Learn about Ferrets, their care and get your ferret supplies and specialty gifts here.
Ferrets are fun, furry pets. My son and I are crazy about ours. We put together this site to give you the necessary information and access to all the toys, treats, cages and food your favorite ferret will need.
Filed under ferret facts by on May 3rd, 2008. Comment. 
Ferrets – What Is a Ferret?
Named after the Latin word for thief, furonem, Ferrets are among the most popular of household pets today. Like cats, they can be both curious and friendly, and with some effort can be trained. They’re very social animals and prefer to be in groups.
Often, humans are a part of that social group. Ferrets have been domesticated pets for possibly as long as 2,500 years. They were a favorite among royalty in the late Middle Ages.
As members of the large weasel family, they are cousins to 65 different species, including badgers, otters, ermine and mink, and – of course – weasels. They’re sleek, with short fur and come in a variety of brown colors with black highlights. There’s even an albino form, with all white fur and pink eyes. Males are typically around 18 inches and 2.5 lbs, females slightly smaller.
The Latin name is appropriate since ferrets will often take toys, food or other small objects and hide them. No one has a definitive answer on why, but like squirrels and others it probably derives from the need to hoard food. That behavior helps them feed through lean times, especially winter.
Often mistakenly believed to have an unpleasant odor, they do give off a natural musky scent from glands. Those glands are often removed by commercial ferret vendors, but the odor is just as often a buildup of smells from improper care. Many pet stores and some ferret owners will simply put a few ferrets in a cage with food and water – sometimes with a litter box – and then forget about it for days.
But ferrets, unlike cats, require a little more care than that to keep the odors down and keep the ferret in optimal health. They’re prone to a number of diseases if they don’t get the proper diet.
That diet should consist of high protein and high fat foods, such as fresh chicken or commercial ferret food with around 38% meat-based protein and 15% fat. For the first few years after ferrets became popular household pets, owners would feed them wet or dry cat food. But that diet is best for cats, not ferrets. If fresh meat, which is the ferrets natural diet, isn’t an option then a carefully balanced commercial ferret pet food is preferable.
Ferrets are, like dogs, intelligent animals and can be trained to perform a number of amusing, and sometimes useful, tasks. Ferrets were used in the preparation of recent Royal ceremonies to string cable through conduits. That task is a natural for these slender hunters who for centuries have been used to hunt rabbits down holes.
Possibly descendant from (and often hybrid bred with) polecats, they can be unintentionally fierce. They sleep for 18 hours a day, but when awake are very active and love to play-bite. They’ve often been observed to engage in something owners have dubbed a ‘war dance’. The ferrets stand up on their hind legs, and jerk their heads and move sideways.
Fun, loyal, cute and smart. Now that’s the kind of pet everyone should have.
Filed under ferret facts by on May 4th, 2008. Comment.
Choosing a ferret, of course, involves a certain emotional commitment. But there are a few objective factors that you can look at to help you decide.
Age is among the first factors a prospective ferret buddy will want to consider. Older ferrets may be already litter or bite trained. If they are, that can be an item in their favor. But younger ferrets, like any domestic pet, will not have formed any specific attachments. Having them attach to you can start those bonds forming early.
But training needs will be much higher with a younger ferret. They require a lot of care. They’ll need vaccinations and litter training, and a lot of attention. Ferrets are not hamsters. Left all day long to their own devices, they can become unruly and unhappy.
‘Unhappy’ may seem an odd term to some to apply to an animal very different from a dog or cat. But ferrets are domesticated and can bond with their companion, whether human or another ferret. Left alone, they have no outlet. There are some exceptions, however. Older, non-neutered males will frequently revert to wild characteristics. They may exhibit what is known as ’same sex exclusivity’ and seek to isolate themselves from other non-neutered males. You may want to consider getting more than one.
That leads to the second consideration. Should you spay or neuter your ferret? Unless you are an experienced ferret breeder, it’s best to leave that to the experts. Breeding dogs is difficult enough. Ferrets are much harder. It requires considerable knowledge and can lead to great expense. That may be a legitimate long-term goal, but one that should be worked up to.
Which sex?
Males are slightly larger, about 18 inches and around 3-5 pounds. Females, on average, are slightly smaller – about 15 inches with correspondingly smaller weight. Once spayed or neutered, ferrets of both sexes get along fine. Males play and mock-fight with females as much as they do with males and vice versa. But males do have a slightly higher tendency to spray, if they haven’t had their anal scent glands removed.
Incidence of disease is about the same in both neutered males and spayed females. However, non-spayed females will of course raise special concerns. They come into heat seasonally from March to August. If they don’t mate, they can remain in heat for almost six months.
Apart from their cycle, females can also suffer from the usual higher incidence of tumors as a result of raised levels of hormones. But males, too, have their own risks in this regard, so the numbers are not radically different between the two sexes.
Such considerations as color and individual personality are completely personal preferences, of course. But keep in mind that one choice, albinos, can create the need for special care. Like other albinos, they can suffer from vision problems. They are also more easily preyed on, if they get loose where the dog or cat can get to them.
