vegatarion ferret

[countryman5 5]

havnt had ferrets since i was young 20 odd years back,but bought a young jill off a couple who had bought 3 for pets for there kids,i paid a fiver for her and they dropped her off with a bag of ferret food about 4 months old she was,well she is so tame its wrong she has never even tried to nip me once,tried her a few times at first just pissed about then started working bolted 2 out of a 3 holer,since then shes sweet works right through sets takes her time but shows at each hole and goes back in till she finds never killed one think she comes of if they wont bolt,anyway she wont eat meat of any sort,tried hole rabbits,liver kidneys loads of birds etc but she just leaves them and will only eat dry cat or ferret food,anybody else come across this trait???not complaining if she wont eat them shes never gonna lie up,im hoping to breed her this summer and keep 1 back hope it has the same traits,also will be looking for a decent hob to line her in north east if anyone can help pm me,not in season yet a t b

[dso88 15]

ther is nothing with them just eating dry food alot of ferrets are fed on it now

[paddy polecat 129]

As above there is nothing wrong with her eating just dry ferret food, it contains everything a ferret needs to stay healthy, it also does'nt attract flies in the summer as meat would do and it helps to keep its teeth in good shape. Sounds like you've got a good working ferret in the making, the more experience she gets the better she'll get.

 

ATB Paddy.

[Rake aboot 4,935]

Yup

There is nothing wrong with her. I put mine on dry food a few years back an it`s great. they still get meat every now an again which they enjoy but one or two have preffered the dry food only.

Shes not a vegetarian tho cause the dry food has animal products in it. meat protien and such like.

 

Cheers

[Coneytrappr 30]

Actually recent research has proven that over 90% of ferrets on a dry only diet will develop periodontal disease. This is because the hard texture actually roughens the enamel on the tooth, allowing tartar to get a grip. It would be in your ferret's best interest to allow them access to meat and bone, as the process of chewing this polishes the enamel and keeps the teeth in good order.

I can post the research if anyone would like to see it.

 

Countryman, I had a wee jill just like that. No raw meat. And, admittedly, I did not put in the effort I should have to get her eating at least a little flesh. I should have- her teeth ended up decaying and rotting. Since then I have always gotten them to eat, at the very least, chicken wings and rabbit ribcages. I haven't had any more tooth problems in my ferrets, which is great. It was very painful for my poor jill.

 

Ferrets imprint on their diet and convincing a ferret which has been raised strictly on dry to eat raw flesh is difficult, but not impossible. The main thing is persistance. A relatively quick way to get a ferret to eat flesh is to first wet the dry food and get it used to eating it damp and slightly mushy. Once it's used to that, add in a tiny amount of finy diced raw meat. When it is used to that, increase the amount. Do this gradually until there is more meat than dry and then start to increase the size of the chunks. From there you can work your way up until the ferret is eating whole items, such as chicken necks or chunks of rabbits. It can take a few weeks, but is well worth it.

It may sound a bit of bother, but I've done it a number of times. I figure it's easier than forking out ridculous vet bills to have ferret teeth cleaned and pulled because they are rotting :sick: and ultimately better for the ferret.

 

 

Feeding dry won't prevent all lay ups, as a stubborn ferret will stick with a rabbit in a stopend regardless of it's diet. My jill was a good example.

Yours sounds as though she will shape up to be a valuable member of your hunting team.

 

All the best and hope I was of some help,

CT.

[countryman5 5]

Actually recent research has proven that over 90% of ferrets on a dry only diet will develop periodontal disease. This is because the hard texture actually roughens the enamel on the tooth, allowing tartar to get a grip. It would be in your ferret's best interest to allow them access to meat and bone, as the process of chewing this polishes the enamel and keeps the teeth in good order.

I can post the research if anyone would like to see it.

 

Countryman, I had a wee jill just like that. No raw meat. And, admittedly, I did not put in the effort I should have to get her eating at least a little flesh. I should have- her teeth ended up decaying and rotting. Since then I have always gotten them to eat, at the very least, chicken wings and rabbit ribcages. I haven't had any more tooth problems in my ferrets, which is great. It was very painful for my poor jill.

 

Ferrets imprint on their diet and convincing a ferret which has been raised strictly on dry to eat raw flesh is difficult, but not impossible. The main thing is persistance. A relatively quick way to get a ferret to eat flesh is to first wet the dry food and get it used to eating it damp and slightly mushy. Once it's used to that, add in a tiny amount of finy diced raw meat. When it is used to that, increase the amount. Do this gradually until there is more meat than dry and then start to increase the size of the chunks. From there you can work your way up until the ferret is eating whole items, such as chicken necks or chunks of rabbits. It can take a few weeks, but is well worth it.

It may sound a bit of bother, but I've done it a number of times. I figure it's easier than forking out ridculous vet bills to have ferret teeth cleaned and pulled because they are rotting :sick: and ultimately better for the ferret.

 

 

Feeding dry won't prevent all lay ups, as a stubborn ferret will stick with a rabbit in a stopend regardless of it's diet. My jill was a good example.

Yours sounds as though she will shape up to be a valuable member of your hunting team.

 

All the best and hope I was of some help,

CT.

cheers for reply isee your point when i had them years ago there was no dry food i used to feed whole but she wont entertain it il keep trying,dont no why i stopped going ferreting wish i hadnt forgot how much fun it can be,even more so now im not so young,cant wait for next year a t b

[countryman5 5]

Yup

There is nothing wrong with her. I put mine on dry food a few years back an it`s great. they still get meat every now an again which they enjoy but one or two have preffered the dry food only.

Shes not a vegetarian tho cause the dry food has animal products in it. meat protien and such like.

