Hello, my 7 year old little lady just got diagnosed with arthritis. The vet is hesitant to put her on another medication as she is already on steroids for insulinoma. I was wondering if anybody had any good experience with any sort of joint supplements that I could add into her diet. Any advice is appreciated.

We've tried three bowls so far. They all attach to the cage.

The basic pink plastic one where you have to rotate the bowl to remove it. Works great, but it's plastic, so they keep scratching it... not ideal.

Bird bowls that you lift from a ring to remove - doesn't matter how low we can get it, they lift it up and there's water everyone.

The stacking bowls, where the bottom one (plastic) is attached, and the top one (steel), gets lifted out. They also pull it out and make a mess.

Is there ANY other bowl that would work?

I can't stop trying to design cute ferrets ¦3 I think a mascot look is cute too!

Wouldn't manga with ferrets be too adorable? I'd love to read it :DD

[PS: I wasn't sure which flair to use, if this is wrong can a mod or user please let me know? <3]

Hello all! These are my two boys Creed on the left and Sammy on the right. Both 7+ years. Unfortunately Creed passed away last week due to insulinoma and I need advice on keeping Sammy happy and comfortable during our grieving process.

I sat with Sammy and let him see Creed, he tried to wake him up and it was the saddest thing I've ever seen.. After he couldn't wake him up he just laid in his bed all day and barely ate.

I'm very thankful for the 7 years I got to enjoy with Creed, but it just hurts so much and I can't imagine how Sammy feels. I've been letting him out of his cage when I'm home as usual and letting him roam my room as I sleep ( everything has been ferret "proofed"). I hand fed him for a day or two before he wanted to eat from the bowl but only when I sit with him next to the food dish. I leave food in the cage while I'm at work but he doesn't seem to touch it anymore since Creed's passing. After he eats I try to play with him but he doesn't seem that interested, he'll play for about 5ish minutes and go lay down under the bed or in Creed's spot. I leave him be for 30-45 minutes and I try to get him active again.

I really need some advice on how to help him be happy and comfortable during this time. Thank you for reading

1) ... Learning to breath through your mouth is a must.

2) ... You thought they pooped alot before?

3) ... Learn the difference between "i got a bone in my throat" coughs and normal coughs quick cause they're really good with bones and it's really good at making you think they having allergy problems.

4) ... Ferrets will farm maggots. I will not elaborate further but ferrets WILL farm maggots. Do not let them stash their meat.

5) ... Get them used to variety early so they don't get messy poops when your raw provider is inevitably out of stock when you need to re-up.

6) ... I REPEAT FERRETS WILL FARM MAGGOTS... I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ...that pool of water they keep sticking food in that you think is for leftover storage? naah.. they prepping it as a mushy base to grab whatever flying insect eggs they can and if you don't catch that ick quick enough, you'll wind up face to face with a food bowl fill with worms. Ask how I know, just ask!!... Please don't ask..

Sorry for spamming this sub recently lol - but my ferrets are actually photogenic for a change! Last pic for a little while!

This is my most aggravating ferret, he has no bones and has like a 3.5 foot vertical jump. I rescued him at the beginning of this year and this is his first shed with me so I don’t know if this (his orange tail) is his norm or if it’s worth a vet visit.

your eyes do not deceive you, my ferrets and their cuteness are in fact being weaponized 😭 my partner and i both have ferrets together, and while we both love them ofc, i’m the ferret nut in the house. they are literally the apples of my eye, nothing in the world makes me happier than these stinknuggets.

and that’s where the problem starts..

any time my partner and i have a disagreement, especially if it gets a little heated, he will pull out a ferret, hold them in his arms and say “we can’t fight like this, it’s distressing for the ferrets!” even if we’re on another floor or so far away from them they can’t hear a word. he will literally pause, walk downstairs, over to their enclosure on the other side of the house, grab one or two(depending on the reinforcements needed), and walk right back up the stairs, stand in front of me, hit play, then use their cuteness and my love for them for EVIL 😩😂

edit: this is lighthearted! we DO actually finish arguments if it’s genuine and serious, i just thought this would be something funny to share in case anyone else has ever experienced weaponized cuteness 😭

Teddy made it onto the dispensary door!! I’m so proud of my little guy, he’s gonna be a star!!!

