How to Take Care of Ferrets?

Great as a first pet and companion to children  

Ferret as a Pet

Ferrets are amazing representatives of the animal world. They were originally bred for pest control, but people soon decided to keep ferrets as domestic pets. Due to a well-developed hunting instinct, ferrets have been used since Antiquity to hunt small mink animals. 

Ferrets are a part of the Mustelidae family, which includes otters, stoats, weasels, and badgers. They inherited many anatomical features from their wild ancestors. These are small squat animals with an elongated, flexible body, covered with abundant fur, black, white, brown, or mixed colors. Average body dimensions - length about 51 cm, the tail is about 13 cm, weight reaches 0.7-2 kg. Males are much more than females; they also differ in some behavioral features.

“American Ferret Association distinguishes 8 colors, 4 patterns, and 3 types of white markings. 

"Coloring" refers to the color of the fur, eyes, and nose, "coloring" refers to a pattern formed by various color spots on the animal's body, and "white markings" refers to the location of non-pigmented spots on it. 

Color: albino, red-eyed white, black, sable, champagne, chocolate, cinnamon, and dark-eyed white. 

Colors: Siamese, roan, solid, and standard. 

Types of white labels: blaze (blaze), panda (panda), gloves (mitts).”

 The ferret pet's lifespan is from 7 to 9 years. With the right conditions of keeping, animals live up to 12 years, and if the requirements are not met, the animals die at a young age (up to 5 years). 

 Before becoming a happy owner of an animal, it is necessary to find out how to care for a domestic ferret, what it eats, and what to expect from it’s behavior. This will prevent troubles, health problems, and premature death of the pet. 

Are Ferrets Good Pets?

Over many centuries of breeding, ferrets got rid of most of some of wild traits of character and behavior, and acquired docility, friendliness, and amenability to training. 

Wild ferrets are active at night and this feature is also preserved in domestic animals. Most often, a pet ferret prefers to live in secluded corners that resemble a burrow. They build a cozy nest from a variety of things, including the owners' clothes, which they find in your home. These animals like to dig in the ground, so it is advisable to protect all home flowers from the encroachments of a new pet. Another feature of ferrets is thriftiness. They find secret places where they hide small objects and food.

Please, note that ferrets are not the best company for rodents. Guinea pigs, hamster, chinchilla, rabbits – all these animals fall into a state of stress from the smell of a ferret. If you keep small birds at home, you should isolate them in different rooms. Instinct will push your pet to hunt birds, and this can lead to sad consequences. Frogs, snakes, lizards are included in the ferret's natural diet. Therefore, if you are the owner of a reptile, make sure that the ferret does not threaten the life of your other pets.  

 Cats and especially dogs can coexist with ferrets in the same territory. But the owner must ensure that the little inquisitive ferret does not offend other animals and does not bore them with his constant curiosity.

How Hard are Ferrets to Take Care of?

Before bringing a ferret home, you need to additionally inspect the entire apartment or house for cracks, and openings that can become a shelter for animals. It is important to protect the wires to avoid accidents. It is advisable to install an anti-mosquito screen on the window, so the ferret cannot escape to the street. 

 The ferret will need a house-shelter with soft bedding, trays, bowls for food and water, toys. Do not use rubber or fur toys, because the ferret can swallow pieces, which can lead to blockage of the gastrointestinal tract. Dense latex toys are good. You can diversify his housing with ladders, hammocks, labyrinths, tunnels, swings, a box with sand for digging. 

Ferrets are freedom-loving animals, they should move freely around the room. Only then will the pet feel happy. 

Keeping pet ferrets in a cage can be useful only at first, when the pet is just getting used to the new home. The cage can also be used for punishment. The cage should be spacious, regardless of the amount of time the ferret will spend in it. It should fit a drinking bowl, a feeder, a toilet, a hammock, and there should still be room for games.

If the pet will spend most of the time in the cage, then a larger option is needed so that it can actively move inside. In this case, the height should be from 70 cm to 100 cm.

