Ferret
A domesticated polecat, and an obligate carnivore: meat, not grain pellets. It sleeps most of the day and spends the rest of it at full speed.
Photo by roy maloon, CC BY 2.0
Overview
Ferrets have been domesticated for more than 2,000 years and they are still obligate carnivores, which is the fact that decides their whole diet. They need at least 34 percent animal protein and 20 percent fat, and food passes through them in three to five hours, so they eat perhaps ten times a day in small amounts. Grain based pellets and dog food do not work.
They also sleep 18 to 20 hours a day, which surprises people who met one at its liveliest. The waking hours are intense and social, they are built to be in a group, and males are much bigger than females: a hob runs 0.9 to 2.7 kilos against a jill's 0.3 to 1.1.
Temperament
Playful in a way that is closer to a puppy than to a rodent, and persistent about it. Ferrets wrestle, steal and hide things, and they investigate everything with their mouths, which means young ones nip and need teaching not to.
They are social and do better in pairs or small groups. They also have a strong musky smell that neutering reduces and washing does not remove, and it comes from the skin rather than only from the scent glands. People either stop noticing it or they never do.
Care and grooming
Meat based food, always available, since a gut that empties in three to five hours cannot manage one meal a day.
There is one thing every owner of a female must know. Jills are induced ovulators, so a female left in season without mating stays in it, and the sustained oestrogen suppresses the bone marrow and causes aplastic anaemia, which is frequently fatal. Neutering or a hormonal implant prevents it. Adrenal disease and insulinoma are both common in older ferrets, so a vet who sees ferrets regularly is not optional.
Living and exercise
A multi level cage is where a ferret sleeps, not where it lives. Several hours a day out of it, in a room that has been ferret proofed properly, is the actual requirement.
Ferret proofing means closing gaps you would not consider a gap. They get behind appliances, under floorboards and into reclining chairs, and the chair is a genuine and well known way to lose one. Check where the animal is before you sit down.
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