Got Ferret ?

When mine are loose another thing I have to watch for is them chewing on the hoses of my 3 canister filters to my fish tanks.

NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!

I would never own a ferret. They are cute and when purchased as a pet deserve adequate care as any other animal, but I wouldn't take on that responsibility. They STINK. I cared for my fair share when I worked for a pet shop and vowed to never make the mistake of purchasing one. To me, their urine has twice the amonia odor of cats. If you do get one though, give it the care it deserves.

Royal - I've had ferrets for 8 years and have never ever had a problem with smell. The smell is all how you keep them. Every pet store I have ever seen or been in keeps ferrets on pine or other wood shavings as a bedding and then have either the same stuff in litter boxes or another kind of bedding in the boxes - this doesn't work very well, most ferrets don't distinguish from one type of bedding and the bedding in their boxes - also ferrets prefer square boxes not triangular boxes.

Biting is easy to fix. Biting is caused from fear, mishandling, or excited/playful behavior. Scruffing can and does work if done properly if not done properly will only cause the biting to increase or have no effect at all. I have had ferrets that were "bad biters" ferrets that would latch onto toes or fingers and draw blood and not let go. Every single one of them, varying in age from a few months to a few years old, was quickly and simply "fixed" of this habit.

Ferrets are great pets! But most people don't understand how to care for them and they will smell and will bite and will tear things up. I never allow any ferrets free roam. Ferret proofing only goes so far - my fuzzies have a special room and a playpen, very easy very cheap. Never had any problems in EIGHT YEARS with cord chewing, carpet scratching, sofa diggin, various other destructive behaviors because I don't give any opportunity for such things.

I've had 5 ferrets in one cage (very large cage, I could fit into it..) plus two cat boxes in the same small (12 x 10) room and no smell. The products used to clean, as bedding, and how often you clean and how many boxes you have and diet all affect their smell. Most foods ferrets are given including Marshall and other prepackaged 'ferret diets' are not appropriate diets and cause more smell because of the increase in ammonia produced. Ferrets have very short digestive tracts, they need a high quality food or most of what they take in is expelled in a toxic mash out the other end.

I know this thread is really old, sorry! I just wanted to say that ferrets, if properly cared for, DO NOT STINK any more than any other animal. And they make great pets. I currently have 2 and will be getting another one as a rescue in a few days.

I have only had mine for a few months and I can say that smell is not an issue here. We keep the cage clean and have no smell issues. We also supervise playtime so that no furniture gets destroyed or cords get chewed. We still have an issue with biting but its all in play and we are currently using bitter apple spray and scruffing to help with this.

They are great pets and we love our little Twitch to death! We plan on getting a ferret from a rescue once Twitch is a little older and we get a bigger cage (Ferret Nation Cage).

I've had mine for about 6 months. They do smell, but its by no means awful. The actual ferrets just smell like ferrets, its not a stink...its just a smell...like a dog smells like a dog. If you clean the litter boxes daily, and wash their bedding weekly, then the smell is extremely minimum. I love my little fuzzbutts! Jay_Bunny I have my two in the Ferret Nation cage and they LOVE it. I'm also thinking about adopting two more from a shelter, I just feel like there are so many ferrets that need somebody to give them a good home...but it may have to wait until I'm out of school. I would recommended to anybody to adopt there's from a shelter (I just didn't know better when I got mine). Most shelters will already have them litter boxed trained (especially ferret specific shelters), they will already have their shots, and they will be out of that nippy baby stage. PLUS...you will be giving a deserving ferret a good home.

Also, www.ferret.com has really good ferret supplies at low prices and $8 shipping no matter what you get....just to let all you ferret lovers know! (I saved almost a $100 on my cage)