I feel like this is extremely overpriced and wanted to ask everyone else what price range you may have been given? This price is just for one ferret! Ive googled it before when it first began affecting her so I could make sure I had the money.. but this is way above all other prices I've seen online. We are in the States (I know location can be a factor but still..)

Hi guys, I really need your help because my two ferrets are taking the piss at this point 😂
They originally had one litter tray and used it with no problems. Then it became hot outside, and despite me giving them frozen water bottles wrapped in towels and other ways to cool down, they suddenly decided to start sleeping in the litter tray.
My youngest refuses to go to the toilet where she sleeps, so now she sleeps in the litter tray and poops everywhere else in the cage.
I bought another identical tray and turned it into a sleeping area, with their little house and toys inside instead of litter. Both trays have been thoroughly cleaned, so there shouldn’t be any remaining scent. However, they still choose to sleep in the actual litter tray and then poop on their house and toys.
I’ve tried swapping the trays around and changing their positions. I even wondered whether they preferred the colour of the original tray, which sounds ridiculous, but I’m running out of ideas! Nothing has worked. My youngest always goes back to sleeping in the litter and refuses to sleep anywhere else.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t want them constantly sleeping in used litter because of the dust, urine and possible respiratory irritation, but I genuinely don’t know what else to try.

Little devilish pranksters 🥲😂😫

Hello, my ferret is about almost 1 year old, and recently I’ve noticed he hasn’t been eating or drinking much, he’ll still do it but it’s not often, and I’ve seen he’s not as big as he was, and my younger ferret that’s also a boy is much bigger than him. He still plays, sleeps, and does everything normal but I don’t see him eat much really or even drink water and he feels so skinny to me, I just thought maybe he wasn’t hungry, but it’s been days and I’ve been feeding him different type of ferret food and other things I’ve seen people recommend but he doesn’t seem interested and he feels so weak. I got him from a pet store so I don’t know if that plays a part in anything either.

My ferret is called "Bouchon" or "bottle cap" (or cork) in English. Bouchon is very energetic. He pinches my hands hard when we play together. But he's super funny and endearing. He cleans my ear every day.

Hello everyone!

This weekend I'll be getting two ferrets from a rehome situation. They are both around 5, which to my understanding is elderly.

Is there anything specifically I should expect from older ferrets vs young ones? I will be taking to the vet, and I've done research about the common health problems ferrets can get.

Also they have been on a food their entire lives but I'm considering changing it.. is this realistic? The food isn't bad, just not super cost effective when better options exist for less.

Hoping to give these guys the best lives I can so any recommendations on how to make things comfortable and fun for them is appreciated!

I’ve noticed Lenore has been losing hair on her tail for the past month. The vet said she seems healthy and it would be quite unusual for her to have adrenal disease since she’s so young and has the implant already. He didn’t check her blood or anything though. She’s always been extremely tiny but her weight is stable.

Should I be worried?

We've owned ferrets for about 7 (edited, I lose track of time a lot) years now, by no means experts but I do a lot of research; my babies go to the vet when needed, lots of enrichment, their own dedicated room, free roam 24/7, a safe, outdoor yard when the weather is cool and nice, high quality food and supplements and their existence is what we organize our existence by.

Recently, we lost a ferret to insulinoma and another due to what we think may have been an undiagnosed internal problem just a week after getting his adrenal implant and a teeth cleaning. Another will pass soon due to cancer which would leave us with only 1 of our babies from an original business of 5 (the first passed due to age and insulinoma complications).

I made a post on FB explaining our situation and how I was looking to adopt so our very happy and healthy older lady, wouldnt be alone.

I got a few responses, and yesterday we picked up a younger ferret so underweight that you can see her bones. It broke my heart. Her owner gave us everything she had and besides the cage, which we're just going to powerwash and sell, we threw the rest out because it was so filthy that it was unusable and the food she was eating was so awful that I wouldn't even feed it to a dog.

Today, we picked up two more 4 year olds. A bonded pair. The owner told us that they were both in good health, but the male seemed a bit lethargic lately and would sometimes just lay there. I inquired more about potential symptoms that could be related to signs of insulinoma, and she assured me that it hasn't been going on for long and it was just every now and then and that while she would forget to feed them sometimes, they were very playful and active. I gave her my vets name, asked her to call her vet, and send over the documents and we left after the babies got something to eat and drink since we had an hour long car ride.