The distance between the rows of cells should not exceed 1.5 cm.

There should be a net and a pull-out tray on the floor of the house. 

It is important to keep a good ventilation inside the house and monitor the temperature, which should not exceed 77°F, otherwise the animal may suffer from heat stroke. 

Ferrets periodically need bath procedures. Bathing is carried out in warm water of about 40 degrees once a month. A special pet’s shampoo is recommended to use. After bathing, the pet is wrapped in a towel or blanket for a few minutes, and then it can be allowed to finally dry on its own. It is better do not use a hairdryer, it can not only frighten an animal but also cause overheating of the body.

An important point of keeping domestic ferrets in the house is to accustom them to the toilet. If the ferret will move freely around the house or room, you will have to choose a place for the toilet or a pet can choose a suitable place on its own. Ferrets do not defecate where they sleep and eat. Therefore, you need to make sure that the toilet is at some distance from the feeders and the animal's sleeping place.

What do Domestic Ferrets Eat?

Ferrets are predators by nature and in the wild feed on small rodents, lizards, chicks, insects, and worms. It will not be easy to provide them with such a diet at home. It is possible to feed these animals so that the nutrition is as close as possible to what the animals receive in natural conditions.

Veterinarians recommend the following daily ration for ferrets:

Here’s a list of healthy products approved by veterinarians for ferrets: lean bird; lean beef; rabbit; red fish; seafood; poultry offal; chicken and quail eggs; cereal porridge. 

There are also special foods for ferrets, which include all the vitamins a pet needs. However, you should be careful and choose only quality food created by a trusted manufacturer. In the first few days of feeding with factory feed, it is necessary to observe the pet. If the food you have chosen is suitable, the pet will be active and cheerful. If its condition changes. In addition to special feed or natural food, it is important to provide the ferret with fresh drinking water. 

This animal is prone to eating small objects, which can lead to gastrointestinal obstruction.

What people's food can ferrets eat?

Ferrets are very curious animals and they will try to taste the food they can find at home. Sometimes you can pamper your pets with treats such as bananas, raisins, low-fat cheese, dates and cheese.

A responsible owner should remember that the digestive system of an animal is arranged differently than a human. Do not give in to the temptation to let the animal taste your food, as this can be harmful to its health. 

Here’s a list of prohibited products that you can’t give to a ferret: nuts; citrus fruits; sweets; salty food; smoked products; onion and garlic; fatty meat; soy products; leftovers of your meal, food of other animals.

Important Information for Future Ferret Owners

The ferret must be vaccinated against leptospirosis, rabies, and plague. At the same time, they tend to have allergies, so the vaccination is carried out with an antihistamine, and after the introduction of the vaccine, you need to stay away from the vet clinic for some time and check whether there is an allergic reaction. 

If breeding ferrets is not planned, the animal is sterilized. If you do not do this, during the period of puberty you will have to endure a strong unpleasant smell from fur.  

Neutered ferrets also have a musky odor, so before buying this pet, you should spend some time in a house where there is a ferret to see if the smell bothers you. 

The daily sleep requirement for ferrets is about 18 hours, and in winter the pet can sleep even longer.  

While awake, ferrets are very active, and even in old age, these animals are as playful as possible.

Interesting facts about ferrets

Leonardo da Vinci painted a furo ferret, not an ermine, in his painting "The Lady with an Ermine". In the 16th century, domestic furs were kept at home on an equal footing with cats - they successfully protected grain stocks from mice and rats. 

A ferret wagging its tail makes it clear that it is satisfied and happy, and a hissing ferret with a fluffy tail warns that it is not necessary to touch it: it is angry and can bite. 

Some ferrets can sleep for a whole day, and their sleep is so deep that the animals cannot be woken up. This greatly frightens alarmed owners, although it is considered completely normal. 

The rare ability of stealthy animals to make their way into the narrowest spaces was used in the laying of cables in Boeing aircraft and in the installation of communications of the Large Hadron Collider.