Ferrets

[fluffymunchkins]

A friend of a friend had ferrets and they were beautiful
I know she took them on walks through fields next to her house and they really enjoyed it. Though I'd say its wise to choose where you walk carefully.
Some people bought ferrets to the bluecross fair near me and were walking them around. It sent my dog and many others bonkers and she could have so easily snatched one up in her mouth i had no avoided them.

[Tammy22]

Hello,

i have kept and bred ferrets in the past and i really enoyed having them, especially the babies, they are so cute!

I would say that they do make good pets - in my experience the males tend to be more laid back and have a nicer nature. My male was a very big ferret but he was a gentle giant and ejoyed being handled and loved his tummy being rubbed - he loved attention Our female did tend to be a bit aggressive and could bite when you handled her and did get a bit rough when she was playing - not sure if this is typical behaviour for each sex, but this is how ours were.

Ours enjoyed going for walks on leads but it did take some getting used to for them. Ferrets needs quite a bit of exercise so they either need to get used to being on a lead or they need a very large play area.

We used to have ours 'pegged out' on a long lead which was tethered in to the ground. The ejoyed having the freedom and loved to play in sand and have a dig around. Ours would even play with our german shepherds if they walked over to them and they would run around all over them burrowing into their fur!

We kept ours in a very large shed, so i am not sure about cage sizes. I wouldnt really recommend a cage to be honest - an aviary and shed is much better for them due to their size and how active they are. Ferrets have very sharp teeth and can chew out of a lot of things, and they are born escapologists!! So choose very carefuly, lol!

With regards to vaccinations ours didnt have any but we did hear about an available one for distemper i think, but after talking to other keepers it didnt seem to be necessary - but this was around 8 or 9 years ago, so things may have changed - have a talk to your vet.

One very important thing about ferrets is that the females come in to season three or four times a year but they do not come out of season themselves. It is hard to explain so have a read up on it, but intact females must be mated with a male to come out of season. A neutered male can be used and this is usually the best combination to keep together, as this will trick the females body in to thinking she has been successfully mated with and she will come out of season. Intact females which do not mate with a male can die if they stay in season.

I think it is also an option to have the female spayed and also i have heard about certain injections for females to combat this, but i have heard that they are not healthy for the female to keep having them.

One of the main problems i had with my ferrets was the smell from them!! It is a horrible smell that they produce and nothing can be done about it really (except having the glands removed which i dont agree with) so it is something you will have to be prepared to put up with. It doesnt matter how much you clean them out or wash them, the smell is something they produce and roll around in to 'smell nice' lol!! so they really dont smell very nice and their home smells the same!!

Our ferrets were fed on cat and dog meat and biscuits, and bits of chicken and other meat too, both raw and cooked. Again this could have changed too in the past few years so this is something you need to read up on too. I think there are actually ferret foods made now too, so that may be an option.

I think there is quite a bit of difference between how ferrets are kept by 'pet homes' and by 'ferreting homes'. Our ferrets were bought from stock which were bred to hunt rabbits, so this is where i got my info on housing and feeding etc. Depending where you get yours you may get different advice, but hopefully this will help you out a bit

Tammy x

[Mystic]

hello! i can help you with your questions, i know a lot about ferrets and have owned many, right now i have 1, i had 2 a couple weeks ago but i had to put one down sadly because he was old and had a fast growing tumor on his liver Y_Y
anyways where do you live? US or UK? ferrets are wonderful pets but there are some things you should know before you buy them.
first off they are a lot of work, and need a lot of attention, they can also be very pricey with vet bills. a lot of ferrets are prone to adrenal problems and that can be rather costly, so you will want to either get one from a rescue or a very good breeder. i wouldn't get any from pet stores they have a lot of health problems.
they also stink, there isn't much you can do about it besides cleaning their littler box at least every other day. you also would need to wash their bedding once a week. they have a natural musky smell to them, and bathing them only makes it worse, people who bath them constantly actually make them produce more oils which in turn makes them stink more, so bathing them once every 3 to 4 months is about the most you should do. a lot of the time you get used to it and love it though, such as how some people love puppy breath and what not. some times people will smell ferrets on you and tell you that you stink like ferrets XD it has happened to me more then i can remember. but if you can get past that they are really sweet and loving.

