Hi All!,

Ed Lipinski has some great ideas to slim down your supersized ferrets!
But some of these supersizers live in the tropics ( Like Florida) and
an excursion out of doors while carrying extra weight may not be good,
unless the human takes the ferret out late at night or early in the
morning.

But have a cheer! There are planty of effective ways to reduce the
fuzzy's girth right inside the house!

Like pick up chubby tubby and put them in another room of the house.
Inevitably they'll want to explore this new place and will waddle,
creep and crawl around to check it out. Eventually making their way
back to their "apartment" if its a free roam house.

Get the tubby one started in a vertical direction to climb up on the
sofa or a chair - of course this works best if the ferret has a blanket
or slip cover to dig the claws into.

A rice bin is a great replacement for outside digging. Bury a section
of tunnel or an oatmeal container ( with the bottom cut out) into the
rice bin and the ferret goes nuts trying to dig through the tunnel!

Ferret bowling helps too! For those of us without clear expanses of
smooth tile flooring, put the ferret in a plastic grocery bag and slide
el lardo across the floor! They seem to enjoy the sensation of sliding
and will run(?) back to you for more!

Don't do too much at once. Watch the ferret closely for any signs of
physical stress - like really breathing hard. Just do frequent short
intervals of this training every day and soon the ferret will let you
know they want to continue!

Those of you lucky enough to have stairs are already ahead of the game
with the perfect exercise gym! Again, monitor the ferret and assist if
needed, don't leave them unsupervised, especially if they gain any
elevation - the rotund little buggers have a difficult time turning
and may find themselves bouncing down the steps!

It goes without saying to get them on an improved diet and to NOT allow
them 24/7 access to their food! Fozzy has improved immensely since
switching over to RMB and whole prey ( well he is actually still in the
process of switching) but his energy level has increased, his stamina,
he willingly moves around now and can climb up the sofa unassisted and
even continued up the back of the chair!

Outdoor excursions are on his agenda, but after he developes a bit more
muscling and then too it will be a night time outing.

Cheers! Kim
Josie made me do it:
www.vanityferret.com

[Posted in FML 5660]