So You Think You Want To Own Ferrets
Ferret Owners Australia would like to welcome our newest members and especially to those that are looking to be first time ferret parents.
This post is in an attempt to cram in all of the basics you need to know prior to making the final decision to have your whole household and life turned upside down and all of your treasures moved further out of reach than you would think or broken. (We can assure you that pot plants do not stand a chance or your lounge suite for that matter)!
The best advice we can give to someone that has never had a ferret family member, DO NOT purchase a kit.
There are 100’s of ferrets sitting in rescues all across the country just looking for their perfect home through no fault of their own. We often hear ‘I don’t want to take on someone else’s problem’ 99% of the time these little guys find themselves in a rescue due to the person that purchased them in the first place being the problem, lack of research is what makes ferrets one of the most abandoned/surrendered pet in Australia.
Ferret breeding is prolific in Australia, so many backyard breeders looking to make a quick buck without proper care shown to mum prior, during and after birth. This plays a huge role in people being left with massive vet bills and worse, broken hearts when their baby becomes unwell or dies.
Next we need to understand the costs involved.
Let’s say you do purchase a kit off gumtree or the like for $50. You then need to take into account desexing within the first 12 months.
Male ferrets come in rut around August/September and stink, if they are not desexed they need to be separated from any other ferrets until April the following year as they become aggressive and will kill others.
Females on the other hand will come in season around the same time and if not desexed or mated run the very real risk of dying, this is why we see so many unwanted kits due to people not taking into consideration desexing costs.
On average, desexing will cost between $250 and $450, most often girls are more expensive.
If you have decided to bring home a kit, you will need to be very vigilant for the most come issue we see in young ferrets, rickets.
Rickets is extremely common and is wholly due to the breeders poor choice and lack of proper care of mum and no bother given to research prior to deciding to breed.
Always question the breeder on diet, you are looking for a high calcium intake.
Continuing on cost, other than the day to day feeding costs, ferrets are extremely complicated creatures and can have many health issues, you really do need to have access to funds for emergency vet costs.
Nip training is the other thing that sees these guys end up at a rescue within months of being added to the family.
For the most part, Ferrets are NOT a cuddly pet.
Ferrets do bite and if you have seen a set of their teeth you will know they are not there for show!
Teaching a ferret not to bite is no different to teaching a pup, it takes time and patience.
Do not smack, scruff of flick the nose of a biting ferret, this can and will make the situation worse. A firm no and put them in a pet carrier for 5 minutes before trying again.
Ferrets are highly intelligent and will quickly workout that their behaviour is unacceptable and hate being ignored.
This really is just a small insight and we encourage all members to feel happy and comfortable to ask any questions within the group.
Ferret Owners Australia Inc. (FOA) was born from 2 crazy ladies in little ole Tassie having a vision, whilst our knowledge and understanding of how others see ferrets has been a learning experience and sometimes challenging, the vision has stayed the same.
It is all about the ferrets and we want to see nothing more than ferrets creating mischief and mayhem.
All questions should be asked with the confidence that no judgment is made.
Happy Dooking
Pic is kits that came into FOA care at 4 weeks of age, bred for a buck and all 8 have health issues that FOA pay a price for, ultimately these little guys pay the price with their life and us left behind with broken hearts once again.
Find the Ferret Owners Australia group HERE
