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-   -   Anyone here have ferrets? (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=16404)

Dog Mom June 16th, 2005 04:25 PM

Anyone here have ferrets?
 
I'm just seeing if anyone has ferrets here. I have 3, Smoochie 2yrs old Tiko 8 mths and Scrappy 8mths. I'd love to see some ferrets pics on here!

Lissa June 17th, 2005 12:59 PM

1 Attachment(s)
I don't have a ferret but I've contemplated getting one. I've hesitated because I know that they need a lot of activity/games/things to do. Also, with Dodger and Minnow taking up so much time and being so snooty about newcomers, I'm a bit nervous about introducing a small animal to the mix.

Plus my family thinks that keeping caged-animals is cruel. But ferrets need a lot of time outside the cage, right? Can they be litter-trained? Are they like rabbits and chew on everything/anything they come across? Do you need to own more than 1 ferret to keep them happy? Thanks

Let's see photos of your ferrets!

My friend rescued this ferret and called him Tootsie but she ended up finding him a better home with experienced ferret owners!

Dog Mom June 17th, 2005 03:02 PM

I don't recomend ferrets for everyone. they are great pets, but they do need at least 3 hours of play time outside their cage! we made one of our spare rooms into a "ferret room" so we don't have to worry about the dogs being to rough with them They can be litter trained and they are fairly clean animals, they have a unique smell though. They love to chew on/hide things. My hubby lost his wallet for about a week then we found it all chewed up in the couch :crazy: our first ferret smoochie was perfectly happy living on her own but she accepted the others fairly quickly. Our farrets LOVE my parents cat Spazz they chase each other around for hours. I'll get some pictures on here as soon as i can!

Dahlia June 17th, 2005 07:36 PM

We don't have any now but I have had some in the past. I love the little stinkers. I looked at some at the pet store one day and they were the sweetest little guys. But they wanted $150 for them. Maybe someday.....

Dog Dancer June 22nd, 2005 12:52 PM

Do I let my son get a ferret??
 
Hi Dog Mom, Interesting you posted this. My son (he's living in my home - I am not - and he's an adult) has thrown out the suggestion that he'd like to get a ferrett. I'm less thrilled with the idea. Concerned how much space they need (how big a cage), and also about if it will mess up my house. Good news is he's looking through a rescue group who will get him one that is spayed and descented. I don't know, he works a lot of hours and his girlfriend has a Pom so is it a good idea to get this new pet??? Tks for your input, it's an interesting thread and very timely for me.

Dog Mom July 4th, 2005 04:16 PM

I've never had a pom so i don't know what their temperment is like. the cage our ferrets sleep in is 4 foot by 5.5 foot ( we have 3 ferrets) and during the day they have a whole bedroom to themselves. they are somewhat easily trained but like anything they need time to learn. I've said in my earlier posts they have a unique smell. they are litter trained and eat pellet like food that's fairly expensive $45.00 CDN for about 2 kgs. they need special litter, they should not have cat litter, they get "colds" and can die from them. they are also prone to cancers and adreanal (sp) disease. we've gotten all of our ferrets from people who didn't want then when they started nipping and acting up. They aren't for everyone though, ours are really socal and love being around people, because we took the time teaching them not to be rough and nippy. a friend of mine had a ferret that would attack anything that moved and it would draw blood when it bit. they ended up putting it to sleep because it bit her son. Like any pet thought research well before hand. :thumbs up

Donna Marie August 2nd, 2005 05:54 PM

I have three. Frodo, Sam and Gizmo. They are all males and all almost ten months old. Our home is Gizmo's third, so obviously ferrets are not for everyone and should be researched thoroughly before you make that "isn't it cute" impulse buy.

Lucky Rescue August 2nd, 2005 08:43 PM

[QUOTE]Plus my family thinks that keeping caged-animals is cruel. But ferrets need a lot of time outside the cage, right? Can they be litter-trained? Are they like rabbits and chew on everything/anything they come across? Do you need to own more than 1 ferret to keep them happy? Thanks[/QUOTE]

My niece has had a ferret for the last 3 years. Hers is very sweet and adorable, but they are very active and intelligent and need a lot of playtime and stimulation. 2 is better, so they always have a playmate.

My niece's ferret is not in her cage very often and is mostly loose in my niece's bedroom and sleeps with her. She is litter trained, but still messes around anyway.

They have a strong odour, which you either like or hate!:p

Vet care is very expensive here for them, since they must go to an exotic vet!

