Mah noo ferret

[Jayvn]

I'm a ranger R/L now...

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg294/brandtfamily2007/ferret077.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg294/brandtfamily2007/ferret061.jpg

His name is Handbanana....or Cocoa for short

[DCSL]

Heinously cute. If I could give rep, I'd give rep to your ferret.

[Allereli]

So cute, D!

[mgoddess]

Ferrets are so damn cute!

[Skeeter]

I'm curious how bad the smell gets.

[Drew]

Remember to stay logged in for the next couple of weeks to build up your bond.

Gaze ferret to check the level of the bond.

[diethx]

So freaking cute.

[CrystalTears]

I'm curious how bad the smell gets.
As musky as a dog. It's when people wash them constantly that they get worse.

[Clove]

That's a fine looking weasel.

[ElanthianSiren]

:heart:

Find some duck soup if I may suggest it. Most commercial ferret foods are crap, but I didn't find that out until my girl had hypoglycemia pretty bad from tumors on her pancreas and I took her to a specialist. After that, I made her her own food, which consisted of raw chicken (with bone ground up), powdered egg shells, egg yolks (no whites -- toxic), small pet vitamins etc. I supplimented with lots and lots of duck soup, and she lived about a year more (vet gave us like 3-4 months because she was having seizures before I changed her diet 2-3 times a day).

I still used a water bottle though I was told that it might hurt her teeth. She didn't like dishes and would throw her litter in them any chance she got. Anyway, good luck with your ferret. He certainly is adorable! :)

[Jayvn]

Yeah I gotta get some duck soup, I read you need to get them to aknowledge that it's food early so when they need to eat it like when they get sick they'll take to it fast...and yeah.. I read the nutritional info more on pet food than i do on my food :(

I seriously need to get it litter trained though..cause this going outside in the freezing florida cold (less than 60 degrees) doesn't cut it for me.

And yeah it smells about like a dog does.. they don't smell nearly as bad as rats can.

[CrystalTears]

Why are you going outside?

[Jayvn]

cause the person that had it for the last year raised it that way, it goes to the bathroom outside... it runs the house..and sleeps in the bed...

[GS4Kaldair]

Cute, but why are the eyes pink in the picture?

What color are they normally?

[Jayvn]

it's an albino, hence the pink eyes.. it's not a true albino it's got cream markings on it. There's a ton of ferret colorings and markings.

[FNLN]

I seriously need to get it litter trained though..cause this going outside in the freezing florida cold (less than 60 degrees) doesn't cut it for me.

Fuck Florida. It ruined me.

Now I'm freezing my ass off up here and everyone is all "It's only 50 degrees out."
http://vault.error-403.net/files/1/Public/emotes/gf-condi.gif

[Stanley Burrell]

His name is Handbanana

<font="Serial Rapist">Tonight...</font>



</br>

[Clove]

Keep it in a cage with a litterbox until it figures it out. If you let it out (especially in Florida) better keep a perpetual stock of cat-strength Advantage because it will suck up fleas like a vacuum.

Chicken (chicken and broth only) babyfood works as well as Duck Soup and it is both inexpensive and readily available.

[Clove]

:heart:

Find some duck soup if I may suggest it. Most commercial ferret foods are crap, but I didn't find that out until my girl had hypoglycemia pretty bad from tumors on her pancreas and I took her to a specialist. After that, I made her her own food, which consisted of raw chicken (with bone ground up), powdered egg shells, egg yolks (no whites -- toxic), small pet vitamins etc. I supplimented with lots and lots of duck soup, and she lived about a year more (vet gave us like 3-4 months because she was having seizures before I changed her diet 2-3 times a day).

I still used a water bottle though I was told that it might hurt her teeth. She didn't like dishes and would throw her litter in them any chance she got. Anyway, good luck with your ferret. He certainly is adorable! :)Sadly that condition occurs in about 1:7 ferrets and I lost one to it recently. It's called insulinoma, it's incurable and ultimately terminal. Chicken babyfood works just as good as Duck Soup. I use chicken babyfood as a treat when I put mine in its cage so it has a taste for it.

[ElanthianSiren]

Oddly enough, I never had trouble getting Maxienne to eat anything. Pretty much, she would take whatever we gave her. Never knew about chicken baby food, but honestly, after finding out what was in commercial ferret food, I preferred to make her food myself, so I probably wouldn't have used it. I don't really care for all the "stuff" that's in processed food, human or otherwise, but in her case, I was mainly concerned with sugars.

