tips on ferrets and ferreting

[Guest jojoamojo]

Ok have been asked to do a little post about general ailments and how they could be treated,

 

Q- Sores on the back of the neck

A- these can be treated with sudocrem or savlon cream (not the spray) if the sore weeps at all or there is any puss there may be an infection and you may need antibiotics.

 

Q- Jill's vulva is leaking fluid

A- you should only see a small amount of clear fluid, that simply makes the vulva look wet, if you seen any discharge, green, yellow or bloody then get to a vet, it could be a pyometra and only an emergency operation will save your jill.

 

Q- My ferret has gone floppy and off its food

A- Ferrets dont go floppy or off their food unles their is a reason, the ONLY option in this case is to get to a vet, they will need investigation, it could be a simple as a virus which will need antibiotics, but it could be more serious. its best to have a syringe handy, and try to srynge feed a little luke warm water until you can get there, or on the way so they dont get dehydrated.

 

Q- my ferret has got ticks

A- the best treatment is frontline that you can get from the vets, if you cant get this you can pull the ticks off with a special tick picker that cost about £2 from all good vets

 

Q- My ferret is moulting

A- the best thing you can do here is monitor the fur loss, take photos to put on the forum and let everyone have a look, if the hair loss is bileteral (its in the same places on both sides of the ferrets body) then it is a symptom of adrenal disease, and the best person to discuss the options for adrenal with is a good vet. if its just abald tail its simply called rats tail and can happen to any ferret and is nothing to worry about.

 

Q- Green poos! what shall i do?

A- again you need to monitor this overnight, could it be a food change? was it just a one off? if not the likleyhood is its an infection and you need antibiotics, if the ferret is floppy after passing a green poo, get to the vet dont monitor it.

 

Q- My ferret has an eye infection or a gunky eye.

A- go to the chemist, they sell fucithalmic eye cream, tell them its for a ferret and they will confirm the dose (they sell it all the time for rabbits) its about £4

 

General Information-

I keep certain things in stock just incase we have an emergency and cant get to a vet until the day after.....

 

sick ferrets dehydrate very quickly,. try to sryinge feed luke warm kettle water very slowly to keep them hydrated, do this at least every 2 hours, 10ml should be adequate, if they will take more let them take it.

 

Keep a jar of cow & gate chicken baby food in stock, if you get a sicky then mix a table spoon of baby food with warm kettle water and again, syringe feed this, they tend to wolf it down too, it coul keep them going until you get the treatment you need.

 

If you have a good vet, you could always ask for some antibiotics & electrolyte powder to keep in stock just incase you do have a weekend illness, if you show background knowledge and a little confidence they seem more willing to trust you with the medicine.

 

Again, keep a pot of sudocrem or a tube of savlon handy incase of any bumps cuts or grazes.

 

I put £5 a week in a pot, its the cost of 2 pints and will mount up for emergency treatments you need.

 

a Microwave bean bag (used as hot water bottles) are very good to have in for the sick ferret overnight.

[stubby 175]

after a few members have posted ferret problems, thought it would be a good Idea to pin a topic up on ferret health, if you want to add any to it, that are not already mentioned, then please do so,

but please, no silly comments or remarks,

[droid 11]

Just a couple of comments regarding ABs (anti-biotics)

 

1) You must finish the course. Failure to do so can lead to resistant bacteria, which is bad news for everyone.

 

2) ABs don't kill viruses. They do prevent secondary infections however.

Edited May 26, 2008 by stubby

[sue 1]

could i add symptoms of heat stroke

 

symptoms : heavy panting ,gasping

cure :remove ferret into a cooler place and spray with cool water in severe cases when the ferret has collapsed the only option is a bucket of cool water, cool ferret is a good mineral to add to the drinking water

[Kay 3,709]

To add to the heatstroke peice ]]

 

wet bath sheets drapped over the top of cages can help cool the insides & alo the freezer blocks in a sock placed in the enclosed areas can also help & a fan running on the area as well providing your home incase it rains

[Malt 379]

Diet & a bit of info about the ferret.

 

Diet

 

Ferrets are obligate carnivores. An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that must eat meat in order to thrive. They may consume other products presented to them, especially animal products like eggs and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances like honey and syrup, but, as these items are not essential, they do not consume these on a regular basis. True carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter, and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. (Medication)

 

The natural diet of the ferrets wild ancestors, consisted of whole small prey, i.e., meat, organs, bones, skin, feathers, and fur. A meat-based diet consisting of whole prey like mice and rabbits along with raw meat like chicken, beef, etc, is the best option to choose for the well-being of your ferret.

 

Alternatively, there are many commercial ferret food products. Most adult cat foods and kitten foods are unsuitable for ferrets, because of their low protein content and high fibre. Ideally, a ferret food should contain a minimum of 32% meat based protein and 18% fat. Low-quality pet foods often contain grain-based proteins, which ferrets cannot properly digest.

 

Ferrets may have a fondness for sweets like raisins, bananas, peanut butter, and pieces of cereal. The high sugar content of such treats has been linked to ferret insulinoma and other diseases. Veterinarians recommend not feeding raisins and the like to ferrets at all. Also, like many other carnivores, ferrets gradually lose the ability to digest lactose after they are weaned, so milk is not generally suitable, unless lactose free.

