Welcome to the club!
Stephanie Nickles
Club President
I want to start by welcoming everyone to the club. I have received a
great response from many people about starting a club in NY. When I
decided to do this I was looking for a way to help out ferrets in our
area. Whether it was to help educate people about ferrets or to help
with rescues, I wanted the club to be there. I also wanted a place
where people could gather together to talk and share stories about
their ferrets. So I started by asking a close friend in the ferret
community for help on how to start and getting the clubs name out
there. We set up a website and got information out on the ferret
mailing list (FML). Once we had a substantial number of members we
set up a meeting.
Thank you to meeting goers!
I want to thank everyone that joined me at our first meeting. I am
please to say that it was a success. You can read about the meeting in
the following article in this newsletter. We have begun to sort through
everyone's ideas and suggestions. :-)
October Meeting
Minutes taken by:
Stephanie Nickles
Club President
We had our first club meeting at Tom Wahl's in Canandaigua on October
22nd, 2006. The meeting started at 1pm. Everyone was prompt and we
started by getting some food to fill our bellies.
The Agenda
We started the meeting by getting to know each other. We went around
the table and learned a little about each other. We gained some new
members. Please welcome Kristie, Cathy, Donna, Jessica and Sarah.
Next we discussed what the group wanted to accomplish. Two items came
up, the first was providing information to people that rent an
apartments as well as to the landlords. The second item was building
bridges at local pet stores. Speaking with management about the care of
the ferrets they bring in to the store and also handing out brochures
to
new ferret owners when they sell them. Hoping that this would cut down
on the number of ferrets that come in to the shelters by educating
people and cutting down on impulse buys.
In our discussion about meetings we came to the conclusion that
everyone wanted monthly meetings. Cyber meetings were decided to be not
a good idea at this time because not everyone has a computer. The next
meeting was decided to be a private meeting/ Christmas party in
December. The meeting place for the party is going to be at the Lake
Road Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter. Following meetings will be rotated
between members. We also decided that the club should have dues to
cover the cost of the website. Due were decided to be collected at each
meeting and they are $1 per member. For those that can not make it to
the meetings or on months that we do not have a meeting dues can be
mailed to the club president.
The next meeting was decided to be a private meeting/ Christmas party
in December. The meeting place for the party is going to be at the Lake
Road Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter.
Everyone was able to get a peek at the rough draft of the club logo. We
discussed the idea of having T-shirts made up once the logo was
completed. We also discussed the positioning of the logo. It seems at
this time everyone liked the idea of having a large picture of the logo
on the back and maybe a small one on the front with the club's name. We
also discussed the newsletter and website. Members decided they wanted
the newsletter e-mailed to them. For anyone that can not get it through
e-mail will have it mailed to them.. It will also be posted on the
website for anyone to see. We also need a mission statement. Jeff
volunteered to write one up. We had an open forum and chat session to
finish up.
The meeting ended around 2:45pm with a group photo.
I would like to send special thanks to Brenda for her help in setting
up the meeting and taking time away from her fur kids. Also to Nancy
for taking the minutes and Kristy for taking pictures. Thank you to
everyone else for your ideas and support of the club! :-)
Bringing a new one in to the business
Brenda Johnson
Director of the Lake Road Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter
Acclimating a new fur kid into a business usually takes upwards of 30
days, sometimes longer and sometimes it does not ever happen... I say
30 days because it usually takes 30 days for the new fur kid to know
that this is his/her new home and they have a right to defend
themselves if need be. There is a pecking order in all ferret families,
i.e. business :. Acclimating a new kid into many or even one, is not a
real easy thing to do, the stress on all of them can be deadly.
(Literally)
When you bring your new ferret (s) home you need to keep them far and
away from the already established business. Do not allow them to get
near one another for at least a couple of weeks. They are already going
to smell one another so there will be a minimal amount of stress in
that, doing so could cause any one of them to stress to the point of
needing medical attention. If this stress is not treated you will have
a dead ferret!
Keep the new ferrets in an area they can run in without worrying about
being beat up by the already established ferret.(s) Keep the bedding
that they came with in their cage for at least a coupe of weeks before
you wash it. Once the new fur kids acclimate to their new home (30days)
possibly more, then you can change any and all bedding with little fear
they will stress.
DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOM! Under no circumstances should you ever just walk
away from a new introduction.
When introducing your ferrets to one another. Do not allow more than
one established ferret at a time in the same room with the new ferrets.
I suggest you use the largest room you have to do the introducing, the
more room they have the more likely they will become friends. I can
only hazard a guess as to why this works it just does. The smaller the
room the more problems you are to have with the acclimation. This was a
learning experience for me. DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOM! Under no
circumstances should you ever just walk away from a new introduction.
You will need to get the
ferrets separated as soon as there is a fight. If you don't you will
have some medical problem with one or all of the ferrets.
As the weeks progress you can start changing the bedding from the new
cage group to the established cage group (do not wash it first) meaning
you take the bedding from the cage of the established group and put it
into the new groups cage, and vise versa. Do this for a couple of
weeks.
