My ferret seems to like diet Coke...will it make her really ill?

She keeps tipping over my cans of diet Coke in attempts to lap it up. I scold her and tap her nose and she stops for a minute or two and tips it over again! Will it make her sick or is it okay?My ferret seems to like diet Coke...will it make her really ill?
Coke can give ferrets diabetes








I hand the following out to anyone who is new to ferrets. I live in the UK, I exhibit, judge and breed ferrets, also ferret cross European polecat hybrids, I got my first pet ferret and pet rabbit over 50 years ago, when I was a child.








Behaviour of all ferrets can sleep up to 20 hours a day and must have a playtime of at least 2-3 hours a day. They can be extremely active during play, dashing up and down stairs and around your home like a mad things, play fights and mock battles are all part of their play.


There is a load of sh*t spouted out there about not keeping two intact males together, but maybe these people are right after all as I don't keep two intact males together I have 6 intact males living together and in another group I have 6 intact females living together.





Feeding Ferrets


Ferrets are carnivores and therefor they should be fed on a raw meat diet, correctly fed ferrets should never need hairball prevention (Ferret Lax).


My ferrets get whole poultry, pigeons, pheasants and waterfowl all with feathers and on the bone also whole rabbits in the fur on the bone. Bovine liver in small amounts, sheep and pigs heart lungs wind pipe and spleen of which is all minced together then fed to the ferrets, they also get diced poultry turkey and pork also beef / pork and turkey mince, the mince can also contain some fish without the bones.


http://www.rawlearning.com ... http://www.rawmeatybones.com


http://www.rawfed.com/myths/ ... http://www.rawfeddogs.net/


As a treat my ferret like a small amounts of apple and some of them like melon skins





Housing


Almost any type of cage can be used for ferrets, from rabbit hutches, poultry arks and dog crates to home made hutches. For their own safety all ferrets should be put in some sort of cage while the owners are not at home.





Bedding / Care


I use shredded paper, as I find that changed weekly it cuts down on the ferrets normal body odder. Ferrets should never need a bath and if the owner thinks their ferret needs a bath I suggest that they find another type of pet. Once you have bather your ferret the odder will come back and it will be twice the strength it was before you bathed it.





Exercise


Ferrets like to have a playtime of at least 2-3 hours a day, although mine can be found to be awake when ever anyone is around. Mine also love to go for walks with me and my dogs around the village.





Health


Some people say that one reason they have hobs castrated is to stop the sexual frustration of the adolescence ferrets.


Then others say about the smell of the ferrets as another reason for having hobs castrated As for the smell of these young ferrets it is a great smell and anyone who thinks differently should think about weather they should have ferrets or maybe they would be better off looking after some inanimate object such as a stone, hence so sexual frustration or smell.


Question;


Would you castrate the male family members because of B.O. or their feet smell? So why do it to ferrets!


Correctly fed ferrets should never need hairball prevention (Ferret Lax). Trimming Nails Sit down and lay your rabbit on its back that way you can get to all 4 feet put your thumb on the sole of the foot with your fingers around the back of the foot and press your thumb down to show the nails take 1/3 rd of the nail off


Healthy ferrets can sleep up to 20 hours a day. Spaying and neutering is not a good thing for ferrets as this leads to Adrenal cancer


Ferrets can catch human flu.


Sneezing and coughing, Runny nose and eyes (discharge should be clear), Fever over 104掳 F, Lethargy, Wheezing, Diarrhoea, Loss of appetite.





Breeding / Sexing


With the male the penis is where the bellybutton usually is and with the female both anus and vagina are just under her tail





Ferret History


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret - Originally, in 1758 the domestic ferret was classified as a separate genus and was called Mustela Furo. It was believed the steppe polecat to be the closest to the domestic ferret. Then, in 1970, through the examination of external chromosome shape, it was determined that the European polecat (Mustela putorius) was closer to the domestic ferret than the steppe polecat. When this evidence came to light it was decided M. putorius and the domestic ferret were in the same species and the domestic ferret was then renamed Mustela Putorius Furo to distinguish it from the polecat. However, dogs are considered Canis familiars, not Canis lupus familiars which should follow if they are domesticated wolf, Canis lupis. The 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines: FER'RET, n. 1. An animal of the genus Mustela, or Weasel kind, about 14 inches in length, of a pale yellow colour with red eyes.





