Anyone own/have experience with Ferrets?

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MSI Magus

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Me and my fiancee got our car paid off 28 months early!!!! So now im looking into my dream of owning Ferrets as a little treat for myself. I am currently doing research on ferrets since I dont believe into rushing into buying a pet till you really understand it.... but I also wanted to ask here to hear real peoples views as well on ferrets. Some questions I have below.

1. Descenting. Is it good to do this or not? Iv read really mixed things online. How bad do they stink if not descented, are their health risks to descenting?

2. Do they chew through wires? We have Chinchillas so we gave up on getting angry at a pet that chews through stuff a long time ago. But part of the reason I like the idea of ferrets is because I know people that put bells on their ferrets and let them run free. Does this mean they tend not to chew through electrical wires? I dont care if they chew on furniture or ruin other stuff so much, but id hate for them to get hurt. I like the idea of having a pet I can let out and play with.....but not supervise every last second of the time their out....but this seems a little too much like a dream come true.

3. How difficult is it to litter train them? Iv seen/heard alot of people say the biggest reason for ferrets smell was that they used to live in their own poop, but now with the whole litter training thing its not so bad.

4. How much do you guys spend monthly on food and other ferret needs? It seems like their pellets is the main expense and that its pretty cheap to buy, however iv got no clue how much the little guys eat nor if there are any hidden expenses(for instance my chinchillas need hay in addition to pellets)


5. How prone are they to medical problems? Which medical problems? Always good to know ahead of time the type of expenses your going to have with a pet and the vet. We already own a Dog and the 3 chins so dont want to get in over our heads or anything.

6. Anyone seen Ferrets and Chinchilals interact? Would they need to be seperate during playtime?
 
I've owned three ferrets over the past 10 years.

1. Definitely degland. They stink hard even if deglanded. I've actually never spelled a ferret that wasn't deglanded... but since they stink even if they are, I assume it's worth it. If you buy from a pet shop they'll already be deglanded.

2. Hell yeah they do. They also hide in subwoofers. I use bitter apple spray (from a pet shop) that's made for deterring pets. I just spray it on the wires, problem solved.

3. Pretty hard. Much more difficult than a dog, but possible. Even once they're trained, you definitely want to have them caged the majority of the time (although there should be a litter box in the cage too) -- for their own safety. You should only have them free roaming when you can be somewhat attentive. For me, that's only a couple hours a day.

4. Despite their small size, they actually eat (and crap) a lot due to their high metabolism, but it isn't too expensive. Litter/bedding is probably gonna be your top expense. They're crap machines, seriously. At least once a day you'll need to change it, and bedding (lines the bottom of the cage) about every other day because there's likely to be a little crap on it somewhere.

5. In ten years I haven't ran into anything.

6. iunno
 
1. They stink so bad with there scents in. Descenting is done for most ferrets you can buy, but if they arent, it should be the first thing you do.

2. They might chew on something, but they will play with everything they see. They also like to dig so they might dig up plants or dig at your carpet if you don't watch them closely.

3. It was very easy for me. She took to the litter right away. To bad they crap way more then any animal should and tend to stink up the place fast. It might be a good idea to get some kind of air freshener next to the cage.

4. You can actually find ferret food at walmart but fresh fruit is a good treat for them every once and a while.


5. For the most part they are pretty healthy as long as you take care of them.

6. You have to integrated them with your pets very slowly. Sometimes they can be very friendly and playful, but it will take time.
I hope this helps a little.
 
I would have figured somebody would have posted "only sexual" by now. CAG disappoints me.

As far as the topic: they smell like shit partly because they don't have the personal hygiene that, say, a cat does. They're cool as hell, but would probably drive you nuts after a while. Rent one for the weekend and that should be enough.
 
Anyone have a guesstimate on how much you spend on food in a month for 2 of the little guys(say $20, $30 etc etc?)? Just nice to have a general idea.