Provided you practice proper care for your ferret, you can hardly go wrong, though. It’s easy to see why these friendly, funny animals became a favorite domestic pet. They’re terrific!
Filed under ferret facts by on May 6th, 2008. Comment.
The history of one of our favorite domestic pets is still a whirl in controversy. Some points are generally agreed on, but much is still shrouded in mystery.
References to ferrets, or at least very similar animals, goes back many centuries. Though not identified exactly, something very like ferrets is mentioned in a play by Aristophanes and essays by Aristotle over 2,500 years ago. More certain are the many pieces of evidence to ferrets, both in writing and paintings, in the late Middle Ages.
There are references in the 13th century to ferreters who were part of the ’staff’ of the Royal Court in England. Between 1200AD and 1400AD ferrets were a favorite pet of royalty. But, ‘pet’ has a slightly different meaning when applied to an animal many centuries past.
Animals were expected to ‘earn their keep’ in times past. They were probably bred for that very purpose. With the growth of rabbit and mice populations, and the increase in grain stores and agriculture, an animal that would hunt down those who fed on them was helpful. Ferrets were very adept at sliding into burrows and flushing out rabbits. They could also easily chase out a mouse to waiting cats.
Which type of ancestor is difficult to pinpoint precisely. Because their tiny bones decay so thoroughly, it’s hard to find fossil evidence to trace their exact history. The leading theory is they were descendant from Western European polecats.
Scientists have numerous clues to work with in trying to verify that. They can examine general body characteristics (so called ‘morphology’), and compare with other species. They can look at teeth and make good guesses about diet, which helps them narrow down location and type. They can examine fat distribution within the body and compare to genetic cousins. And, they can examine actual DNA and make careful comparisons and distinctions with known species.
Scientists have assigned ferrets, like most animals, a Latin name as well. They’re part of a family called ‘mustelids’, which derives from the Latin ‘mus’ (for ‘mouse’). But they are not rodents. The full name is Mustela Putorius Furo. Putor refers to their odor and furo is derived from the word for thief. The last suggests that even centuries ago ferrets had been commonly observed to snatch items and hide them.
Gradually, through the 19th century, they evolved more and more as working companions. They have even been trained to string cables through pipes in the North Sea and to run wires through small conduits in jets. By the time of the 1970s and later, they became purely pets for millions of people. That is, animals were kept around solely for the joy of their company.
And, that may be the best answer of all to ‘Where Do Ferrets Come From?’. They come from our desire to interact with these funny, friendly and fantastic creatures.
Filed under ferret facts by on May 8th, 2008. Comment.
Keeping your ferret properly caged and supplied with toys isn’t just for its (or your) amusement. Though that’s not a bad reason! The proper cage and accessories will help keep it safe, healthy and out of trouble.
Ferrets sleep about 18 hours per day, but the other six hours they can be (and usually are) extremely active. Many human companions of ferrets (they don’t like to think they have owners) will let them run around the house. That’s fine if the house is properly ‘prepared’. But there are many times when a cage is best for the ferret and essential for your sanity.
There is, not surprisingly, a whole set of criteria that go into making for a good cage.
Size is paramount. Ferrets need space to run around and explore. They need a place for food that’s far from a litter box. Most avoid eating where they eliminate and vice-versa. Two cubic feet (a 12 inch by 24 inch floor with 12 inch high walls) is the absolute minimum. But, really, a cage that size would be useful only for transporting or temporary ‘housing’ when a ferret is ill or recovering.
The larger the better, and the cage should have some complex features. Ramps, tubes, sleeping hammocks, soft bedding and more are all part of a good ferret cage. The more complex features will amuse you when you watch, but it also helps keep the ferret fit and mentally active. They’re very exploratory animals and the more things they have to explore the better.
Cages come in a variety of styles, some that can be expanded and hooked together as your ferret family grows. But whichever you prefer, make sure the mesh is small enough to keep the ferret from poking a head through and escaping or, worse, getting stuck. Males have slightly larger heads than females, but even those are about the same size as their shoulders. That makes escape easier, and partial escape dangerous.
Stainless steel is preferable, but many experts recommend coated wire with the caution that the coating should be high quality. Ferrets like to chew on everything and can get intestinal blockage or poisoned by plastic coatings on metal wire cages. Make sure it doesn’t become rusted. A solid floor is easier to walk on, and actually easier to clean.
Fish aquariums, hamster cages, bird cages and others should never be used.
Fish aquariums don’t have proper ventilation and the moisture buildup on the walls and floor encourages the growth of bacteria that can be harmful. They also don’t have the proper temperature control characteristics. Ferrets don’t tolerate high heat or extreme cold well, unlike some of their cousin species. Anything higher than approximately 80°F/26,5°C or lower than 45°F/7°C is bad. Hamster cages are too small, bird cages have mesh sizes that aren’t suitable for ferrets.
Ferrets are a unique species, just like others are, and have their own unique needs and behavior. A suitable cage will keep them safe and comfortable. That’s surely what any owner, er, companion would want.
Filed under ferret facts by on May 11th, 2008. Comment.
