Ferrets

ScottM

ScottM

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iBazinga!
We may be inheriting a ferret. You know those little weasel like animals. Anyone have experience with keeping ferrets? How well do they get along with other species as we also have two cats?
 
I hope you enjoy having your house smell like ferret. Friend of mine had some, and the whole apt smelled of them.
 
For a moment, I thought you had accidently posted something that should have been in the Spin Zone.
 
If it turns out that your ferret eats your cat, that would be tragic, but in that case, I would like to borrow your ferret for a few days, or however long is necessary.
-harry
 
You may want to do a trial period to see how they act. In general, I don't think its wise, but it may work.
 
Rat + excessive gerbil smell + ADD^2 + hyped up caffeine junkie = ferret.

Have fun with that.
 
IF they happen to be sleeping on the stairs, and IF you happen to come down the stairs two at a time while wearing heavy snow boots, and IF you just happen to land on the step where the ferret is sleeping, and IF your boot just happens to catch said sleeping ferret in the midsection ...

the animal makes a most interesting noise. BTDT.

PS, they DO stink.
 
Ken Ibold said:
IF they happen to be sleeping on the stairs, and IF you happen to come down the stairs two at a time while wearing heavy snow boots, and IF you just happen to land on the step where the ferret is sleeping, and IF your boot just happens to catch said sleeping ferret in the midsection ...

the animal makes a most interesting noise. BTDT.

PS, they DO stink.
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Ken:

How'd THAT turn out for you with the kids?
 
I thought domestic ferrets were descented?

My mother had one & it got along with the cats. YMMV
 
Ferrets are wicked smaht.

Friends of mine had ferrets when I was in high school, and one of them learned how to get on the counter where the food was. He would go to the lower cupboards, open it with his nose, get inside, climb up to the drawer (just below the counter top) and then while upside down move his legs until he managed to open the drawer enough to jump out on top. I watched him do this, and as soon as he got on the counter I put him on the floor and watched again. He did the same thing, and I put him on the floor again. After the third time on the floor, he stopped, looked at me, and made a lunge for my ankles.

We would also put two ferrets on top of a blanket and lift and snap - not hard or anything, just enough so that they would bounce a few feet - they LOVED it!
 
They stink to high hell, get into everything, and chew the blazes out of anything you value. They are cute things, but oy. Had one as an undergraduate. He stole, and cached everything under one roomie's bead. The gay housemate wound up with not a single matching shoe. We watched the ferret steal a shoe one day. The shoes was as big as him. It was funny as could be.

When we finally moved than damn bed we found the gay roomie's shoes (for some reason he only stole one of each pair), most of the halloween candy that head gone missing, about 30 pieces of rye bread, and a dried up fish.

The people I know who've successfully kept them used a hutch outdoors.
 
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woodstock;320608After the third time on the floor said:
At that point, I think I'd be using the .22 caliber solution.






:D Just kidding.
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Yeah squirrels are smart, but not that smart :)

 
smigaldi said:
I think you can get them de-scented though
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I had a ferret up until a couple of years ago. My daughter and her husband came over and brought their German Shepard. The ferret, Toto, got too friendly and the Shepard took one bite. Broke my heart. Generally, almost any ferret you get will have had the scent glands removed, but they still have some of the smell. There are shampoos you can buy that will pretty well take care of that. In a very broad sense, their intelligence lies somewhere between a cat and a dog, closer to the dog in my experience. They sleep as much as 20 to 22 hours a day, but when they're awake, Katie bar the door. Little stinkers get into everything, thus the expression 'ferret something out'. Great little thieves, too. If it isn't nailed down and the ferret takes a liking to it, it's gone to his little hidey-place. If you don't keep them caged, you have to 'ferret proof' your house. They love to get out, which would be okay except they have no sense of direction. Let 'em out, most likely you'll never see them again. On the plus side, they can be taught to use a litter box, but it takes patience. All in all, I think they make a great pet. I'll probably get another one when all this non-profit stuff settles down.
 
2256Q said:
In a very broad sense, their intelligence lies somewhere between a cat and a dog, closer to the dog in my experience.
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So you mean smarter than a dog but not quite as smart as a cat. :D
 
rayk469
Here are a few pics of our Toto. Not very good, I'm afraid, but all we have. The third pic shows how he got his name: Little ragamuffin loved to chew on my toes. Not biting, just nibbling, almost as if he was trying to tickle me.

View attachment toto 2004.bmp In the Conversation Room

View attachment toe toe005.bmp My Office Couch

View attachment toe toe006.bmp After My Toes

View attachment toto 2019.bmp Conversation Room Steps

rayk469




rayk469
 
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Good luck getting a vet to actually descent them. One slip and its goodbye office. Usually they just neuter them so they won't be tempted to spray.
 
smigaldi said:
We may be inheriting a ferret. You know those little weasel like animals. Anyone have experience with keeping ferrets? How well do they get along with other species as we also have two cats?
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Polecats (of which ferrets are one breed) make wonderful and playful pets, I've had several of them over the years including a skunk which was my all time favorite pet, and a ferret who lived in my sleeve most of the time. They get along with other pets quite well, though, if you have a cat that is a strong natural hunter....eeee....ferrets are a prey sized species though a ferret is a predator and can fight pretty well. One issue though is that they are nocturnal and typically wake up from their 22 hrs a day of sleep at 2 in the morning ready to play.:yes: I was awakened more than one with a bite on the nose at 2am. Toes while sitting watching TV are also fair game. On a somber note, ferrets are prone to a degenerative nerve/spinal disease which eventually leaves them unable to control their back end which starts flopping around (the one that lived in my sleeve had this issue which is how I inhereted him since I was the one who carried him around on sniffing tours of the boat). They are very sweet and cute critters. They are a bit fragile, so rambunctious small children and them probably aren't a good idea because one or both of them will get hurt.

Oh yeah, I used to make a mayonaise and banana slurry that they love. They also like Cheerios, but you have to be careful because sometimes they get stuck to the rof of their mouth between the teeth and you have to pop it out with a pencil.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
I thought domestic ferrets were descented?

My mother had one & it got along with the cats. YMMV
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IF one pulls the glands, remember, there are two sets of glands, the ones aft and the ones behind the ears. I never descented them though, I'd just take em into the shower with me every day or two and wash em. They seemed to enjoy it and never gave me any problems with it.
 
Everskyward said:
So you mean smarter than a dog but not quite as smart as a cat. :D
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woodstock said:
you took the words right out of my mouth!
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I never figured out the controversy myself, both animals (as well as most all mammals) are pretty well equally smart, just in different ways suited to their position in the animal kingdom (read food chain). They are all considerably dumber than us, which is why most people like animals, and many peoples preferences are determined by their own personality deficiencies because that type of animal doesn't tax their deficiency. Personally, there are very few animals I don't like as pets, pigs are really the only ones that come to mind. One of the favorite and most social species I've worked with are Sea Lions. They are the only thing I miss from California, them and the otters, but mostly the Sea Lions, I used to have a lot of fun with them.
 
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