as for cage size, this is the cage that is the best in my eyes, i know alot of loving ferret owners who have these.
Ferret Nation Habitat Model 182 Double Unit - Ferret.com
so if you could find one about that size it would be ideal. ferrets need a lot of time out of their cage at least 2 hours a day, they can run around and play loose in a room as long as you make sure they cant get into anything or chew on things.

as for their food its hard to say, because they are carnivores and they actually do not have the organs to digest fruits or vegetables, or grains. they need meat. i feed my ferret either zu-preem ferret diet or evo ferret diet. pretty much you want as much meat in the first 10 ingredients as you can get and the least amount of veggies or fruits in it. you also want to have a small amount of ingredients in it. but just dry kibble isn't the best for them. i make mine something we ferret owners call soupy. i make mine with plain chicken baby food, some special supplements and olive oil. my little girl drinks it right up and loves it. if you would like the list of what i put in it let me know ^.^

now i do not understand what you mean by jabs, so i am kind of confused on that one XD

about the leash and walking, it is good to take them out in the fresh air, and depending on the ferret they can be scared or thrilled to be outside. my little girl loves it. but she is also deaf so she isn't scared easily. my male hated it, he was always watching the sky for hawks lol but if you do take them out side a lot you will want to probably get them vaccinated. they get the same kinds dogs and cats do pretty much. and you might also want to give them a heart worm and flee medication because they can get those to.

another thing they need is to have their teeth brushed probably about twice a week.

also some one else had already mentioned something about them eating rodents. so i warn you now they will kill rodents quickly, my male saved me from 3 wild mice when i had him. if it was in a small space he would grab it and kill it in a instant so don't ever let them around any rodents or birds.... my male ate my beloved dove .... so watch out they can kill things fast.. Y_Y but if raise right they can get along with cats and dogs. but be careful they also bite cats and dogs rather hard if they are not raised with them XD

also you need to be ready to have a crazy animal bouncing and scooting around your house if you let them run around it to play, they love hiding in couches and chairs, they love to dig in plants and to tip over cups and glasses to see whats inside XD

i dont know how much you know about them but you can litter train them and they are pretty good with it once they get the hang of it. any other questions for me? i would love to answer all i can for you ^_^

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by Tammy22

One of the main problems i had with my ferrets was the smell from them!! It is a horrible smell that they produce and nothing can be done about it really (except having the glands removed which i dont agree with) so it is something you will have to be prepared to put up with. It doesnt matter how much you clean them out or wash them, the smell is something they produce and roll around in to 'smell nice' lol!! so they really dont smell very nice and their home smells the same!!

Our ferrets were fed on cat and dog meat and biscuits, and bits of chicken and other meat too, both raw and cooked. Again this could have changed too in the past few years so this is something you need to read up on too. I think there are actually ferret foods made now too, so that may be an option.

I think there is quite a bit of difference between how ferrets are kept by 'pet homes' and by 'ferreting homes'. Our ferrets were bought from stock which were bred to hunt rabbits, so this is where i got my info on housing and feeding etc. Depending where you get yours you may get different advice, but hopefully this will help you out a bit

Tammy x

now days depending on where you get your ferrets they usually come spayed or neutered, and have been decanted. if they are not fixed or decanted it can actually cause many health problems, if you don't breed them its actually recommended to have them altered because it can make them smell worse and can hurt them. the males can get really sick when they go into rutt if they are not bred. the females can get the uterine cancer and what not. their scent glands can also get compacted and infected and have to be removed anyways. my male was like that. i have to tell you having them fixed and decanted takes their smell down about 65% feeding them proper diet and letting them run around also helps another 15% my female hardly smells at all.
please don't find me rude, i am not trying to say you are wrong at all. i am just replying with what i have been told and have read up on.

[Tammy22]

Hi Mystic,

No of course I don't find you rude. I am no expert on them and as I said it was a long time ago that I kept them, and the advice I got then was from people using theirs for ferreting, so I imagine they care for theirs differently, there is probably a big difference between uk and us keepers too as with other animals.

One thing I can say is that all of our adults lived long and happy lives with no health problems from either sex. We had no problems with the intact males or females and no problems with the scent glands either.

