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What about grooming my ferret?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:35:48 +0100

Ferrets need very little grooming. In fact, I do not brush mine at all. Since they do not shed all year long, you do not have to brush them to remove shedding hair.

However, ferrets do shed their fur twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall, when they shed much of their fur during about a three-week period. The old fur is replaced by new shorter fur which will eventually grow out. They can make a mess on your furniture during this "molting" period. Ferret hair gets all over the place. My remedy for this is to pick up the ferret over a garbage can or take him outside during this period and pluck him like a chicken. The old hairs come out easily in clumps. That way you can remove much of the old hair before it gets on your sofa. The ferret doesn't mind too much except when you pull on some new hair which does not come out so easily. I do this maybe twice over a two-week period and get most of the shedding fur. Don't pull too hard and don't pluck your ferret so there is no hair. Just remove the loose ones.

Ferrets need their nails clipped every three to five weeks. Ferret nails are not retractable like a cat. Furthermore, as a ferret's nails get long, they can split or crack and get caught in carpeting or blankets. This could make for a very painful experience for your ferret. Pick up some nail clippers for a small animal at your pet store. Ferrets do not sit still for nail clipping so you will need to distract him while you cut his nails. Put some ferretone or similar treat in front of him. A liquid which he cannot scamper off with is preferable. While he is eating and licking, cut each nail, paying most attention to the front nails. Carefully examine each nail before you cut. You can see a small vein in each nail. Make sure you cut below the vein in the nail and not the vein. Otherwise your ferret will experience pain and may bleed for a while. But if you do cut the nail too close, it is not the end of the world. Your ferret will be fine in a few minutes.

Ferret ears should also be cleaned a few times a year. Use a soft cotton swab soaked in hydrogen peroxide diluted with water and gently wipe the inside of your ferrets ears. There is a slot inside the ear near the bottom of the lob which accumulates a lot of dirt and grease. Make sure you hit this spot. Slide the swab in the slot, and gently turn the swab a few time. You may notice dark brown/red or blackish and yellow stuff stuck to the swab. Continue using new swabs until the ear is clean. Never try to put anything inside of the ear canal. Ferrets hate to have their ears cleaned no matter how much you bribe them. You will have to hold your ferret securely. You will probably need to scruff your ferret, which is the grabbing and holding of the loose skin behind the ferrets head around his neck. When this area is securely held, either by you or another ferret, your ferret will submit and become lame. It may even yawn as a sign of its submission. This is an instict left over from when the mother ferret would grab and hold her babies.

How do I clean my ferret?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:34:35 +0100

Ferrets need to bathe. Otherwise, they will begin to stink. Adults should be bathed about every two weeks. Use a shampoo such as Johnson & Johnson Baby shampoo. You can spend the extra money on ferret shampoo, but I have found they are not really any better and they are more expensive. Ferrets' eyes are sensitive to soap just as our eyes are. When you get soap in a ferret's eye, he cannot tell you his eye hurts. He will just seem difficult to handle and squirm. For that reason, I recommend a tear-free shampoo. I am not sure all ferret shampoos are tear-free. In fact, none seem to make that claim. Human baby shampoo is tear free and gentle enough for a ferret's sensitive skin. Sounds like a commercial eh?

All ferrets will hate their first bath. However, after a few baths, mine became very tolerant of water. In fact, when they hear the water running in a tub or shower, they come running as if to say, "we want a bath." You can fill your tub up with a couple inches of water and put your ferret in it for a bath. Just make sure he can touch his toes on the bottom. You can take a shower with your ferret or you can wash him in a sink. The sink is my least favorite since it makes it easy for him to walk around on the counter all wet. I found it is best to bathe your ferret in an environment in which he cannot escape, like inside a shower or a deep tub. Once the ferret realizes he cannot get out, he will give up and take a bath. This might take a few trips to the tub though.

Get you ferret thoroughly wet and then put some shampoo in your hands and work it into his wet coat. Take care to avoid the eyes and try not to get water in the ears. Lather your whole ferret, the back, stomach, rear end, tail, and don't forget around the neck. Rinse him. Ferrets will shake sort of like a dog to get the water off. However, ferrets dry themselves on the ground by rubbing. All you have to do is put a towel or two on the ground, and your ferrets will rub himself on it, crawl inside of it and roll around on it. This should be done in an area like a bathroom tile floor. Otherwise your ferret will just go off and dry himself on the carpet or sofa. You will see that ferrets love to be clean. They are especially spunky and playful following a bath. After a bath, you will find out how crazy and silly a ferret can be.

