Dook dook dook! ^^ Pic Heavy

I have three cute, hyper, and extremely rambunctious ferrets named Izzi, Ricky, and Hoover! Izzi is my only girl (the middle child ), Ricky is the oldest dominant male, and Hoover is my youngest male who is TRYING to get dominant male...but he has a long way to go .

Izzi when I first got her:




Izzi now (after blowing her coat like crazy!):

She likes to sleep in weird positions

Ricky was a rescue...Originally an adoption, but the condition he was in was horrible. He was being fed dog food and came to me with fractured, rotting teeth and a dead coat. Our first night together consisted of me pulling out (gently) all of his dead fur and giving him a much needed bath and ear cleaning. I brought him home to introduce to Izzi and they bonded immediately! They're always together. I will not post his before pictures that I received from his owner because his fur looked awful...but he was completely gray before he looked like this!

Ricky:


Izzi and Ricky are inseperable:


Ricky after getting a growth removed...completely healed now!


Last but not least...Hoover (named because he eats like a vaccuum haha)! He is a rescue from Petco. How? He was stuck in a glass aquarium all by himself with little to no bedding, no water, and gunky, filthy food. I wasn't able to even stand because there was no bedding on the bottom of the tank. They labeled him as "mean" and "special needs" and remarked his price to 50 dollars. The employees were afraid to even touch him. I grabbed him with no concern or effort and took him home that day. He was a little nippy as all kits are, and had partial blindness in one eye...he can see completely fine now as the "blindness" was temporary. He is probably the sweetest ferret I've ever had, and most certainly not a "special needs" ferret.

Hoover and all his lanky glory!:




(Sorry for the amount of pics...and I hope I posted them right...this is how I post in other forums and I can't figure out any other way to post pictures in another format even with instructions..)

Awwww they are so cute wish i was allowed cute and furry but my other half keeps snakes so he wont let me



and yes you posted them in the correct way

Awww
they are beautiful!
i have always wanted a ferret.
I love hoover the most.. he has such a cute little face
Wow! you are great for rescuing the ferrets

Cute they look like the ones we use to have. They are little pick pockets, lol. I loved that

They are so sweet and cute. It is something that always fascinated me but I have never really gotten into them. Yours are just so sweet and look like little trouble makers:D

@ smsararas2 - You have no idea. Hoover likes to nip my feet while I'm at my computer to get my attention...or my Achilles tendon >.< The only way to make Hoover stop bugging me is to pick him up and play a video game on the computer...he just kind of stares at the screen like "Whoa what is going on!? Let me help!"

Izzi likes to romp around and mess with my feet to...she's hilarious. I try to pick her up and give her a smooch, and she puts both paws on my mouth and turns away with her nose in the air: "NO!!"

Ricky is a momma's boy. He has to always be around me or Izzi.


Ferrets can be quite a handful...but once you get a cleaning and playtime routine down, it can be really fun. I wash their bedding 1x a week, spot clean several times a week in their litterboxes and wash them out fully while I do their laundry...brush their teeth, clean ears weekly..and bathe every 4-6 months. Just depends what they get themselves into. ^^

Very cute. Makes me miss my trio of ferrets, altho when I had ferrets we didn't have these groovy multi level condos they have now days...

Super cute ferrets!

Kermit wrote:Very cute. Makes me miss my trio of ferrets, altho when I had ferrets we didn't have these groovy multi level condos they have now days...

Haha yeah.. I bought myself the Ferret Nation 142 (two story)....cost me a pretty penny but it was definitely worth it!

What happened to your trio, if I might ask?

Kodieh wrote: Super cute ferrets!

Thank you! I just switched them to Evo Ferret Food mixed with Marshall's to get a higher protein % and it really made their coats look fantastic and shiny! They're gaining weight much easier now for winter.

My trio lived long happy full lives and died at ripe old ages. One in his sleep, and 2 had to be put down because of propable strokes. I wish I had a ferret nation when I had my trio, but they had free roam of the house with my lab, all got along famously, even sharing the same dish (but not all eating dog food ). Cid was the type that would bite everyone on the achille's heal, just one tho like an innitiation to the house they only ever got penned up when I couldn't be there to watch them or during the night.

Kermit wrote:My trio lived long happy full lives and died at ripe old ages. One in his sleep, and 2 had to be put down because of propable strokes. I wish I had a ferret nation when I had my trio, but they had free roam of the house with my lab, all got along famously, even sharing the same dish (but not all eating dog food ). Cid was the type that would bite everyone on the achille's heal, just one tho like an innitiation to the house they only ever got penned up when I couldn't be there to watch them or during the night.

