Ferret Questions 101

[Bonbon]

Hey everyone, 

I just had a some quick questions. I was thinking of giving Bonbon some small pieces of chicken breast if he would want it after dinner today and maybe teach him a trick so that he has to work for them. OR shouldn't I because i want to switch him to raw? it wouldn't hurt him at all if I gave him some chicken breast raw and he's still eating wet kibble will it?


Also I tried the packing peanuts in a box enrichment....it was horrible! * I had to scruff him to get a peanut out of his mouth. I felt bad because he was having a lot of fun with them but he kept trying to eat them and i wouldn't want anything to happen to him. I recently found he ate a part of his cloth toy....whats with my ferret why is he eating cloth? was it because it was red? 

[Heather]

Offering a treat of raw meat shouldn't be a problem
Packing peanuts have to be of the cornstarch type and yes some ferrets find them a delicacy...no accounting for taste.
Some ferrets eat cloth, the colour has little to do with it. Checking teeth might be an idea to make sure he doesn't have any dental problems.
ciao

[Deleted]

Chicken should be a good treat. Are you planning on switching him right away? They can eat meat as soon as they are weaned from their mother, maybe Heather will post a link to a video of her little meepers eating it is the most adorable thing in the world!

Eating cloth can be from stress (we get some ferrets in the shelter that stop chewing once they get to a home), or from being bored. Or it can be a psychological disorder Pica which means that he wants to eat inedible stuff. Or it can be because his teeth or gums are uncomfortable or sore. And some ferrets chew because they were separated from their mother too early and weren't weaned properly which leaves them with an oral fixation.

Eating cloth can cause a blockage, so make sure you keep a lookout for it. Blockages are very dangerous, and can be lethal withing 1-2 days. If you suspect a blockage then get the the vet immediately and do a barium x-ray, do the blockage protocol while you are waiting. Sometimes they will require surgery to remove it.

Symptoms of a blockage are: lethargy, vomiting, not going to the washroom for more than 4 hours.

The protocol is to feed the ferret one tablespoon of pure canned pumpkin, then in an hour one tablespoon of unscented Vaseline. I think it is fine to mix some oil like coconut or salmon oil, or whichever your little one likes to entice them to eat the pumpkin and Vaseline. Then you repeat this every hour until he poos a big orange poop.

[Bonbon]

what should i look for with his teeth? i didnt notice anything out of place?

[Bonbon]

As for the cloth eating, I have been checking his stool. I originally saw it the day i started the newspaper pellet litter and I thought he ate some of that, but upon finding it again and going to change his bedding i noticed the missing material and the red fabric again in his stool. I recently just bought him a bunch of new toys for his cage and I have him out for a large portion of the time. I'm hoping this will help to entertain him some more, plus with treat training i think he will enjoy himself. I mentioned to my fiancee about getting another one for him to play and cuddle with while we were at work and he said nooo......

but i will be keeping a close eye on him. I've been keeping an eye on his sneezing which seems to be better, although he did have a sneezing fit today but he was covered in dust, so not terribly worried.

[Deleted]

In case someone has not mentioned it, make sure toys r not rubber

[Bonbon]

so i tried giving him a little bit of raw chicken breast. he wanted nothing to do with it, so i rubbed it on his gums and he chewed on it a bit.

and i know not to let him have rubber toys, but thanks for telling me again

[Deleted]

My Layla likes to dive into packing peanuts, grab one, put it in the corner of the box (that is full of peanuts), then go back to get another. Was he holding, or chewing?

[Bonbon]

he had it in his mouth and was chewing on it, then when i went to go for him he tried to run away.
I didnt want to chance him eating it so i took it from him. But all he wants to do is go in that dang box with the packing peanuts

[Deleted]

Ah. I'd fill the box with something else then. Poor guy thinking he's got the best box ever.

[Bonbon]

yeah, but im not sure what would be good to fill it up with, he really likes to dig.

[Deleted]

Long grain rice is good!

[Deleted]

You can use a bunch of stuff, beans, or ping pong balls, or shredded paper.

I don't use rice because I have one that goes from 15 seconds of digging in it to lying down and trying to devour all the rice.

[Bonbon]

I used shredded paper as a temporary little for a night, I could just see him using it as litter and rolling around in it.
But I will try a few things.

[Bonbon]

So I have a few questions/comments...
So my roommate is planning on getting a dog. It's a pitbull/boxer or bulldog mix. I forget which one exactly. He's good with cats and other animals, but I'm worried about my ferret. Those of you who have the doggie kind of fuzzbutts, how do your ferrets react/play. And it just sucks because we live in an apartment and our cat and ferret seem to get along fine together and I don't worry about my cat eating or hurting our ferret. I just don't want to minimize his play area at all. Right now he has run of the house minus my roommates room.

So should I not let them play together? I'm worried....I haven't even met the dog yet.


Other comments, the first day I tried raw chicken with Bonbons he didn't want anything to do with it, but yesterday he ate a little bit of it. So it's going good! My cat even climbed into my lap and laid with him as I fed him. I later found out she wanted some too. I'm going to make a switching board for bonbons while I wait for a mentor, and I'll look into the raw diets for other fuzzbutts. I don't know if I'll switch my cat completely as she's fond of her kibble, but I could do raw treats for her.