Ferret Proofing?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:31:32 +0100

Ferret-proofing the home is essential if you have a ferret. Due to their incredible curiosity and fearless nature, they will, if given the opportunity, get into anything. Your ferrets must not be allowed into your cabinets where they can get into your cleaning agent, garbage, poisons, etc. They can open a cabinet by lying on the floor and working the door with their paws and claws. I had to put strong magnetic latches on all my lower cabinets to keep them out. To the right you can see jumpy who figured out how to climb up inside of my end table. He seems to love sleeping in the drawer, particularly when it is closed. Ferrets are not rodents and therefore do not chew on things like wires or furniture, but they will taste soap, detergents and poisons.

You must make certain your ferret cannot get under your stove, behind the refrigerator, between your washer and dryer or in any large appliance. They can find their way to a motor or fan belt and end up dead. They might end up stuck under your stove and you might not know he's there. Fortunately, most appliances are low enough that an adult ferret cannot get under it. But care must be taken to insure they cannot get behind an appliance where an opening might lead to the internals. The answer sometimes lies in using duct tape, wood and plastic.

If a ferret observes you entering another room and closing the door, the ferret is sure to try to follow you. If you have wall to wall carpet, he may scratch at it trying to dig into the other room. To remedy this situation, I put scrap pieces of carpeting or a plastic runners by that door. Sometimes I have to hammer down the runners to keep the ferrets from tunneling.

I have a hallway leading to the rest of my home and I chose to keep the ferrets from accessing the whole house. I developed a ferret barrier to keep them out while at the same time allowing me the convenience of stepping over it. I cut a two-foot high board which is exactly as wide as the hallway. It slides up and down for removal. On the walls are attached some clear pieces of plastic to hold the board in place. On the board, I taped a piece of cardboard all along the top which angles down to the floor like a roof. It is only attached at the top. A ferret can jump higher than a two-foot wall and drag himself over it. However, when he tries to get over my barrier, he has to jump over the angled piece of cardboard. It is slippery and when he tries to grasp it, it collapses and he falls to the floor. After about a half hour of effort trying to figure out how to get over the barrier, my ferret gave up and never tried again.

One or Two Ferrets?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:31:46 +0100

A common question is whether to buy one ferret or two. There are both positives and negatives to this argument. Two ferrets cost twice as much. Not just the purchase price which is around $110.00, but also food, litter, and vet bills. They also require a larger cage which can accommodate two ferrets comfortably. Two ferrets get into twice as much trouble. However, two ferrets is the way to go if you can afford it. Ferrets are not like dogs. While they will bond with humans, they still need ferret companionship. Ferrets are very communally-oriented animals.

A group of fish is called a school, a group a whales a pod, a group of dogs a pack, and group of lions a pride, a group of geese a gander and a group of ferrets is called a business. I call it a funny business.

Having two ferrets helps keeps them from being bored and depressed if you're not home all day. Ferrets enjoy each other's company and almost always get along. Ferrets enjoy sleeping in a pile and playing special games only ferrets can play. Ferrets love to wrestle, bite and chase each other in mock combat. They are only having fun and get great exercise when this goes on. While humans can play many games with ferrets, there are certain natural ferrets games only ferrets can play. One ferret game is "fanging." This is a silly game where two ferrets face each other in a tight space with their mouths wide open as if to chomp down on each others' nose. They twist their little heads and roll around trying to "ferret out" the other ferret. Here is a series of images in which Tuco seems to be getting the better of Jumpy. It may look harmful, but they both love alternating between the attacker and the victim. Tuco has got a silly mouthful of fur in the first image, but fear not, Jumpy is actually enjoying it. Having two ferrets is not only rewarding for the ferrets, it is also rewarding for the owner. Once you see for yourself two ferrets playing one of their silly games, you will never regret getting two. It is simply one of the funniest things to watch.

I have observed my ferrets grooming and cleaning each other from time to time. While it does not seem as important a routine as cats attach to it, I nevertheless believe they do benefit from this in a way which I cannot be a substitute for. I have observed them licking each others necks, ears, faces, tails and so forth. I do give them a bath about every fourteen days, but nothing beats a custom grooming from another ferret.

