Already have your ferret at home? Congratulations on becoming an owner. Being a proud owner of a ferret also comes with high responsibilities. So what should you do to provide the right kind of ferrets care? Here are some Dos and Don’ts for you:
Dos
o Provide a comfortable home – if you have a cage for your ferret, make sure that it is spacious enough for them to live in. And since they spend most of their time sleeping, it is important to make it comfortable and good for taking a rest. Provide the cage flooring with beddings to cover the gaps, this is to prevent the ferret from getting stuck and possibly injuring themselves. You must also have a sleeping sack for the ferret to sleep in; when the climate is cold, ferrets like to sleep inside to keep themselves warm. This helps in maintaining their body’s natural temperature. And when the temperature is warm, it is also a good thing to have a ferret hammock setup inside the cage. They would be sleeping here to have a good air circulation. It would also be good to have a water bottle for them to easily drink water whenever they need it. It would also be good to provide dark area in the cage to shade the ferret from sunlight and artificial lights.
o Ferret Proofing – it is making sure that your home doesn’t have small holes, cracks or crevices that the ferret could crawl into and get itself hurt. If you find any of these, patch them up. You would also need to check your electricity wirings, make sure that the ferret can’t reach them. You would need to buy safety covers to protect your electrical outlets and also cover your electrical wirings if possible. If you can’t do this yourself, it would be good to hire an expert to setup this stuff for you.
o Ferrets Diet – the food that we provide them should be high in protein and fat as these two nutrients are the basic needs of their bodies. It is up to you to decide if you would want to give a single branded food or would want to provide a variety of diets. As long as the diet provides 35% protein and 20% fat.
o Yearly Checkup & Vaccinations – having a continuous checkup with the vet helps prevent the ferret from acquiring diseases by taking their regular vaccinations. And it is also good to detect symptoms of early stages of sickness.
Don’ts
o Snacks – when you give your pet snacks, make sure that you avoid fruits and sweet ones. These could cause obesity, tooth decay and also could put your ferret in danger. A disease that is common in ferrets called insulinoma is often caused by feeding sweet snacks and food. If you would want to give your ferret a reward, it is recommended to give them cooked eggs instead; it is good and beneficial to them.
o Dairy Products – should be avoided as well.
o Nuts and Nuts products cause nutritional problems to ferrets and should not be given.
o Grains & Vegetables are indigestible to ferrets. It is better to avoid giving these kinds of food.
o Onions are poisonous to ferrets, definitely must avoid adding this ingredient to the food that you provide them.
By knowing what we should do and what to avoid, we are equipping ourselves with knowledge in keeping our ferret healthy and able to live a happy and longer life.