Some Questions on Ferrets...Please give answers.

[Fleur.Cirocco]

Hi all. (Hopefully this is in the right place).
Okay, so I have a couple of rats, and was wondering what ferrets are like in comparison...
I know you probably get asked these quite a lot, but what the heck...
Do ferrets need to be kept in pairs/groups, or are they fine on their own?
Are they messy?
Are they smellier that rats?
I've heard that they can be quite vicious and quite nippy-is this true? Can you prevent biting from brining them up from babies?
I know that you CAN take ferrets out for walks, but do you HAVE to?
I'm not planning on getting ferrets right now, however I am curious as I am considering it for the future.
Hopefully you can answer my questions, and let me know of anything else that might be handy for me.
Thanks a lot.
 

[Fleur.Cirocco]

Oh, and also, how long do they live? (I forgot to add that).

[mandycoot]

I've never owned ferrets but would love to someday. When I was considering getting rats, I did about a million Google searches on the basics of rat care, nutrition, etc. Try the same thing with ferrets--you'll find much more information than could be posted on a small ferret forum. I found an introduction to the basics of ferrets that may be helpful. You might also try joining a ferret forum (one that is mainly ferrets, not an offshoot) and reading over posts. Good luck!

[Fleur.Cirocco]

Alright, thanks Mandy. 

[dragynflye]

i found this forum recently www.ferretvillage.org and the people there have been awsome!  also, the ferrets for dummies book is a wonderful resource.  generally, i hate the dummies books, don't like how they're written, but i really like this one.  otherwise, like mandycoot said, just do a bit of research and poking around..... there's tooooons of info out there!

[TrulyCapricious]

Do ferrets need to be kept in pairs/groups, or are they fine on their own?  That will depend on how much time the little critters will get with you.  If you plan to play with your only child ferret a lot then you'll work just wonderfully in place of another ferret.  If you want your pet to spend more time in cage then another ferret as a play mate is a good idea.

Are they messy?  They get into and tear up *everything* but they're not too tough to litter train, so yes and no.

Are they smellier that rats?  No.

I've heard that they can be quite vicious and quite nippy-is this true?  They aren't vicious but they can be nippy.  Keep in mind that ferrets play with each other by biting and if your ferret is playing with you, (s)he'll try to play the same way just like you were another ferret.  They'll also use nips to communicate things like "Play with me!"  But when they learn that your skin isn't nearly as tough as another ferret's, they'll typically back off a bit since ferrets play down to the weakest member of their little play groups.

Can you prevent biting from brining them up from babies?  You can prevent biting by something called "nip training."  There are lots of different methods so I'd suggest just looking it up.  But keep in mind that if the ferret doesn't break your skin *badly* it wasn't an actual bite.  My little girl has only *bitten* once, and that was when we had gotten her very first squeaky ball for her.  My fiance was unfortunate enough to get his hand between her and the ball and she got him pretty badly.  She felt guilty about it though and it hasn't happened since.

I know that you CAN take ferrets out for walks, but do you HAVE to?  Nope, but you do have to let them burn off the energy somehow. 

Basically, think of a ferret like a cat that never outgrows the wildest part of kittenhood.  They'll happily sleep for 15-20 hours a day but when they're awake they're *everywhere.*  They require a lot of attention and a lot of mental stimulation.  They also require extremely high quality foods to prevent some of the health issues they are prone to (and no, I don't mean Marshall's -- I feed my little girl Wysong and she does great on it).  They can live up to (I believe) 12 years, give or take, but more often they die somewhere around 6-8 because of the various cancers and insulin disorders ferrets are prone to.

[Fleur.Cirocco]

Thanks a LOT TrulyCapricious, you've been a huge help. Thankyou for all the answers to my questions.
Thankd everyone else also.
One more question...What are the genders like in comparison to one another? Similar to Rats?
Thankyou! 
Sophie.

[TrulyCapricious]

Males are substantially larger and tend to be more cuddly.  A large female is only three lbs with one lb being on the smaller size while a small male is three lbs. with five lbs being closer to the large end of the spectrum (although they can get even bigger than that!).  And oddly enough (at least in Marshall ferrets) the smaller females tend to more often be up to no good while the larger females behave more like males in general.  I personally prefer my super-high-energy one lb. female who has learned how to escape from three different cages (with locks on the doors, no less) and how to open doors and how to work zippers to the larger, more mellow boys who are perfectly content to sleep in your lap all day.  So really, it depends on what you want.  But if you shop around for a while you'll very quickly learn how to tell which ferrets have which type of personality (unless you're buying a tiny baby) and you'll be able to find exactly the kind of animal that you'd enjoy keeping the most.  Also remember that rescues are well worth checking out since so many ferrets end up in rescue within their first year in a home.  You might even try fostering a few ferrets to see if a ferret is right for you and to get a feel for the variety of temperments.

[JohariZ]

Do ferrets need to be kept in pairs/groups, or are they fine on their own?
Ferrets can be kept either way. If you have one, you should make sure that you have plenty of time to play with your one ferret. If you have two, the care is really not much more, and you don't have to devote as much time to playing with the fur, because they will have a buddy to play with.

Are they messy?
Define messy, They can get into things and make a mess. Some like to dig in their food dishes and spill food all over the place. They require a lot of cleanup in the poop department. But generally they are pretty clean. Well, they are like two year olds...

Are they smellier that rats?
No, I don't think that they are. I have owned both rats and ferrets. If you feed the ferrets the right type of food, then they are not really all too smelly. And only give them baths when they are dirty. Which means at least a month or more between baths.

I've heard that they can be quite vicious and quite nippy-is this true? Can you prevent biting from brining them up from babies?
Babies do tend to be nippy. But they usually grow out of this with the right training. You have to teach them that biting is not acceptable. They naturally bite when they play with eachother, and they have thick skin, so when young they have no idea that biting is wrong. Usually if you adopt a ferret from a shelter they have already grown out of the nippy stage.

I know that you CAN take ferrets out for walks, but do you HAVE to?
They are not dogs, they don't need to be taken on walks. Usually a walk with a ferret is more of them just exploring the outdoors, they lead, you follow... they have no destination. It is fun to let them explore outdoors sometimes. I take mine to the beach a lot. But you don't have to.

Some ferrets don't like walks, don't like being in harnesses... so it is just a matter if you want to and if your ferret wants to.

Oh, here's a great message board about ferrets. They have lots of info for ferret owners.

Everything Ferret

Good luck to you.