New "Fuzzy Friend" for Christmas

[ChamNovice]

My girlfriend bought me a ferret for christmas yesterday, from a ferret rescue.
He is a dark -eyed white, about 3-4 years old, and deaf, he is a lover, so he was just to hard to pass up compared to a few younger options.

They set us up with any basic need items, but I can't leave things as "basic" I have to provide better options than just basic needs.

My question is: Does anyone here keep ferrets, and where is a good place to buy supplies and other items at great prices???

I am located in the U.S. shipping from outside of U.S. doesn't sound like an inexpensive method of getting things.

Any person willing to share info(from anywhere around the world) is welcome to share on this thread though. I know I could always join a ferret forum somewhere, but I like the people here and know a lot of you keep other animals aside from chameleons.

Ferret keepers have fun with this thread, sharing info/stories and pics if you like.

Note: For mods, if I should have placed this in the "other reptiles and pets" catagory, I apologize, please move if necessary.

 

[coolmoon]

I have several fuzzy babies and I get all my supplies from Ferret.com. They have the best prices compared to what I pay locally. Congrats on the new addition.

 

[ChamNovice]

Thanks coolman, for the info. I am sure we will add another 1-2 later on. He doesnt co-habitate well with other ferrets, but loves people.

 

[Courtney]

definately make sure you take him to the vet and watch out for any lethargy. it can happen in a matter of hours. if your ferret isnt running around playing something is wrong. i am not trying to scare you by any means. we had a posh ferret that passed this weekend from Insulinomas in Ferrets. one day he was fine then downhill he went. also no matter what anyone tells you they need high protein in their diet. treats and fruit is not good for them. absolutely no sugar. if you notice any lethargy in him start feeding him meat baby food or duck soup which is located in the ferret dep. in any petstore. they also do better in pairs. othyer than that ( it was a shock when i found out what went on with ours) they are hilarious little furry friends!!!

 

[ChamNovice]

definately make sure you take him to the vet and watch out for any lethargy. it can happen in a matter of hours. if your ferret isnt running around playing something is wrong. i am not trying to scare you by any means. we had a posh ferret that passed this weekend from Insulinomas in Ferrets. one day he was fine then downhill he went. also no matter what anyone tells you they need high protein in their diet. treats and fruit is not good for them. absolutely no sugar. if you notice any lethargy in him start feeding him meat baby food or duck soup which is located in the ferret dep. in any petstore. they also do better in pairs. othyer than that ( it was a shock when i found out what went on with ours) they are hilarious little furry friends!!!

Thank you, all of this was told to us by the woman who runs the rescue also. (she has kept them personally for several years, and decided to turn her passion into a rescue).

She has a couple personal ferrets with insulinoma, and they get treatments for it, she told us all of those things you mentioned to watch for, and they can get URI'S fairly easily as well. Up to date on all shots and vet visits.
I know a lot of them do better in pairs, but I beleive he was raised alone, and does not really co-habitate with other ferrets (according to the rescue), she had him for 4 months, and he doesn't really interact with other ferrets, he loves people though, and is playful, and energetic.

 

[coolmoon]

Well some ferrets just do better solo. If you run into any questions I would be happy to help.

 

[Hampton]

congrats on the new family member i have kept ferrets for years and they are great pets. if you have to use the local pet stores petsmart is generally cheaper then petco in the ferret department. and our walmarts here even carry ferret food (ok when they are younger but i use a senior formula for molly now) and treats and toys are also carried at walmart. cat toys are usually fun for a little while for them and are usually cheaper then anything with a ferret picture on the front of it molly loves the tiny tennis ball style for cats carried at petsmart. With the cat toys you have to make sure that small pieces cant be chewed off or bells that can be swallowed! good luck and have fun

 

[lucky]

i used to keep two ferrets. a D.E.W. and albino. they are like socks with brains! mine would play with store bought toys for a little while. but the one they like the most, my dirty work socks. they make a toy you can put dirty socks in. looks like a ball. they will play with it and hide it over and over for hours. old sneakers was another thing they liked. watch your keys. when i moved i found a hole ripped in the backside of couch with a "stash spot" containing various items from every room in the house.

 

[L30girl]

Nothing beats watching 2 ferrets play! They're hilarious! I had 2 of the critters years ago but had to rehome them due to the fact that #1 - the HUGE cage I had for them wasn't working out, they kept escaping and as you probably know, bigger is better when it comes to cages - this one was a great size, 3 levels and well spaced bars, I didn't want to move them to another smaller cage... and #2 - they were playing with the cat, which in turn would develop into scuffles, and I had the cat first so there was no other option really, they wouldn't have been happy in a smaller cage, and the ferrets enjoyed free roaming, which I think is an essential part of ferret ownership as they're so active... I couldn't bare to think of what would happen if their fights got too out of control. Ontop of that, no matter what I did to keep them in the cage (I even locked the door on a few occasions with a special clip and Booger my male ferret, was so intelligent that he learned how to unlock the "unlockable" locking device.) and we'd find them in our cereal boxes. I miss them, but a friend of mine already had 2 so she was willing to take mine on, thank god, and I can still go and see them whenever I want.

Watch him around pepsi cans. The female I had was a pepsi-aholic! She would bolt from one end of the room and dive onto the coffee table to try to get at pepsi which is REALLY bad for them.

 

[AJA]

I think its a rule to post photos of your ferret.

 

[ChamNovice]

I think its a rule to post photos of your ferret.

I know.... that's the forum rules for any pet I believe???

I will work on it, I am sure I will get one at some point, only have a couple taken with the cell phone that aren't that great, I may just have to post those.