Ferret Questions....

[GirDance]

Since I know there are a few ferret keepers around... I found myself today really missing having some fuzzy pets... We're not ready for a dog because we refuse to take on that responsibility without a fenced in yard. A cat is out of the question because I'm severely allergic. I've had rats, fostered rescued rabbits, gerbils, hedgehogs and even a squirrel... But have been considering and researching ferrets for quite awhile recently. A friend had a pair, the male was very sweet and playful, the female an evil vile animal who terrified me and would attack any visible pink appendage.

Anyway, was just browsing some rescue info and came across a pair named "gir" and "gaz" (Invader zim... spawned my internet persona years ago) and am considering firing off an email to the owner but really want a little more input... The name thing sort of hooked me and I am refusing to jump into anything based solely on the name.

I am fully aware that they are extremely playful, can get into anything and everything and require constant supervision and exercise. Also aware they require regular vet checkups and shots (often cat vaccines) and need to be checked out for ADV. Need multi level large enclosures and can have an 'odor' as well as ferret proof play areas and lots of attention.

Things I'm still wondering... How hard are they to litter train... Everything I've read seems conflicted, some say it's quite easy, others say very unusual.

As far as diet, are the commercial brands appropriate, or do they have special needs that require more of a home mix.

As far as temperament.... Am I going to have to warn everyone who comes in that they might end up bleeding all over my floor if they touch one of them (as my friend did, and even though the warning was heeded I still ended up with 3 stitches) or is this fairly uncommon and easily picked up upon on a first meeting? Should I expect more behaviour similar to the squirrel, in that nice and wonderfully cuddly yet during play time could get over excited and nibble.

What are the overhead and long term costs for keeping two ferrets?

If it weren't for by laws we would have kept the squirrel... She had such a wonderful playful demeanor.

And thanks for any input/information!

[BulldogBalls]

In my experience males are more cuddly and friendly and females are more playful and independent but that can vary critter by critter.

Ferrets don't require any more vet care than your average pet - that is a huge misconception based on people not keeping them properly and winding up with problems. I've had ferrets forever it seems and aside from the very first shots as kits they never had to go to the vet. Ever.

Vaccinations is a tricky subject. Aside from the first distemper vacc and the rabies at one year I do not vaccinate. But I also do not vaccinate my other pets aside from minimal/only rabies. This is thanks to Vaccinosis - which is prevalent in ferrets. Most ferret health issues are diet or age related. Look up Vaccinosis and make your own decision on vaccinations. I had pets die from vaccinations and working in a vets office for a while/volunteering I saw plenty of other vaccination caused or enhanced medical problems.

Food wise, ferrets are really quite easy keepers. Avoid most commercial ferret diets. A great food for ferrets is Diamond Naturals Kitten formula or Diamond Naturals Active Cat, or Felidae Chicken and Rice. Main thing to know is no corn or soy products should be in the food, as much identified meat as possible, limited or no by products, and limited grains(rices/barleys) Meat meal is ok as long as the source is identified. Ferrets should get a minimum of 30% protein in their diets, preferably higher in the 36-50% range with a minimum fat content of 18% with 20 and 22 being best. Always make sure that the meat source is identified such as turkey, chicken, lamb, herring, etc. Never feed a food that just says "meat" or "meat meal" etc as this could be anything from roadkill to animals too sick/not fit for human consumptio, euthanized animals, etc.

Litter training. Very simple... you need lots of litter pans. You can make them easy and cheap out of plastic storage containers like sterilite or rubbermaid (make sure the sides are at least 6" high) and for litter I use pellet form rabbit food.

Playtime - I personally limit my critters to one room and fully ferret proof that one room and have them out of that room on a leash and harness only or in a play pen. This is the best way to avoid accidents and injuries and/or loosing your fuzzy critter. It is more difficult to litter train a ferret outside of the cage than inside the cage. You will want a litter pan in all major corners and may have to learn from where they make a mess to find out what area they prefer/watch them to see where they prefer and catch them(put them in the litter pan) before the mess happens.

