Ferret FAQs?

Question

These are Frequently Asked Questions, becuase i ask them all the time and get different answers every time! ARG! so please answer the questions i have about ferrets??

best method of nip-training?

best food?

better to have a multi-level cage?

they need around 2-4 hrs out of cage per day, right?

are playpens good?

FERRET-PROOFING?

free-run ferret or caged ferret/???????

symptoms of adrenal disease??

breeder is better, right??

Answer 1

1. nip-trainging: hold him by the skin on the back of his neck.  Yell if he ver nips you and drag him a few inches on the floor to show you are the boss and his behavior is unacceptable.  Also, dont play with him if he is frisky because nippy ferrets usually want attention.  If he is being really bad put him away in his cage and dont pay any attention to him until he calms down.

EDIT: The "stuck" method above is also good.  I just like this one because I want the ferret to know that biting is bad.

2.best food: Marshall ferret food.  It has a lot of fat and protein for ferrets but not too many vitamins so add some ferretone to his food everyday.

3.  cage: levels depends on how many ferrets you have but yes id say a multilevel cage is more interesting to a ferret.  My cage has a big bottom floor and a small top floor just to hang out because I only have one ferret at the moment.

4. playtime: yes thats a good number.  the most playtime a day the better.

5. as long as the area in the playpen is large enough and there is a lot for the ferret to explore and play with.  My ferret has the entire basement (which we turned into a toy room).

6.  ferret-proofing: make sure there are no dirt pots or live plants where the ferret could get them.  Also no wires and make sure you have the plastic plugs in the outlets.  Also make sure he cant get at glass or anything breakable and make sure he cant leave his play area.

7.  free-run vs caged: free-run.  My ferret runs in the toy room all day as long as someone is in the room which is a lot more then 6 hours.  ferrets are not cage-critters but they still need one for food and nighttime and when no one is watching him and when you vaccuum.

8. syptoms: loss of appetite, losing fur, pus in eyes, any starng behavior that isnt normal for your ferret.

9. breeder better: I guess.  I got my little Brewsky from a pet store and he was only eight weeks old when we got him.  He bit like crazy.  We all had bloody hands for a week.  My mom wanted to take him back but we worked hard to train him and now he is such a baby.  he doesnt bite at all and he is even better behaved around starngers.  In the store he didnt get attention and he was the only ferret in the store.  The ladies hardly knew how to take care of him and never handled him.  He wasnt mean or bad he just didnt know biting was a bad thing but once we showed him it was bad he stopped.

Answer 2

You will get different answers still because everyone has different opinions about them.  My opinions are based on several years of doing ferret rescue, constant research, and owning 30+ ferrets.

nip training:  I use the "stuck" method.  When they bite, I'd hold the finger (or whatever) in their mouth, and hold their body with the other hand, and force them to keep it there until they are pushing with their tongue and paws to get it out.  If they learn that every time they bite skin, it gets "stuck" in their mouth, they find that really annoying and stop doing it.  It works with babies, adults, even deaf ferrets and is completely harmless.  It doesn't hurt you as long as you push your finger (or other body part) a little further in, past the canine teeth.

food:  Having a really high quality food is essential because they have such a short digestive tract and because so many of their diseases are food-based.  There are several good ferret brands, or kitten food.  As long as it has at least 40% protein, 20% fat, and the ingredients are primarily whole meats and rice (chicken meal, chicken, fish, etc.)...you'll be fine.   I prefer the "Ferret Store" brand, but they were bought out by Drs. Foster and Smith so I'm not sure what it's called now.

The bigger your cage the better.  Ferrets can fall off multi-levels that aren't designed well, so kind of imagine that a clumsy puppy is going to be in the cage and pick one that is EASY TO CLEAN first and foremost, safe, and give the ferret lots of space.  It's best if you can divide up areas for litterbox, food/water, and sleeping, which multiple levels make easy to do.

As much time out of the cage as possible, yes.  Ferrets generally sleep 18-20 hours a day, so ideally they should be able to get out as much as they're awake.

Playpens are pretty useless because ferrets can climb and dig and get bored easily.  A ferret-proofed bedroom is better.

Again, I think it is ideal to have one or two rooms that are completely safe and escape-proof for playtime.  A cage is the safest place while you are away from home or sleeping.

Adrenal disease causes overproduction of the s*x hormones (estrogen and testosterone), so they start acting like they haven't been neutered -- aggressive males or swollen v***a on females.  Many also begin losing hair.  Eventually their back will be completely bald from the hormones.

If you can find a local breeder, that is ideal, but there aren't that many out there and they often only sell to other breeders.  A pet store ferret is okay.  The genetics aren't great (they get a lot of cancers and about 15% are deaf), but that is really hard to avoid in the United States.

Answer 3

Nail clipping...

Scruff your ferret this releases hormones and claims them down. Have some scruff or clip the nails while you do the other. (Some ferrets will allow you to do this while they sleep. So you just need one person)

Best food...

Get two high quality ferret foods. (NO marshals, this is bad for them) And mix together.

Cage...

YES as big as you can get. the more levels the better.

Play time...

Its best they get 4 hours play time. PER DAY! more is even better.

Playpens...

Since I have 8 sometimes it’s hard to keep track of them all. So I use playpens. Mine is Very large but it depends on how many you have, so you know how big of one to get. But they are safe and good to use. This helps from them getting into things you really don’t want them to.

Ferret proofing...

This is really baby proofing. Pick up anything and everything. Make sure they can’t climb up high on anything. pick up cords. Cover light sockets. No food laying around. And so much more

Free run or caged...

Ferrets should only be allowed free run it they have a room 100% to themselves. But if you cage your ferret make sure he/she gets plenty of playtime. It’s very important.

Breeder is better....

NO not always. I suggest looking into adopting. This will take some time. But it will fit the right ferret with your home. And if you don’t know everything there is to know they will tell you and inform you on everything.

Here is a site that has a lot of information that would help you

http://www.ferretuniverse.com/

And please check out this forum. As a member myself it has helped me out a lot. You can as many of questions, and get answered from experienced ferret owners like myself.

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