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144586 tn?1284666164

Ferrets as Pets

I was just asked by someone whether or not they should purchase a ferret, and I had to give the answer some thought. My late mother obtained a ferret in her 70's, which was passed around in the family, and lived quite happily with an African Gray parrot. Ferrets are illegal in my city, and my mom used to say she was "public enemy number one" for violating the law. All in all, it was a nice companion for an elderly woman.  The parrot flew around the house freely and was never bothered by the ferret. She got it young and the family played with it daily. It lived for ten happy years. We never kept it caged but let it wander in an apartment, with a little "safe haven" box, where it loved to sleep most of the time. It collected socks and enjoyed pellet food, fruit and mom's home-made chicken soup. One day a big German Shepherd attack dog was brought over to visit. A police dog, no less. The ferret seemed to determine the dog was a threat to my mother and attacked the Shepherd. Well, I would never have believed the damage that a ferret could do to a trained large attack dog, but the dog ended up a bloody mess, and scooted out of the house in fright. At the time there were no small children around, but it became apparent to me that a ferret is capable of killing a baby or a small child. Especially if provoked. Ferrets are very unusual pets, who (if obtained young from a good breeder) bond with their owners and can be a lot of fun, but they require care, affection, and they are not cats or dogs. Having seen what a ferret can do to a large dog, I would never leave a ferret alone with a baby, and I would not allow a strange child to "play" with the animal under any circumstances. I am wondering if anyone else has had a ferret and what their experiences were?
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Avatar universal
My ferret has never nipped or bitten humans or animals.  She is a female and females are more docile.  They need to be socialized-held and played with often.  They are great pets.  She is so loving sleeps with her "babies" her stuffed animal she tucks in at night and cleans.  She often climbs into bed w/us in the middle of the night and sleeps between my legs.  She is tray/paper towel trained.  They sleep majority of the day and dont need alot of space to run around and are extremely quiet making them great for apartments. Having one ferret she seems to act human like, more calm docile, not territorial. However Ive heard if you get 2 or more they act more ferret like nipping-playing, more running all over alot etc.  I reccomend if you have kids to get 1 ferret and a female.  They are alot smaller then their male counterparts and more calm.  My ferret is only 1.5lbs and the sweetest lil girl who loves to give kisses and go for rides suspended in a blanket and brought around to look at everything.
Helpful - 0
739536 tn?1265669359
My best friend has 5 pet ferrets and like any animal they all have different personalities . They have there own business here in Australia as Body guards and have 2 attack trained Sheppards and a Tozza . The only animal in the hous4e I am scared of is there one male ferret appropritely named Sid Vicious - Sid loves me and I never leave the house without a least one bite mark !!! My very EX girlfriend bought on the same day both baby ferrets and baby rabbits !!!! Some people are just plain ....
Helpful - 0
793305 tn?1493925518
My mother had two...we always had babies and pets around...no problems...They were a lot of fun, but I would suppose supervision is always best....when someone new comes around, especially of an animal species...It would maybe be best to have a get to know you party with the ferret in a cage or something....They too need to feel safe and secure...I'm guessing the dog made it feel very threatened.  And yes, I can imagine it could do some damage.  
Helpful - 0
535822 tn?1443976780
I personally never had a ferret as a pet, in England they were and maybe still are used to hunt rabbits out of their burrows,they may have stopped this as the government introduced Mixematosis to the rabbit population to contain them, rabbits still die fom this horrible disease.I did hear that ferrets are ferocious and I can believe they would attack a dog, In the North of England in some of the Pubs they have Men who have ferret competitions to see how long they can keep a ferret down their pants ....
Helpful - 0
518031 tn?1295575374
We had a ferret when my kids were young, we also had a dog and a cat. Ferrets are neat little animals but like you said they take lots of care. We would bath our ferret once a week, always cleaned his condo out, he had a ferret condo, plus he played with the dog and cat and our kids. Now they weren't babies but they were young, every now and then he would nip at you but never broke the skin and he loved to be held and cuddled. he had his shots and saw the vet every 6 months. All in all he made a great little pet.
Helpful - 0

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