Mixing lotsa animals.?

Question

I life with my brother and his GF and they have 2 cats (who are fixed) and a ferret. I have fish and I am getting either a turtle or a bunny, and they are planning on getting a dog too. What is gonna happen? I mean, are these all gonna kill each other? Of course we arent going to leave them alone together and **** but has anyone ever done this? (please dont say dont do it, cuz we are doing it).

Answer 1

don't let the ferret and bunny or turtle loose with each because they will fight. get them use to each other first and then see if they can get along. and the dog especially without proper training can get obsessed with your animals and try to get them or may even be afraid of them. make sure you get a calm dog and defiantly NOT a hunting dog. i have rats, dogs, a cat, fish, and birds. the cat wants to get the birds but the birds can care less about the cat so we never have them both out at the same time. one of the dogs is fine with our cat, but will try to get kittens if left alone. the other dog is fine with all cats. nobody bothers the fish very much the cat will occasionally paw at them for a few seconds. the cat is fine with my rats, but does not want them to get to close to her. and one of my dogs is afraid of my rats while the other one is very interested it them and will chase them if they start running. the rats get along with everyone except the birds. the birds are afraid of the rats.

Answer 2

I have lots of animals and as long as we are careful, none of them have hurt each other.

We have:

2 small dogs

3 Great Danes (giant breed dogs)

4 cats

4 ferrets

20 rats

4 hedgehogs

3 large parrots

3 small finches

1 tarantula

1 kangaroo rat

Since your brother and his GF have the ferret and the cats, I am going to ASSUME that all three of those animals get along. Ferrets generally get along with cats. Ferrets can also get along with dogs really well, as long as the DOG is okay. I have to keep my Great Danes outside when the ferrets are having play-time because they are SO BIG and they might accidentally step on them and kill them. One of my great danes also plays too rough and might kill them. But my two smaller dogs can be inside when the ferrets are out because they just ignore them. When it comes to dogs + ferrets, it really depends on the temperament of the dog. Some breeds have a high prey-drive. It would probably be a bad idea for your brother to get a terrier or a sighthound.

Now, if you get a turtle or a bunny, you will DEFINITELY have to keep it separated from the ferret, and possibly the cats too. Ferrets are even more vicious killers than cats are and they will stop at NOTHING to get at a small pet if they realize it's there. Even a large bunny is an easy target for a ferret. A turtle might not be so easy, especially because it's pretty simple to secure a turtles tank, but I would personally keep any small animals behind a closed door from the ferret. Even the scent of a ferret can make small rodents nervous and stressed. You might as well keep the cats separated from them too. I know MY cats don't want to have anything to do with my small pets and birds, but some people's would.

I keep my rats, hedgehogs, birds, spider, and other assorted rodent in their own special room away from the dogs/cats/ferrets.

And about your fish, just make sure the lid is secure and I doubt you will have a problem.

Good luck! Remember that every animal's temperament is different. I can get away with some things with my animals that you might not be able to.