ferret info page 3

PAGE 3

RAISING FERRETS

What kind of ferret you end up with will largely depend on how you raise your ferret. One that is neglected and kept in a cage in the garage will never develop bonds with humans nor show affection to his captor. You hear stories about someone's ferret that would always bite and had to be kept in a cage. Well, if you were kept in a dirty cage, beat all the time and kept sticky because no one want to bathe you or clean your cage, wouldn't you be a little unfriendly? Just remember, in the year 1997, there were over 320,000 reported dog bites in the United States.

A ferret that is raised with love, shown plenty of affection, kept clean and healthy, played with and allowed adequate time out of his cage will return your efforts. You must start young with your ferret in your raising and training. Young ferrets are easier to train than older ones. You would do the same for a dog or cat, so why wouldn't you do it with a ferret? Ferrets are very intelligent and learn quickly. Just because they are small, do not assume you should treat them like hamsters. Ferrets can be taught to do simple tricks like this one that understands "up" for a raisin.

Young ferrets should be discouraged to nip at human hands. They do not know that if they bite us too hard it hurts. Ferrets have very thick skin and bite the living tar out of each other without much fuss. This is part of their sibling play behavior. By biting you, they are really just playing. Young ferrets do not have the aggressive instincts that an adult may have. When handling a ferrets that is nipping, it is useful to firmly pat his head or hind quarters while saying "NO!." Scruffing, or the holding of a ferret by the loose skin behind the neck, has also been shown to be effective. Do not beat the ferret. After a few times, the ferret usually gets the hint that biting your hand has its repercussions and will stop. This is called "training" for all you idiots. If you allow your ferret to nip as a youngster, it will probably do it when he is an adult. Put an end to it once and for all. Another alternate option you may want to try is putting a little ferretone or lanotone on your finger and letting the ferret lick your finger. You may find that you ferret finds that licking your finger is more enjoyable than nipping it.

When a ferret is young, you should spend as much time with him as possible. Play with him, give him treats, and refrain from beating him for accidents. Remember, ferrets are small, so a spank may seem like a brutal attack to them. If you are going to punish your ferret for misdeeds, only pat lightly on the hind quarters or scruff him. Negative reinforcement has been shown to be a useful technique in training of all animals, including people. A very useful punishment is to grab your ferret immediately and put him back in his cage and lock it up. Ignore him for ten to fifteen minutes. Ferrets do not like to be ignored. Another useful approach may be to encourage good behavior, such as giving a treat when he runs across the room just to use the litter box. You should always remember that ferrets seem to have short attention spans. So if they do get into trouble, punishing them or rewarding them even only a few minutes after the fact will not have much effect. Your ferrets will simply not connect the behavior and your reaction. You must punish or reward immediately. Likewise, an extended stay in jail for your ferret will not have much effect since the ferret will have forgotten why he is in there after a while.

TOYS

Ferrets love toys. Whether it is the furry toy mouse you bought at the store for them or making their own toys (like unrolling a roll of toilet paper all over your house). Ferret toys should be first and foremost safe for them. They should not have small pieces on them that can break off and be swallowed by a ferret. Here you see Tuco playing with a fuzzy cat mouse and baby Pookie playing with a very safe infant toy from K-mart.

Do not give a ferret a latex dog toy for a ferret will likely chew small pieces off and swallow them. This runs a very serious risk of intestinal obstruction. Latex toys are not durable enough for ferrets. Also, do not give your ferrets toys filed with catnip. While it does not make ferrets "high," it may not be safe for them. Other great toys are fuzzy things on the end of strings, tubes, an old pair of pants, small soft balls, and small toys that squeak and jingle. One of the favorites is the fuzzy furry spider with the pipe cleaner legs on string. The ferrets attack it like there is no tomorrow. I have seen Fruity actually kill a few real spiders and catch a couple flies. However, Pookie does not seem to be inclined to insect control.

BATHING

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.

GROOMING

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.

