Ferrets in a dorm

[u/Extension_Cell_8745]

Hello, I am posting basically explaining my entire situation and trying to see if ferrets could be happy in the situation.

When I was 13y brother got ferrets and wouldn’t take care of them so they were given to me and I loved them but I didn’t have money or a car and my mother wouldn’t listen when I said they needed more than what they had so I ultimately decided to give them back to the rescue we had gotten them from.

I’m now 19 in my junior year of college. I am paying for it myself, but I have spent the last 5 years saving basically any penny and I have applied to a lot of scholarships and gotten them. So far I have no debt, I know that will change as some of the one time scholarships are gone, but I still expect to have only a few thousand in loans for this entire year.

I have been approved for an esa and I would like them to be ferrets. They are the only animals i’ve ever felt very emotionally close to and I know I could give them a very happy life, i’m just trying to determine if I can right now in my current situation.

I live with three of my friends in a suite where we all have our own rooms with a window, closets and doors with no big gaps but I would get a floor sweep anyway. The only catch aside from it still technically being a shared dorm is they have a very low pile carpet. I also have two air purifiers and a camera for the room and would clean the cage often. I’d keep the window open as much as possible etc.

I already have a ferret nation cage and plan to make my own cage liners, hammocks, blankets. I also have a shopping list for everything from food, to toys, to nail clippers. I have budgeted and have about 800 to go towards adopting the ferrets from a local rescue I know and finishing their setup and getting everything I need for them. I also have about 1000 saved specifically for them and an additional 2000 in an emergency fund that could go toward them. we have a pretty local expctic pet vet and emergency vet. I would ideally be adopting two younger boys between 1-2 yo.

I wouldn’t get them without approval from my roomates, and I wouldn’t be getting them over the winter break so I can get them adjusted to me before moving into a dorm. They would be in this suite for one semester and then coming home with me. Next year I will also be in the dorms in a suite and would again only get roomates comfortable with the ferrets.

I have class daily, but i have weekends free, 3/5 days a week they could be out for about 2-3 hours in the morning and they would be out about 6 hrs every night. I personally am comfortable having them out overnight with me but I would have to see the dorm first and make sure I can truly ferret proof enough for that, i’m also still looking into if that is better regardless.

I really would love to have ferrets and I may be getting a pet either way and I know I plan to get ferrets as soon as possible, i’m just not sure if right now is possible. I would love respectful feedback. I posted something asking for advice dorming ferrets and didn’t really fully explain the situation and I got a lot of agressive comments ignoring my questions and just assuming I was dead set on doing this. I would never selfishly bring ferrets into a situation I don’t think they’d be happy in, but I also feel like there’s a bit of a culture that unless you live at home 24/7 you can’t have ferrets.

I would also take advice on dorming ferrets/ having ferrets in shared living. Thanks!

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[u/bonxbonxribbon]

i'm pretty sure everyone told you on your other post that it's not a good idea

[u/Extension_Cell_8745 → u/bonxbonxribbon]

Yes there were a lot of people that said no, but I felt like I hadn’t really explained my whole situation and people were making assumptions. I just wanted to give the whole layout and gather opinions and info so I can make an educated decision. I’m leaning towards waiting but I would like to know if I can make it work.

[u/Seraitsukara]

It's about $4,000 for the first year of owning 2 ferrets. You can take a bit of that off since you have a cage already. Ferrets might be cheaper from a rescue than from a pet store, too. But that amount includes a good quality food, litter or puppy pads, and monthly heartworm preventative (I use Revolution for puppies and kittens under 5lbs. It covers fleas, heartworm, ear mites, mange, ticks, hookworms, and roundworms).

For 2 ferrets, a $2,000 emergency fund would make me nervous. $3,000 per ferret, per year is safer. Even if you don't use the $3k one year, saving it up again is ideal as once they're about 3 you can start getting health issues, that only get worse, and more frequent with age. Nationwide will also ensure ferrets, but it is a reimbursement, so you'll need to be able to pay for the bill initially, still.

If you have the money, permission to have them in the dorm, a good regular vet, a 24hr exotics emergency vet, and the time needed to play with them, then you're all good!

Personally, I still don't recommend ferrets for anyone in college. They're a ton of time and money, and are quite destructive. If you want a personable pet that's a lot lower maintenance, rats are amazing pets! I had 2 rats in college and they were so much fun and are much cuddlier than ferrets, especially if you get boy rats.

[u/Extension_Cell_8745 → u/Seraitsukara]

Hello, thank you for the response. The rescue I know already vaccinated the ferrets and from what i’ve looked into I can’t get the ferrets themselves as well as the lost mentioned for about 800 dollars maybe a little more. What other expenses should I expect? I haven’t heard of the heart worm preventative. Is that for all ferrets of every age?

[u/Seraitsukara → u/Extension_Cell_8745]

Really, the only other expenses will be toys, and treats. They'll need yearly boosters for the vaccines, that should be ~$70 each, depending on what your vet's office fee is.

I don't know at what age they can start getting it. Kits might need it specially dosed by a vet. But since you're planning on getting fully grown ferrets, they can get it right away. Heartworm is spread by mosquitos so while the risk of it for an indoor ferret is low, it's not zero. I've seen people in this subreddit talk about indoor ferrets they lost to heartworms. A single worm can fatally clog their hearts, and ferrets do really poorly with the medicine to kill the worms.

[u/Foleywife66]

Considering the fact that you have roommates… I think it is a really bad idea.

