Ferret question

After being on the fence for several years about ferrets, my boys convinced me we should adopt some. We picked up two females on Sat, with their grimy Superpet cage. I've spent the past few days cleaning their cage, washing the bedding, and treating everyone for fleas!

It's hilarious to watch my toy poodle play with Farin, she's very active and playful. She totally gave him the slip and was playing on the other side of the room while he was still looking behind the TV!

Well, yesterday I was talking to someone about another ferret. She told me to be careful with my snakes. I assured her I would never have them out at the same time. Then she told me that her son won't bring his red-tailed boas over to her house since she got ferrets. They got very upset when they realized there was a predator around. That was when I realized my plains garter hasn't been out prowling the last few days. Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm going to try to put them in separate rooms, but I have a space issue since my ex hasn't picked up the rest of his boxes! Maybe I can put the garters in my sons' room. They don't get up for a snack at 5 am and set the poodle to fussing!

I'd love to hear about others' experiences...

Well by that logic they would get upset at your dog around too, he's a larger predator. My snake is one room over from my ferrets and neither cares and they've never seen each other, no reason to. However if one of your small snakes got out and went around the ferrets, they might kill it, I don't know what your set up is but ferrets are pretty determined and will get into lots of trouble that way.

I keep my ferrets, snakes, and rats in the same room. The ferrets don't care about the snakes at all. I've even put the snakes up to their noses to sniff. The ferrets have zero interest in them. However, if I pull a rat out, the ferrets circle me like sharks (I feed whole prey as a supplement to their kibble, so they're really interested in the rats.). The rats are my breeders and are kept up high in a secure tub. The snakes are also in a rack up high where a ferret cannot climb, just in case. Better safe than sorry in my opinion. And the snakes don't have a reaction to the ferrets either. They all act normal.

I personally don't think your snake is frightened by the ferrets.
Just make sure to keep your snake and other reptile enclosures secure. Ferrets are notorious to find trouble. I like to describe them as "puppies who never grow up'. They will find trouble. And trouble will find them. Especially females. Females tend to be more active, determined, and smarter than males. My female can find a way to climb to the top shelf in my clothing closet. I have no idea how she gets up there. She's always on the move. My boys will just bumble around. Just make sure to ferret proof your entire house or whatever room they'll stay in. If their head can fit in a spot, their body will follow. Also, they may not intend to kill anything, but accidents do happen. If they find a snake, the chances are that they'll leave it alone or think its a toy. And by toy, I mean they'll probably kill it by playing too rough. I doubt they'll think the snake is actual prey. There are exceptions, but most ferrets have to be trained to kill and eat live prey. Especially if they've been given a diet of kibble for most of their lives.

Also, I would ditch the Super Pet cage. They are a pain to clean. I would invest in a Ferret Nation Cage.

Good luck, and have fun w/ your new fuzzies. They really are a great pet to own!

If you have any questions about ferrets in the future, feel free to pm me. :)
Also I would recommend getting "Ferrets for Dummies". By FAR the best ferret book out there.

Just because they are cute and fuzzy we forget that they aren't rabbits!!! The are CARINVORES and some of there cousins are used to kill snakes in parts of the world and are also used to hunt rodents!

so i wouldnt risk them with my snakes if it was me!

I have a ferret and dont ever want them to meet my snake or vise versa!

The ferrets probably won't get upset, but make sure the snakes are kept very distant. If you can have them in another room, do. Ferrets will get everywhere. I used to have ferrets, and they can open cages and pull out drawers, and would be very likely to horribly injure one of your snake, kill one of your snakes, or get killed by one of your snakes if they were able to get to them.

My plains garter has been out prowling again. We figured out the cat was sitting on top of there tank so they could commune with the ferrets. The tanks are getting moved further away from the cage, and the cage is getting moved further away from the couch. I watched Houdini jump almost 4.5 feet from the arm of the couch to the top of the cage. He likes to lay up there. Weirdo!

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Originally Posted by jager08

Just because they are cute and fuzzy we forget that they aren't rabbits!!! The are CARINVORES and some of there cousins are used to kill snakes in parts of the world and are also used to hunt rodents!

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Please enlighten me on which cousin of the ferret is used to kill snakes. Ferrets are bred to chase rabbits and kill vermin.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Please enlighten me on which cousin of the ferret is used to kill snakes. Ferrets are bred to chase rabbits and kill vermin.