StaceyB August 2nd, 2005 09:21 PM

I have two. They are the neatest little guys. We didn't intend on ever having them but a friend out of the city asked if I ever came across some for adoption she would like one. She had one years earlier. Well the time came and three were looking for homes. There were all together. We brought them all home with their fancy house and had to stay with us for a couple months until we took them to their new home. I have been in the pet business for 18 yrs but in that time I had never dealt with them. I was not prepared for how they play at all. Those little buggers look like they are about to attack you with their arched back, hissing and bouncing all over the place. We had all of them out running around trying to figure them out when my son squeaked a toy. The female hated it, she flew through the air towards her cage. I happened to be standing a little too close when she latched onto my leg. We figured right away that she didn't like it, didn't do that again. We quickly got used to them and attached ourselves to the wee won. He was 4 months old and sweet as can be. The other two went to their new home and baby stayed with us. We called him baby because we didn't intend for him to stay, still called baby. Once we were used to the way they play it was great. I would have to say their personalities are between a cat and dog. You stomp towards him and he runs, you step back and he chases you. All the time bouncing and hissing. They are into everything all the time. We walk them in the neighbourhood, they just love those kids. They come in groups and the ferrets have a hay day. Baby met a little yorkie around the corner that he loved to play with. Though he was happy on his own, everything I read said to have more than one. I placed an add looking for a buddy for Baby. Along came Charlie. They are great friends and it is good to have two but the time when there were three was just too much. Very hard to keep track of all of them going in all different directions. They are both very friendly, never tried to bite anyone ever and watching them sleep with their blankies is so sweet. I would recommend a ferret over any other sm fuzzy animal. I think they make great pets. I have heard of some that are nippers but the two I have are angels.

StaceyB August 2nd, 2005 09:30 PM

What brand of food you use seems to effect their smell. I have found that the ones with fish seem to make the scent stronger. There scent is a sweet musky scent. It is nothing like a skunk.

Lucky Rescue August 2nd, 2005 09:33 PM

[QUOTE]Those little buggers look like they are about to attack you with their arched back, hissing and bouncing all over the place.[/QUOTE]

Yes, my niece calls this the "weasel war dance!" It's very funny!

StaceyB August 2nd, 2005 09:35 PM

It's hilarious

Karin August 2nd, 2005 09:46 PM

It has been a while since I have had Ferrets, I miss that too. I do not think Ciara would take to one right now. (I thought about once or twice though)

My last one was called "Ogre". I rescued him from a neighbor who thought it was cool to use him as a bowling ball and knock down towers of empty beer cans at his partys. I convinced the guy's pregnant girlfriend ferrets can be dangerous to babies. I reimbursed them for what they paid for him and felt like lying to the gf was my best move ever...Ogre proved me right. I moved to Naples later and found him a friend at the pound.
Being of the Ermine family they do like baths.
I also put a cat figure 8 harness on Ogre when he roamed the house. (Add a bell, helps to locate them) His favorite toy was plastic grocery bags.
They are kittens that refuse to grow up so make sure you suck down plenty of caffiene & sugar daily to keep up...lol!

StaceyB August 2nd, 2005 09:52 PM

I found that taking them in the shower was the best method for bathing. I have never had a problem bathing them.

Donna Marie August 4th, 2005 04:57 PM

Not all ferrets like to be bathed. Frodo loves it, Sam HATES it and Gizmo is just indifferent. The last time I bathed Sam I got a nasty bite, right through to the gums on his teeth into my finger. The best way I found is we have an unused cat litter pan, fill it with water, put in some toys and they bathe themselves without knowing it. They don't need it that often either....as it strips the oils from their skin.

Dog Mom August 12th, 2005 04:41 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Finally I have a picture. This is oldest ferret Smoochie. Now I'm gonna try and get some pictures of the babies.

Donna Marie August 15th, 2005 05:01 PM

Frodo;
[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/3715519/97977697.jpg[/IMG]

Sam;
[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/3715519/98460397.jpg[/IMG]

Gizmo;
[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/3715519/104753167.jpg[/IMG]

All three males, ten months old. Frodo is our deaf boy who has a sweet but playful nature, Sam is our "what can I do to make mom and dad freak out" boy, and Gizmo is our gentle giant who loves everybody.

Dog Mom August 16th, 2005 01:20 PM

ohhh they are too cute!!! I love Frodo's little pink nose!

Donna Marie August 16th, 2005 02:40 PM

[QUOTE=Dog Mom]ohhh they are too cute!!! I love Frodo's little pink nose![/QUOTE]

Thank you! He was our first boy. He is such a character....they all are.