 

Cheers

cheers for reply,im hooked on ferreting again after 25 years or so just shooting and lamping etc a t b

[Coneytrappr 30]

Actually recent research has proven that over 90% of ferrets on a dry only diet will develop periodontal disease. This is because the hard texture actually roughens the enamel on the tooth, allowing tartar to get a grip. It would be in your ferret's best interest to allow them access to meat and bone, as the process of chewing this polishes the enamel and keeps the teeth in good order.

I can post the research if anyone would like to see it.

 

Countryman, I had a wee jill just like that. No raw meat. And, admittedly, I did not put in the effort I should have to get her eating at least a little flesh. I should have- her teeth ended up decaying and rotting. Since then I have always gotten them to eat, at the very least, chicken wings and rabbit ribcages. I haven't had any more tooth problems in my ferrets, which is great. It was very painful for my poor jill.

 

Ferrets imprint on their diet and convincing a ferret which has been raised strictly on dry to eat raw flesh is difficult, but not impossible. The main thing is persistance. A relatively quick way to get a ferret to eat flesh is to first wet the dry food and get it used to eating it damp and slightly mushy. Once it's used to that, add in a tiny amount of finy diced raw meat. When it is used to that, increase the amount. Do this gradually until there is more meat than dry and then start to increase the size of the chunks. From there you can work your way up until the ferret is eating whole items, such as chicken necks or chunks of rabbits. It can take a few weeks, but is well worth it.

It may sound a bit of bother, but I've done it a number of times. I figure it's easier than forking out ridculous vet bills to have ferret teeth cleaned and pulled because they are rotting :sick: and ultimately better for the ferret.

 

 

Feeding dry won't prevent all lay ups, as a stubborn ferret will stick with a rabbit in a stopend regardless of it's diet. My jill was a good example.

Yours sounds as though she will shape up to be a valuable member of your hunting team.

 

All the best and hope I was of some help,

CT.

cheers for reply isee your point when i had them years ago there was no dry food i used to feed whole but she wont entertain it il keep trying,dont no why i stopped going ferreting wish i hadnt forgot how much fun it can be,even more so now im not so young,cant wait for next year a t b

 

They can be stubborn buggers.

Just make up for lost time next season mate, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time with that jill and any kits you decide to keep back.

 

ATB,

CT

[countryman5 5]

ther is nothing with them just eating dry food alot of ferrets are fed on it now

cheers shes in good condition from dry food,shes on royal canine cat food,i got a bag givin 12kg from where i get my dog food its was a split bag a t b

[stubby 175]

my daughter has a pet albino jill, lives in a very large cage in the front room, anyway, year before last we had a "runt" ferret out in the workers quarters at end of garden, me being a bit of a softie, bought it in the house and hand reared it as it was getting bullied/missing out on food, same as yours its now silly tame, but so bloody small at 2yrs old, anyhow the only thing it did to bug us, it would scratch the bottom of cage just when the good TV came on

anyway as Im a night worker I came home one morning for my missus to announce she had, had enough of the scratching a put "weasel" back in the ferret court, although I do feed dry to them, its only every other day, the other days they get meat, well weasels instinct soon return and she'll now dive in with the rest of them for woodie or rabbit

 

if you want her back on meat, simply feed less dry, she wont starve herself if meat is available

 

weasel/polecat jill, tug of war with a dead mouse,

[The one 8,451]

A wee jill i got off the r.s.p.c.a . was the same if you starve her for a day she will soon eat meat ,mate

[Ideation 8,216]

I aquired another 2 jills recently who had mainly or only been fed dry food for a couple of years. At first they were not interested in raw meat even though they (and one in particular) work very well, hunting through the sets and bullying out anything that wont bolt. . . . drop a live rabbit in fron of them and they go wild but drop a dead one and they wander off.

 

For a couple of days i cut their dried food right down to the bare minimum and hung half a big juicy rabbit in their cage. Day one they ate all the dry and nothing else. By the end of day to - a third of the rabbit was missing.

 

Job done.

 

 

atb

 

Jai.

[countryman5 5]

my daughter has a pet albino jill, lives in a very large cage in the front room, anyway, year before last we had a "runt" ferret out in the workers quarters at end of garden, me being a bit of a softie, bought it in the house and hand reared it as it was getting bullied/missing out on food, same as yours its now silly tame, but so bloody small at 2yrs old, anyhow the only thing it did to bug us, it would scratch the bottom of cage just when the good TV came on

anyway as Im a night worker I came home one morning for my missus to announce she had, had enough of the scratching a put "weasel" back in the ferret court, although I do feed dry to them, its only every other day, the other days they get meat, well weasels instinct soon return and she'll now dive in with the rest of them for woodie or rabbit

 

if you want her back on meat, simply feed less dry, she wont starve herself if meat is available

 

weasel/polecat jill, tug of war with a dead mouse,

cheers mate are they your english bulls?got one myself shes 13 this summer been my little pet for years there funny dogs the clown of the the canines im going to be gutted when she goes sleeps with me the lot she is roldaines line dont no if il get another,shes only little but smart il try and put some pics of her in my gallery cheers

[ferretville 69]

A little dry here and there do them no harm but meat and feather is what you want them on. Dry they drink twice as much given the kidneys more work to do . FV

[stubby 175]

cheers mate are they your english bulls?got one myself shes 13 this summer been my little pet for years there funny dogs the clown of the the canines im going to be gutted when she goes sleeps with me the lot she is roldaines line dont no if il get another,shes only little but smart il try and put some pics of her in my gallery cheers

 

yes, the bitch is around 12yrs, the dog 4yrs, great characters,