Because her condition was essentially out of control hypoglycemia, I tried to keep her glycemic index as low as possible, hoping that would keep it from triggering. We also fed her constantly, as the vet said nothing was wrong with her kidneys, so the incredibly high protein diet I was giving her would be okay.

Also, if they still do this, check your ferrets tattoo (ears). You can learn about what to anticipate by it. My ferret specialist said that about 1:4 Marshall Fields ferrets (which maxienne was) get the pancreatic tumors that cause insulinomia and that they're more common in the girls. I assume the various conditions inherent with ferrets are magnified by breeding lines and that people in the veterenary "know" are aware of this information. You may be able to get it online; I was just lucky enough to have a ferret doc who was a TOTAL nut about them.

[ElanthianSiren]

Also, I don't know if this is your first ferret, but you should be warned that unless they die of old age or you have them put down, ferrets really don't die well.

edit; When my vet told me this, I was like...wtf? How bad could it be? They scream/vocalize, but it's not the good kind you're used to hearing. There's really no sound that approximates it on this planet.

[Clove]

Oddly enough, I never had trouble getting Maxienne to eat anything. Pretty much, she would take whatever we gave her. Never knew about chicken baby food, but honestly, after finding out what was in commercial ferret food, I preferred to make her food myself, so I probably wouldn't have used it. I don't really care for all the "stuff" that's in processed food, human or otherwise, but in her case, I was mainly concerned with sugars.

Because her condition was essentially out of control hypoglycemia, I tried to keep her glycemic index as low as possible, hoping that would keep it from triggering. We also fed her constantly, as the vet said nothing was wrong with her kidneys, so the incredibly high protein diet I was giving her would be okay.Yeah. Hence the chicken babyfood. Chicken. Chicken broth. Pretty much pure protein in a very quickly digestible form. Keeps the glycemic index low and steady and ferrets are designed for a high fat, high protein diet. Ideally they should have a diets that have a minimum of 35% protein and 15% crude fat- but higher if possible. 40%/20% is perfectly fine.

Ferrets are funny, they can get "addicted" to flavors (mine likes french fries and peanut butter) so it's not a terrible idea to get them addicted to good stuff ahead of time.

Vets aren't entirely sure what causes such a high incidence of insulinoma producing beta tumors in ferrets but breeding is likely a factor. Poor nutrition is also a suspected culprit.

Prednisone is inexpensive and can help keep blood sugar up for a while after that, surgery can be an option. Ferrets respond very positively to surgery and can function fine with up to 70% of their pancreas removed. Unfortunately once the tumors show up they invariably return. Vets believe this could be due to microscopic tumor cells that are missed during surgery.

Strangely enough even though ferrets have been domesticated almost as long as dogs and cats they've only become popular as pets (and generally legal) in the United States for the past 20-25 years. As a result vets in this country haven't had as much opportunity to research their diseases and disorders but that's changing rapidly.

[ElanthianSiren]

Prednisone is inexpensive and can help keep blood sugar up for a while after that, surgery can be an option. Ferrets respond very positively to surgery and can function fine with up to 70% of their pancreas removed. Unfortunately once the tumors show up they invariably return. Vets believe this could be due to microscopic tumor cells that are missed during surgery.

That's a really good point and one that I forgot to make. While Maxienne was too old for the surgery, the pred treatment worked really well for her. Like most pets, she hated to take her meds though, so I would grind it into a fine powder and mix it in her food then suppliment with the duck soup or trade off. She bulked up SO much on pred, but it can also cause neurological and skeletal problems, so I kept it to the lowest dose possible.

Edit: I can't rep you for ferret love and knowledge. What is this board coming to?!

[Ashliana]

What's the point of having a ferret you can't control telepathically? I guess they're cute, but..

[Clove]

Edit: I can't rep you for ferret love and knowledge. What is this board coming to?!What's not to love about ferrety goodness? Hot tip: Delta is the only US air-carrier that allows ferrets to travel as carry-on luggage in the cabin.

[Clove]

Oh one more caution. You mentioned this ferret goes outdoors? Ferrets do NOT have a homing instinct and they are very dependent on human beings for survival. Be careful with letting him out unsupervised, they can very easily wander off and get lost and Florida has a lot of predators ferrets are unprepared to cope with.

[Ignot]

I'm curious how bad the smell gets.

I stayed with a buddy of mine once and his brother had a ferret. It was the meanest thing ever and it had just a horrible smell. He also had a sugar glider and would let it roam free around the house which I thought was weird.

The albino one looks cool. Congrats on the new pet!

