ferrets

[Wee Man]

soon i plan on getting a ferret or two, anybody out there have any. what should i expect as to care and behavior.

[DEIGNAN14]

think about how much time you can devote to them.... they are very inteligent and should be out of the cage alot... only down fall is they smell... alot of baths and very regular cage cleaning can cut down on this alot... but is time consuming... I had two for years... good luck

[Yup]

don't use the cheap litter or food, stick with marshall's. Also petco and other stores have this liquid you put in thier water. It is unreal how it controls the "ferret" smell. I don't remember what it's called, but they have several types, one for human smells, cat smells, dog smells, umm skunk smells, etc etc .. all in a very plain bottle. couple squirts in the water bottle. great stuff. carefull with squeeky toys, one of our fuzzies would chew the squeeker out in a matter of days.. rubber everywhere (including in the ferret). bad for the digestive tract. plenty sleeping places in the cage, hammocks, blankies, sleeping bags, etc.. get one of the highback corner litter boxes, and right before you take them out of the cage make them go potty in the box. you can sit in front of the cage, take them out, pet and talk to them, but don't let them take off to play without going potty first. once you get them trained, it rocks. you open the door and they hit the potty. i.e. no messes to clean up elsewhere, but do expect it to happen once in a while... use the apple bitter where they do have an accident to prevent them from going there again.. any other questions, feel free.. in the past 6 years we went from 3 ferrets to 8 (5 we were babysitting for 8 months), back down until the last died from cancer.. back up to one.. wheee!

[Wee Man]

oh i have plenty of time to devote to them waht im really afraid of is if they chew an electrical wire from my electric guitar, that would suck!!!!! i heard of this stuff that you spray on the the cords, does this work?

[CrystalAZ]

Also, you have to be very careful. They will crawl anywhere. I have one friend who lost a ferret when it snuck into the dishwasher while she was loading it, and another friend who sat on her ferret when it crawled under a couch cushion.

The stuff I use so my cats don't chew anything is called "Bitter End" or "Bitter Apple". I spray it on my wires, and currently, the bows on the Christmas gifts :rolleyes: .

It works for the most part. You just have to respray it once in a while.

Crystal

[Yup]

ok, the stuff you put in thier water is called Bi-Odor from marshall. Works great. definately lowers the 'ferret smell'

CrystalAZ reminded me, under the cabinets in the kitchen, etc at the corners of your cabinets, usually the contractors/builders leave them uncovered underneath. Get on the floor and feel/look all the way around at the kick board level of the cabinets. A well placed square of duct tape before they find it usually works. If they find it before you tape it, and then tape it, guess what, they know it's there and will go through the tape.

[JonK]

Ferrets are great little guys, I don't have any right now but when i did I loved them. Taking them to the bathroom as soon as they are let out of their cage is a great idea like Yup said. In my experience if the litter box was not close enough when they had to go they would just back up into any corner. My moms ferret would also hide his food under her bed. So you have to watch if he starts running with a mouth full of food somewhere. They will bite, real hard too especially when they are young so be careful.

Good luck,

Jon

[ginntonic74]

Dont they smell more when you give them baths often?

[Yup]

They don't smell when you bathe them more often. You have to be carefull on the shampoo you use. you can't just use anything. Johnson's and johnson's no tears, only in an emergency, anytime else you should use ferret shampoo.. it keeps thier skin from drying out. I knew a lady that used her vidal sasoon on her ferret, also used a hair dryer on the fuzzy in the winter. Ever seen a ferret with dandruff.. not a pretty picture.

another health related item, Ferretvite.. yummy stuff. (leads me onto another topic) keep their claws trimmed.. easiest way to do it, dab some ferretvite on the tummy of the fuzzy while you hold them on thier back in your lap. They sit and eat and lick without a care in the world, until the ferretvite runs out. While they are eating, you have time to do thier nails.

[Wee Man]

hmm thx guys

another question is: how many should i get after all i have to go to school everyday, however after school i hav eplenty of time to fart around with em.but during that time if i had onyl one would he get that stress syndrome from no playtime of any sort for 6-7 hours whiile im at school?

[Yup]

did you know ferrets sleep on avg 18 hours a day?