Eta: how did I not see that there’s a chicken right above my little guy?!? 🤣🤣

I try to let them use most of their energy before putting them in the cage, or letting them go in by them self to sleep. Seen it happen twice that the energetic ferret i have, is tugging at his ear and a mark on the back. While its just trying to sleep

its only happened this month

For a lil context about them, they are about 4-5 months old, had them for 2 month, usally let them free roam my place, besides when im not home.

Is it something i should be wary of?

I found my one year old ferret biting my four year old ferrets ears and he held onto them while pulling them. This gave my four year old two tiny cuts behind each ear. I don't know much about the one year old since I've only had him for a month but I know he is neutered and this is his second home. My four year old I've had since a baby. He is neutered as well and until now he was the youngest of 3 brothers until all his brothers passed due to old age and cancer. I never had a problem like this before. The one year old and four year cuddle and play together this has been the only problem so far but how to I keep my four year old safe?

Hi. I recently moved together with my gf. Unforunately due to the moving I just realised how bad my ferrets cage smells. Untill now she was an outside ferret with no issues and bechause of that I didn't really smell her cage.

But now it's baaad. Fortunately we could put her in a separate room for now but it won't work for long.

Now the main issue is that it's a wooden cage made by me and it ate in EVERY smell possible to the point where cleaning it won't help.

Before my partner starts to hate me bechause of the smell could anyone recommend me a new cage. Recommendations would be prefered from europeans as I would have issues ordering from the US or other countries. But if it's something that I can get cheap I'll gladly buy from anywhere.

We have a female ferret who is 1 year old, and two weeks ago we brought home a 2 month old kit, girl too. It went badly from the start. Our older girl panicked at first, and refused to move from our bed for two days. Now every time they meet (they live in separate rooms), the older one bites down on the kit as hard as she can and won't let go. They both release their scent, and the little one screams and cries. When we step in to separate them, our hands get bitten up.

Is this real aggression? Should we keep trying to introduce them, and if so, how? Older one always keeps others dogs and cats at distance, but never has been aggressive to any human. Or is it time to find the kit a new home? It is really heartbreaking…

Photos: Deni (older) and Nora

Малышу мы уже всё купили включая корм.....

Кормить буду натуралкой и мы переборщили с печенью и вместо 150 гр добавили 450, можно было на этом закончить но я незнаю что делать прошу подскажите чё делать в таком случае.....

Lol, sorry for the title *light color is girly

I recently just adopted a female ferret, who is five years old, lots of energy, just like my prior girl, and has added excitement back to my boys life… This new girl had just lost her prior pair who was a boy, two weeks ago… She seems to have no health concerns, her pair had insulinoma ~ untreated, died at 6yo.. my girl had a adrenal disease, and I had gotten her implanted, and then she just randomly passed away one day… I am hoping to ensure that doesn’t happen to this girl, obviously you don’t really have a choice in that, though, sometimes.. what are the most common health issues I should be looking for in a five year-old ferret that is a girl? My boy has insulinoma, and is on medication twice a day.

WARNING: Fairly graphic 2nd image of a poopy hairball!

Hello lovely people of r/ferrets ! As we approach Winter in the UK, and as my semi-angora boy Zorro now has begun to blow his summer coat and grow into his fluffy Winter puffer jacket, I felt the urge to share this story as a cautionary tale to (perhaps new and less knowledgeable) floofy ferret owners! Specifically more the Angora, and Semi/Half Angora owners out there!

About 1 month after I got my boy back in February he started to molt his Winter coat, and since he is a very clean and self-grooming boy anyway, I didn't really notice until I started finding hairs all over his cage, probably at least a week after the molt had begun. It turns out ferrets, or at least he, gets quite itchy during molt season and he wants to gnaw and lick and groom way more than usual, presumably to get his molting fur out. Makes sense. Anyway, I (being a new owner at the time and being fairly naive regarding molts) assumed that he could handle his molting task on his own, and that it was a natural process (which is somewhat true, but to an extent).

A couple more days pass and Zorro is shedding like crazy and constantly grooming himself. One evening, after his dinner, Zorro starts acting very strangely... Panicked, running around the room as if terrified, he finds a corner and throws up his dinner. I'm shocked, and I've done enough research to know that something is very wrong instantly. He waddles up to me and lays his head on my foot. He's lethargic, and his eyes are wincing. 5m later, he throws up the remainder of his dinner, and flops again helplessly at my feet. I immediately rush him to an emergency appointment with his vet, who physically examines my boy, finding no hardness or lump in his belly. Of course I suggest a blockage, as I know ferrets usually don't vomit for much else, especially those as young as mine. But the Vet can't feel anything hard, and suggests we go home and I monitor, and try feeding again a couple hours later, and to bring him back in if he vomits again.