[CrystalTears]

I stayed with a buddy of mine once and his brother had a ferret. It was the meanest thing ever and it had just a horrible smell.
No offense, but that's the fault of the owner, not the ferret. A neglected ferret will be mean and smelly.

[Paradii]

Not to rain on the ferrets are awesome and cute parade, but ferrets sure are ugly.

It's nice to know that an animal as goofy looking as that can be loved by people though.

[Clove]

Not to rain on the ferrets are awesome and cute parade, but ferrets sure are ugly.

It's nice to know that an animal as goofy looking as that can be loved by people though.Yeah they're pretty homely, but you get used to it. They have a remarkable ability to make you smile.

[Stanley Burrell]

Something very interesting is going on right here:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/1443480955_54577d98d9.jpg

[Ignot]

No offense, but that's the fault of the owner, not the ferret. A neglected ferret will be mean and smelly.

Oh no doubt it could have been the owner. That kid was kind of a jerk and didn't treat his animals well. He had a dog that he made mean as fuck (an Akita too). This thing was huge and vicious and had already bitten me once. Then my friend and I are in the front yard and the dog is staring us down though the electric fence. My friend asked if he can get through and I said naw, he never has before.

Then it fucking took off and ran right through the fence barley slowing it down long enough for me to yell "RUN!" we ran on top of the van to get away from it. Then it just took off and we braved our way back into the house.

About a few hours later a guy knocked on their door with a piece of a motorcycle and said that their dog mauled his motorcycle. They never did get that crazy dog back and I wonder how many people that thing injured before someone surely killed it.

So yeah the owner was a douche. Sorry to go off topic but it reminded me of that story.

[Jayvn]

So i've got him 'paper trained'? now... yeah taking him outside involved walking right next to him the entire time.. i wouldn't let a dog on a leash out in my front yard for fear of it being stolen... i live in one of those communities... actually it's a really pretty housing suburb area..it's just infested with 15 to 24 year old minorities and wannabe's...

I ended up putting paper down..like you'd do for a dog, in the corner and every time he woke up i'd set him on it till he went.. i gave him a treat like the first 2 times and now he's consistantly going on it..

So far it's way easier to maintain than a dog.. the fact they sleep like 20 hours a day helps.. and the war weasel dance is awesome..

[Clove]

So i've got him 'paper trained'? now... yeah taking him outside involved walking right next to him the entire time.. i wouldn't let a dog on a leash out in my front yard for fear of it being stolen... i live in one of those communities... actually it's a really pretty housing suburb area..it's just infested with 15 to 24 year old minorities and wannabe's...

I ended up putting paper down..like you'd do for a dog, in the corner and every time he woke up i'd set him on it till he went.. i gave him a treat like the first 2 times and now he's consistantly going on it..

So far it's way easier to maintain than a dog.. the fact they sleep like 20 hours a day helps.. and the war weasel dance is awesome..Ferrets are latrine animals and just like cats they are extremely easy to litter train. One trick though, even though ferrets prefer to go in a corner the males aren't very fond of the triangular (corner-shaped) litter pans. Look for a shallow rectangular litter pan instead. It has something to do with them needing to feel like they have their whole bodies in the pan- I don't know, but it's true the males like rectangular litter pans. Yesterday's News is awesome litter for ferrets too but get the cat version- it's exactly the same stuff as the ferret version just cheaper.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Yeah they're pretty homely, but you get used to it. They have a remarkable ability to make you smile.

I don't think they're ugly at all actually!

But then again, you know all about how adorable I think skunks are of all animals so maybe my "cute meter" is off, haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGERaVwJiI

[ElanthianSiren]

Back when I had my ferret, one of my dad's female dogs was dying of cancer. I'd put Maxienne down in front of her, and she would just do that happy dumb dog smile, wag her tail, and snuggle with her or watch her play. It works on people too. Ferrets are just so damn easily amused, it's hard not to laugh at them. "OMG! AN EMPTY TOILET PAPER ROLL!!!!!!111one Best thing EVAR!" /end ferret impression.

[ElanthianSiren]

What's not to love about ferrety goodness? Hot tip: Delta is the only US air-carrier that allows ferrets to travel as carry-on luggage in the cabin.

I need to send more scales to more people first. Thanks for the tip :) I want another ferret.

[Cephalopod]

Dook dook.

[Skeeter]

I wanted a ferret, but ended up with a son. Oh well, he's pretty entertaining too.

[Moist Happenings]

I wanted a ferret, but ended up with a son. Oh well, he's pretty entertaining too.

Way harder to train those to go on the paper though.