Ferret News
Pet Ferret Care Tips
and Information
By Mary R. Shefferman & Eric Shefferman - along with Gabby, the ferret
www.ferretnews.com

contact: marymodernferret.com

  It's been a long time since we put up a new newsletter. Boy, time sure gets away from you when you're busy! This summer has seen Eric and me make some dramatic changes to our lifestyle. We've both worked out, walked a lot, and slimmed down. In our research on various diets and foods, we found some interesting stuff about our favorite carnivorous pets. See what we found out.

  Although summer's officially over, there's still some time for catching a couple of rays on the beach or in the backyard and reading a good book. In this newsletter we review of an older English book on ferret care, keeping, and working. It's an interesting read for folks who wonder what some ferrets' lives are like in the United Kingdom.

  Read on!

--Mary

In this newsletter:

• Carnivores Eat Meat!
   
• Book Review: Complete Guide to Ferrets By James McKay

Carnivores Eat Meat!

By Mary R. Shefferman

  It's no secret that ferrets are carnivores. That means they eat meat. But most of our pet ferrets don't eat meat in its natural form. Is this all right?

  Plenty has been discussed about the potential health problems associated with feeding only kibbled foods. During the cooking and extruding process, a lot of nutrients can be lost, but worse, a lot of carbohydrates are added to the food. Ferrets are not built to eat and use carbs the way we are. The carbs make their insulin levels spike and may lead to insulinoma down the line. (Never mind the damage the kibble can do to teeth over time.) But what can you do?

  You can feed your ferrets various types of "Chicken Soup" or "Bob's Chicken Gravy." You can feed your ferrets real chicken, some eggs, beef, or whole animals, like pinkie mice or baby chicks. A lot of people are turned off by the idea of feeding whole animals to their pets. If you can't get past that, then what can you do? Well, chicken or beef is a good way to get some real meat into your ferrets. Cooked or raw doesn't really matter as long as the meat is high-quality. Ferrets are designed to eat raw meat, so they can usually handle it. If you're concerned, cook it a little.

  What we've been doing with Gabby is giving her chicken baby food several times a day. Because she's a bit older and fussy about what she eats, this is what we've found works for her. This is in addition to her regular kibbled foods. It's not an ideal diet, but it is an improvement over what we had been feeding her, which was kibbled food only. Making any improvement is better than making no improvements. If you can't give your ferret an ideal diet at least you can give him a better diet.

Book Review:
Complete Guide to Ferrets By James McKay

By Mary R. Shefferman

  The British approach ferret-keeping a little differently from the way we Americans approach it. Between that and the fact that this book is also a bit older (1995), this is not the ideal book for the typical American ferret owner. However, it’s a good way to learn about how ferrets are viewed, cared for, and used in the UK.

People originally domesticated ferrets to be used for protecting grain stores. Then they were found to be excellent hunting companions. Although hunting with ferrets -- ferreting -- is illegal in most places in the US, it is still practiced in many other countries, including Britain. Complete Guide to Ferrets provides some information on working with ferrets.

Chapters include:

• Origins

• Selection

• Housing

• Handling, Taming and Training

• Feeding

• Breeding

• Working

• Showing, Racing and Pets

• Ailments and First Aid

• Genetics

Makes interesting reading to see how ferrets live on the other side of “the pond.”

Got all the books you need? Find all kinds of information about ferret care and everything ferret-related in the back issues of Modern Ferret Magazine:

You get twenty-eight issues of Modern Ferret magazine -- all the issues that we still have lots of copies of. It's over 1,000 pages of ferrety-ness!

Click here for more information

We also have some of the rare back issues available (but we only have a few copies of each).

Click here for the rare issues

Remember, all sales of our books and magazines help support us continuing this Ferret News ezine.

Adorable stuffed ferrets make great Holiday & Christmas gifts!

  Happy feeding and happy reading!

--Mary, Eric & Gabby (the lone ferret)

  Stay tuned for more. You can always get updates by reading Mary's blog (a blog is an online journal). She keeps it sporadically and it usually runs to the more personal stuff. But you might like it. It's at: