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What's life like with a ferret?
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MissJones
I need a nap!
Member since 5/05 22148 total posts
Name:
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What's life like with a ferret?
For those that have a ferret as a pet, can you tell me the low down?
Where to get one?
Supplies?
Training?
Vet stuff?
Diet?
Etc.?
Thank you!
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Posted 5/21/08 6:29 AM  |
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klingklang77
kraftwerk!
Member since 7/06 11489 total posts
Name:
Völlig losgelöst
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
Posted by MissJones
For those that have a ferret as a pet, can you tell me the low down?
Where to get one?
Supplies?
Training?
Vet Stuff?
Diet?
Etc.?
Thank you!
Well I had one years ago so I will try to help:
Where to get one?
You can buy them at a pet store, but I got mine from the vet. She was operated on for an exploratory surgery and the owners couldn't pay for her so we took her home (my sister worked as a vet tech).
Supplies?
Any pet store sells supplies.
Training?
Didn't really train ours. She was able to us the litter pan and she had free run of the room. It is kind of hard to train them. We got an older one so that is why I say that.
Vet Stuff?
We used our local vet and b/c my sister was a vet tech we got free care.
Diet?
We fed her cat food
Etc?
They smell you need to give them baths often. Keep small things out of reach as they love to chew stuff and get into places. They are a rewarding pet with lots of love to give. They are also prone to getting cancer. My sister has had them for years and that is their number one cause of death. They can live for about 8 years.
Message edited 5/21/2008 10:18:35 AM.
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| Posted 5/21/08 10:17 AM |
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lucyloo
nope
Member since 1/06 9758 total posts
Name:
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
I had one years ago as well. Great pets.
They sell them at pet stores but I have heard of ferret rescues, you might want to check that first. Do your research before buying though- many come from Marshall Farms. Google them - they are evil.
Ours was named Sid. He was awesome. We didn't cage him, he stayed in the guest room.
We had several liter boxes, he wouldn't use a dirty one. They make them now but they didn't then- high back liter boxes. Get one. They eliminate in the corner and sometimes it goes over the side.
They get into lots of trouble. Sid ate the buttons off the remote control and he had to have surgery to remove them. He was most active at night.
They can get fleas so check often to make sure they don't have any. We had that problem too.
They can be stinky, that didn't bother me though, he loved his baths.
He was really a lot of fun. He used to play hide and seek.
We had to put him down at age 8, he had cancer. 
ETA: Ferret for Adoption
Message edited 5/21/2008 12:12:49 PM.
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| Posted 5/21/08 12:08 PM |
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TheLorax
LOVE
Member since 2/06 5581 total posts
Name:
Suzanne / SuzBride
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
Posted by dita
I had one years ago as well. Great pets.
They sell them at pet stores but I have heard of ferret rescues, you might want to check that first. Do your research before buying though- many come from Marshall Farms. Google them - they are evil.
Ours was named Sid. He was awesome. We didn't cage him, he stayed in the guest room.
We had several liter boxes, he wouldn't use a dirty one. They make them now but they didn't then- high back liter boxes. Get one. They eliminate in the corner and sometimes it goes over the side.
They get into lots of trouble. Sid ate the buttons off the remote control and he had to have surgery to remove them. He was most active at night.
They can get fleas so check often to make sure they don't have any. We had that problem too.
They can be stinky, that didn't bother me though, he loved his baths.
He was really a lot of fun. He used to play hide and seek.
We had to put him down at age 8, he had cancer.
ETA: Ferret for Adoption
I had a white one and a brown one. My white one (Snowy - oh the originallity) died very young (3) of cancer - the vet said it is more common in the white ones. My brown one (Sable) lived to about 8.
Pets stores have all the supplies you need for them now. Food, toys, litter boxes. Definitely get the tall backed litter box cause they like to push their booty all the way to the back and you don't want them to miss! Their litter needs to be cleaned constantly or it will get smelly quick. And they are like cats, they pretty much just know to go in the litter (as long as it is in a corner).
They like to hide stuff! Mine would take any small items (buttons, jewelry) and hid them behind the bed. So cute. They also like to find nooks to hide in, so you have to be careful to check in the sofa cushions, etc before sitting down so you don't crush them!
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| Posted 5/22/08 1:50 PM |
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PegaLega
Lets Get This!!!!!
Member since 1/07 1110 total posts
Name:
Peggie
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
DH and I got 2 orphaned ferrets about 7 years ago, a friend was going to Iraq and needed someone to take them-so we did.
We had Baby (albino) and Fat Boy Bandit (in my avatar)
You can get them at a pet store-Petco always has babies and they are so adorable I have to stay away otherwise I will come home with another one.
Supplies you can also get at a pet store, be careful with the larger cages bc its possible for them to fall thru and hurt themselves, they are easily hurt. You would need a cage, water bottle, food dish that attaches to the cage (otherwise they flip it) litter pan and some kind of bed-we have a fleece hammock in our cage. You would need to get litter for the pan, we also put wood chips under the bottom crate in the cage to cage the drip from the water bottle. The litter needs to be changed regularly-be careful of cat litter-they like to eat it, go with the recycled paper or wood chips.
The only training really is litter training, I think litter training is really kind of easy, you just show them the litter and they go to it-we never had a problem with this ever.
The diet is marshall ferret food or 8 in 1 (i think that is the name) they really like raisins and anything sweet tho you shouldnt give this to them often. They will also eat chicken baby food-they go NUTS for it.
Currently Fat Boy is loose in our house 24/7, Baby girl died in march of a back injury from falling thru the cage and insulinoma-we had to keep her out of the cage so she wouldnt hurt herself worse-we took him out b/c she kept looking for him and he has now basically been diagnosed with insulinomi so it breaks our heart to put him back in the cage. We set up litter pans in 2 corners and he does his business there, we put out food and water and he goes there when he wants it. He likes to hide everything, they are infamous for stealing things-mine loves dirty socks....they climb into everything and they love the sound plastic bags make....it drives ME nuts. But they are really great animals-we loved them both, now that we have only 1 I know Im goin to have to get 2 more. the norm is to get them in pairs, they are very social so you would have to keep them where they will see people coming and going otherwise they get depressed.
HTH
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| Posted 5/26/08 3:38 AM |
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LittleBlueBug
Happy Mommy
Member since 9/06 4074 total posts
Name:
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
Posted by MissJones
For those that have a ferret as a pet, can you tell me the low down?
Where to get one?
Supplies?
Training?
Vet stuff?
Diet?
Etc.?
Thank you!
We got ours from pet stores. I bought one for my DH while we were dating. She started kissing him on the face and we knew she was the one.
We needed a cage, a hammock, water bottle, food bowl, shredded newspaper (they can not have wood chips on the bottom of their cage), liquid vitamins (Ferratone), food, a carrier (if necessary), toys, treats. I think that was it.
We didn't train her either, but supposedly they are very trainable.
I don't remember the vet being an issue until the end of her life (she got pneumonia).
As far as diet goes, we fed her ferret food from the pet store.
As far as the "other"...
They smell and do require frequent bathing and cage cleanings. Their urine is very strong. DH had a hard time keeping it under control, and he started cleaning the cage very frequently. Usually they will pick one corner to go, and that's great. We weren't so lucky.
Also, we did research before buying a ferret, I double checked w/ DH before writing this, and they will kill other small animals.
Otherwise, she was adorable and very playful. They will hide things on you, so be prepared to watch her carefully...and put your keys some place out of the ferret's reach.
All about Ferrets
Message edited 5/26/2008 9:33:02 PM.
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| Posted 5/26/08 9:28 PM |
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Acerone
I hate ants and ugly people.
Member since 3/07 6437 total posts
Name:
Chris
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Re: What's life like with a ferret?
I have a book called Ferrets for Dummies that was amazing for me. I no longer have my ferret if you like I can mail you my copy...
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| Posted 5/26/08 10:00 PM |
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