 

Young kits should start to eat meat from about 3 weeks of age. Their intake of food will increase sharply over the next few weeks, but they will continue to take milk from the mother up until around the 8-9 week mark. A good way to judge if you're feeding the right amount, is to put a bit extra in, and if there's a small amount left after each sitting, it's enough. If not, either increase or decrease accordingly.

 

 

(Taken from elsewhere in the ferreting section, & online)

[socks 32,253]

To add to the heatstroke peice ]]

 

wet bath sheets drapped over the top of cages can help cool the insides & alo the freezer blocks in a sock placed in the enclosed areas can also help & a fan running on the area as well providing your home incase it rains

 

DO NOT place wet sheets over a ferret hutch on a hot day as all you will do is produce a sauna type effect ... just fill some pop bottles with water freeze them and put them inside the hutch the ferrets will sleep next to them to keep cool ...........

[summat decent 0]

Ok have been asked to do a little post about general ailments and how they could be treated,

 

Q- Sores on the back of the neck

A- these can be treated with sudocrem or savlon cream (not the spray) if the sore weeps at all or there is any puss there may be an infection and you may need antibiotics.

 

Q- Jill's vulva is leaking fluid

A- you should only see a small amount of clear fluid, that simply makes the vulva look wet, if you seen any discharge, green, yellow or bloody then get to a vet, it could be a pyometra and only an emergency operation will save your jill.

 

Q- My ferret has gone floppy and off its food

A- Ferrets dont go floppy or off their food unles their is a reason, the ONLY option in this case is to get to a vet, they will need investigation, it could be a simple as a virus which will need antibiotics, but it could be more serious. its best to have a syringe handy, and try to srynge feed a little luke warm water until you can get there, or on the way so they dont get dehydrated.

 

Q- my ferret has got ticks

A- the best treatment is frontline that you can get from the vets, if you cant get this you can pull the ticks off with a special tick picker that cost about £2 from all good vets

 

Q- My ferret is moulting

A- the best thing you can do here is monitor the fur loss, take photos to put on the forum and let everyone have a look, if the hair loss is bileteral (its in the same places on both sides of the ferrets body) then it is a symptom of adrenal disease, and the best person to discuss the options for adrenal with is a good vet. if its just abald tail its simply called rats tail and can happen to any ferret and is nothing to worry about.

 

Q- Green poos! what shall i do?

A- again you need to monitor this overnight, could it be a food change? was it just a one off? if not the likleyhood is its an infection and you need antibiotics, if the ferret is floppy after passing a green poo, get to the vet dont monitor it.

 

Q- My ferret has an eye infection or a gunky eye.

A- go to the chemist, they sell fucithalmic eye cream, tell them its for a ferret and they will confirm the dose (they sell it all the time for rabbits) its about £4

 

General Information-

I keep certain things in stock just incase we have an emergency and cant get to a vet until the day after.....

 

sick ferrets dehydrate very quickly,. try to sryinge feed luke warm kettle water very slowly to keep them hydrated, do this at least every 2 hours, 10ml should be adequate, if they will take more let them take it.

 

Keep a jar of cow & gate chicken baby food in stock, if you get a sicky then mix a table spoon of baby food with warm kettle water and again, syringe feed this, they tend to wolf it down too, it coul keep them going until you get the treatment you need.

 

If you have a good vet, you could always ask for some antibiotics & electrolyte powder to keep in stock just incase you do have a weekend illness, if you show background knowledge and a little confidence they seem more willing to trust you with the medicine.

 

Again, keep a pot of sudocrem or a tube of savlon handy incase of any bumps cuts or grazes.

 

I put £5 a week in a pot, its the cost of 2 pints and will mount up for emergency treatments you need.

 

a Microwave bean bag (used as hot water bottles) are very good to have in for the sick ferret overnight.

What about worming,been using panacur plus frontline spray.

Anything else you can use?

[sue 1]

never wormed a ferret ,the natural fur diet (eg,rabbits) acts as a wormer

[The one 8,476]

Why do you want to worm them are you seeing worms in there scats ???

[Sexy_Shot 5]

this may be stupid but its the truth

 

Q: can i feed my ferret bread and milk

A: no you cannot this gives your ferret the runs

[John-B 4]

A note on Jills in season

 

If a Jill isn't mated when in season her hormones will/MAY kill her, I lost a ferret to this a few years back, there is a few simple ways to prevent this from happening.

 

1, look at the sticky in this section for vasectamised hobs, might be someone local to you who you could pay a visit with your Jill and she will think she has been mated and come out of season.

 

2, Take her to the vets as soon as you can when she is in season and a simple injection will take her out.

 

3, get a Hob ferret get them mated and have lots of babies but while she is pregnant ask around for new owners.

 

(please feel free to add anything i have missed out)

[ferret boy charlie 0]

just wondering could we start a thread for newbies and experianceds alike wich gives them tips and advice for ferreting heres a couple of mine .......

 

 

#1. if you get fed up keep having to take the batteries out of your locater collers after youe finnished ferreting put a thin piece of plastice over the batteries

 

#2 when your working hegerows to stop you ferrets hunting to far up the hedge tie your locater up along the hege when your ferret goes to far the locater will go off alerting you to were the ferret is

 

these are just a couple of mine so come on lads get yours up !!!!!

[ferret boy charlie 0]

bump

[will.f11 24]

dont drop the rabbits