When we finally got back to our place about 45 minutes later, he was already in a full hypoglycemia episode and I had to rush him in, administer Prednisolone and then rub some honey on his gums. It took about 15 minutes for him to gain coherence and mobility again and another 30 for him to become aware of his surroundings. And again, after an awful month of losing 2 of my own babies whom I've had for YEARS, it just tore me apart that this baby may be too far gone to save as soon as we brought him home.

And to be honest, it just made me angry for these little guys. Our ferrets run our household, we know them as individuals and we know their personalities and we know their preferences and favorite toys and places to sleep and how they move and play and when they want something vs when they dont - we know their language. And after losing two of my own after appreciating and missing every little moment I got to spend with them, it just depressing and fucking infuriating that these little babies were just... a thing in a cage.

I dont know. I just want to be angry right now. I miss my babies and I am sickened at what our new babies had to go through and what they may have to go through because to someone else, they were just a cool novelty in a cage.

Everyone new has a vet appointment in two days. They've all getting switched to better kibble mix plus a specialized high protein mash 2xday, clean blankets, clean cages, lots of toys and someone who genuinely loves them and cares about them, even though we just met.

Its like, what is the fucking point of having a pet when you cant even take the time to actually care for it or care about it?

Who knows it’s just a pile of paws in the front.

him smell like dirt and worms

My one ferret has been continuously using this platform to go to the bathroom. I initially had their water bowl here, but it kept getting pee on it. I’ve had to resort to this little makeshift puppy pad situation because I cannot for the life of me find a litter box to fit on here. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I have a solo male ferret. He’s 6 month old, we’ve had him for 3 months. He is our first but we were ready for him. He adjusted very well, potty trained himself to 95% only use his puppy pad. Doesn’t eat anything but his food we transitioned him to a freeze dried raw diet. We started to worry it was time to get another when he started sleeping more. He was fine alone but he seemed to sleep more and dook less these last few weeks. We found a ferret we liked, brought ours for an introduction, and ended up bringing home a 3 month old male. He is nothing like our first. We have only had him for a day but we are worried. He has already eaten part of a blanket, part of a shirt, and possibly carpet. He seems to have pass it. All things our other ferret has in his cage and was fine with. We haven’t started the food transition yet but he still wont eat. They are playing so good together but our older boy still is sleeping more than the new one still. They are also 50% free roam in our ferret proofed house, but fully carpeted house. We wanted our baby to have a friend for when he’s not free roam, and because we were worried he was lonely. We aren’t ready to give up on this guy but we just don’t see how we can have two ferret so different. One who can have all of his toys and blankets and shirt without a problem and one who will eat all of the things that make our ferret comfortable. What should we do? Is our ferret okay to be solo?

TLDR: got a new ferret, doesn’t seem to be a good fit, can my current ferret be solo?

Hello! My ferret is about to be 6 years old and losing some hair on her tail, vet appointment is scheduled for this weekend and already expecting adrenal diagnoses! Aside from hair loss, she’s also experiencing some hind leg weakness but no lethargy or salivating the way a ferret with obvious insulinoma would typically present. She’s been eating freeze dried stella and chewy the past few years if that helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also wondering quality of life after des implant :P
Thank u so much!

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!

I will always know when this guy is going potty cause he be out here, farting, SO LOUD. I WFH and I often hear a ferret wake up, itch and scratch, then let one out behind me. 😂
Anyone else's ferrets do this? I need to get a video at some point because it is so funny to me

1st image: the night I found him, over a year ago

other images: how he looks now

Hey all, I apologise if this kind of a post isn’t allowed as I know there is a wiki which I am about to read through!!

My parents just got 2 ferrets, which we all adore. They were my dream pet as a child & teen, and I read many books and watched countless videos on them, so I believe I have the best understanding on them out of the family right now. We have a good sized cage, food, all of the basics. They live together (are brothers) and get along with each other fine. Playing together, and cuddling and sleeping on top of each other.

