like Cleaning its litter box every day, changing its bedding, cleaning its food/water dishes, washing the actual cage (with acceptable cleaning supplies) Vacuum where the ferret gets to run around and play at least every few days. Watch for any “presents” that your ferret may have left behind for you when you let it out of it’s cage. Make sure they are cleaned up immediately. Also keep in mind that ferrets will often go in the same spot so if you ferret goes in a room cover up the messed spot after cleaning it. This way they will not be able to go there again. Other wise they will just view that area as there own personal wash room. If you cant cover the spot up with something make sure they are not allowed back in that room until you have washed the area with an odour killing cleaner from your pet store. This way they will not have a specific spot to go to next time they are in the room.

I hope this post was helpful as you try to take great care of your pet ferret. Continue to take great care of your ferret and you will have a lovable (not to smelly) ferret for years to come. If you are looking for more information on how to take care of your ferret I recommend reading a book. I recommend a great one on this site but there are lots out there to choose from. One final thought on ferret odor eliminating. There’s an old saying if you cant beat em’ join em’. What I mean by that is if you have tried every thing and you just can’t seem to stomach the smell of your lovely ferret try a nice air freshener. A simple solution for a simple problem. If you have any feed back please leave me a comment. Keep watching for more ferret care ideas from My Ferret Care

Here is a video I found with some helpful information about feeding your pet ferret. If you would like to watch the video you can find it HERE. I think it is important to note that in a good quality ferret food it should contain a minimum of 31% meat based protein, 17% fat and a maximum of 3% fiber. Low-quality pet foods may also contain grain-based proteins, which ferrets cannot properly digest. It is not advised to feed low quality food to your ferret. Thank you Susie for bringing this to my attention.

There are several ways to Get a ferret. The first and most common way to get a ferret is at a pet store. This way is often good for those beginning in ferret care. The ferret will more than likely be a kit (a baby) and will have already have been neutered or spayed, descented and they should already have there shots. So there is nothing you need to worry about. If you have every thing you need already waiting at home.

Another common way to get a ferret is adopt one from an adoption agency like Ferrets unlimited (www.ferretsunlimited.org). If you pick the right place to adopt you should have no trouble with the ferret. It will make just as good of a pet as one bought in a pet store. Be aware there is often a screening process involved before you can adopt a ferret. Simply to make sure you are able to take care of it.

The last way is to go to a ferret breeder. This way is good but you have to be careful to check out the place before you buy your ferret. Some places don’t always treat the ferrets the best and the ferrets can be abused. (I’m just saying this as a caution not all breeders are like this). Certain breeders will even ship the ferrets all over the country which can be very handy.

Here is a video which I found on youtube that also goes over the subject of Getting a Ferret. Click HERE to watch it. I hope it gives some information.

Here is a very important part of ferret care. Selecting a vet is important because you never know what could go wrong with your ferret they could swallow something or get sick.This is why it is always important to have some where to go in case of an emergency. Here is a good video I found on youtube that covers the topic click HERE to view the movie.

She gave some helpful information in the video but I think its also good to check to see if the vet will take you in case of an emergancy. What happens if your little guy gets sick in the middle of the night.

Feeding a ferret these days is actually quite easy. Before ferrets became popular pets it was a different story. The only way to feed a ferret used to be to make your own food from rabbits and chicken. Because the only people who could buy actual ferret food was zoos. Thankfully there are many companies which make food specifically for ferrets today. So getting a balanced diet for your ferret is as easy as picking out the right bag of food from your pet store. So there are two basic different ways to feed your ferret you can either buy prepared food or make your own. I will discuss these two different ways the pros and cons of both you can then pick which one you prefer.

Commercial Food

The first obvious pro of commercial food is that it is simple and requires absolutely no work. It comes in moist semi-moist and dry. With dry being the most common but you can pick which ever one you like. The commercial food will have every thing your pet ferret will need to keep him on a healthy diet. You do not need to give them anything else except water to drink of course. Maybe a special treat or two on those special occasions. One of the down sides of the commercial moist food is that is gives almost no exercise to the jaw and the moist food does not clean the teeth which can cause dental hygiene problems. The same thing can happen to cats and dogs if they are fed moist food. So if you where to go with commercial food I would pick the dry food. On top of that the dry food stays fresher longer once the bag is opened and flys don’t like it as much. Unfortunately one big problem with commercial food is that it never changes your pet will be eating the same thing day in and day out. Some times the best diet is a mix between the old and the new.

Natural Food

Before ferrets became house pets they where fed with hole rabbits and chicken carcasses that where caught by the owner or raised. They would get all the vitamins that they would need from it to have a good diet. Unfortunately the first obvious con with this way is the opposite of commercial foods first pro. Natural diets require quite a bit of work on the owners part. Along with that the natural food can have a high risk of diseases that can be transmitted to your ferret easily and nasty things like fleas. This meant that ferrets would often die quite a bit earlier then they do today. I would not recommend this method at all.

Best of both worlds

I think the best diet that a ferret can be fed is a little bit of both. I would recommend feeding them a good dry ferret food most of the time with a little bit of meat now and then. They can be fed raw and cooked meat. Don’t feed them low quality meat a good like scraps a good rule of thumb is don’t feed it to your ferret unless you would eat it yourself. This means getting it fresh from a butcher you can use beef, rabbit, chicken and fish. You can even give them the beef bones to chew on. Do not give the other ones though because they are small and can break apart and hurt or kill your ferret. You can feed your ferret fruit if you want keep in mind that they are carnivores so fruit does nothing for them but if they like it they can eat it. Milk is aright to give them but not on a regular basis because to much can make them sick. Never feed them chocolate or other sugary things they provide no dietary benefit so they just make your ferret eat less of its actual food which they need to keep a balanced diet. One good thing to feed your ferret every once and a while is a dog biscuit which can help with there dental hygiene.

Ferrets should be fed two small meals a day rather than one large one every day. This will make sure they have a healthy metabolism. They should also be fed around the same time every day your ferret will look forward to it so try not to feed them at random times. For how much your ferret should eat its hard to say because this depends on how old your ferret is, How large it is, if its a baby or not, the quality of the food and even the time of the year. So I find the best way to find how much your specific ferret should eat is by putting out a dish of food and see how much they eat in about 15 minutes. If they devour all of it give them more until they lose interest in the food. Then just keep track of how much you give them and with in a few days you should be able to figure a rough amount that they should get every day.

Just one final thought before I close this blog post if you are switching your ferrets diet around make sure you keep an eye on them because some ferrets can be picky and won’t eat there food if it is changed. It can also give them diarrhoea which can dehydrate them. So just make sure you watch for that. I hope this blog was helpful in your quest for ferret care greatness keep watching for more blog posts in the future that will be filled with great ferret care tips.