ferrets one or two

Question
I have never owned a ferret before but am considering adding them to my house. We have dogs and I have lots and lots of expreience training them and raising them and would never EVER bring a pet into my house I did not know for sure that I could keep and love for it's enitre lifetime. However I don't know all that much about ferrets and I have a few questions.  What do you think about buying vs. adopting ferrets? Is it better to have one or two of them?  It sounds like having a ferret is more like having a dog than a rabbit or something and I am just wonering if that is right? and everything I have read makes them sound very time consuming is that right also?Thanks a lot I just wanted the opinion of someone who actually has ferrets!

Answer
Hi Katie!

Congratulations on being one of the few folks smart enough to do your research before bringing the pet home!  You would be surprised, but I would guess the ferret is probably the most 'brought back' pet of all pets sold...primarily because people just don't do their homework first.

It's hard for me to compare having a ferret with having a rabbit, as I had a friend who had a very spoiled rabbit who had the run of the home, was litterbox trained and very demanding for attention; so since I haven't had one myself, I hate to speak, as I always thought rabbits were animals who basically spent their lives in a cage munching greens, but that certainly wasn't the  case for my friend's rabbit!  I have, however, had a lot of dogs and never had one who required as much one-on-one attention and personal care as a ferret does.  I've heard it said that a ferret is the mixture between a silly, energetic, playful little kitten and a human two-year-old child - now, THAT would be closer, I think.  Ferrets require a LOT of one-on-one attention and daily care (plan on at LEAST 3 to 4 hours of highly supervised playtime when they are young; maybe an hour or two when they are older. For this reason, many people opt to adopt an older ferret as their first ferret - not quite as time intensive, but you still get the feel of having a ferret...plus, older ferrets are more cuddly (younger ones rarely slow down long enough to cuddle, but older ferrets will often sleep on your lap or in your arms if they feel secure :-)  Ferrets are also one of the pets that really DO appreciate having a second chance in life and when they are 'rescued' from a shelter, they do seem to understand that and reward their owners by becoming very very devoted to them.  Although your overall time with an older, adopted from a shelter ferret, you may want to weigh the quality of that time versus the length of time. If you can't tell, I'm a bit partial to older, adopted (from ferret shelters or Humane Societies) ferrets from my own personal experience.  Energetic little ones who only know love in their lifetimes sometimes never age to become as cuddly and appreciative of their human as an adopted one who  had a hard life before coming to you. They don't seem to hold it against us humans that *some* of us are idiots and mistreat these precious little critters.   In a shelter, sometimes the hardest to adopt are the 'bonded pairs'...and even more often, adopting them out and breaking up pairs will often spell death for both ferrets, as they become very very emotionally bonded to each other; so it's always best to get two or three, especially if they are bonded in a foster home or shelter.

Ferrets, either old or young, are all time consuming. Kits (babies) usually because they get into things and can be destructive if not observed constantly and redirected to healthy and fun activities, older ferrets because they often have health problems and need medications, require more time being cuddled and held (and can be very demanding if they don't get it!)

If you think a ferret MAY be for you  and your family, realize that the ferrets will *probably* require playtime separate from your dogs...usually a dog or two MAY bond okay with a ferret, but multiple ones usually are a problem. Often ferrets see dogs as *their* pet and love on them, OR they will see them as their whipping boy and pick on them constantly.  You may even want to take other pets that will be in the house with you when you choose a ferret, which will let you see how they interact together. Some are immediately buddies - others show immediate fear or aggression, depending on their previous experience, if any.

I highly recommend a book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling.  You can get this really cheaply at http://www.half.com or even Amazon.com.

Some online places to find information galore (and online groups of ferret owners galore!) are here:

http://www.miamiferret.org

http://www.everythingferret.com

http://www.ferretcentral.org

I hope those help.  If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to write again. There is just so much to learn that I could write a book, but hopefully this will be enough to give you a good start and enough to make a decision. Another thing you may consider doing is joining an online ferret group and reading posts by ferret owners - that will give you an idea about how much fun and love they can bring into your home, but there IS a high maintenance price to pay for that fun and joy!   Myself?  I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Best of luck to you in making your decision!

sincerely,
Jacquie Rodgers