# Does anybody have experience with ferrets?



## lovethoseratties (Sep 10, 2015)

Obviously I would never have ferrets at the same time as my rats, as I know they're carnivorous. But I'm very interested in them for the future. So, just a few questions. 
1. How do they compare to rats? Smarter? More playful? 
2. Do they need to be kept in pairs or more like rats do?
3. Females vs males?
4. About how much is a spay/neuter and descenting?
5. How many could live happily in a DCN?

Like I said, I'm not interested anytime soon, just trying to get a feel for if I ever would want ferrets. Any tips are most appreciated!!


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## lovethoseratties (Sep 10, 2015)

haha guess there's not any ferret owners around. Anyone have ANY tidbits for me?


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## PaigeRose (Apr 12, 2013)

Although I have not personally owned many, I have an aunt who used to keep them. She had 7 at the most, now she is down to 1. I don't know how smart they are but they are incredibly playful! We (meaning me, my sister, and 3 cousins) used to dress them up in doll clothes, create mazes for them, and do all sorts of other things. Yes, they need to be kept in pairs. My aunt always preferred boys, although she had a few girls at varying points in time. She never had 2 females together at once but she always had at least 1 girl in her group. Man, over the years she must have had at least 10-12 ferrets total. All of them were fixed and descented although that did NOT stop them from smelling, especially in a large group. They smelled much more than any other house-pet type animal. 

All in all, they were cool pets! But I wouldn't have one. Too smelly for me. And a lot of them ended up having health problems despite coming from a reputable breeder.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

I never owned one but i have heard that they are very playful. Also that they scent mark more than rats. I like to think of them as a kitten.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

My old roommate had two male ferrets, they were very smelly, but she loved them a lot. I knew another guy who had the sweetest ferret. This ferret was playful and loved being handled, unfortunately someone stole him.

I don't have first hand ownership experience with ferrets . What I have heard is that female ferrets who go into heat will die if not mated or have a special injection to decrease those hormones. It sound pretty awful, and I guess in that case you'd need to get females spayed. 

I think you'd have better luck on a ferret forum. Good luck on the info finding!


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## j_silv (Sep 3, 2015)

I LOVE ferrets, everyone says there are a few animals that you come by in life that you have a special connection with (i.e.. heart rats) and mine was with my ferret, Skunk! (however skunk only lived in my house for the last few months of his like, both of them lived at my job but i am their main care taker  )

1. My Skunk was a neutered male and he was very lazy and loved to cuddle. The female is much more active and playful! she always wants to run around and through tunnels. But she's cuddly to, Ferrets sleep for most of the day. but My female will usually get in the playful mood if you wake her up and swat her around a bit. 
2. My ferrets Loved each other, and when Skunk died Panda(the girl) did get very sad and I'm sure she would love another companion. so id say they do best in pairs. they used to snuggle up together constantly.
3. as I said before my male was very lazy. My female is always up for playtime! But both are amazing!
4. im not sure how much either was but you could probably google it. and I'm against descanting animals just because I think its a natural part of who they are. it might smell bad to us but it smells like channel No. 5 to them! (also i never thought they smelled that bad, i nuzzle them all the time 
5. looking at pictures of it id say 2 or 3.


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## lovethoseratties (Sep 10, 2015)

Thank you all so much! Ferret ownership might be in my future!


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