ILLNESS

Like all animals, ferrets can fall ill from time to time. Here is an x-ray of the inside of a male ferret. As you can see, they have a very silly interior which is necessary in order to act silly. Because of their silly nature, or the silliness of their owners, they can sustain unfortunate injuries to the spine or limbs from being stepped on, dropped or crushed in doors. This unfortunate ferret sustained a fracture to the skull. Fortunately, with immediate medical care and skilled vets, the ferret made a successful recovery. The New Ferret City ferrets have had their share of troubles. At age two, Pookie had a tumor on the very end of her tail. It was a small bulb the size of a small marble. The Vet removed it as well as the last two vertebrae of her tail. The tail shortening was not noticeable. At age four, Fruity was diagnosed with Adrenal Disease. The tell tale sign was a very swollen vulva. She was also very lethargic and thin for the year prior to her surgery. The Vet opened her up and took out the diseased gland which is located in the abdomen. While inside of the ferret, the Vet examined the stomach and discovered a piece of rubber weather stripping which had lodged itself in Fruity's stomach. It was just a tad larger than a pencil eraser. Too big to pass from the stomach but not big enough to kill the ferret. It also did not dissolve in the ferrets stomach. We concluded that it had been in there for at least several months, perhaps over a year. That too had to come out. Ferrets will ingest things they should not if given the opportunity. The partial obstruction caused Fruity to never get enough food in her stomach and contributed greatly to her thinness. Within a month of the procedure, Fruity was eating more and was much more energetic. Within a year, she put all her weight back on and was what I would consider within normal ferret operating parameters.

A year after Fruity's surgery, Pookie became very ill. In one month's time, she lost about 40% of her body mass. She was anorexic and lethargic. I also notice near the end that she was vomiting and not eating at all. Tests did not reveal her condition. Only after the Vet opened Pookie up, he discovered that her spleen was five times the normal size. Enlarged spleens are common in ferrets, but not this large. The Vet said it was so large that it pressed up against her stomach and intestines, making it difficult for the ferret to eat and digest food. The spleen came out and within a week, Pookie was eating and playing again. Three months later, she was back to her normal weight and fully recovered. You can clearly see her incision and stitches. The Vet had to shave the area before he could operate. Ferret hair will not grow back fully until the next shedding cycle in spring or fall. The two major surgeries cost about $250.00 each.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Ferrets need a cage and various other areas to nap or relax in outside of the cage. The more ferrets you have, the bigger the cage needs to be. Here you see the New Ferret City cage. It is actually two cages combined into one. Perfect for two ferrets. I disassembled one end on each cage and attached the two together to make it twice as long. You can see the seam. Within the cage, you need a food bowl and a water bottle. A two-story cage is a must. The litter box goes in one end of the bottom of the cage, the water and food go at the other end of the bottom of the cage. The second level should have sleeping and play areas with things such as a bag or some sort of soft, partially enclosed area. I put in some baby blankets since ferrets often bundle themselves up. The cage should be some sort of wire cage with a wire bottom and a tray. The better ones have epoxy-coated wires which makes the wires feel softer. I also cut some indoor/outdoor carpeting to fit the second level. Ferret feet get sore from too much exposure to wire-bottomed cages. The carpeting really helps make the sleeping quarters more pleasing to them. Why not carpeting on the lower level then you may ask. Well, when ferrets eat, food often falls around the food bowl. Water also drips and spills. If you have carpeting, food and water will just sit on the carpeting and rot instead of falling below the wire bottom of the cage to the tray. The same is true of the litter box area. Litter is tracked out of the litter box and will fall below the wire floor. It's just not healthy for carpeting in a cage to have litter and food particles laying around where ferrets are exposed to it. As a compromise, you might want to put a small platic mat next to the food bowl to make feeding a little more comfortable for them. The ferret cage should have at least one door which can be left open or latched open. Ferrets often return on their own to their cages to eat and sleep and need access to it any time they get out of the cage. You may also want to cover the cage with a blanket or big towel on cold nights. Place the cage where the ferrets will get some sun light, but not too much, and it also should not be drafty.

Outside of the cage, ferrets like nap sacks like the one on the right. It's machine washable and nice and snugly. Bags and tubes with the warm sheepskin-like interiors are very popular with ferrets, as are enclosed cat houses. If you are lucky to find a ferret house, it makes for a better hangout. I do not think ferrets like the tall cat houses with perches and pillars. Ferrets are burrowers, not climbers by nature. Ferrets prefer their private places to be in secluded, out-of-the-way areas, like behind sofas, in the corners of rooms or even inside of drawers. You will likely find a ferret's own toy collection inside one of these silly ferret hideouts.