I recently received a Ferret as a Christmas present from my soon-to-be
wife.  We planned on getting one after we were married, but she found an
absolutely adorable one and couldn't pass up the bargain which included a
cage, food, dish, water bottle, book, litter-pan and Ferretone all for
$179 (is that a good price?).
 
        Anyway, she's a female neutered and descented from Marshall Farms.  We
call her Nibbles because she likes to nibble anything she can get her
jaws on, cheeks, fingers, toes and the like.
 
        We don't mind her nipping a little when she's playing, but she seems to
nip almost all the time.  If we are holding her, she'll twist to nip our
hands.  If she can't get our hand she'll nip herself.  We want to try to
calm down her nipping habit.  The book we got suggested a tap on her nose
and a sharp "No" when she nips.  The Ferret FAQ suggests a similar
approach, but says if it doesn't work you might end up doing it too much
and she'll equate being around you with something bad.  Our Vet suggested
a water sprayer (kind of like what you do with cats).  Does anybody know
which of these is the better approach (or even have a different one),
when we should do it and how long before we should expect some results?
 
        A poster on Rec.Pets on the USENET News system gave information that
IAMS kitten food contains a preservative that could be toxic to ferrets.
The poster immediately stopped feeding her ferret Iams.  I talked to my
vet last night and she said it is a controversial topic and that it has
not been substantiated.  Also, that the amount needed to be harmful to
ferrets is a lot more than she would get in her daily feedings.  Upon
inspection of Science Diet, the vet found the presrvative in Science Diet
as well.  Is this all speculation and no cause for concern?  We feed
Nibbles Iams but will stop if it endangers her health.
 
 
        Last question, for now.  :)  We give our fuzzy four pumps of Ferretone
in her food bowl every day as well as using it as a treat to reinforce
litter training and better behavior.  The bottle of Ferretone suggested
the four pumps a day (one pump is a decent amount too), but it could just
be a way to get you to use it all and buy more.  The Ferret FAQ suggested
that Ferretone contains Vitamin-A which could be harmful or even fatal in
large amounts.  It also suggests only a few drops a day.  Are we over
using the Ferretone and endangering our little fuzzy (who is only 9 weeks
old BTW)?  It's hard to tell what information is accurate and what is
not.
 
Thanks for any help you can give,
Jim Makowski  (And Nibbles too)
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[Posted in FML issue 1051]