spangler@kvue.UUCP (Lance Spangler) (04/01/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH A PET FERRET ***
To begin, I'd like to thank all the people who responded to
my posting requesting information about ferrets as pets.
Below is a summation of many of the replies I received.
Thanks go to all the people who took the time to answer the
original posting.
In article <158@kvue.UUCP> spangler@kvue.UUCP (Lance
Spangler) writes:
>>Please forgive me if this has been posted before, but I'm
>>interested in finding out about obtaining a ferret as a
>>household pet. We presently live in an apartment.
One major concern of mine was the odor problem.
>".....It is probably necessary to have the beast
>descented - a task that isn't cheap ($75 is almost a
>standard fee - probably most of it is hazardous duty
>money for the vet) and neutered (much cheaper on
>males than on females). Some pet stores will sell you
>pre-fixed animals. Unless you intend to breed a female
>GET HER FIXED - they can only be brought out of heat
>hormonally meaning little ferret bc pills or death
>afther a few months of heat.
>From Shu-Ju Wang Burgess in message number
<8503260614.AA15757@uw-beaver.arpa>
>".....If you get a female (fixed), you really don't
>need to get it de-scented as well, since they don't
>smell so strong. De-scenting is also a more expensive
>treatment.
>From Shu-Ju Wang Burgess in message number
<8503260614.AA15757@uw-beaver.arpa>,a note about a ferret's
trainability...both to walk on a leash and to be toilet
trained.
> ".....We are
>planning on leash-training ours as soon as the
>weather gets better around here.
> ".....They
>can be trained to a litter box, but they 'forget'
>easily too, so be prepared to do a lot of cleaning
>up.
>From: ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS)
> ".....One
>very important thing is to box train them properly
>and carefully right at the start, as soon as you
>bring them home (by the way, ferrets are gregarious,
>and two wil be happier than one--they keep each
>other company and are fun to watch at play). Winsted
>outlines a procedure in her book for effectively box
>training them. I was careless about this with one of
>my ferrets, and as a result, have never been able to
>box train her properly since--the best I can get her
>to do is use newspaper on the floor in a corner of the
>bathroom, and she still has "accidents" elsewhere;
>the other two were properly introduced to litter
>boxes when young and are no problem.
Some cautious words of warning from evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall)...
>If you want one for an apt try going with a female.
>They're about 50% the size of a male and about half
>as destructive (eg - our ferret loves pushing books
>out of bookcases - a large male we know loves pushing
>over bookcases).
From: ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) in message number
<1016@hound.UUCP>
".....They run
>loose in my apartment, which has been carefully
>"ferret proofed"--i.e., nothing destructible is
>within 18" of the floor. They sleep in a pile of old
>blankets under the bathroom sink; my bedroom is off-
>limits to them since they like to chew on blankets.
>>Access to behind my refrigerator has been carefully
>blocked off ;ince they will pull out the insulation.
>Sound like a real pain? They really aren't once you
>make the necessary adjustments.
> They seem to get plenty of exercise running
>around and playing in the apartment, so I never take
>them outside.
>From Shu-Ju Wang Burgess in message number
<8503260614.AA15757@uw-beaver.arpa>
> ".....Dixie (our ferret)
>likes to dig *a lot*, and if you're house plant
>lovers, it may not work too well. We tried training
>her (hitting her on the tip of her nose), but she is
>soooooo stubborn, she refuses to give in.
> ".....You should get her plenty of rubber toys as
>well, they have lots of energy that needs to be burnt
>up. You also would need to make your kitchen 'child-
>safe' since they can open all kinds of drawers an
>cabnet doors and get into all types of things that
>they shouldn't be into.
A note about the agressiveness of some ferrets...
> ".....Ferrets that come from good pet stock
>(like Wendy Winsted's) have wonderful personalities--
>they are curious, friendly, playful, and
>affectionate. Only one of my three ever nips--and
>then only in play, and he (almost) never breaks the
>skin when he does. They do tend to be aggressive
>towards strangers, and seem to exploit any fear that
>they sense; it takes a couple of visits before they
>accept new friends."
Health, diet, lifespan, and vaccinations were another
concern of mine:
>From Shu-Ju Wang Burgess in message number
<8503260614.AA15757@uw-beaver.arpa>
> ".....When you get her
>vaccinated, be sure the vet knows what he/she is
>doing, as live/modified vaccines could cause problems
>in some instances."
