My husband and I "rescued" a pair of 2 year old sister ferrets about six months ago. They were neglected to say the least. They are very hands on pets. Extremely sociable and become attached to their caregivers. I always make the comparison to having two two year olds in the house.
Lily and Rosey eat ferret food and kitten food (dry) but when we first got them Rose was not eating and her ribs were showing. We fed her meat baby food (turkey, chicken and beef) it fattened her up and within I'd say a month her fur was thicker and shiner. My husband uses the blender and puts cooked chicken and broth in it and blends it to the consistancy of baby food. Rosey likes this. Lily eats her dry food, ferret treats and loves the dry chicken treats you can buy at Walmart for cats and dogs. These animals should be fed a high protein diet so we always check what we buy and I have found that kitten food is good if you can't get ferret food. We bought a four level cage. Their litter pan is in the bottom. We use only paper pellets (Yesterdays News Litter) again from Walmart. Have heard that shavings and regular kitty litter is not good for them. The dust from regular litter is bad for their breathing. They back up to go to the bathroom therefore they are really easy to train to use the litter. We let our ferrets out to run at least once a day...they are smart and can be trained to run back to their litter to go to the bathroom, especially if they get a special treat when they do .....(we used a sucker....they love candy). They are a very hands on pet as I said. Be prepared to spend around 1 or 2 hours most days letting them out of their cages. As far as smell goes...if their blankets, beds and cage are washed once a week, and we give the girls a bath once every two weeks there is not a problem with odour. Litter is cleaned out every day. We do not let the cat or dog out with the girls. Our cat is too rough and the dog really doesn't want anything to do with them. And it is safer that way. They get into everything they can....love to open cupboards, hide under rugs and in places you would never expect....They are alot of work if you want to keep them healthy and happy.....but they are the sweetest little goofs.....you will laugh and laugh at their antics...ours have never bitten.......and I can not imagine not having them...if you need any more info please post and I'll get back to you....V