Dog Mom August 16th, 2005 05:14 PM

we havn't had the pleasure of having a boy. The 3 girls keep me busy enough!! are they litter mates? we have a pair of litter mates Scrappy and Tiko. Smoochie our older one took some time to get used to them, now they are one happy bunch of ferrets. Btw waaaaay off the topic I have the same flooring as you! LOL :D

Donna Marie August 18th, 2005 02:57 PM

Sam and Frodo are brothers, but we got Gizmo only a month ago, so I don't know about him. He was in the paper....we are his third, but forever, home. Him and Frodo aren't the best of friends...they're still going through the domineering phase, [I]but no blood, no poopy, no foul[/I] to paraphrase Kim Schilling!

LOL....Ikea flooring. We might just do the whole house in it....we currently have berber carpet, and I am sure you are experienced in the "scratch-scratch-scratch-pull-and-destroy-carpeting-game".

I am a member of another forum as well...Ferret City. They are an awesome bunch over there.

Dog Mom August 19th, 2005 11:38 AM

I am all to familiar with the scratchy scratchy carpet game. Now we have no carpet in the house, we used to have it in our bedroom but we left a ferret alone for 5 mins and they had the corner ripped up. but the ferrets have their own room now, completly ferret proof muhahahaha. do you have harnesses (sp) for your guys?we have them for the girls, Smoochie is the only one who will function with one on, the other two look at us like we've just beaten them and will drag themselves accross the floor! its' really funny to watch tho!

Donna Marie August 22nd, 2005 03:28 PM

LOL...I remember the first time we put harnesses on Frodo and Sam, we basically got the same reaction. With Gizmo, he came already used to walking. Now we take all three outside almost every night...usually after 9:30 when it is dark and cooled down. They LOVE it. We live in a townhouse complex with 250 units and there is lots of grass for them to frolic in.

We just went to our first annual ferret picnic in Burnaby yesterday. I don't think I was amazed that way before...there must have been sixty or so ferts there! We had races, games, raffles, 50/50 draws. It was absolutely awesome. I am just sorry they only have it once a year! I will post a link to my picturetrail account as soon as I have all the pics there.

Dog Mom August 22nd, 2005 04:57 PM

I can't wait to see the pictures! we are the only ones in our town that has ferrets.it's like a novelty for people to come over and see/hold them.

Donna Marie August 22nd, 2005 05:43 PM

[QUOTE=Dog Mom]Finally I have a picture. This is oldest ferret Smoochie. Now I'm gonna try and get some pictures of the babies.[/QUOTE]

omg...how on earth did I miss this picture! What a curious little honey. Gizmo tries to climb the side of cage...the OUTSIDE of the cage! :eek:

Prin August 23rd, 2005 12:51 AM

They're so CUTE!! More ferret pics! More ferret pics!! :)

Donna Marie August 23rd, 2005 01:06 AM

Don't have to ask me twice! Oh, wait, you did.... ;)

These are from the FIRST ferret picnic yesterday. Fun was had by ALL!

Gizmo making a donation to First....a donation of himself. They put the lid on shortly after...making sure that Gizmo was out and didn't "pocket" any of the donations;

[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/8204353/109548910.jpg[/IMG]

Gizmo trying to "blend in". Not quite working out. They had a few litter boxes in the playpen, but they seemed to make better beds than places to make a 'deposit'

[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/8204353/109548825.jpg[/IMG]

Sam winning his first tube race. Got some nice FerretVite and 8 in 1 treats for his hard work;

[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/8204353/109548840.jpg[/IMG]

This gives you a better idea of the size of the playpen;

[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/8204353/109547942.jpg[/IMG]

The boys all tuckered out after their busy busy afternoon. They slept the entire way home too. I didn't get many of Frodo, he was busy wandering around, getting picked up from the playpen, basically shmoozing with everyone for me to get any pics of him;

[IMG]http://pic9.picturetrail.com/VOL268/1923823/8204353/109548855.jpg[/IMG]

Prin August 23rd, 2005 02:01 AM

YEY!! They're so CUTE!!! That looks so fun! :) Thanks for the pics! :)

Dog Mom August 23rd, 2005 08:16 AM

omg I want to go to a ferret picnic!! where did you get the ferret "cube"? ours have a castle and a pillow case @ the bottom of their cage and a hammock(sp) hanging from the top of their cage. frodo's pink little nose is an attention catcher ! no wonder he was busy shmooozing LOL :D

marko August 23rd, 2005 08:30 AM

Ferret article
 
For those considering getting a ferret,

Here's quite a good article given to us by a passionate person that runs a ferret rescue in Quebec.


[url]http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-ferret.htm[/url]


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