Hey guys, been awhile. Just a quick couple Q's. I'm looking in the very very near future to purchase a ferret. Its the only pet I can get for now thats close to a dog/cat in general terms. I went in the other day to research prices and needs and got a lot of questions answered by the lady who works that dept. She was VERY informative and it helps that she owns like 5+ ferrets at home. lol I also purchased a book on ferrets that I've finished reading.

Now my question to you guys/gals. Is who's owned/owns one, any photos, advice, experience to share? How you've setup your cages? Names? etc.

Thanks again.

- Ter.

 

owned 2 ferrets for around 3 years. great pets!

there like cats in the way that you can feed them cat food and you can litter train them, there also very playfull. i assume your buying from a store so they will already be de-gland (descented).

for cages? larger the better, there are plenty of ferret toys in most pet shops and if you see them get a ferret hammock ours loved sleeping in them.

really wish i could get some again but i dont have the space here at school.

oh and we named them silver and daisy.

 

Definately gettin the hammock Yea, unfortunately there's only one store in my area that carries these pets, so I can't shop around on the actual animal. Supplies I can but not the animal. How much if you don't mind me asking did you pay for them on average? Right now they're at $250 each.

And yea they are already fixed and de-scented.

 

lol i payed 15$ each for mine, mind you they wernt de-scented or fixed. i also lived in the country where people breed them for hunting rabbits, the ones in stores are a good deal becuase the fixing and de-scenting is expensive.

 

I have had two. The first was a 3yr old male my future wife bought for me from a pet store. Paid about $200 IIRC and he was neutered and descented. Wonderful pet. He was a little wild at first but after a couple of months settled down and, yes was much like owning a cat but more affectionate. Our vet told us hands down Taz was the biggest ferret he had ever seen. Taz would lay on my forearm an his head would go past my fingers with his butt cradled in my elbow. We bought a hammock for him and he was too big to fit Owned him for 4-5 years before he got cancer and we had to put him down. In that time he never bit a single person - not even a nibble.

The second was a young albino female, Raz, that we got after Taz died. We rescued her from a bad home and she definitely took some time to hand hold - a little nippy at first. We only had her about a year before a move forced us to give her up. We gave her, with a donation, to the local Ferret Rescue Society that finds ferrets new good homes. I suggest you see if there is one in your area.

Overall awesome pets. If you get a young one, be prepared to put up with training them (more stubborn than a cat so it does take effort) and training them not to nip.

 

I have one male that is about a year and a half old. They are great animals . They need a lot of attention. They get along really well with my three cats. They definately need playmates or they will get depressed. They LOVE to steal things and hide them on you. Mine steals my tools. They need to be cared for non-stop. They need baths every two days because they start to smell. They definately need somewhere to hide, like a hammock and a pillow case. They need to have their dishes ties down to their cage because they love to dump everything over. They are very adventerous and love to go into closets and closed in areas. There is just a tonne of things that you will find out about them when you get one but they are great little animals. I love the one I have.

 

I've often thought about getting one of these. Are they hard to potty train?

 

My hat off to Paul for mentioning to look at a rescue organization to see if you can take in a abandoned or displaced pet.

 

youll find that ferrets will have genetic problems like cancer becuase like most small animals they are easily inbread, im not saying that they all are but its more common than you think. they require alot of attention and get lonely easily.

they are not hard to litter train at all, theyre like cats and will only go in a place that is out of the way. best thing to do is buy a small kitten litten box and put it off in the corner away from everything, there start to use it on there own.

we bathed our about twice a week but we kept ours outside, ours loved the water! theres alot of little things you'll learn about them just by having them around, like making sure EVERYTHING in there cage that isnt a toy is wired down.

 

I read and heard from the lady that owns a bunch that its not good to bathe them too frequently or it ruins something in their fur/skin ? can't remember off the top of my head however. But clean their ears frequently of course?

I'll have to look at our local shelters, never even crossed my mind that they may have ferrets.

Joe - The store that has them here they're already potty trained to an extent.