Ferret News
Pet Ferret Care Tips
and Information
By Mary R. Shefferman & Eric Shefferman - along with Gabby, the ferret
www.ferretnews.com

contact: marymodernferret.com

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  Today we have a few questions and answers. How do you keep from smelling like a ferret at the office? Why do ferrets chew on rubber? Should a new ferret kit have his own cage?

--Mary

In this newsletter:

• Questions From Ferret News Readers: ferret smell; chewing rubber; new baby ferret

Questions From Ferret News Readers:
ferret smell; chewing rubber; new baby ferret

Answered by Mary R. Shefferman

Question: Is there any thing to keep the "ferret smell" out of your clothes? ... I've had to do things like hang my coat in an out-of-the-way storage room, and douse my clothes with fabric freshener right before leaving for work, and still the smell occasionally creeps through, to the consternation of my co-workers. Please help! -- Rick Herman

Answer: Ah! There's nothing quite like ferret eau de cologne! Some things you might try are in these newsletters:

• Newsletter #41 - Reducing the smell of your ferrets

• Newsletter #78 - Baking soda in the ferret laundry

• Newsletter #101 - Air cleaners and ferrets

Reducing the smell your ferrets create in the first place is probably your best tactic. Using fabric fresheners and air cleaners help reduce the overall ferret smell in your home. You can also add baking soda to your own laundry to help remove any ferrety aroma. Another way to help is to keep clothing away from the ferrets. We used to smell like ferrets all the time when we'd leave sweaters on the couch. Now we don't smell like ferrets at all. (This was verified by Graham Parker when we saw him a few weeks ago; either we didn't smell like ferrets or he was being polite. You can read about that in my blog.)

Question: I am curious as to why our ferret has a fascination with anything rubber such as shoe soles, rubber handles, etc. -- Sue

Answer: One of the most common substances removed by emergency surgery from ferrets' stomachs and intestines is rubber or foam. It's a top priority in ferret homes to keep rubber objects away from ferrets.

There are several theories as to why ferrets like to chew on rubber. The one I tend to put the most faith in is that ferrets are carnivores and their jaws are built to chew everything in an animal -- from bones to sinew to cartilage. Somehow it just feels good or right to a ferret to chew things of that type of material. One of the best ways to prevent your ferret from chewing rubber is to keep all rubber away from him and offer him something he can safely chew.

Question: In August I finally got my first ferret and I am looking to get a buddy for her this summer. I had a couple of questions concerning on how to go about it.

1. Do I need to get another cage until the kit gets bigger?

2. If not, is it ok for my ferret now to eat the kit's softened food?

Thank you so much for your time. -- Mike Acedo-Malaney

Answer: It's always a good idea to have a slightly smaller cage around for sick ferrets or ferrets recovering from surgery. See this article for information on making an isolation cage. The isolation cage can also be used for litter training. See this article for information about litter training. The new kit will probably need to be litter trained and you'll want a smaller cage to start that. Also, sometimes when you put an untrained kit in with a trained ferret, the older ferret "forgets" how to use the litter box. Thus, for many reasons, a separate cage is a good investment at this time.

Another good reason for getting the kit his own cage to start with is that he might not take to your current ferret (or vice versa) right away. Sometimes the older ferret will be gentle with the kit; sometimes not. You really won't know until you bring home the new furball.

If you do end up keeping the two ferrets together, it's fine for the older one to eat moistened food. But you might want to offer both wet and dry food in case the older one doesn't recognize moistened food as food. Ferrets imprint on food at a fairly young age (by about 6 months) and some are more adamant about it than others.

  Thanks for reading the newsletter. We hope you learned something. Now it's time to go play with your ferrets. They depend on you for entertainment. And they probably wouldn't mind a treat.

--Mary, Eric, & Gabby the lone ferret

  Stay tuned for more. You can always get updates by reading Mary's blog (a blog is an online journal). She keeps it sporadically and it usually runs to the more personal stuff. But you might like it. It's at:

http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary

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Copyright 2005 Modern Ferret magazine.
All rights reserved.
http://www.modernferret.com