New fuzzy parent questions!

Hello, I'm Payton and I'm happily adopting a ferret soon. I've had many exotic pets and still own a few today. I love doing my research and so far my only big question I have is about choosing my new fuzzy'a diet. So far I want to go with kibble, seeing how much easier it is. I personally want to go with Blue Wilderness cat food since it is in every pet store near me. I would like to get some opinions about my choice. A couple other simple questions I have are are about ear cleaning and teeth cleaning and how often I should do these things. What paste should I use for my new baby, and also is there an oil to use for their ears or do I use jst plain water with a q-tip? Thank you to anyone and everyone who answers these questions!

<So far I want to go with kibble, seeing how much easier it is. 

I prefer to feed no gain kibbles.  I try to watch the carbs in their food.   I feed the Natural Variety Products.


> I have are are about ear cleaning and teeth cleaning and how often I should do these things.


I use mineral oil on a q-tip to wipe out their ears.  I use C.E.T. enzymatic toothpaste or Vet enzadent paste to clean their teeth.  My kids are imprinted on raw food, that also helps keep their teeth clean.  It's always best to check those teeth and gums.  

Nails, ear cleaning, teeth clean and brushing  - I do this once, a month.  I also check for any bumps or lumps that may appear.

I hope this helps.

No grain kibbles are best.  I think you'll find that a month is the longest you can go between nail trims.  It's more like every 10-14 days here.  We inspect ears every time they get clipped, but usually only clean them once a month.  Jaffa, however, is an ear wax factory and gets his cleaned at least weekly.  We do teeth every 1-2 weeks, but Mogli needs them cleaned 1-2 times a week.  We use the poultry flavored enzymatic tooth pastes, too.  You can probably get it from your vet, but you can also get it from Amazon.  

Food is much cheaper online as well.  It's also a good idea to feed more than one variety in case there is a recall.  Last year 2 of the most trusted and nutritious brands, Evo and Wysong, had problems.  Evo had a series of recalls and was unavailable for a couple months.  Wysong Epigen 90, which is 90% meat products, added a new ingredient (flax seed) in attempt to boost nutrition but a lot of ferrets had bad reactions to it.  Ferrets can be picky eaters and if their only food suddenly becomes unavailable they may stop eating.

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Thank you both for your help! I heard about the Wysong recall and heard that they changed back to their original formula, would that be a better kibble choice? I've also heard good things about Zupreem! Also how do I know what two kibbles to mix? I wouldn't want them on an un-balanced diet.

Hi, Payton,
I'm not going to tell you what to feed, we feed Zup Ferret Diet, Drs. Foster and Smith and Natural Gold cat food.  Once I graduate and get a real job, I would like to switch to Nature's variety and Wysong.  We have fed 8 in 1 Ultimate crunchy, but all of ours suddenly stopped eating it last winter.   We also make a soup from ground kibble, wet cat food that contains no veggies, and raw ground turkey or chicken, and give that to them morning and evening.  We have 8, and they are mostly healthy, except for one.  
Here is a link to a food chart that compares different dry foods.  Remember that ferrets are natural carnivores.  The more meat and the less plant matter in their food, the better.  They should have at least 40% meat based protein, 18% fat and low carbs.  Also lower fiber.  The can't digest veggies, as they lack certain enzymes, so plant matter is wasted and just goes out the back end.  They also need taurine.  

http://forum.ferret.com/tm.aspx?m=245451

 

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