ferret

Osmosis Jones

okay so I've decided to get a ferret. I've watched videos about caring for them and have an idea of what to do but i was wondering do i really need everything the videos say?is there any way of making homemade stuff for the ferret?and what shops near dublin deal with ferrets?thanks

ferretcrazy

Hi, There's plenty of stuff you can make to keep your ferret happy, get a small hand towel and put small cut in each corner and get a shoe lace and cut in four, then tie towel with lace's to cage and you got your own hammock, which ferrets love, get some more small hand towels or old jumpers and they will snuggle into them and play, any sort of tubes from diy store's, the cork from a wine bottle and tie some wool to it and you got a toy they will chase all over the place, don't leave them alone with it as they will eat it, ferrets go mad for it don't know why, and there's Zooplus.uk or zooplus.ie or zooplus.de, they all deliver to ireland and the price's are sometimes different on these sites so its worth checking the 3 if you order, keep an eye out for the bargains, hope this helps..

Osmosis Jones

thanks that was alot of help.what petshops sell ferrets in dublin?

ferretcrazy

Hiya, don't know of any petshops but i would get one from a breeder, plenty on donedeal, but i would definitely get him or her neutered at around 6 months, the female's will stay in season if not neutered or covered and it can kill them, plus it cuts down on the smell, washing there blankets on a regular basis also helps, and a good ferret food can also help, we get ours from zooplus, we where told about the food from a lady that rescue's ferrets and the ferrets look great on it, called Totally ferret active food but a lot of petshops stock some sort of ferret food now. anyway your in for a lot of fun with your new ferret, enjoy, so jealous :P

Jackasaurus rex

ferrets are great fun as a pet. male ferrets can be a bit too fond of biting hard but will grow out of it mostly if you handle them loads and get them fixed. they do be a bit smelly otherwise too. so much fun though. they steal the weirdest things and stash them in all the corners of the room. just so funny to watch

Osmosis Jones

okay thanks for all the help I'll probably be getting 2 ferrets soon.

P.S. ferretcrazy if i do get them I'll probably be placing an offer on your cage on adverts

Osmosis Jones

any tips on food and care?

Jackasaurus rex

you can feed them all meat and bone. dont give them cooked bone though. dangerous. there is complete foods availible too. you should get a soft brush to brush them. its good for their coats and good to get them used to you and less nippy too. you can get a supplyment called ferretone which I would recommend cos its got oils which are good for them. but also cos they love it and you can distract them with it so you can cut their nails. keep them short as you can so they dont get caught in things

Osmosis Jones

okay thanks is there any forum about ferret care already here or could someone give me a list of pretty much everything i need to get started.

I find Ferret complete the best food . Our guys are thriving on it. They also love it.

http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/ferret_food/ferret_complete.aspx

We also use cod liver oil as a treat. They love it. You can also use this when trimming their claws. just put a little on their belly and they will lick it as you are cutting.

You can also buy ferret treats now. Alot of the pet shops have them.

HomeBoyDeluxe

Hi, I am out of ferret food (wellbeloved) I normally get it in petland on Camden st, but is out of stock till the 3rd of August.

Does anyone know where else I can get it in a shop in Dublin?

carwash_2006

You can feed ferrets on a good quality cat food as well. I would recommend feeding them more than one type of food too, so basically get 2 types and leave a bit of each out. Some ferrets get so used to one type they won't eat anything else which is a problem if the shop is out of stock. Look for the highest protein food you can find, in some cases the cat food is actually better than the complete ferret food. Fish based foods can make them more smelly though.

HomeBoyDeluxe, your best bet would probably be to ring around any pet shops you could get to and ask them do they have any. Did you get the staff in Petland to check was there any in any of there other stores?

HomeBoyDeluxe

I found a 2Kg bag of food for 10.50 in the pet shop in Dundrum, nice lads in there too, cheaper then Petland, and they have the wood chip too.

James wellbeloved is 36% protein, the highest cat protein % was around 20%, I might as well give them a mini protein shake so I know they get all the amino acids they need, haha!

Thanks for the reply

carwash_2006

The James Wellbeloved is a good food alright, better than some that are out there.

You can get cat foods with a higher protein, but you'd probably have to get them online. Orijen is one that I know of with protein of I think 44%. I'd say there are others out there, but probably not in Irish pet shops.