New to the idea of holistic ferrets.

[fisticuffs]

Hello everyone and thank you for the wealth of information I'm slowly navigating through here!
My name is Finn. I got my first ferret, Leif Erikson when he was only 3 weeks old. He died a couple months ago (he was 6 years old) after a short but frustratingly erratic fight with IBD. I got another ferret a few weeks later and named him Piran (PEER-in, after the patron saint of miners). The painful struggle with Leif (and the slow weight gains followed by sudden, devastating losses that seemed to have nothing to do with what I was or was not doing) led me to seek answers about how to handle Piran's diet. I cannot bear to see another ferret go through what Leif did.
I am a 26 year old federal employee in Salem, OR. I live in a house with my 2 partners, Jason and Leonard. Neither of them had any exposure to ferrets before Leif, but I think I've made zealots of the both of them. Both helped care for Leif in the end, but I thought this was more out of their willingness to support and help me than anyting else. When he died, all three of us cried and grieved the loss. It was their urging that made me consider getting another ferret after Leif's death.
I don't think I'm comfortable switching to a completely natural, raw diet yet, but I am very interested in supplementing Piran's dry food.
Thanks again. I look forward to interacting with everyone here.
EDIT: Forgot something - I prefer to "crate-train" ferrets when they're young and give them complete freedom once they're trained. I've never come across another ferret owner that has done this and I'm curious if anyone here has and/or what people's feelings are on the subject. Thanks!

[mikeybox]

Welcome to the forum Finn! I like your name, I have a big cuddly ferret who is also named Finn but he's a boy He is actually from a breeder in Washington, not too far away from you right?

I work at Intel in Arizona and there's a plant there in Oregon. I might be there next Friday, there is an event called Techtoberfest at the Intel Oregon site, I'll be there if I can get a seat on the Intel air shuttle (can't book a commercial flight because of the recent spending restrictions)

[rachellori]

Hi and welcome! A lot of breeders (and some people on the forum, I think) do a mix of kibble and raw, which seems to work well.

[quixoticwhit]

Hello, fellow Oregonian! ( I'm in Eugene). Welcome to the forum!

Do you crate train, like you would a dog? Like they go in to sleep? Is it really a crate?

I'm sorta new here too, and they're really helpful here. I just got Alfie full on raw a couple weeks ago. You'll see so many changes--less poop, no stink, more energy (not always good thing) and they get fluffier!

[Sherry]

Hello, and welcome to the forum Please feel free to browse, post, ask questions, and join the conversations! The diet board holds a ton of info on switching a ferret, or even just supplementing.
You will possibly have to separate the feeding of raw and kibble by a couple hours to prevent stomach upset with supplemental feedings to prevent stomach upsets. Some seem to do okay with it, others not so much. Also, the reason ferrets don't suffer from things like salmonella is that the digestive process is so fast, and you don't want the dry slowing that process down. especially if they get hold of an older chunk of meat(for some reason stashing until "properly seasoned" is a ferrety delicacy )

[candykittten]

Hello and welcome!

By crate train, do you mean he is caged when you are absent/sleeping and free when you are around? That is pretty much how my ferrets live and it is an awesome way to care for them

Hopefully as you learn more and more about the harm that kibble does you will be more open to purging it completely My ferrets are 100% raw and once you learn the basics it's quick, easy and one of the best things you can do for them!

You might want to consider signing up for the mentoring program. The mentors will help you accomplish whatever level of raw feeding you are comfortable with and they are full of great information.

[Heather]

Hi and welcome on board
I'm sorry about the loss of your wee fellow, IBD is a horrible disease and all too common We've got a couple of little ones who are doing fairly well on board but its always a roller coaster ride with IBD. I lost a wee boy a few years ago to it.
Looking into alternative dietary solutions and alternatives is a great idea. As far as switching or supplementing try investigating our nutritional section, we also have a mentoring program too that you may want to look into. We strongly suggest not mixing the two types of diets but you can feed raw separate from the kibbles (digestive issues can occur when feeding both at the same time). I have no use for kibbles at all and haven't fed it except as a transition food in about 20 yrs. but there are others on board who are more than willing to help you find a better kibble if that's what you're looking into. Please feel free to prowl, read through the various threads, ask questions, get involved in discussions (some are serious, others not so much ) Everyone's friendly. Have fun
ciao

[fisticuffs]

Thanks for all the great starter information guys. I lurked a bit when Leif was sick - I actually started supplementing his diet with raw chicken and found that he put on about 5 oz. in just three days, but then the vet suggested we stop one of the medications (an anti-nausea one, I believe) and he stopped eating anything willingly, so force-feeding resumed. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. The vet had me switch him from Zupreem kibble to Pretty Pets - higher protein content and less carbs. He was surprised that I had trained Leif to identify food that I had chewed and offered to him as "ferret food". The vet thought that I was nuts when I first put a little saliva on the new stuff following Leif rejecting it from him. This saved me a ton of trouble many times in Leif's life, including during the switch to raw chicken (chopped it a little and put my saliva on it, yum...).
@candykitten I crate trained Leif with a normal ferret cage. After he demonstrated that he didn't have an affinity for wire-chewing, he had crazy high litterbox accuracy, came when I called and he wouldn't damage or get into things he shouldn't (and when he did, clap and his name in a lowered voice stopped him), he stayed free all the time. I think I have a bit of an advantage by having a single little monster because they seem to be easier to train in all aspects without the distraction of others, and I have more time to devote to training.
Piran's still young, and I've only had him a month, so he stays in the cage (I've found modified rabbit hutches to be way more appropriate for crate training) unless someone's home and "mostly" watching him. A couple weeks ago, he was only to be out when you were directly interacting with him. He's hitting the training marks pretty quickly though. I can't remember how quickly Leif hit them, or if that's even a fair comparison.
quixoticwhit I'm in Salem! I envy people in Portland and Eugene. I'm poly, and there are so many other Eugene and Portland poly people - but none that I've met in Salem, sadly. Nice to know there are more Oregonians here.

[fisticuffs]

mikeybox Washington (depending on where along the border) is about an hour from me. Vancouver is, anyway. I've been to AZ a couple times - the heat/dust/lack of greenery just isn't for me. Intel, huh? How do you like that? I'm a postal employee... on extended leave at the moment, not particularly sure for how long yet. My participation here may drop a little when I return though - we work ridiculous hours.

[darlene]

Hi and welcome to the forum