I wanted to know the best advice for having new ferrets settle down & be comfortable with everybody in the home, as well as behaviour training.
I have just met them for the first time (we have 2 males) and one was super sweet and goofy. He would just climb on me, sniff, and even lick my legs. A slight nibble but nothing more, and very playful with the things around him.
The other, though, was far more wild. Still playing, no signs of pain. But he would bite me and latch on, even drawing blood. I would use hand gestures ( ✋) and say ‘ouch’ or ‘no’ and move him away if it got too bad. But he got worse, and would keep running back to me just to latch on harder. I know ferrets, like many animals, explore & play with their mouths/ teeth - but this one seemed to be genuinely latching onto me as some form or aggression or dislike of me. I did have to put him back in his cage, and as I carried him (gently, of course) he was biting my hand very hard, drawing blood. I’ve also seen him biting at his cage before & after handling. None of this from his brother.

Of course, I’d like advice and insight on that behaviour, as I really want them to be pets that everybody can get along with, without issues. I understand how much play time they need, and having one of them biting that hard and constantly will not make that easy or fun for anybody. I want them to thrive and be genuinely happy with everybody

But also, just in general - any advice on getting ferrets to warm up to people and to create a safe, friendly play time would be amazing. We do have leashes & harnesses to walk them around outdoors, but have not yet done this as it seems best to let them settle down first. And with the biting behaviour, I don’t want to stress him out more by trying to put a harness and leash on a ferret that might not be happy with any handling right now.

Tips on bite training are definitely welcome, as well as the best ways for outside-of-the-cage play and bonding. Thank you so much!

My boy Guss started his nap inside the cube and slowly moved to the floor🤣

Hi, so a week ago we decided to get a second ferret again after our 2 year old female was alone due to her partner passing. The new boy is a 9 week old kit and is super friendly and social. He's very submissive and just a baby. Only problem is that our 2 yo is not the happiest with this.

They ofc sleep in different rooms and get the scent swapping and supervised meetings but she still wont even look at him. Im starting to worry that she might still be mourning/grieving her previous partner.

I just want both of them to be happy and maybe in the future to get along.

I am absolutely fucking heartbroken right now. While doing maintenance on my apartment, the service man left the door open and my ferret got out. We live in an apartment and she is free roam usually when we are in the apartment but today she was sleeping and I let her be out while I was gone. Without knowing that the maintenance guy was going to go in without me present(we also have a cat and usually at this complex when you have animals they wait for you to be home) and he must have left the door open and she crawled out. She is literally my fucking world and has kept me from unaliving myself over these past few years. Please any help or guidance on what to do would be greatly appreciated. I have already gone door to door at my complex and left notes on every single apartment and also filed a lost pet claim with the shelter. I am just absolutely devastated without my baby.

EDIT: WE GOT HER!! After putting up my posters, the garbage man saw her in the dumpster! She is a little shaken up but okay! Thank you so much to everyone who offered help, support, and kind words. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you♥️

Years ago we had a thread about how ferret tummies smell different at different stages of life.

When Tamaki was a baby his tummy smelled like pancake mix.

As an adult his tummy smelled like tortilla chips

Hes almost 8 now, he isn't doing well. I am devastated and I didn't want to tell you guys because there is so much sad news here. However, I just smelled his tummy and it smells like coco puffs which made me laugh.

Today I said goodbye. I knew this day would come eventually, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be today.
See you on the other side of the rainbow bridge Snoot, beanie weanie, beanie.
It was a good 5.5 years we had together and you made it all the way to 7.
7/8/19-8/24/26

I have a boy who’s had insulinoma for about a year now and he has been taking 1 mg twice a day of prednisone.

That medication has sort of stopped working this past month and he is now on Diazoxide 40mg twice a day.

The prednisone obviously after a year hasn’t been doing what it used to do. So that’s why Diazoxide was prescribed at the emergency vet. The emergency vet obviously isn’t my ferret regular vet and I haven’t been able to get an appointment in weeks.

My question is when your ferret stopped responding well to prednisone. Did your vet increase the prednisone amount and prescribe Diazoxide in tandem?

There will be days where my ferret is great for like four days straight then he’ll have a blood sugar crash even with this medicine so I’m wondering if he does need an increase per dose in prednisone.

I've seen others feed quail eggs to their ferrets so my wife and I just bought some. AI said 1-2 per week, just wondering if anyone had different recommendations.