Recommended reading?

[PeachDragon]

Hello, I'm quite new to this whole forum thing so I guess I'll just jump right into it!
I've been pretty on and off about wanting a ferret over the years, and as of lately I've found myself thinking about it more seriously. I've been doing some light reading online, but I feel like I'm running into a lot of repetitive generalizations, simple common sense, and then there seems to be a lot of contradictions and quite obviously bad information as well. I've found this forum to be the most helpful so far, but there's so much to sift through, I've tried using the "search" option, but at times I find myself unsure of what to be searching for exactly. I love reading though, so I was wondering if any of you could recommend your favorite book(s) and/or links concerning ferret pet care. I'd also love any helpful recommendations concerning raw diets. From what I've read on here so far, I definitely want to do some form of raw diet if I do get a ferret, but I just want to make sure I have a fairly solid understanding of what I would be getting myself into before I go making any decisions.  

Kind Regards &
Thanks in advance, I certainly appreciate any guidance.  (wave)
  

[Sherry]

Hi Without a doubt I would recommend Ferrets for Dummies 2nd edition by Kim Schilling. Consider it a "ferret bible" that you will never be without!

[PeachDragon]

Thanks, I was looking around on amazon and got 200+ results for ferret pet care O .o
..a little overwhelming to say the least, I wasn't quite sure where to start. lol (shy)

[Sherry]

There really is a lot of misinformation out there. Another good bit of reading is actually one we use for raw diet newbies here. It does deal specifically with raw diet myths, facts, etc.
holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/124/recommended-reading-natural-diet-newbies

[Deleted]

Hi and Welcome to the HFF. (wave) Sometimes the easiest way to search, is to go to your windows browser and type in: Holistic Ferret Forum raw diet (just an example) then all the threads under that topic pop up and you can look at each one. If you are interested in raw diet, some things to learn about are Taurine, Choline, Omega's, muscle meats, organs, menu plan. A good understanding of these can help introduce you to the idea of raw feeding and the nutritional needs of ferrets. If you join the forum, after 15 posts, you can apply for a mentor. A mentor will walk you thru the switch and help make sure that everything your ferret needs. I hope you have fun on the forum, and learn alot, so that you will be able to be comfortable bringing home a little one (s).

[PeachDragon]

Oh yeah, definitely, I've always been a bit weary of the internet. There seems to be a lot of nonsense out there. I've seen a few odd websites, not many, but a few that had condoned feeding certain fruits and veggies; which sounded good at first, but after a bit more reading and even just a brief look at the diets of the ferrets' wild relatives, quickly seemed rather bogus.
But anyways, that's a nice looking list. Looks as though I'm going to have quite a busy afternoon with a lot of learning.. I feel like I'm gonna need a note book to help me remember and keep everything straight before too long. lol.

[Deleted]

A note book is a good idea. I posted pages on the fridge, The menu plan, a Soupie recipe, fact sheet about Taurine, Choline, Omega's, what are muscle meats, and the different proteins to try. A ferret should have at least 3 different proteins in their weekly menu. Another helpful place to learn is to look for articles by Bob Church. He is a leading ferret expert and writes alot, you can find his articles on the Small Animal Channel.com

[Deleted]

Score! found a copy of ferret's for dummies online pretty cheap. Can't wait to get it in the mail.
and I'm not going to lie, it took sometime to get through that natural diet newbies list, but it was certainly quite informative. They were all very helpful, but I found rawfed.com and rawfedcats.org to be especially so. I was originally drawn to the idea of raw because I heard it would help decrease the amount of stool and help with odor, but I had no idea just how bad kibble is.

also I've only just started to check out the small animal channel, but I found the article "B-B-B-Bite To The Bone, My Female Ferret Rummy" to be rather insightful and will definitely be keeping his method in mind when I get a little one for myself.

Thanks a lot again for pointing me in the right direction. I feel like I still have so much to learn, but I have to say, so far I feel a lot less intimidated about it, quite contrary, as I read on I find myself becoming more excited about it. it sounds like it may be quite challenging, but I feel like that's part of what will make the whole experience of owning a happy ferret all the more interesting and rewarding.