# one of my ferrets is missing :(



## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

I had my ferrets out to play earlier today...and one of them is missing...I've been looking for her for over 5 hours and I cant find her. Its unusual for them to hide away and sleep that long without coming out for food or water at least once..Ive heard no sounds indicating where she might be..I'm so worried about her ...anyone have tips on how I might be able to find her?


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

I don't really have any tips, but good luck finding her. Perhaps shaking a container/bag of food would get her attention? Is there any way she could've got outside?

How many ferrets do you have? I volunteer at a farm and hadn't had anything to do with ferrets before. At the moment there's one female and a 2 week old kit. The other female died not long ago - the two females were going to live together. Hopefully the kit will be female so she can stay with the mother. On Saturday I just took a male albino ferret from the farm to a new home, a relation. I'm sure he'll be happy there. They were going to take both males, but one went before they got back to me about taking them. It's a shame as they seemed to get on well together but I'm sure he'll be fine.


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

I have 2 ferrets Skylar (Sky for short) and Stormy...both females..Ive had 8 total in my life so far though. They're awesome little pets, although they require a bit more care then rats in my opinion. 

My girl Sky (the one that was missing) came wondering out earlier...I have NO idea where she was at..I searched high and low for 5 hours..and I was sitting on my laptop doing some research for a paper and she just wandered over from behind a chair...haha..animals are so much smarter then us humans..I swear!  :


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Lol. Well at least she turned up. Ferrets are funny little things and can be quite intimidating at first. I wouldn't like to get a bite from one! Obviously if they're handled from a young age they tend to be okay. 

I don't suppose you know at what age you can easily sex ferrets? I really want to figure out if the kit is male or female when I'm there this week. I searched on the net but couldn't find anything apart from sexing adults.

Do you have any photos of your girls?


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

i'm so glad u found her
bet u feel so relieved..
i remember when one of my cats *had to be rehomed because of a very nasty dog , but that's another story) went missing for about 2 and a half weeks..
oh the torment i went through
gues its what a parent feels when they've lost there child out shopping or something
he turned up though
very thin but in one pece and ok
so again, i'm so glad u found her
x


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

Stace87 said:


> Lol. Well at least she turned up. Ferrets are funny little things and can be quite intimidating at first. I wouldn't like to get a bite from one! Obviously if they're handled from a young age they tend to be okay.
> 
> I don't suppose you know at what age you can easily sex ferrets? I really want to figure out if the kit is male or female when I'm there this week. I searched on the net but couldn't find anything apart from sexing adults.
> 
> Do you have any photos of your girls?


I went looking around for you for some information, dunno if it will be helpful:
http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Development-of-Baby-Ferrets&id=2192505
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=11+2068&aid=532
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Ferrets-2277/2008/11/Babies.htm

from my gathered experience, just look for a *belly button*..lol..it wont be too big but thats their manly bits..plus the testicles will be obvious I believe too...

It is illegal to own ferrets in the U.S. that aren't already neutered or spayed. So unless you are a LICENSED breeder, its pretty much impossible to get your hands on an extremely young ferret.. the reason for the strictness is because people were raising them and killing them for their fur, as they are related to the mink family. So the government took action and made it illegal to breed without a license...sometimes I think they should do that for our rattie friends..would save a lot of heartache..

last but not least, here are some pics of my girlies (and one of my boys that I had)
Sky:








Stormy:









This was my heart ferret...I LOVED this little guy to death..he died last year after a 2 week long illness, the vet could never figure out what was wrong with him ..but I tried very hard to save him, I had him euthanized in the end because he couldn't even crawl out of the litter box anymore)


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## MissHinasaki (Jul 29, 2009)

We used to have ferrets when I was younger and it was common for one of them to go missing for a couple of days since there were a lot of hiding places in the house. We'd leave food and water dishes out for them and there would be evidence of them eating and drinking, but no ferret in site! They do tend to sleep about 18 hours a day so missing for a few hours usually isn't too big of a deal.


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