Thinking of getting a ferret..

Question
Hi,
I would just like your personal opinion on getting a ferret. I've been doing a lot of research first and am aware of the attention they need etc. I would like to ask someone who owns one or more if they are happy with having one or is the expense more on the extreme side. I also have small dogs. Just a little concerned with the negatives I'm hearing. Also do they normally sleep at night when you put them in their cage or do they sleep more during the day? Thanks in advance, I'm excited to add an addition to our family but don't want to make a mistake and be sorry either.

Answer
Dear Karen,

Beware: once you enter the world of weasels, you will fall for them, and HARD.  You will become addicted.  

That being said, ferrets are the most wonderful exotic pet anyone could ever ask for.  They poop in the litter box (well...most of the time!), they sleep about 18 hours per day, they play like kittens their whole lives, and they don't make any loud noises.

Ferrets are naturally nocturnal, but will adjust their schedules to yours.  If you consistently release them from their cage at 8 a.m. and put them away at 10:00 p.m., they will sleep fairly soundly when they're in the cage.  They only stay away for about a hour or so at a time before meandering away to their hidey-hole to catch a nap until later.

Here is a rough scale of my ferrets day:

8 am: Out of cage

8-10: Play play play

10-3: Zzzz's

3-4: Check all corners, eat, steal a sock and hide it, steal an insole and hide it, figure out how to reach kitchen counter...can't...give up, eat, go back to bed.

4-7: Zzzz's

7-9: Wake up, mom's home!  Play with mom, eat, chase kitten, play again, eat, check all corners to make sure all the furniture is still here.

10 pm-8 am: In cage, sleeping.

I always recommend getting two ferrets so they don't get bored and so they keep each other out of trouble.  I know that seems like a lot, and maybe for now you only get one...but do consider giving him a buddy to wrestle with later.  I had a single ferret for two years before I got him  buddy, and let me tell you he was a different ferret alltogeher: playful, bouncy, and he just looked healthier.

They're TOTALLY worth everything you go through.  

Sincerely

Stephenie