Tammy x

[StarlightSerenity]

I don't know a thing about ferrets but wanted to say something about what Mystic has posted. You mentioned 'decanted' do you mean descented? If so, it's illegal in the UK as it's an unecessary mutilation, same as tail docking and declawing.

[Kirsty1987]

Hey thanks for all the reply's im willing to put up with the smell and the vets bills and the mess well basically everything because i think they are worth it im from the uk so it is illegal for them to be descented and i think its wrong anyway, if you take on a ferret you accept everything about it including the smell. I plan on getting a 2 bedroom house so one whole room will be for the ferrets a big play room with lots of toys and will be ferret proofing it. As for walks i would be worried as there a lot of dogs around here, but a walk around a fenced of garden will be good

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by StarlightSerenity

I don't know a thing about ferrets but wanted to say something about what Mystic has posted. You mentioned 'decanted' do you mean descented? If so, it's illegal in the UK as it's an unecessary mutilation, same as tail docking and declawing.

Originally Posted by Kirsty1987

Hey thanks for all the reply's im willing to put up with the smell and the vets bills and the mess well basically everything because i think they are worth it im from the uk so it is illegal for them to be descented and i think its wrong anyway, if you take on a ferret you accept everything about it including the smell. I plan on getting a 2 bedroom house so one whole room will be for the ferrets a big play room with lots of toys and will be ferret proofing it. As for walks i would be worried as there a lot of dogs around here, but a walk around a fenced of garden will be good

haha yes i meant descented, and i was totally unaware that you guys had those rules, i find it kind of cool it seems like you guys are nicer to the animals then us which i am all for!
that sounds great Kirsty, as long as you know what is invalved with the pet and are still wanting it then you should be a great perant, a lot of ferrets get attached to thier owners and actually go through deep depression when they are gotten rid of so i try and make sure people know everything about ferrets befor getting them, a lot of people here in the US get them and find that they stink to much and then get rid of them or let them sit and rot in a cage in a basment so i worry for them a lot.
the only drawback with having the ferret with its scent glands is that they spray every so often and it smells like a burning rubber vacuum belt mixed with cat pee lol and the fact that they get impacted some times. so its not a big deal, i just have to live in a small room with mine and randomly smelling that smell all the time was not the funnest. (though besides my recent male i never had a choice on if they had their scent glands or not, i got my male from a breeder and they didn't descent him.) in the US they have a ferret farm that is almost like a puppy mill in how they treat their ferrets and they are called marshal farms. they are the suppliers to all the pet stores and they always descent and fix their animals, and a lot of them get sick very easily because they are so mass bred. i am guessing you guys have better ferrets where you are. that would be awesome, its hard to find a ferret that isn't a marshal farms ferret around here. :/
oh also i wanted to give you a link to a ferret forum. its very nice and it is where i have learned all i have.
Loving Ferrets - Ferret Enthusiast Forums if you have any more questions dont be afraid to ask ^_^ i love helping out animal lovers!

[Kirsty1987]

I've heard a lot of people have different views about the smell some don't notice, others like it and some people cant stand it. From what i hear its the bedding and toilet that smells the most so provided there cleaned regularly and not to bath the ferret to often as that causes the oil glands in there skin to basically go into overdrive and release more scent it should be to bad i plan on having an outdoor hutch for them for the summer months and an indoor cage for the winter when its a lot chillier. The only thing i really need to check is there is a vet in my area that has a good knowledge of ferrets before i get them if i don't i would't really want to risk taking a ferret to a vet that doesn't know enough about them and end up getting a wrong diagnosis but there is a ferret rescue centre not far from me so i can ask them

[crazygal330]

We have some ferrets at the wildlife park where I work. a pair of neutered boys, they have a definant "ferret" smell, but it is not such a bad smell. I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping them in any typical "ferret cage". a big outdoor hutch/run set up or aviary for outdoors. I don't think any commercial cages you can buy would be big enough. i have heard and would agree that they are social animals and you need more than one really. the ones on the park get fed science selective ferret kibble and fresh meat everyday, either human grade meat or dead feeds (chicks, rats, mice stuff like that)