If you are going to buy two ferrets, I recommend that you purchase them within 6 months of each other. I bought my two ferrets several months apart. In this manner, I was able to bond with each one individually at a young age. I initially kept both ferrets in separate cages very close to each other. This way they could smell each other and get used to each other's presence. They both were obviously excited about there being another ferret. I then physically introduced them to each other once the second ferret was large enough to roughhouse with the older one. The new ferret was 8 weeks old at this time. This was done over a two week period through short supervised play periods. The older, larger ferret will want to drag the younger ferret by the scruff under the nearest sofa as if it were a toy. Obviously, you should discourage this activity until the younger ferret is big enough to fight back. The play periods eventual got longer as they got comfortable with each other. Only then did I house both ferrets in the same cage.

I do not believe you will have too much trouble either if your ferrets are bought at the same time and are the same age. You will also have success if you introduce much older ferrets to younger ones, but I believe the best route is to keep them relatively close in age. An old ferret just may not want to rough house with a much younger ferret as much as the newbie wants to. As with people, it is nice for ferrets to grow up and age together.

Ferret Ear Mites

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:35:42 +0100

If you have had a ferret for any length of time you are probably familiar with ear mites. Earmites in ferrets are often known as the "ferret social disease." Here’s some tips on diagnosing and treating this common ear problem.

What’s That Smell?

When I brought my first ferret home, I noticed Critter had an unusual odor about her face. I gave her repeated baths in vain (not knowing at the time that frequent bathing is not good for your ferret). I then noticed that the smell came from black, stinky ear wax. Daily ear cleanings did not help, so I took Critter to the vet. Diagnosis: ear mites! Read More...

Ferret Myths - Debunked

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:33:20 +0100

Here is a GREAT article addressing many of the common myths about ferrets like:
Aren't ferrets related to rats?
Descended from the Siberian or European polecat, ferrets are mammals but definitely not rodents. They are members of the weasel family and are related to minks, ermines, otters, skunks, badgers, and wolverines. (It's true that these wild cousins are likely to eat a rat.) The scientific name for the domestic ferret is Mustela putorius furo. Read more...

Ferrets - The Ideal Pet

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:10:16 +0100

Sue Jan wrote an interesting article on this subject. See below:

If you love pets that are quiet and cute, then ferrets will be the right choice. Because by their very appearance, many people tend to mistake them for rodents but they are actually more like a cross between a cat and a dog. Read more...

How do I train my ferret not to nip?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:10:22 +0100

Ahhh...the $24K question. Most ferrets can be taught not to nip if you are patient and consistant. Mike Steele wrote a great article on how to be successfull.

Much like kittens and puppies, ferret kits must be taught not to nip. Ferrets have been bred to be a pet and shouldn't be vicious or bite, but ferret play does include mock combat, and younger ferrets and kits won't know how hard they can put their teeth on you without it hurting. A ferret at play may run towards you with his mouth open or even put his teeth on your hand, however if he presses down hard enough to hurt, you’ll need to discipline him. Remember, ferrets aren't malicious; they just need to learn what behavior is acceptable. Read more...

Do I need to vaccinate my ferret?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:06:36 +0100

Yes, Yes, Yes! The two most common are Canine Distemper and Rabies. Please ask your vet what they recommend. However I did find a nice article that discusses the ferret vaccinations at length. It is a well written article by Matthew Humphries. Click here to read it.

How do I introduce a new ferret into my house?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:06:00 +0100

This is a very common question that I receive. I recently found a great article on the subject. The snippet below is just an intro, but you can click on the link at the bottom to see the full article.

Fighting for dominance is normal when introducing ferrets. The severity of which can range between almost no fighting to an all-out battle. It’s best to hope for the best, but “prepare” for the worst, which should make anything less than ferret to ferret warfare seem acceptable. It is important to be patient throughout the process. Many times things tend to settle down in 3-14 days however there have been instances where peace is not achieved for 3-5 months, or longer. In general, it appears the longer a ferret has been kept away from others, the longer it takes for them to adapt to the new space and time constraints. Aside from being rewarding, you can take comfort in your ferrets having a playmate readily available to them which can be a great experience for you and your fuzzies! Read more...