soon 2 b mom

[mommyofcutness]

 

Hullo! I am about to be a new ferret mommy! She is 7 wks old and is coming to me spayed and descented. I am sooooooo excited! We will get her after we get her cage...

First, I am trying to come up with names and I really like the names Juliet and Adriane...what do you guys think?

Also, I just bought this cage for her....I have seen it on Petsmart.com and PetMountain.com for $114-$140...It's only $78 on Ferret.com...it looks large and spacious...what do you guys think about it?

http://www.ferret.com/item/super-pet-my-first-home-2x2-multi-floor-home/

http://www.ferret.com/item/8-in-1-ultra-blend-ferret-diet/

^ this is the food I plan on feeding her...should i feed it to her alone? mixed with other stuff?

Also, what are some things I should do to introduce my ferret 2 my other animals...I have 2 small dogs (shih tzu and lhasa apso) and 5 resuced kitties...they all get along really well!! The way I introduced my cats too eachother was I have one of those cat toys that has feathers on the end of a bungee string and all the cats played together and i think it helped them bond a little bit...would it b ok to do something like this with the ferret?

I plan on keeping her on a 50 ft leash when she's out for her roaming time (which will be most of the day) for about 2 weeks. I think it will keep her safer and keep her from disappering in my house!! At least until the other animals get used to her? Does this sound ok? I know i'll still need to supervise her because she could slip her harness, but you know what i mean :D

Is it ok to give her a bath soon after she gets home? and how do you do this? can i put an inch or two of water with soap in the tub and let her play?

Is there anything I should do to prepare for her? We have ferret proofed the house and wires (as much as we know how...i figure we'll kind of learn as we go when she gets here as long as i can get the more dangerous stuff covered).

Can she have ppl food? Like meats that are cooked? What are some things I can do to bond with her and to make her feel safe and secure with me?

thank you guys! i will probably have more questions soon...lol

[Ferretfuzzy]

First great cage.   second NO to that food. You want food such as Totally Ferret, Path Valley ferret food, High PROTEIN (meat source) kitten food. First ingredient should always be meat, not meat by product. 

Please, DO NOT let her around the dogs. Dogs can kill a ferret, and that is their natural instinct. The kitties, will be alright.  Also, it would be best to designate a room for her instead of a leash.  Next, ferrets are social animals and prefer a buddy like themselves. Another fuzzy.

People food okay for a treat now and then. Mine do like spaghetti (the meat sauce particularly).

Get the book Ferrets for Dummies, 2nd edition. a great book for beginners and loads of information.

Litter:  Wood stove pellets, feline pine, yesterday news, pine horse pellets. DO NOT USE clay cat litter or anything like that. VERY BAD for fuzzies.

 

[DeeJay292]

I second the food thing.  Totally Ferret is the way to go.  8 in 1 makes their poos stink and very mushy.  I would not put the fuzzy on the leash, too dangerous, and imagine then crawling all around, you would be constantly untangling them and the leash would be knocking everything over.  I have 2 cats and they are fine with the fuzzies, but my fuzzies don't like my dogs.  I do know some dogs and fuzzies that are fine together, but they GREW Up together. 

As for the bath, yes a bath is fine, but use a ferrets shampoo, or a pinch of baby shampoo.  ANd don't bath too often, it makes them produce more oil and there for a musky oder. 

 

[mommyofcutness]

Quoting Ferretfuzzy:

First great cage.   second NO to that food. You want food such as Totally Ferret, Path Valley ferret food, High PROTEIN (meat source) kitten food. First ingredient should always be meat, not meat by product. 

Please, DO NOT let her around the dogs. Dogs can kill a ferret, and that is their natural instinct. The kitties, will be alright.  Also, it would be best to designate a room for her instead of a leash.  Next, ferrets are social animals and prefer a buddy like themselves. Another fuzzy.

People food okay for a treat now and then. Mine do like spaghetti (the meat sauce particularly).

Get the book Ferrets for Dummies, 2nd edition. a great book for beginners and loads of information.

Litter:  Wood stove pellets, feline pine, yesterday news, pine horse pellets. DO NOT USE clay cat litter or anything like that. VERY BAD for fuzzies.

 

thank you soooo much! i actuallly just went to get that book! havent read it yet! lol..its big!!

we have a large crate for the dogs that we can keep the girls in while she is out :)

i will take that food back and get one of the ones you recommended :)

again, thank you!

[adamsmama]

 

Quoting mommyofcutness:

I plan on keeping her on a 50 ft leash when she's out for her roaming time (which will be most of the day) for about 2 weeks. I think it will keep her safer and keep her from disappering in my house!! At least until the other animals get used to her? Does this sound ok? I know i'll still need to supervise her because she could slip her harness, but you know what i mean :D I would not keep her on a leash in the house. That is potentially very dangerous. You can buy a ferret play pen or ferret-proof a room instead.

Is it ok to give her a bath soon after she gets home? and how do you do this? can i put an inch or two of water with soap in the tub and let her play? It is fine to bathe her when she comes home. You will not want to bathe her more than once a month though as this will cause itchy skin and a heavier musk odor.

Can she have ppl food? Like meats that are cooked? What are some things I can do to bond with her and to make her feel safe and secure with me? The only "people food" items she should be eating are meat-based ones. Ferrets are obligate carnivores and require a diet that is high in protein/fat and very low in carbohydrates. Any leftover meat will do. They can also have egg yolks and a little (no sugar added) peanut butter every now and then.

Also, I would strongly suggest going with the 8-in-1 Ultimate rather than Ultra. It is a far superior food for ferrets.

 

[dkaam05]

I was told from the ferret rescue where we got our ferrets and a local pet store to use Marshall ferret food.   So that's what we use.  I would not use a leash.  We make it where the ferrets cant get out of the living room.  We bought the expansions for the ferret play pen for a huge doorway and then use a board to cut off the hallway.  Even though our one ferret can jump good so she down the hallway all the time.  Watch the cats!!  Our ferrets love to play with our one cat, but they will jump on the cat and bite the heck outta her ears, so we have to keep a very close eye on them.  Cage looks great.  Our ferrets love the marshall bandits peanut butter treats, raisins and banana cheerios.  We give them these treats a couple of times a week.  Make sure to get a water bottle.  I made the mistake of using a automatic water bowl and they knocked it over in the cage.  Get litter boxes for the cage, makes cleaning up much easier.  Most people use yesterdays news litter.  But I use the non clumping dust free cat litter.  Plus the ferrets use my cats litter box all the time. Put paper down in corners or use litter boxes.  They poop like CRAZY!!  Were lucky to have too much crap and no corners available to them.  I use baby shampoo to wash the ferret about once a month.  Good luck.  They are great pets.  On also they sell these tunnels, what you use on your dryer vent, the ferrets love running through those.