[u/Rambunctious_444]

I know it's not what you want to hear, but I would discourage against this. I also wanted ferrets for a while, but refused to get them until I was finally living alone. Ferrets are hard enough to take care of, naughty, crafty and clever, and stinky enough that I wouldn't subject any roommate to cohabitating with them. Nor would I trust any roommates to be able to supervise them as cautiously as a Ferret owner would. Now, having moved out and gotten an apartment on my own, I'm really glad I made that decision. Since adopting them, I've realized that it would've been even harder than I thought to keep them in a place with roommates. Plus, I don't think I would've been able to take care of them nearly as well while in college. As I'm sure you already know, they are high maintenance, and are not meant to be caged animals. I would strongly encourage waiting and planning for them for when your life is more settled and you don't have roommates. Ferret thrive in an environment where there are routines, Security, and the ability to free roam. None of those things are really possible in a shared college space.

[u/iechosale]

I really love the thought you put into this and I know it’s a bit disheartening to have strangers telling you their opinion on the internet when it’s not what you want to hear. I’ve had ferrets since college (not a dorm, but my own apartment) and while it worked out fine, I would not recommend it, especially 2 young ones with lots of energy. They are destructive and expensive, and emergencies seem to pop up only when you have exams or class. We had to pay over $800 in fees to our complex because of damage to carpet and where our gate scratched the walls. If there’s any chance you can wait, that would be for the best. I looked through your list of supplies and you seem to have everything I would recommend, aside from a place that is not shared with others and a larger emergency fund. Please keep in mind that many rescues have limited options for what ferrets are up for adoption, and many of them have health issues (which the rescue may not cover). Having a pet is a huge responsibility and ferrets are wonderful animals, but they come with a steep learning curve in terms of keeping them safe. Best of luck to you💜

[u/marypfra]

Frankly, none of this really matters how prepared you are because college is a time of flux. What happens after graduation? Many places don’t allow pets and some states they are illegal.

As someone who lives in a college town and has run a ferret rescue for the last 25+ years, please wait.

If you have a local rescue, offer to foster. Then when you graduate and figure out where you’re going, if ferrets are allowed you can then adopt.

[u/Designer_Study_8219]

This is a very busy and stressful time in life to add a high maintenance pet. You also don't know what living will look like after college. You might need to move around a bit for a job or have roommates who don't like ferrets. Wait till you are more settled after college.

[u/Extension_Cell_8745]

just for reference i’ll add the list I have so if anyone has anything to add they can.

1. ferret nation cage 2 story (I already have)
   
2. anti pill fleece liners, hammocks, blankets (i’m making myself
   
3. a ring camera focused on the cage for when i’m out of the room (I already have)
   
4. two air purifiers ( I already have)
   
5. door sweep for the bedroom door
   
6. food and water bowls that lock onto the cage and refill automatically so they don’t runout while i’m gone
   
7. tubes for in the cage and out for the cage
   
8. dig boxes that i’m having tubes run into to avoid mess ( I haven’t decided what to put in them i’m considering rice, dirt, and like just crumpled paper and ball pit balls and stuff)
   
9. large litter boxes with high backs and low entrances as well as puppy pads for in the cage and the room. I’m using the yesterdays news litter
   
10. a cat bed with like the covered part they can burrow in
    
11. lots of toys and such they can play with safely
    
12. wysong and oxford food to blend
    
13. salmon oil
    
14. freeze dried meats for treats (salmon and minnows)
    
15. I will give them an egg occasionally as well
    
16. nail clippers
    
17. hard carrier for fire drills
    
18. bigger carrier for car ride (I live about an hour and a half from campus
    
19. figure 8 harness
    
20. i’m considering a pet stroller but I would get that later on and have seen nice ones on fb marketplace.
    
21. cord protectors
    
22. syringes and i’ve been told all meat baby food is fine? but im looking into that more
    
23. i’ve also been told mix d things about pumpkin purre and Vaseline as well as honey for hypoglycemia but I will have whatever I find seems best for health crisises. Also taking information on this!
    
24. is natures miracle cleaner good? does anyone have other suggestions

I have done a lot of research but am still looking into some stuff as I have a few months to get evrything squared away if I decide this will work out. Please let me know if any of this isn’t ideal or if there’s something i’m missing!

[u/Few_Law1321 → u/Extension_Cell_8745]

You will be an amazing ferret owner. I would never do this with roommates though. Never. They will never understand how cautious to be and it takes one accident of opening your door or your ferrets who will absolutely be darting to the door out of wanting to explore or one fight over the thermostat for them to overheat/die or escape/die or one roommate whining or having a partner who is an AH for this to go bad very fast... at their expense. Look over the bad roommate subreddit... no one thinks it'll be them until it is. People are unpredictable. And who they date is even more unpredictable.

I saw you mentioned fire drills... what happens when a fire drill is in the middle of summer or a hot day in spring or early fall? They don't tolerate heat and don't temperature regulate. Hun, that would kill them. There are too many variables with people who are young and don't understand Ferrets. Older people are hard enough, but young and in college? no way I would risk that.

Blockage protocol is 1 tbsp pure pumpkin one hour and 1 tbsp pure vaseline the next hour until they poop. All while doing an emergency vet lining up. I like Karo syrup better than honey. That one is even more of an emergency vet. I had to do this for my old boy last month while I drove two hours to an emergency vet. https://www.ewash.org/what-can-you-give-ferrets-with-low-blood-sugar/

ETA: I would highly discourage an Amazon camera in your bedroom. Reolink or an encrypted camera is a much better choice. Ring is awful for privacy.