Bun, Outside Ferret
Bun has hardly ever been outside in his short life of just over one year. We live in Florida, so the weather is rarely ferret-compatible. But this winter has been cooler, some days hitting only in the high 60s, and cloudy…PERFECT ferret weather. It reminds them of the Mother Land.
Bun actually does have a leash, but since he never goes on walks, he thinks it’s just a toy and he likes to keep it stashed in his little ferret den in the closet. Today I slipped it on, and he was so curious about being outdoors he didn’t even try to worm out of it. I think this is a good way to train your ferret to use a leash. Wait until good weather, take them outside and they’ll be so happy and distracted by the Great Outdoors they won’t mind the leash.
He was pretty curious on the deck, but once he hit the mulch-covered dirt lawn we have, he went feral. First thing he did was dive into the dirt and just roll, around and around. He was, I think, trying to tunnel into it. He kept pushing along on his belly, then rolling around, like a cat rolling in catnip, alternating with tunneling motions that went nowhere but across the dirt.
Bun especially liked the small Asparagus Fern he have, and wound his body around the base of it, getting the leash all tangled. After we came in, he stayed by the door a long time, looking out at the rain. Sometimes he’d jump up and try to get through the blinds, back to the Great Outdoors.
Bun Going Feral
Ferret Rubbing a Plant
Ferret Wants to Go Outside
Ferret Watching the Outdoors Longingly
Ferret Waiting by the Door Hoping it Opens
Hippy is our shelter ferret, rescued from the Key West SPCA. Someone had left him and his pal in a cage on the street in front of the shelter. When we first saw them at the shelter, they were both fat from lying around all day in their cage. But Hippy was especially fat…monstrous. In fact, he was so fat we couldn’t stop thinking about him slothing around so we had to rescue him a couple of months later. His pal got rescued too, by another ferret fanatic here in town.
His name is Hippy because at first he never wanted to play fight our other 2 ferrets. He would just lay there in a peace position and let them drag him and bite him all day. Finally he started to fight back and now he’s the strongest play fighter of the group. But by the time he started living Thug Life, the name had stuck so he’s forever: Hippy.
He lost lots of weight in the first few months, being put through Ferret Boot Camp by Pig and Bun. But I think he’s just as fat as ever now. He’s just a big, fat ferret. Today he slept 13 hours before getting up to play.
Ferrets love milk, but you can’t let them eat much. They’ll get some bad runs if you do. But a few drops left in the bottom of a cereal bowl is so much appreciated, it’s hard to say no.
They’ll go to great lengths to get just a few drops out of the smallest containers, like this yogurt jar. Bun is determined to get a drop out of the bottom, so he has put his entire head inside the jar, ears flattened. He’s just not worried about it at all.
Ferrets like noisy things like plastic bags, bubble wrap, and crumpled paper. One of the best playthings for ferrets is a bin of clean, crumpled up paper. They get inside and root around, or in this case, my ferret named Pig is just hanging out, enjoying the crunchy environment.
When they’re in a more playful mood, the ferrets will sometimes bring the paper barrel over on its side, and the papers are dug out making a glorious ferret mess.
You should keep a first aid kit in your home, just for your pet ferret. This would include things you’d find in a first aid kit for humans, but add some things:
- a 2 cc syringe for administering medicine. find it in the baby section of your supermarket
- pedialyte in case ferret is dehydrated
- pepto-bismol, for stomach problems
- chicken baby food, for feed them when they can’t eat
High quality scoopable litter sand is absolutely required. Ferrets are prolific and you need all the breaks you can get. Don’t buy cheap because this is not an area where you want to try and save a few pennies. For the tiny amount of money you will save by buying cheap brand scoopable litter, you will bring upon yourself many headaches and disgusting occurrences. For a little more money, get the good stuff. Makes lifting those little sculptures out really easy, quick, and odorless.
Arm & Hammer is the best scoopable litter, hands down.
Your ferret’s worst enemy
Turn this one on and watch your ferret become the fighting machine he’s known to be in the wild. Like a bloodhound on a trail, your ferret won’t let the business end of this ferret toy out of his sight or far from his nose as he follows it across the room. This is a team effort, since owner must operate toy for the game to really work.
Price: $200 and up, depending on how much you want to pamper your ferret. Bonus is, you get clean floors everytime you play.
More Fun with Ferret Toys
Another ferret classic is the plastic bottle cap. This can not only be dragged and pushed around by your ferret, but also serves to hone his ferreting instincts. Yes, just leave a few of these around and after tossing them about for a few days, your ferret will hide them safely away in hidden corners of your home.
Price: $.89 including soda for you.
Hours of Fun with the Kay Kay
This easy to find ferret toy will entertain you and your ferret for hours. Watch as ferrets grab the “kay kay” as it’s called with a body hug and drag it backwards. The kay kay brings out a dragging instinct in every ferret. Ferrets will drag and drag backwards without really knowing why, just knowing it feels right.
Price: about $.89 after you strip the paper off the roll, and the ferrets can even help you with that.
Every 3 or 4 weeks you may notice your ferret smelling a little stale or even musky or just dusty. Remember, ferrets like to crawl under things where you might not ever dust or clean, so they can act as little dust mops.
Well, a shower and a little shampoo wil have them fluffy and clean again. I’ve never used expensive specialized ferret shampoo on any ferret I’ve ever had, and they’ve all been fine. Some will say ferret’s skin dries out easily so special shampoos or a dip in conditioner is required, but I’ve never had to do this. I”ve never had a ferret with dry skin. I have even known a ferret whose owner used a hair dryer on her after showering, with no skin problems.
I also keep a flea comb handy not for fleas but for combing their fur. If your ferret’s coat starts to feel “wiry”, then a good combing can take out the extra hairs that produce the wiry feeling. This happens especially in sprintime. when ferrets shed their winter coats.