From: ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) in message number <1016@hound.UUCP>
>Ferrets supposedly have life-spans of around ten
>years, but I rarely hear of any living past 5,
>probably due to neglect and bad diet; I feed mine
>twice a day, once with a special concoction of cat
>food, peanut oil, raw liver, and baby food, and once
>with high protein dog kibbles. Water is dispensed
>from large guinea pig bottles (water dishes are not
>practical--they get turned over). All of mine are
>healthy, and one has survived an operation for cancer
>over two years ago that the vet claimed would kill
>her within 6 months.
From: evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall) in message <697@mhuxt.UUCP>
some unusual reasons for having a ferret as a pet.
> "Our main reason for going with a ferret was that
>they are small (easy to hide), quiet..."
Steve, and several others also gave me a pointer to a good
book about ferrets. . .
> ".....For further reading try a book by Wendy
>Winsted (I think its title is someting clever like
>"Ferrets"...).
From: ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS)
> ".....you
>may be aware already of some good books to read on
>ferrets; I recommend the one by Wendy Winsted. If you
>need it, I'll send you the publisher's name & address.
NOTE: The Winsted booklet is available at most major
libraries and may be ordered thru most pet shops. LS
Chuq Von Rospach writes about the problems
of owning a pet some communities classify as an exotic:
".....many places, such as
>California, rate them as an exotic species. This
>means that you need special permits from everybody to
>keep it starting with the state fish and game, and
>ending up with variances from the city on their pet
>requirements and leash laws--getting all of these is
>non-trivial, and especially in the case of something
>like a zoning variance or pet variance from the city,
>all you need is a single idiotic neighbor to throw it
>in the works (I saw that happen once with a racoon--7
>months of paperwork......."
From: ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) in message number
<1016@hound.UUCP> a final important note...
>Ferrets are not for everybody, though. Prospective
>owners should spend some time getting to know a few
>before getting any for themselves. Also, a ferret is
>NOT a good pet for people who tend to be absent minded.
Once again, I'd like to thank all the people who took the time and
trouble to respond to the initial posting. I'll follow this up in a
few months to let the netters know how my families our first ferret
experience goes. I plan on purchasing one shortly after Easter as a
present for my five year old son.
Lance Spangler
ihnp4!ut-sally!kvue!spanglerkimh@tekig1.UUCP (Kim Hastings) (04/05/85)
> *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH A PET FERRET *** > > ...etc. Gosh, I never saw the original request for ferret info or I'd surely have blown an evening writing a book's worth. I'm sure y'all want to hear about my ferret. She comes to work on occasion and pokes around inside various board buckets and listings, but prefers project picnics where she can truly be the center of attention. I've taken her camping a number of times. When backpacking, she sleeps in the pack and then wakes up when we pitch camp. I tie an orange flag to her (death by being stepped on is a ferret's greatest worry) and turn her loose to explore. My dogs (Malamute and Shepherd) love her and I can always find her by triangulating on the axes of their noses! The two of us went ocean kayaking for 10 days last summer. Several times she climbed out of the kayak while underway. At last, I just let her swim along side for a while -- obviously what she wanted. When I take a trip that the ferret can't come on, I have a regular waiting list of six year olds just dying for the chance to look after her. She seems to be relatively indestructible (in the company of people who care). She runs right up to stray dogs and climbs right up onto stray people. I once watched a room full of little kids jumping around humpbacked and sideways "playing ferret" and she just ran around underneath them having a great time. All this is, of course, related to my animal raising style, which places a heavy emphasis on socialization and diversity of experience. Why not have a ferret? You can take them anywhere, they're clean, *everyone* is fascinated by them, they don't make any noise, they definitely recognize you and are quite affectionate. The main change in your life is that you become extremely aware of well-hidden holes which other people would never notice (but all ferrets do). Mine is pregnant now and I'm greatly looking forward to a pile of kits to go with the kittens my six-toed cat just gave me. Oh yeah...did I forget to mention the heart-stopping experiences? I have a pick-up with sliding windows between cab and camper. Once we were cruising along at your basic highway speed (whatever that means to you) and Mme. Ferret decided to climb from front to back, but became interested in a side trip to the roof en route. Someone noticed just in time to screech to a halt and pluck the would-be astronaut from the roof just before lift-off. Narrow spaces which can be wriggled through definitely rate high on the ferret scale of things. Ah the stories I could tell.... It does take time to develop the necessary alertness, I suppose. -- Barranca Buckaroo, Curator Timber Home for Wayward Animals