babie ferret

Question
I have a 67 day old ferret. I have had him for two days now:) I was wondering if you could tell me if he needs to be in a cage or can I let him have my ferret proof room? Is it better to have Philly in a cage to train him easier? I have been letting him roam around and it seems fine so far.

Answer
Some ferret owners are able to devote an entire ferret-proofed room to their ferrets, and this is completely acceptable. Although a cage may come in handy for training purposes (i.e. time-outs if he's biting, or if you need access to that room without worrying if he'll escape), it is up to you. I personally allow my ferrets free run of my house through out the day and only put them in their cage at night so I can sleep. So you might want to have a cage handy for his food and litter and a place to sleep, but just keep it open so he can go in and out as he pleases.

But whatever you find easier to do you can do. A room is probably better since it allows the ferret more room to play in and he won't get as bored or depressed from being cooped inside a cage all day. The only possible problem with this is he may figure out there are more rooms outside of his and start digging at the carpet at the door. If he starts doing this while you are away you may have to get a good sized cage to put him in while you are gone or invest in some hard plastic covers to put on the carpet (like the kind used under office chairs).

Just be extra sure that the room is totally ferret-proofed, that there aren't any holes that he can crawl into or furniture he can get stuck in. A good way to check this is to go through every square inch of the floor and try to imagine it from a ferret's point of view; anything that he can reach or hop onto needs to be proofed. Hope this helps, good luck.