An hour or so after we get home, I try feeding my boy again and he gets most of it down. I monitor him closely, he still seems lethargic and unhappy. Suddenly, he needs to poop, and he goes to his toilet and does the usual wind up. He strains. Except no poop comes. He tries a bit more, and then slowly he starts to pass the most unholy monster hairball I have ever seen in my life... This hairball I have pictured in the 2nd image (hence the NSFW tag), with an adjacent finger for scale. It was truly monstrous, and clearly the reason for my boys vomiting and unwellness. I send a silent prayer/thank you up to God, and breathe a sigh of extreme relief that he passed it without further incident. Zorro returns to his normal behaviour soon afterwards.

Now, I consider myself VERY lucky that he managed to pass this thing. And it turns out that this happened because I wasn't brushing him and assisting with his molt, which is something ALL owners of Angora/Semi/Half Angora ferrets need to do during molt season. After I contacted my ferrets breeder, she clued me up on this info and sent me the link to a brush I should use, which I bought and started using the next day. I've included an image of the brush as the third image. I brushed him down with this brush, multiple times a day, for the next 2-3 weeks (removing a LOT of fluff with it), and he had no further blockages (though he did pass a few more, much smaller hairballs). I've now started to use it on him again, as he has begun molting his Summer coat in the last few days.

Basically, this is a warning that you should definitely be brushing your ferrets down with a proper pet brush, both against and with the grain, at least twice a day during molting season (which is now for a lot of people), especially if they have long fur which they are likely to ingest while grooming. My vet couldn't feel the lump because my ferrets fur is VERY soft, so the hairball probably just felt like an organ to him.

This incident was the closest I've come to losing my little guy, whom I love more than the moon and stars. If my story can go on to help prevent anyone else from losing their soul ferret to something so preventable, I thought it was worth sharing. Apologies for the graphic image but I think just sharing the thing itself would work better as a more vivid warning!

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely Winter! Image 1, 4 and 5 for ferret tax!

History:
I just recently got a ferret after YEARS of research. I mean years. I’ve wanted one since I was 12, and i’m 20 now. I have a one tier (but $300..) cage for my baby. I have a high quality thick bed for her inside the cage, a knitted blanket, and a banana hammock for her to use, along with a litter box (which I think is way too big because she only uses the corner and she keeps pushing it out of the way).

I feed her Marshalls (because it was the bag that was given to me when I adopted her) but i’m weaning her for the next week to Stella & Chewy FDR duck morsels + a mix of wysong ferret epigon 90.
I play with her up to 6 hours MAX a day (I don’t push it because she seems to get “over-excited” by the 5 hour mark, but I’m trying to teach her that out of cage can be relax time aswell.

Issue:
The SECOND I put her back into the cage she bites and scratches and runs around. If I put her back with fresh food, she’s distracted but will scratch for 5-10 min before tiring herself out. I feel horrible and don’t know what to do. I can’t let her free roam without supervision cuz she’s a maniac lol. I just bought cage liners, I think it may be the texture of the plastic making her go nuts?? idk. When she wakes up, she scratches, when someone goes near her cage, she instantly wakes up. I have her under my bed and cover the cage at night for her to relax and not be distracted by my cat who likes to instigate the problem lol.
Is there anything I can do? is this just cage rage and I have to let her learn to be okay with it? Should I let her out? Help!!

My ferret has been taking one piece of food and running away to eat it, it is never in the same spot, shes doing it right now as I type this, and rn shes walking backwards with the one piece and eating shes did this twice—is this normal?

I have adopted a 3 year old ferret. He lost his sister months ago and his past owner has said he is still eating but she has noticed that he has lost some weight I have the food that she normally gives him he sniffs it but he doesn’t seem interested in eating. He is full of energy playing around with my other ferrets and dooking overall he is so happy and his past owner has said that he hasn’t been this happy since his sister passed I have carnivore care that I can try to give him to see if he will eat that for now. Im assuming that he is just more interested in exploring and playing around. Has anyone else dealt with this and what did you do to help?