In 1999 a group of British scientists examined DNA structure and could not make any further determination. So at this point in time we simply do NOT know, with certainty, the ancestor of the domestic ferret. The theories given here are the best possible with the available information. If new evidence is introduced, adjustments may be made. Right now, our best guess is that the domesticated ferret is a descendant of the European polecat.


Here in the UK adults can weigh from 1lb to 7lbs, and can vary according to the time of year up to as much as 50% plus or minus.





Ferrets were imported to the USA in the late 18th century. In the mid 19th century ferrets (then known as fitch) were bred for their fur and even as late as the 1980's fitch fur farming was widespread. Only recently has this practice fallen out of favour with most countries.





Ferrets as pets in the USA


In the United States, ferrets were relatively rare pets until the 1980s. Dr. Wendy Winstead, a veterinarian and former folk singer who had her first ferret in 1969, sold ferrets to a number of celebrities including Dick Smothers and David Carradine while making television appearances on programs such as the David Letterman Show with ferrets in the 1980s[13], writing books and promoting them until her death in the 1990s from cancer. A government study by the California State Bird and Mammal Conservation Program found that by 1996, approximately 800,000 or so domestic ferrets were likely being kept as pets in the United States.





Ferreting


Rabbiting For hundreds of years, the main use of ferrets was for hunting, or ferreting. With their long, lean build and curious nature, ferrets are very well equipped for getting down holes and chasing rodents and rabbits out of their burrows. Caesar Agustus sent ferrets (named ';viverrae'; by Plinius ) to the Balearic Islands to control the rabbit plagues in 6 BC. They are still used for hunting in some countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, where rabbits are considered a plague species. However, the practice is illegal in several countries where it is feared that ferreting could unbalance the ecology.


In England, in 1390, a law was enacted restricting the use of ferrets for hunting to those of substantial means: ';...it is ordained that no manner of layman which hath not lands to the value of forty shillings a year (the equivalent of about 拢1,000 in today's money) shall from henceforth keep any greyhound or other dog to hunt, nor shall he use ferrets, nets, heys, harepipes nor cords, nor other engines for to take or destroy deer, hares, nor conies, nor other gentlemen's game, under pain of twelve months' imprisonment.'; Ferrets were first introduced into the New World in the 17th century, and were used extensively from 1860 until the start of World War 2 to protect grain stores in the American West..





Showing


The Hobby of Breeding %26amp; Showing Ferrets is called 'The Fancy'. Almost every weekend, all over the country, ferret shows are taking place. Many are Local Ferret Clubs holding their single-day shows in places such as Village Halls and Scout Huts, others are two-day Championship Shows held in Sports Centres and School Halls.





My Experience


Since having a brain injury I had to cut down on pets from over the 200 that I owned, I have only kept a few Ferrets and European hybrids, Rabbits, Dogs and Rosella Parakeets.


After keeping young ferret hobs form the early 70 'before that I only ever kept jills', I have found that once the young hobs reach adolescence they will try to bully the rest of the group and they soon find out that the older hobs will not stand for their bullying ways. Ferret hobs can be brats when they come into their first season, but after that they just become friends. Being a ferret owner for 50+ years, with 12 ferrets at the moment and my oldest ferrets have lived to 13+ the following group is not just about ferrets, we have members who own all sorts of pets,. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/intact-fer鈥?/a>


ALWAYS seek veterinary advice if your pet seems unwell in any way, and research new information as thoroughly as possible then take it to your vet for their opinion before acting on it.





30 years friendship with a veterinarian.


Contact me if you need any more helpMy ferret seems to like diet Coke...will it make her really ill?
Diet Coke will do to youre ferret what Diet Pepsi did to Michael Fox.
I wouldent worry about it. I had a ferret a while bak *died of old age.. he was 7 years old* and for sum reason ferrets LOVE coke. Mine would do anything to get to a coke can of any kind. Everynow and then it would succeed but it nvr hurt him. Just try and keep the cans out of its reach. Ull be suprised what those guys can do or climb to get to a soda can ^.^
only if ferrets cant have sugar and carbonated water.


if they can have them then i don't think it will affect the ferret
It certainly won't help her. Don't let her drink it. Side track her with a few raisins instead.
yes?


diet coke!! DIET!!


';DIET';
In general things that are junk food for people are junk food for pets. It's probably not the best for her, but since it's diet and has no sugar, she probably won't die. I would keep soda away from her though. Just because people have a weakness for soda doesn't mean our beloved babies should, too?