ferrets

doin' some info checking and on a canadian rescue/club/info site i read they're great for people with allergies- ugh. is that true? ive played with a friend's once before and dont remember having fits.

im on a little 'hunt' for a mammalish pet for apartment dwelling. i would take my own dog with me now or my cat here, but they're so adapted to being 'here' and playing with the other dogs i really feel like it would depress them. since auburn is 45 minutes, its not like i'd never be back to see them.
-so-
ive been researching and rehashing over animals that might not be canine or feline.
since i have horrible allergies (just gave up my hairless rat to a friend who was also wanting to get one-im mildly allergic to rats, but the hairlessness soon became very a sever problem, hard breathing and etc. so. no hairless for me i guess ;_; ) im hoping to find animals that dont cause me to react so terribly.

yes i know they can be 'musty' and i know that they are 'clever' and 'vivacious' little boogers and such. honestly, after having mice nothing scares me in the smell department :p.

but i was wondering why this might be so? would it be the oils in the skin keeping down dander/hair? i really dont know if i am or am not allergic, and should probably go play with a friends pair or roll all over some at a pet store or something. i was just wondering if there was a reason for this.

-also- any ferret pages for information would be great (searched this forum for info prev. posted on ferrets already)

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Originally Posted by shhhli

doin' some info checking and on a canadian rescue/club/info site i read they're great for people with allergies- ugh. is that true? ive played with a friend's once before and dont remember having fits.

im on a little 'hunt' for a mammalish pet for apartment dwelling. i would take my own dog with me now or my cat here, but they're so adapted to being 'here' and playing with the other dogs i really feel like it would depress them. since auburn is 45 minutes, its not like i'd never be back to see them.
-so-
ive been researching and rehashing over animals that might not be canine or feline.
since i have horrible allergies (just gave up my hairless rat to a friend who was also wanting to get one-im mildly allergic to rats, but the hairlessness soon became very a sever problem, hard breathing and etc. so. no hairless for me i guess ;_;) im hoping to find animals that dont cause me to react so terribly.

yes i know they can be 'musty' and i know that they are 'clever' and 'vivacious' little boogers and such. honestly, after having mice nothing scares me in the smell department :p.

but i was wondering why this might be so? would it be the oils in the skin keeping down dander/hair? i really dont know if i am or am not allergic, and should probably go play with a friends pair or roll all over some at a pet store or something. i was just wondering if there was a reason for this.

-also- any ferret pages for information would be great (searched this forum for info prev. posted on ferrets already)

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ever raised rats or mice? the smell is 10x worse

Ferrets are AWESOME! BUT they kind of stink. although one drawback to owning one for me was that you have to give it free roaming for 3 or 4 hours.

If you feed a ferret the right kind of diet and not just the crappy cheap ferret food in petstores, then they won't smell as bad as people say they do. Keep their litter box / cage clean that helps a ton of the smell too. They are great pets if you have the free time to give them!

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

ever raised rats or mice? the smell is 10x worse

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so is my boyfriend after we eat mexican, italian, chinese, .. well okay, anything..

exactly my point. mice, they look so cute and innocent. grlplz.

i keep warning a friend of mine in my psychology class that a rat is better. "But mice are so cute Ansli!" "Yes, well, so is tony but that doesn't mean he doesnt stink a lot sometimes."

My friend has a ferret. It's awesome, LOL. He's so fun to play with. My friend's also allergic to a lot of stuff, but not to the ferret. I think that's one of the reasons why he got a ferret.

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Originally Posted by bpkid

Ferrets are AWESOME! BUT they kind of stink. although one drawback to owning one for me was that you have to give it free roaming for 3 or 4 hours.

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UGH mindy's ferret farrah was SO CUTE when she'd run across the room and under the rug or around the couch. UGH so precious, ferrets and kittens are just unresistable when they bow up and run~
I love animals that are playful and 'curious' and a big cat-love factor is the predator mentality. feather on a string action, hohoho.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

If you feed a ferret the right kind of diet and not just the crappy cheap ferret food in petstores, then they won't smell as bad as people say they do. Keep their litter box / cage clean that helps a ton of the smell too. They are great pets if you have the free time to give them!

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Oh really? I've read they like things like bananas and peanut butter and should eat ferret or kitten food. What did you use?

i have a ferret hes is such a funny character , they make brilliant pets , i feed mine on a complete ferret diet (james wellbeloved) as its easier to manage than meat especially during the summer months it dosent go off as quick :) during the winter month he has a whole rabbit as that is one of the best things to feed to ferrets, fergus my ferret is now coming up 9 years old and is still as playful as he was when he was 12 weeks old when we first got him :)
heres a pic of him
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...s/DSC_0279.jpg

heres a link for some info on ferrets
http://www.2ndchance.info/ferretcare.htm

There is some stuff that you can squirt into their water that almost entirely elminated the odor. Keep in mind that ferrets are not good pets if you have really young children. There are tons of cases of them chewing ears, cheeks, parts of noses off of infants and toddlers. They are even responsible for some deaths.