Ferrets

[cookiemistress]

As for the biting we were told a really useful trick that means they cant turn round and nip/bite you, hope i can explain it ok.
When you go to pick them up get your hand so your thumb and "ring finger" are behind their front legs and the two fingers in between round their neck. If its abit confusing i can always post a pick demostrating it with my rat

They would nibble your feet as generally they smell
But seriously most of it is a confidence thing, ferrets are predators so they dont often run away, they stay and fight.
If they nip when you pick them up you could try picking them up in a different way cos it is probably because they dont feel safe. Ive lost count of the number of times my dad was nipped cos he picked them up wrong.

Boys do pong alot more than girlies.
We used to let ours out around the front room and dining room as they were house ferrets and we just went round and cleaned up after them, they loved having a harness on, when they would stay still long enough, and snuffling around the grass in the garden.

Gorgeous little smelly though. I want

 

[Frazzledazzle]

We've got one female that lives in a hutch out the back. I volunteer at an animal rescue centre and that's how i came to get her, she had been left in a supermarket car park as a tiny baby. After being raised at the centre i brought her home and we decided to call her Nipper but this has since been changed to Susan...

The whole plan was to go rabbiting with her but i don't really enjoy that as much as beating or shooting game with my two dogs. She gets spoilt though, has a little bit of Sunday dinner with us (as do all of our animals!) and loves playing with my puppy. She killed one of my quails once though the little $*£@!

 

[Devilish Angelfish]

We've got one female that lives in a hutch out the back. I volunteer at an animal rescue centre and that's how i came to get her, she had been left in a supermarket car park as a tiny baby. After being raised at the centre i brought her home and we decided to call her Nipper but this has since been changed to Susan...

The whole plan was to go rabbiting with her but i don't really enjoy that as much as beating or shooting game with my two dogs. She gets spoilt though, has a little bit of Sunday dinner with us (as do all of our animals!) and loves playing with my puppy. She killed one of my quails once though the little $*£@!

FERRETS!!! My all-time favourite animal!! I had one in the US - his name was Kahn and he was 6wks old when I got him. Ferrets are closely related to otters, mink, weasels, etc - they are intelligent, curious, playful and keen to interact with other species they find around them. They are lightening quick as well, especially if they are trying to get something they know they aren't supposed to have - hence the affectionate term "Bandit" being applied to them. They steal anything and the more you try to stop them, the more determined they are to get it. They like digging through things - boxes, tunnels, plastic bags, your undies draw, whatever - and if they find something they want (like socks) they will drag it off and hide it in their stash hole. This is a spot they will store all their pilfered goodies and Kahn used to get quite irate when I retrieved his ill-gotten gains and returned them to the laundry/pantry/sockdrawer. Their little fore-paws will often be put to use as hands - Kahn used to fumble with the latch on his cage - he knew it was the secret to his release but couldnt quite work out how and then bite the wire in rage when he was once again foiled. He used to hold food in his paws to eat, like a squirrel and a few times I caught him putting his head under the water in the dogs water bowl and looking for the doggy bikkies (dry food bits) that the dog had dropped in there - very otter-like behaviour!! If raised with other animals, ferrets get along fine with most though birds are pushing the limit for them - they're too tempting Kahn lived with 2 cats and 2 dogs and an African Grey Parrot. He liked everyone (tho the parrot never got past the idea that Kahn wanted to eat him - he was probably quite right, however) even though everyone didn't like him - the big grey desexed tom hated Kahn with a passion was determined to kill him. Kahn didn't appear to notice the cat's malicious intent and just played with it, diving in and out, dancing about doing his "war dance" and "dooking". The war dance is a ferret's invitation to you to play - you can see footage of it on youtube. The dooking is the soft grunting sound ferrets use to communicate. Before you allow a ferret inside your home, you need to "ferret-proof" it. That means tying up any wires/cords that you dont want turned into Tarzan swings or chewed in half. Ferrets can fit through incredibly narrow spaces so you need to make sure there is nowhere your ferret can squeeze into and either get stuck or hide from you. Crawl around your home and see it from ferret level then fix any holes/gaps. You are guaranteed to miss one and your ferret is guaranteed to find it within 10 minutes of arriving. Ferrets are curious about everything so if theres anything that can cause them to be poisoned/electricuted/drowned/smothered/stood on/squished (recliner chairs are a bad one for that)/burnt, move it out of their reach. Be aware also that if they see where you put the item and they wantwantwant it, they will work out a way to get to it. You can't leave them out unsupervised, for their safety and your own sanity. Your one saving grace, however, is the fact that ferrets seem to suffer from terminal ADD. They are very easily distracted and wander off in the middle of one lot of mayhem to commence another lot somewhere else. This means they will forget the item you've hidden. For a while. You can stop them doing mischief fairly easily by diverting them with food or a toy. They aren't easy to train because they dont appear to have a retentive memory (for anything not play or food related, that is). Having said that, I taught Kahn not to bite very early - I would tap his nose and say "uh-uh-UH" (it sounds similar to their dooking sound) loudly and if he forgot, he would lick my finger after being reprimanded as if to say "sorrysorrysorryforgot". My friend's dad let Kahn bite him while Kahn was little so when he was older, he bit my friend's dad without compunction. They play with their siblings like that and dont realise humans dont have a thick, slippery pelt to protect us from bites. If trained from a young age, they are easy to toilet train - Kahn would even wake up from a deep sleep, bolt to his litter box, do his business then crawl back into his hammock and straight back to sleep. You have to keep the litter tray in the same place so they dont get confused, though you can put several trays around your home so your ferret doesnt have to rush to the laundry if he gets caught short. They'll use a litter tray if one is available nearby. If not, they go where they are. They are very clean animals but seem to be incontinant - if they have to go, they have to go now!! Kind of like a 4 yr old human Also, don't feed your ferret human food - especially sugar and lollies - its very bad for them and causes serious health issues. Ferrets only live 6 or 7 years and usually succumb to kidney disease and tumors. Its very sad that such a merry, mischievious, Puck-ish creature only lives such a short time - they are the most endearing, enchanting, exhausting miscreants and time just flies in their company. I would give almost anything to be able to have one in my life again. They're illegal where I live though