I use a plastic kiddie pool, one of those cheap 18" high round fishy patterned bright blue stiff plastic kiddie pools as a playpen. Cheap and very effective but you do still need to watch them or put a cover on it - you'd be surprised how well they jump and climb!

Main things for maintenance are making sure they have no mites/fleas (quite easy) and trimming the nails. Some ferrets require a bit of conditioning for nail trimming, others it is easier to scruff and trim using a helper. The best way is with a hairball preventative paste/nutrical suppliment put on their belly, they lick it off and you clip their nails while they are busy. They need to have their nails trimmed every 2-3 weeks.

Those are the basics.. my critters are very easy to keep, they only cost me about 15$ a month as I buy the large bag of food and I get the litter in 50# bags and suppliments last several months.

[Epona142]

You're making me miss my ferrets even more!

Just teasing you (though its true!)

BDBs there above me looks like they covered it quite well, though one thing I learned myself is to put a litterbox in EVERY corner possible! Then they really seem to be littertrained, because they look to poop in corners. And they poop alot!

(Now I see that he mentioned the corner thing, but no harm in rehashing!)

Also, I never let my out of the cage until I seen them go potty in the litter box. Of course, then they learned to "pretend go" so they could come out and play!

Ferrets are tons of fun, with the right research and dedication, just like any pet.

[GirDance]

Thanks for all the great info... Just wondering though, from what I had read I was lead to believe that cat foods were highly inappropriate because the fiber content was too high and can cause urinary stones?

Also, I've read they can be fed almost primarily on a diet of pre killed rodents... If so, has anyone tried this, because with the snake that would just mean I pick up more rats than I do now!

[BulldogBalls]

To add... the reason for providing lots of litter pans (at least one per ferret and if you have the cage space one per ferret plus one extra.

Also.. I forgot (shame on me!) Never use wood shavings as bedding. Never use cat litter for litter or any clay based or clumping or dusty material. Wire bottom cages are not recommended as they are hard on the feet, and unless you have a very narrow bottom cage like some of the superpet cages only use litter in the litter pans. If you use litter as a bedding and as a litter, it makes it very difficult to litter box train them as you have just made the entire bottom of the cage a litter pan. Also, using two separate products for bedding and litter won't help much either - most ferrets at stores are kept on wood shavings or chips and are not litter trained in any way (for various reasons)

The reason shavings and chips are not good is the dust factor, splinter, oils in certain woods, ferrets like to chew things and will intentionally eat bedding intestinal blockage/damage (another reason to go for a pellet form that breaks down quickly and does not expand) Also ferrets love to dig and nose dive into bedding - the lower the dust and lower the sharp edges the less chance for some sort of injury. Also, wood shavings really fly.. I mean holy wow.. you'll have them all over the place once the critters start digging around.

I have a ferret nation cage and I currently have 3 ferrets with 6 litter pans. Any accidents are cleaned with bleach water, wiped up, tossed. Very simple and easy. If you have a cage that has a full plastic tub for a bottom you don't really need any litter pans unless it is more than 2 levels or you don't want to risk them frollicking in their poo at the bottom of the cage.

Smell is not an issue if you scoop the boxes once a day. The younger the ferret the more often it will go to the box. Babies up to 6 months poop about 9 times a day that tapers off as they age to about once every 4-5 hours as an adult.

I make hammocks out of old pantlegs and use old tshirts or towels for beds, heavy ceramic crock feed bowl and basic water bottle - they love toys with bells, they LOVE toys with feathers, toys that crinkle or squeek, balls.. but they will gladly eat anything rubber or rubber like so watch out for that.

They are thieves. Mine are obsessed with shoes, socks, and bras. If you let them roam around you will have missing stuff, guaranteed

To add, in response to the above post about food and stuff:

Most cat foods are inappropriate.. even for cats. Fiber content of less than 4% (4 is max) and best at 3 or less is all they need. Most ferret foods you will find are also inappropriate for ferrets, just like with any type of processed food you need to read the labels. Also.. stones are usually caused by calcium and phosphorous intake, minerals and the like not fiber. Too much fiber would potentially cause intestinal blockage or poor health in given too much but that would require more than 5% on a regular basis.

