# Ferrets as pets?



## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

I know a few people on here have ferrets as well, and I have a friend who's interested in researching them as a potential pet so I told her I'd ask around for her 

I know they have to be kept separate from hedgies because of the whole predator / prey thing but she doesn't have any so that's not a concern.

She is a full-time university student, like myself, and does have dogs (big and small breed) and cats too, though.

She just has basic questions at this point on whether or not they'd make a suitable pet for her and despite my experience working at a vet clinic - I didn't have all the answers unfortunately.

-Has anyone who owns them had success with them interacting with cats, dogs?

-Do people generally cage them or free-roam and what's better (she says she'd have to buy a big ferret nation cage and would let hers out supervised - so they'd be in the cage while she's at school and possibly at night but during the evenings and weekends - it'd be out with her).

-What are they like as pets? How easy/difficult is their care? What are costs like?

Any links to RELIABLE sites (like HHC is for hedgies) would be appreciated too!

On a side note - my 3 hogs are all doing really good


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Depends on the type of pet she is looking to get, my experience with ferrets is limited but I can at least cover some information.

Dogs - Big dogs I might be a touch worried about, mainly due to size and strength, but my brother has kept a herd of +3 ferrets for over a decade, and has had big dogs and never any problems. If the dog is by chance vicious I might be cautious, but in general due to the nature of ferrets, they can pretty much old their own.

Cats - Again, ferrets can hold their own especially against the felines, I've seen many wrestling with each other playfully, there usually isn't a problem.

Cage - Ferrets SLEEP a ton, generally 20 to 22 hours a day, so having the ferret in the cage is no problem, as long as they get a couple of hours to run around and burn off energy. Ferret Nation is a good cage, she only needs a single unit, they don't require a ton of cage space. Occationally they'll wake up to eat some food and poop, but besides that, its sleep until playtime.

Care - I think they're very low maintanance, clean their cages, fresh food and water and a few hours a night to run around. I don't believe you have to trim their nails and such. Costs, I'm not sure, vet visits I would assume around the same as a hedgehog, since they exotic creatures, possibly less since they are more common. But I'd say they are pretty easy to care for.

Personality - Wild and hyper for those couple of hours they are up and out of their cage, my girl's favorite game was to attack my feet, and I'd actually gently pick her up and gently slide her across my floor, across the entire length of the room, and she'd jump up and attack my feet again. They love to get into everything, much like hedgehogs its just best to ferret proof a room, hide cords, block off any tiny passage, make sure they cannot get anywhere that you couldn't reach them. But they like to run, wrestle, play with toys, their favorite is tubes, my girl use to run through her tube for hours on end.

Hope that helps, but I'm sure someone else can give you more information, mine could be wrong as I've only had one ferret (a rescue). I've been told its better to have two ferrets, that way they can play with each other.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

I owned ferrets for about 10 years, and they were in love with my parents two cats (the cats of course didn't care about them)...at the time I also had a hedgie for a while and they were totally into her as well. 

But you should never leave a ferret unsupervised with a dog, or possibly even a cat. I'm sure there are some cats out there who would want to play with a ferret, but most would probably try to avoid them.

My first ferret had a small cage and ended up being a "free-range" ferret until we got her a boyfriend, from then on all of my ferrets (a total of 7 over 10+ years) lived in a huge cage. They were let out 3 times a day, their cages were cleaned 2-3 times a day---but your house/dorm/whatever has to be ferret-proofed, they can get into everything and will.

I think they are relatively easy pets to have once you get into the groove, they can be a lot of work--they need to be cleaned religiously to avoid a smell, they need constant interaction--they're not hamsters, you can't just leave them in the cage all day--they are not solitary animals, they thrive on interaction. They can also get sick at the drop a hat. They need shots like cats and dogs. Will need baths. A lot of the food you find in petstores is crap, Marshalls and Totally Ferret are pretty good. 

They are amazing and great little animals.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

At one point in time we had 8 ferrets. They are funny, playful, comical little things but frequent cage cleaning is a must or they smell and the smell increases with age. 

In regards to maintenance they are about the same as hedgehogs minus the heating issues. They need nail trims. Not too frequent baths as bath dry out their skin making them produce even more oils and more smell. The huge majority can be litter trained but there will always be one that will choose not to be. They potty in a corner so a corner litter box is a must. 

After what happened to us I would never let a ferret interact with any other animal. One day when we were out shopping our ferrets escaped their cage and killed my daughters two bunnies. The bunnies were in a big enclosure in her bedroom that was totally bunny proof but not at all ferret proof. Thankfully the chins, another baby bun and her hamster were in proper wire cages so they were safe although it was obvious by the bloody paw prints on the cages he had tried getting to them too. We know it was only the one ferret, Bear, that did the killing and we don't know if he tried to get into the hedgies or not but they were in their room with the door closed. When we walked in the house that day our cat was sitting on top of our china cabinet which was totally out of character for her and within a minute a ferret ran by and we knew why she was up there and I ran for Jess's bedroom and found bunnies. Never again did the ferrets ever get out of their cage around any other animal and we made certain their cage was 100% escape proof.

Ferrets play rough. They have very tough skin and when they play they bite each other and drag each other around. To each other, their bites do not hurt. To another animal such as a cat, the bites can draw blood. 

Ferrets are escape artists. Our little Tessa could open the door of their cage faster than we could. We knew that had had clips on it so she couldn't open it. 

Because their cage needs a thorough cleaning so often you want a cage that is really easy to access. We found the Ferret Nation to be the best cage both in ease of use and that they could not possibly escape. 

Like most animals, food plays a big part in their smell. Avoid fish based products. 

Ferrets do need yearly vaccinations and checkups. They are also extremely prone to cancers. 

To allow free roam the area has to be really gone over and made ferret proof. They will get into anything and can cause damage. Although they don't chew like rodents, they will bite and pull at wiring. Anything becomes a toy.


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

Trimming ferret nails is sooooooo much easier than hedgies haha just give them some lax to lick (lax is a must--helps clean them out) and they're happy as can be. 


We did litter boxes with freshstep cat litter for a while, but found that newspapers were the most cleaning-friendly and economical way to go.

My ferrets were so spoiled at one point they had a room in my parents house dedicated to them, complete with a plexiglass door block so they could have free time in their room (100% ferret proofed). 

Amazing little creatures, it's awful when they do get sick though. It usually happens so quick that by the time you notice something is wrong they're already half-way out the door.

Make sure you find an experienced vet who has dealt with ferrets before. We found a great one when one of ours developed cancer, he survived and lived another 3 years (was 7-8 when he passed).


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## Xyloart (Dec 6, 2010)

My friends had ferrets and they were great. Absolutely hysterically funny animals and a joy to interact with. I think most of the issues were covered but I do want to emphasize the possible health problems when they get older. Both of my friends' ferrets developed the ferret version of diabetes as they got older and from what they told me it's fairly common. It's manageable (though of course expensive with all the vet visits) but it requires a great time commitment. They needed regular doses of medication during the day so for the few years the ferrets had it (before they passed) they could not just stay out late whenever they wanted or go on trips or whatever. With all the pets your friend has though I would guess they aren't the long trip type anyway! 

That story with the rabbits is so sad...  That must have been rough.


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