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routine care for your ferret

ferret

Grooming

Ferrets shed their coats twice a year. During these times, you can help your pet to prevent hairballs by brushing or combing out any loose fur. If you start your grooming routine when your young ferret sheds its baby fur, he/she will become accustomed to being brushed.

Hairball preventative

Another equally important grooming aid, which we recommend giving twice per week, is a hairball preventative, such as Laxatone. This will help to decrease hairball formation that occurs from your ferret’s own grooming.

Nail trimming

Ferrets' claws are well-adapted for digging and can become quite sharp if they are not cut on a regular basis. We recommend that you trim your ferret’s claws every two to three weeks to prevent them from catching on bedding, toys, and other common objects. They can be trimmed with your regular finger nail clippers or with scissors-style nail trimmers. If you take too much off the nail, you will cut into the “quick,” and bleeding and pain will occur. If this happens, neither you nor your ferret will want to do this again. Therefore, a few points are helpful:

  • Ferrets are usually easy to train to enjoy nail trimming sessions once you and your pet learn what type of liquid or paste treat he or she enjoys. Many ferrets love the taste of FerreTone or NutriCal.
  • Place your ferret on its back in your lap, and put a small amount of the treat on its belly. You may need to show your ferret where the treat is.
  • Once your ferret begins licking the treat from its belly, you can trim its nails. You can see the pink of the quick through the nail. Avoid the pink area, and you should be out of the quick.
  • When cutting nails, use sharp trimmers. Dull trimmers tend to crush the nail and cause pain even if you are not in the quick.

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