>Is this getting just a little silly? What is the basis for assuming that >our domestic ferrets need the same diet as their ancestors or feral >ferrets? Is it proven that feral ferrets are healthier, or have longer >lives? Once upon a time man's diet was whatever he could outrun and kill. >What was his life span? 15 years? Our ferret's worst enemy is not TF or >IAM, or whatever (within reason, of course), but the greedy hi-volume >breeders... I couldn't agree you more- about everything here. I think this whole diet issue has gone a little crazy and is deflecting from our main focus- happy healthy ferrets. There have been a few articles lately (and since I don't want to cause more flammage by stepping on any toes, I'll just let you all figure out what I'm referring to) about how many ferret caregivers give their fuzzies a huge variety of food- anywhere from chocolate and cafe mochas to pepperoni, Dr. Pepper and Ice cream. And when I hear this- it just really makes me sad :-(. I know that a lot of people eat a variety of garbage-y foods like those listed- which I of course I am guilty of occassionally, but to feed them to your fuzzies? Am I the only one bothered by this? I know that every owner is entitled to feed their fuzzbutts what they choose, but this frightens me. I feed my fuzzywuzzins Totally Ferret everyday as their main food ( which is not an endorsement for this food co. There are other nutritious pellet/kibble diets out there, I just chose this one because of it's individual high nutritional value, the ferrets love it and it produces a lot less waste material). But I also give daily bits of raw vegies, cooked meat (mostly chicken and turkey), tiny amounts of fruits and of course, their favorite, a raisin or two here and there. They also get ferretone about every other day . In addition to this- they are let of cages in the morning for 2 hours, then let out when I get home from work for the rest of the night- until I go to bed. So they get around 6-8 hours of playtime a day- which I am involved in. They have abundant amounts of energy- they love to run and jump and tumble and roll and dook and climb and crawl through and be just plain adorable for hours on end. My littlest one,Faya, seems to never get tired. From the moment I let her out after work until the late evening hour I put her to bed she never stops. The other two have a lot of energy, too , but enjoy just watching her "go nuts" sometimes. Then there are our trips to the park. I think that that is their unltimate favorite. There is one particular park we go often to, that has a big beautiful pond and a couple dozen ducks and geese. They love to run around(with their harnesses on, of course) and roll in the soft plush grass, watch the birds, sometimes try to chase after the ducks (but their mom never lets them near the geese, which they still can't figure out why), smell everything and dook dook dook!!! Sounds like some pretty happy healthy ferrets, huh? So, I guess it somes down to this, in order to have happy healthy fuzzheads, not only do they need good eats, but need to be loved and played with and all that other good stuff. Because you could feed your ferret the "best food on earth", but neglect their other needs, and you would still not have a healthy ferret. Jennifer M. Coyer CVT Fred, Faya and Zero the Fuzzmunckins [Posted in FML issue 2128]