Ferrets are meat eaters, they can do well on rodents but if you want to feed raw it is recommended you feed chicken and poultry, but you get an increased risk of parasites and bacteria in the excrement. I have fed raw at one time and mice once or twice .. far too messy and I don't think most ferrets would want anything but live. They are natural predators, excellent rodent eradicators and will gladly kill and eat birds, mice, rats, gerbils etc but its very messy and unsanitary in comparrison to feeding a reptile. They dismember, rip apart, pick at, and stash bits and pieces and they become very competative for the food.

[spix14]

Most everything has been covered by previous posters, but I figured I'd throw this in. As far as them being aggressive, I beleive it comes down to how much they are socialized as a kit.

A lot of them times when you go pick up a pet store ferret that has spent the first few months of its life in a cage with little to no interaction, they will nip quite a bit harder than a well socialized baby.

A truly aggressive ferret is quite rare, however I did have one that bit my finger straight down to the bone on the first night I had her home, and seemed to hate me from that moment on.

My other boy, Xander, that I raised from a kit, was the sweetest thing on four legs, just an absolute doll. As are most ferrets. He did have one strange quirk, though, if I dared squeak a squeaky toy in his presence he would come running up and bite the absolute crap out of me. I guess the sound really annoyed him.

[BulldogBalls]

Yes I agree with Spix - in regards to behavior and nipping/biting I have never had a problem. I've had babies from pet stores and from rescues, confirmed biters are usually the ones I take as nobody else wants them. Most biting problems are from lack of socialization/handling and/or improper handling. They bite out of fear/defense or out of play.

I use a variety of methods depending on the ferret but never put the ferret down if you pick it up and it bites you - try not to drop them.. Putting them down gets them what they want. I trained all my ferrets to lay calm and relaxed when handled. One of them hated people, he has a tail that was broken twice and a missing toe (petco rescue baby) and used to hiss and lunge and bite like a gator. He's a puppy now. Sweet as sugar.

Scruffing works, if you are fast enough to grab them. They are weasels after all, fast and slippery. Gripping the mouth with the thumb and holding the mouth between the finger they are biting and the thumb, but not squeezing, works well. Bitter apple/lemon juice on the skin. Etc.

Never hit, drop, or throw them. This will only make them more likely to bite harder in the future and hand shy.

[GirDance]

Thanks!!! Any further input on the cat food = urinary stones debate???

[GirDance]

Oh, and not to double post... But it is a rescue that I'd be taking... There is a no kill ferret only shelter about an hour from me, and it was their site that I was looking through... I would love to foster for them, and qualify except that they won't accept anyone who doesn't own a car (permanent fosters are the ones requiring extensive vet care, and need to be taken in weekly)...

Well... We'll see how the chat with the Mr goes... But none of the above info surprised me as it seems on par with what I already knew...

Except the cat food part, the shelter argued majorly against it, recommending a mix of several commercial ferret diets and getting them started on chicken baby food as if illness ever did occur it can be a life saver, but one they wouldn't eagerly take... Also, that was where I saw the bit about them readily eatting frozen rats as it's very close to their natural diet.

[BulldogBalls]

If the cat food is a high quality food you should have no problems. Ferrets are not alone in having health issues from food - it doesn't matter what kind of food it is, if it is poor quality it isn't good. Cats have TONS of UTI and crystals problems with cat foods - it depends on the food you feed. Again, I have never heard of fiber being the cause, urinary crystals/stones are from mineral deposits, most commonly calcium/phosphorous etc build up. The reason people associated fiber with these is is that plant matter has high levels of nutrients and minerals and such that are the cause. It isn't the fiber, it is the minerals.

Ash and calcium levels are what you need to watch out for. Ash of more than 7% is an issue, most foods are in the 5.5-6.5% range.
http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...ferretdiet.pdf

"Ferrets are carnivores! They are prone to bladder crystals and stones if they are not on a meat-based diet, as grains create an alkaline pH in their urine, allowing crystal formation."

Hence my recommendation for foods with high meat content, low grains and cereals, no corn etc.