This helps to mingle the scents of all the ferrets and they get use to
smelling each other. This sometimes works sometimes does not. You must
understand that this new group may NEVER acclimate to the established
group. Especially when they come in multiples.
If you have a problem one-week with acclimating the groups don't try
again for a week or so. YOU MUST give the ferrets time to adjust. They
now have all new humans, rules, smells, and schedules. That is a lot to
adjust to for a little body. Give them time and they will show you
wondrous things.
If you have any problems you may contact me, I will do my best to help
you and the ferret through this adjustment period. If you notice any
dark sticky stools CALL YOUR VET IMMEDIATELY!!!
Raffle for Shelter
Proceeds going to the Lake Road Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter
This month we will be raffling off a hand painted tray. Ticket will be
picked on December 31st 2006. The winner of the raffle will be able to
send a picture of their liking to the club and the picture will be
placed in to the tray and then sealed so that the tray will be water
proof. You can go to the website at ferretloversuny.org to see the
picture of the tray before the picture is put on.
Any questions e-mail
[log in to unmask]
Cost:
1 Ticket- $1
3 Tickets- $2
10 Tickets- $5
Calendar of Events
Club Christmas Party
Place: Lake Road Ferret Farm Rescue Shelter
Time: December 17th, 2006 @ 1 pm
We will be combining a Christmas Party with our meeting this month. It
will be a dish to pass event. There will be a form on the website where
members can fill out what they are bringing.
Ask the Expert
Question From: Jessica Plarr
Question:
What type of bedding and littler and litter boxes are best for my
ferret?
What kind of food is best for my ferret?
Answer from: Stephanie Nickles
Answer: "What type of bedding and littler and litter boxes are best for
my ferret?"
When it comes to bedding ferrets are like people. You like nice clean ,
soft sheets when you get in to bed at night. Well so do they. What I do
is each level in the cage has a mat on it. Most cages have a wire
bottoms and shelves or they are a slippery plastic. The wire bottoms
are not good for the ferret to walk on. They can get their little toes
stuck or even cut. You always want to keep the wires covered. The mats
and the rest of the bedding ie: hammocks and blankets are washed at
least once a week. Or as needed. Litter boxes should have a high back
to them and they should be square. Ferrets like to back up as much as
possible when they go. The high back prevents poo and litter from going
all over the place. They also want to be able to plant all four feet,
in the triangle ones they have hard time doing that. You should NEVER
have wood chips or litter on the floor of the cage as bedding. The wood
chips can cause major health problems for your ferret. If you use
litter as a bedding you can promote bad bathroom habits. Some ferrets
are picky about what type of litter to use. You do not want to use any
clay or clumping litters. The dust can cause respiratory problems. Some
people use just newspaper. Or if you prefer litter they have a
newspaper litter called Yesterday's News.
Answer from: Brenda Johnson
Answer: "What kind of food is best for my ferret?"
Ferrets need a high protein; high fat; low fiber diet. Ferrets do not
have the ability to digest fruit and vegetable matter. In fact if they
are given food with dried fruits and vegetables in them they may very
well develop a blockage that will need to be surgically removed. It is
best to stay with a good quality ferret food that is chicken based.
There are many ferret foods on the market, but just because it has a
ferret picture on it or it says it is for ferrets this does not mean it
is good or the correct food for your ferret to eat. Ferrets like change
less than we humans do, so it is best to make available to them a
mixture of several different kinds of ferret foods so that if you can
not get one kind or another your ferret will continue to eat what you
offer him or her. It is up to you to make sure you are knowledgeable
about what your ferret (s) needs and where to find it. The ingredients
listed on the bag of food will tell you what is in that food, it does
not however have to be listed in order of the amount like in food for
human consumption does. The top 6 foods, I use here at the shelter are,
Totally Ferret for active ferrets, Zupreem, 8 in 1 Ultimate, Pro Plan
Kitten, and Marshall Farms. All the food is mixed in equal parts except
Marshall Farm's food. I use 1/2 of the amount in the mix. In other words
I mix 4# bag of each of the foods except Marshall Farms, I add 2# of
that into the mix. Marshall Farms food is not harmful but they use fish
in the ingredients so that will cause your ferret to stink and it will
also cause their poop to stink. Why do I bother to use Marshall Food,
because 90% of the fur kids that come here have only been fed Marshall
Farm food? Unlike cats and dogs, ferrets will literally starve
themselves if they do not like what you offer them to eat.
Contact Information
Official newsletter of the Ferret Lovers Club of UNY
117 Teaberry Dr
Spencerport, NY 14559
(585)746-0032
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
On the web: ferretloversuny.org
Editor
Stephanie Nickles
Co-Editor
Brenda Johnson
AFFILIATIONS:
* Baltimore Ferret Club Inc.
* The Ferret Aid Society
* International Ferret Congress
* Lake Road Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter
* South JerseyÕs Ferret Rescue & Sanctuary
In memory of those that have received their wings.
* Loki (Nickles) 10-01-06
* Delilah (Johnson) 10-06-06
* Andy (Johnson) 10-16-06
To view the whole newsletter and pictures please visit the website.
Stephanie Nickles
Club President
Visit us at
http://www.ferretloversuny.org
[Posted in FML 5411]
|
