From:
rrc961@mizzou.edu
Date: 2002-08-31 13:07:32 UTC
Subject: RE: Bob C: Ferret Caretaker Quiz
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <32380779.1030799252764.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Angela wrote:
> > 3. Ferrets should be fed a) a combination of dry, extruded foods, cooked poultry, wet kitten food, and meaty broths,>
> > 12. Ferrets are a) obligate, primary carnivores with a digestive system evolved to eat animals,
> Well, Bob, me thinks you contradict yourself here.
In a perfect world, you would be correct, but this is far from a perfect world. While small animal carcasses are a perfect, evolutionary food, feeding them exclusively is not the best idea. The reason is because ferrets imprint on food odors, and if they are not exposed to large number of food smells, they don't recognize them later in life. Perhaps later you have to take a vacation, and the caretaker cannot or will not offer prey foods. Perhaps the ferret is ill, and needs a bland chicken baby food diet for a while. Or maybe something happens, perhaps an extended hospital stay, and the ferrets have to stay at a shelter or animal boarding house. No one can plan for everything, so it is better to extend a ferret's olfactory imprinting to include all possible food possibilities.
> > 22. Ferrets are a) asocial domesticated polecats that generally tolerate socializing with litter-sized groups of ferrets because of behavioral neotony,
> Que?
Asocial = nonsocial; that is, animals that do not form social groups, and instead have evolved a solitary lifestyle.
Domesticated polecat = ferret.
Litter-sized group = 5 to 9 ferrets, with an upper limit of about 12.
Behavioral neotony = infant and juvenile behaviors extended into adulthood, such as extended play behaviors, or ferrets accepting other ferrets as pseudo-litter mates.
Thanks for the opportunity for discussion.
Bob C