Its sounding like they might be a bit of a hassle and stink up the place even if descneted. See this is why im glad im asking people vs just reading web sites. There is a ferret rescue near my house that iv contacted to come and take a look at the ferrets. Im thinking its probally a great idea to go there and even if I dont want to adopt ferrets from them I can get an idea of the smell and temperament better then a pet store.
 
I knew a girl that had two ferrets and they smelled like cat piss even after being deglanded. They also liked to "hide" things like keys, wallets, socks, jewelry, etc. They had to buy conductor wrapping to put around all of the wires because the little shits chewed through wires like it was candy.

She had them litter trained, but I swear they just emitted an odor and I have never smelled anything worse in my life. She let them run around free, never locked them up and her apartment was just stinky, and she kept it really clean.

They were entertaining, in a Beast Master sort of way, but overall I feel they were just too much trouble to keep indoors. The smell alone was a good reminder of why I never adopted one.
 
Sadly I live in California and California and Hawaii are the only 2 states where Ferrets are illeagle. For California back in 1969 it was accidentally placed on the endangered species list and has never been taken off (When I went to the pet expo some guy who smelled like Hollywood >_> was trying to get signatures and telling the story). They have tryed many times but for whatever the reason bills to take it off fail to pass in the state legislator.
 
My aunt used to have a ferret that had its scent gland removed and it still smelled even then. Not bad, kind of like wet tortillas. I don't know if she litter box trained it or not, though.

As for health problems, hers died of some kind of eye cancer or some such.
 
The only experience I have is watching a special on PBS about people who own ferrets and put them in competitions. It was amazing. I mean if you just head on over to www.ferret.org and just check out the Ferret of the Year winners section on the shows and events page you can tell that these people mean business.
 
Ferrets are really an all time pet. You have to pay so much attention to them so just make sure you are ready for that.
 
Man, don't get me started on ferrets. I used to live with this girl who had two of them. My god, worst smelling things you can imagine. I've lived in Afghanistan for two years and my unit had a pet camel, and that thing smelled better than those ferrets. We had to change the ferret's litter box twice a day, and letting them run around required 100% supervision. She had hamsters too, and in comparison those were nothing to take care of. We didn't let the ferrets and hamsters play together because the ferrets were kinda violent. OTOH, my wife's friend has a ferret that has its own personal room, and besides the smell, it stays very clean without being caged.

Never had a chinchilla. How are those, btw?
 
[quote name='kosh_kesh24']Man, don't get me started on ferrets. I used to live with this girl who had two of them. My god, worst smelling things you can imagine. I've lived in Afghanistan for two years and my unit had a pet camel, and that thing smelled better than those ferrets. We had to change the ferret's litter box twice a day, and letting them run around required 100% supervision. She had hamsters too, and in comparison those were nothing to take care of. We didn't let the ferrets and hamsters play together because the ferrets were kinda violent. OTOH, my wife's friend has a ferret that has its own personal room, and besides the smell, it stays very clean without being caged.

Never had a chinchilla. How are those, btw?[/QUOTE]

Chinchillas are a mixed bag. Their cheap pets eating very little and hospital bills are low. However they take some time and live a long time so you should have that in mind when you get them. First off they are jumpers so it really is fair to not cramp them in a small cage but buy them something around 6 foot so they can jump around in it and have a wheel to run on. They live as long as 20 years so you have to appreciate that your making a long commitment. And they chew on EVERYTHING so unless you have a room you can give them, just face the fact that when you let them out for play time anything in that room(walls, furniture, CD cases ANYTHING)is getting chewed on.

Their ammusing to watch jump around, and their very cute. But they are quite the commitment if you want to take proper care of them and not just stuff them in a cage like a hamster. Given that I already have the chins and their such a big responsibilty ill probally skip the ferrets, I was thinking they were pets that liked to steal stuff but wernt such a huge responsibilty nor stunk quite this bad. Glad I asked because again I really feel all animals deserve the best..and I just dont want a second commitment that big. Ah well, just means a few hundred extra to spend on video games!
 
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