Why not?
Ferrets are
intelligent, curious, playful, persistent,
inventive, fun to be around and they
take good care of you!
Why not?
Ferrets are
intelligent, curious, playful, persistent,
inventive, fun to be around and they
take good care of you!
Another reason I like them is that they are all individuals with different personalities. They also like to steal loose objects and disorganise parts of your home, especially house plants. In return they put great demands on you! Not everyone likes to always think about not letting dangerous objects be left around, always be prepared to not find their socks, always be attentive to how they feel, because if they get ill it's often something which has to be taken care of in a hurry.
This means that ferrets are not for everyone! Before you add a ferret to your family, find out as much as possible about them. If possible, do visit a family with ferrets, as it's otherwise hard to get a correct impression of them.
Do I want to warn people off from getting a ferret? Actually, yes. We have far too many we have to try to find new homes for, so clearly it's far too easy to get one on the wrong grounds. I think the worst examples are where children have gotten ferrets for themselves, neither them nor their parents understanding it's a matter for the whole family, always. An other common situation seems to be students who have gotten themselves a ferret without planning for how they'll be able to take care of them several years into the future, and then their circumstances change.
It's also important to realize ferrets are animals which
will require lots of time
(both to play with and take them out for walks when
they are awake and feel like it, and as a long term
committment),
require that you always have money enough to take care
of them.
The ferret, Mustela furo is since a very long time a domestic animal, but they can look similar to, and are related to, some of the half dozen polecat species in the world.
The jobs ferrets have had in human service have been pest control, rabbit hunting, pets and laying cables in tubes for example when building aircraft and ships or TV cables under a cathedral floor. There are also indications that they would be very proficient at finding socks.
Ferrets can become up to about 10 years old and place great demands on you in some respects, so you don't get one without being well prepared!
In case you do decide to add one to your family, be aware that you can only do it if you're able to do it if you can make long range plans, that you must be the right kind of persons to enjoy living with ferrets and vice versa and furthermore that it is always a matter which concerns the whole family.
Should you decide to get one, don't be surprised if you get more later on, both for your and your ferret's sake.
Living with and taking care of ferretsIn your home you keep them about like you keep cats and dogs. Ferrets are carnivores just like dogs and cats, but just as they are different from each other, ferrets are different from both and have some properties and demands of their own.
Ferrets shouldn't live in cages as you can have them in most ordinary homes, but it's important you arrange it so they can have fun and not hurt themselves!
They are to a large extent creatures of habit, but they still feel like doing different things different days, and you have to spend lots of time playing with them.
The times of year when the weather is good, neither too cold nor too hot and light, you can very well take your ferrets out for long walks. In the autumn a walk of 4 km before the ferret wants to be carried even across street isn't unusual for me.
It's hard to predict what a ferret will like, since their individual differences between ferrets are more significant than age, sex or anything else.
Having more than one ferret isn't twice as much work. It can be less. But I'm still not sure what the "optimum number" is. Ferrets needs friends, humans or other ferrets, which in itself is a good reason to have more than one ferret. But we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that all ferrets will like each other.
Another very good reason to have more than ferret is that ferrets don't live forever, and getting one as replacement for the "perfect" one you had before is very tough. They are all different, and a kit cannot live up to the reputation of the older ferret you had. If you have more than one, you can get to know them as the individuals they are and value them for that!
I have found out that expensive though they may be to purchase and keep (always have reserve money and/or insurance for unexpected veterinary costs), seen as a whole, it can actually be a negative cost as you don't have the time to spend money on lots of other things. If you can, you really should have them insured!
It's important that ferrets get healthy food to eat, and that they always have food and water available, as starving isn't good for them.
Many people ask if you cat get ferrets litter trained. For us, that's never been a problem.
Contrary to what you might think, it's at most times not at all necessary to bathe ferret. They actually smell less and get more beautiful fur without it.
The fur they take good care of themselves, but you have to help them with some other things. If they don't run a lot outdoors, you have to cut their nails, don't cut too close to the pulp or it will hurt and then they don't want to cut their nails another time and place the cut parallell to "the ground" so the nails will wear better. When cleaning their ears, just do the outer ears and don't put something into the ear tube, as then you risk pushing down stuff which may lead to problems.
Since you can become allergic, to ferrets it's a very good idea meeting some before you decide to get one.
In case you wonder how large my ferrets are, I've got
a diagram and a table
which shows masses and how they change.
These are my basic rules I try to follow.
We have a saying in my family: I take care of my ferrets and my ferrets takes care of me. These are the ones taking care of me:
Regnar
Very lively. Gets along fine with the others.
Born 2006.
Kimber
Not as reserved as the others. Likes to go out.
Born 2005.
Photos of ferrets no longer with us: Alison, Natasja, Rustan, Carmen, Roxane, Carina, Röskva, Grimer, Parwan, Rita, Rasmus, Dorrit.
