Ferret Care

Ferret Care

How to take care of your ferret

Ferrets are among the most cherished pets and this will be attested by almost all pet owners. The reasons for this are that they are cute, small, good tempered, and they can be trained and domisticated in the same way as cats and dogs can. Also caring for your ferrets is easy, and they need just the same amount of care as a dog or cat would require.

While caring for your ferrets you have to consider the following things:

*    Housing
*    feeding
*    health

Each of these things are described in brief below.

Housing: Remember that, ferrets are very active and curious animals. They love to wander around the house freely. Therefore, if you cannot afford this, don’t consider keeping them around.
You can have a cage of suitable size, as a home for you ferret. The ideal size of cage for a single ferret can be 40 inches by 20 inches. You can keep your ferret in this cage during the night or during some emergency or travel. If you keep it longer than this time period, it may get frustrated. As a result of this it may try to claw or gnaw at the cage which will may cause dental damage.

However, if it is inevitable to keep your ferret in cage take care that you atleast let it out for some 2 to 3 hours, two times a day. During this time it should get sufficient area for exploration and wandering.

Caring your for ferrets also includes that you ensure that your ferret is not exposed to harmful objects like exposed wires or gaps between wires, nails, loose panels and doors, perch like shelves.

Feeding: ferrets are the animals having rapid metabolism. Therefore caring for your ferrets also includes that you take proper care of feeding it. You cannot tell when your ferret will require food and water. Therefore it is better to keep these things always available for them. While eating ferrts will definately spill the food and water, so keep these things managed in a proper way to reduce the spilage.

Do not use water bottles or containers that can be damage their teeth. Moreover, also take care that their feeding containers are hygienic.

Special ferret food, or Kitten food are the best for ferret. The food should better be dry and hard. This ensures that their teeth remain clean and their faces smell less. The food should contain, about 32 to 36 % protein and atleast 18% fat. The ash content of their food should be minimum and you can also supplement their food with taurine for preveting urinary tract problems.

Though ferrets are carnivores they also like fruits and sweet vegetables like grapes, bananas, apple, melon, carrots, cucumber, etc. These things complement their diet and provide them additional nutrients as well. Dog biscuits also are a healthy snack for ferrets.

Health: An important part of caring for your ferrets is taking him to a vet two to three times a year. Yearly vaccinations are a must to keep them away from diseases.ferrets aer highly susceptible to canine distemper, and so they should be given yearly inocultations against it.
Ferrets develop dental cavities and  so you need to be careful about their dental health. Spaying and neutering, de-scenting etc are some other thing which you will have to do while caring for your ferrets.

When you have any pet it is your responsiblity to care for him. Therefore you should definitely take care of the above mentioned things if you want to have a ferret as pet.