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Ferrets are related to mongooses and in the wild mongooses eat snakes.

They will kill reptiles if they are able to get their little paws on them. I kept my snakes and ferrets in the same room for a few years. Last year we had a baby ball escape his drawer (it wasn't pushed in correctly) and my ferrets did what ferrets do. I moved them out of my snake room after that. Mistakes unfortunately Happen. They didn't eat it completly but they ate part of him. Needless to say that will NEVER happen again. I was pretty upset with myself over that. Now even though they aren't in the same room Im pretty OCD about my drawers. As long as you ferret proof and are careful with drawers or the downs, pins, locks whatever you use to keep the snake in his area they won't bother each other.


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Originally Posted by ball python 22

Ferrets are related to mongooses and in the wild mongooses eat snakes.

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Ferrets are not related to mongooses. Ferrets are Mustelidae , which is the weasel family . Mongoose are closer related to hyenas and cats. And according to their common ancestors, mongoose are even more closely related to dogs than ferrets and other weasels.

While they do have similar body types, ferrets/weasels and mongoose are not related in any way other than being carnivores.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Ferrets are not related to mongooses. Ferrets are Mustelidae , which is the weasel family . Mongoose are closer related to hyenas and cats. And according to their common ancestors, mongoose are even more closely related to dogs than ferrets and other weasels.

While they do have similar body types, ferrets/weasels and mongoose are not related in any way other than being carnivores.

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Yep yep yep. The closest a mongoose is to a ferret, is 'Carnivora'. . . That's a BIG difference! :gj:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Please enlighten me on which cousin of the ferret is used to kill snakes. Ferrets are bred to chase rabbits and kill vermin.

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Mongoses are used to kill cobras in india ! :)

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Originally Posted by jager08

Mongoses are used to kill cobras in india ! :)

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I don't deny that mongooses are used to kill snakes. However, I'll say again that Ferrets are not related to mongooses. (Refer to my previous post)
It is a common misconception to mistake ferrets and mongooses as relatives. :colbert:
They are not even in the same family. Ferrets are in the weasel family. Mongooses are their own 'family' along w/ the meerkat. While they do look similar, are no way related. The only reason they may look similar is because they both evolved to fit similar niches in their own respective environments.

The closest relatives to mongooses are hyenas and cats. Ferrets are related to polecats, weasels, badgers, otters, etc etc.

The only thing the two animals share is that they are carnivorous mammals. That's all.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

The only thing the two animals share is that they are carnivorous mammals. That's all.

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So ferrets are more like the Mongoose's cousin's brother's sister's mother's nephew's friend's brother's best friend's chiropractor. :)

Rotfl!


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Per many soursed on the web they are distant relatives ......

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_ferret...ed_to_mongoose

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Originally Posted by jager08

Per many soursed on the web they are distant relatives ......

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_ferret...ed_to_mongoose

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Yes. They are related by being carnivores. Even your link says so.

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I don't think the relation matters. The both occupy very similar ecological niches and thus behave and look similarly. This is a great example of convergent evolution. They may not be related but are much more alike to each other than they might be to some of their "relations" because of this. In addition to their many other shared traits, they both have a killer instinct to hunt small game and I would certainly keep small snakes away from both mongooses and ferrets :)

Ours show no fear whatsoever and regularly go after the Doberman :gj:

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Originally Posted by jager08

Per many soursed on the web they are distant relatives ......

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_ferret...ed_to_mongoose

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For furthur elaboration, they are both in the same order of Carnivora. Same could be said about tigers, wolves, and bears, etc etc. By your logic, that means they're all cousins of the mongoose?? Your link states thy are related by being in this order.
Thy are all in the same order. Different families however. Carnivora just means they're all carnivores. They have to be in the same family to be considered a cousin and what not. So
To be related to a ferret, you have to be in the family of Mustelidaes.

Look up Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,Genus, Species.
There are different levels of classification from species being more related and kingdom being least related. Animals can be in the same level, but still not be related. Like being in the same kingdom would just mean they are all Animals. Being in the same phylum means they all are chordates and have a spine. They also share class and order by being mammals and carnivores. This is where it gets specific. Family, genus, species.
Family classifies animals with their closely related cousins. So for example, all types of canines are in Canidae family. Genus gets more specific, so like wolves are separated from coyotes and other canines. And species is the specific animal. For example, the grey wolf is a specific species of wolf.

So with that said, ferrets and mongoose end their relationship at Carnivora.

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