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Going to get a ferret

E

eleutheria

Senior member
We're going to get a pet ferret soon. Anyone who has experience with these little critters, I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

Also I would like suggestions for a name. This is a female ferret, and she is a pale cream color.

Don't bother asking for 'PICS' yet, we have not yet moved the ferret into her new abode.

 
Make sure they're descented. They will still have a musk that can be disagreeable to some people, but they're so cool that they make up for it.
 
you'll nick name it "the little poop machine" before to long, i swear those things poop like crazy, poop here, poop there, and even if they are house trained , if they can't find their litter box, they'll just go in the cornor somewhere.
 
Man those things will rip your eyeballs out if you're not careful.... nasty little critters 🙂

I live in CA (where ferrets are illegal), and my upstairs neighbor had two ferrets. One time I tried to pet one of the bastards, and it tried to rip my whole arm off. It scared the crap out of me. 🙁

I'll stick to cats and dogs! 🙂

Oh, name your ferret "Weasey"
 
1. Ferrets aren't vicous. Not unless they are mistreated or threatened
2. They don't smell ant worse than a dog or cat. if they stink, the owner is not cleaning out the cage or washing there bedding enough.

I;ve had ferrests for 10+ years. Me and my fiance used to run a ferret and small animal shelter for outr area. If you have any question, Pm or email me. Be sure to check out www.ferretcentral.org. That is a wonderful site for information on the little carpet sharks. 🙂
 
Tons and tons of 1:1 attention ! Ferrets are really smart,they crave interaction,you need to ferret proof at least one room so she can have at least 21/2 hours of free range time per day.

Ferrets are den animals and thus they "corner" to relive themeselves, a triangle shaped small litter pan in each accesible corner will prevent any accidents.

Start harness and shoulder ride training early,my guy used to love going out, riding on my shoulder
I had a couple of big hooded sweatshirts, he'd crawl into the hood to ride when he got tired!

If you are getting a kitt,they can be quite nippy,this is their form of play,you need to teach her that you aren't another ferret, I used to scruff my guy when he was small and say "no" in a firm voice
excessive nipping got him returned to his condo for time out, I also used positive reinforcers, every time my hand came near him in those first weeks they had a treat for him, he came to associate human hands with goodies and toys and fun. You can get a pair of welder's gloves to use when first working with her if your skin is really tender, I also kept a heavy child's puppet that I would use while sitting on the floor, he knew when he saw me sit down that it was play time and that he could nip away at the puppet.

Ferret's are natural born thieves and they love to stash stuff away, they'll steal anything they can grab and hide it in case they might need it later, lol, having memories here of a ferret running across my living room carrying one of my bra's in his mouth in front of guests .Watch your keys, you might want to put a beeper type tag on em !


Enjoy, taken care of properly they make wonderful friends ! 🙂
 
Make sure you ferret proof. I cannot stress this enough. If there's trouble to be found, a ferret will find it. You may want to consider getting a pair so that yours does not get bored/lonely while you're not in.

As for vaccines, watch out for the distemper vaccine. Distemper is almost 100% fatal in ferrets, but some ferrets have near deadly allergic reactions to the vaccine. This problem is being worked on (getting a different distemper vaccine made), but it still happens now and then.

Claws will need to be trimmed on occasion.

Word of warning because of poor breeding practices, there is a high rate of cancers in these little guys.

Have fun, ferrets can be wonderful little companions. 🙂

 
Make sure never to let it escape. These things are absolutely vicious on wildlife. One ferret will kill every single bird and squirl in your local park. It isn't pretty. It's a good thing that they are banned in some states.
 


<< all i can say is "they smell" >>


Males smell a lot stronger than females, but descenting helps that a lot. Regular bedding cleaning can be helpful too. There are also dry power baths you can get that make them smell nice.

Imo, they don't smell half as strongly as do rats or mice.
 


<<

<< all i can say is "they smell" >>


Males smell a lot stronger than females, but descenting helps that a lot. Regular bedding cleaning can be helpful too. There are also dry power baths you can get that make them smell nice.

Imo, they don't smell half as strongly as do rats or mice. >>




I had a spray bottle that I used to put water and hair conditioner in, it kept his skin from getting dried out and left him sweet smelling 🙂

I miss my friend, may he RIP 🙁
 


<< Make sure never to let it escape. These things are absolutely vicious on wildlife. One ferret will kill every single bird and squirl in your local park. It isn't pretty. It's a good thing that they are banned in some states. >>



You are thinking of the Black Footed Ferret. This is a different species, and nothing like the domesticated ferret. Not to mention that 99.99% percent of the ferrets sold in retail stores are spayed or neutered. it would be impossible for them to set up a colony.
 
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