I really want a ferret but....?

Question

My mom says i have to pay for it if i get one. i do hear there a lot of money, and i HAVE been doing my research. i've also added up some totals from different websites of the stuff i'll need, and got a total of $600 from ferret.com. i've also heard that there prone to many diseases, such as adrenal glad disease, and i've heard i should have an extra $1000 in case of emergencys. my neighbor has a two, and the one is going on 10 years old, and she says she hasn't had any diseases. her new one is only 4 months old, and it's a marshall farm's female. what i want to know, is do marshall farm's ferrets get many diseases? or any USA ferret. i really don't want a 200 dollar ferret for only 3 years to lose it to adrenal, or some cancer. do they really get adrenal as easy as everyone says? how many of you have/had ferrets with that? and how old were they? my friend says it's rare for ferrets to get diseases. i'm not going to get one until i have enough money and know enough about them.thanks!

Answer 1

First off, glad you're interested in ferrets. They are very cool animals :)

But, as you stated, ferrets are prone to many diseases. They probably will get a disease at some point, and depending on what it is, the severity, etc. it could be caught early and be relatively easy to treat or life threatening.

Ferrets do not always have to cost a lot. If you get them from your local newspaper or other classified ad they usually come very cheap and with all the supplies. They are usually litter trained too. I have seen ones in ads and shelters from 75 to 200 dollars, and most include supplies.

Good luck with your ferret!

P.S. If you want more info about ferrets, I recommend this site: http://www.hugawoozel.com/

Answer 2

Well yes they are prone to many different cancers and diseases, such as adrenal. I had 2 and they were marshall farms ferrets. Our male died at 2 years old of jaw cancer, and our female died at 3 years old of a tumor on her mouth. they are really great pets and no matter how or when you lose them you will have a blast with them!

Good for you for researching first! they will have a better life meaning they will give you a better life! if I were you, i would save up and get some anyway because there's no way you can predict whether it will get sick. Like you said, your neighbor's has lived 10 years with no problems!

Go for it and good luck!

Answer 3

Marshall ferrets are sold with their most of their sweat glands removed. You can also get them vaccinated for rabies and distemeper annually. I don't think that adrenal gland disease or cancer is really very common in ferrets. I have heard of some ferrets that have gotten it, but again I don't think it's very common.

Answer 4

Glad to see you learn all you can first.

Your neighbor has been very lucky. It's hard to find a 10yr old ferret that hasn't had any health problems.

I have four, two females 4 and 3yrs and two males, 5 and 2.

I adopted the males from a shelter, it was not a no-kill.

My oldest male was diagnosed with Insulinoma(a cancer of the pancreas) in early January. Just the testing cost over $150.  I cook a special mash for him and feed him on my lap several times a day. He's still doing fine, we don't know how long. He's a Marshall.

My oldest female had a giant hairball in her stomach and had to have it surgically removed at the age of 3 ($800.00,chaching). Ferrets are also prone to bowel obstructions due to hairballs or foreign objects.

It's not really all THAT rare for ferrets to get diseases.

So, having $1000.00 saved away is a good idea. You can also check into CareCredit(google it). It's like a credit card that can be used for medical expenses on humans and animals and  most times it's interest free if the money is paid back within the agreed upon time. Guess your parents could check into that for you.

Good luck to you.

PS: Marshall Farms does not remove their ferrets SWEAT glands(nor does any other breeder,  ferrets do not have typical sweat glands like we do anyway). The terms spayed/neutered and descented simply means that the animal has been altered  to be unable to reproduce AND it had its scent or anal gland removed. Ferrets have an anal gland, much like skunks, but their scent is not quite as pungent as that of a skunk. Anyhow, if you see two blue or black dots in or behind your new ferrets ear, that's what that means. One dot for spay/neuter and one for descenting.

Even descented, ferrets still have that typical musky odor which comes from oil glands all over the ferrets body, especially around the head and neck. Just FYI.