Well at least they lived fun and active lives I keep my ferrets in their cage and let them run 4-6 hours per day since they're napping the other 18-20 hours... I can't let them run around too much or they'll find a new way to rip up my carpet >.< Been struggling trying to make them dig boxes to play in, but all they do is make a mess and run back to the carpet. But since yours had free roam a big cage like a FN was definitely not necessary

Hoover's initiation is stealing a guest's socks or one of their shoes...usually the left shoe for some reason. He hid one of my shoes in a cupboard once... A week or so later, all three of my ferrets got into my Victoria's Secret drawer... Let's just say that one of my undergarments was found in three different corners...

ooooo can you upload a pic of your ferret housing? i wanna see it ^ ^

gothicgurrrl wrote:ooooo can you upload a pic of your ferret housing? i wanna see it ^ ^

Of course I'll upload a pic of the setup Ricky says hello to everyone, by the way!



The setup includes: 2x litter boxes, 1x 3-cup food dish, 1x gallon water bottle, 4x towels/blankets for bedding, 2x hammocks, 1x corner bed, 1x small cat bed. On top of the cage is their vet carrier and extra towels when I do their laundry...on the bottom shelf there are 2x water/food bowls for the vet, food, and litter. I think the shelf has a 100+ lb limit...not quite sure though. It hasn't collapsed though!

EDIT: To give you perspective on how big this thing is...I'm 5'3'' tall and this thing is about my height.

Awww! They are adorable!
And the set--up is stunning! OMG
I wish I could have ferrets, lol, mom won't let me though. :P

Stop it...lol...you are making me want some and my husband may divorce me if I get into another animal....hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahah

I want a set up like this for my bunnies.. I've seen loads of peoples rabbit condo's online They are so cool

but my mom wont let me keep bunnies in the house.. and we don't have any spare room. One day, i'm having a bunny room with condos

Coool I'm 5''2.. so it's almost my height!

kathstew wrote:Awww! They are adorable!
And the set--up is stunning! OMG
I wish I could have ferrets, lol, mom won't let me though. :P

Tell her a ferret is like a dog mixed with a 2-year old Super cute...and they're easy to care for and litterbox trainable. Never had problems with mine chewing on powercords either...as long as you keep them stimulated with lots of toys (I use a lot of fluffy toys and boxes with holes cut in them so they can run and have hiding places when they play tag with each other or with me! Heehee ). I actually have a small little toy box filled to the top with almost 25 toys.

And their smell is manageable! Just gotta clean poop daily by spot cleaning and then do a whole wash down weekly. And you can teach them to fetch and hunt...I won't get into details on hunting because there's a rabbit lover in this thread!

@smsararas2

Haha! What kind of snakes does your husband own? If they're small like corn snakes it shouldn't be an issue...but if they're that small you have to make sure the ferrets can't get IN the snake enclosure...they'll think it's a toy or food.

gothicgurrrl wrote:hahahah

I want a set up like this for my bunnies.. I've seen loads of peoples rabbit condo's online They are so cool


but my mom wont let me keep bunnies in the house.. and we don't have
any spare room. One day, i'm having a bunny room with condos

Coool I'm 5''2.. so it's almost my height!

A bunny condo? I've never heard of them...but I've seen something ridiculous like hutches that look like they're big enough for 20+ rabbits. I've seen some pretty neat looking hutches for a less-obsessed rabbit owners. Do you use hutches for yours?

EDIT:

Just to keep in mind I'm not actually trying to persuade people to get ferrets...I might make it seem easy because I've had ferrets for a long time and it's become apart of my daily routine for years... but they're a handful and quite the commitment. You have to baby proof everything...make sure they can't get into cupboards with dangerous stuff in it (chemicals, pots, pans...anything heavy that can fall on them), keep them away from bookshelves or clear out the bottom shelf...heavy books can really hurt a ferret. Also, they do and WILL put anything in their mouth...and swallow it if they can. They're a 2-year old for LIFE. If you love kids...perfect. If you don't...probably won't like a ferret.

They're pretty smart too...mine learned how to open my sliding closet doors in my house which forced me to use a baby gate to wedge them shut when they're running around.

They're also poop monsters...never knew something so small could poo like buffalo.

Ferrets also are group animals (called a business) and need that social environment for their health and mind...people can't tend to a ferret's every social need...neither can a dog, really. They need that bond! Usually two ferrets is a good start...I've seen businesses get up to almost 12 ferrets.

Vet bills are expensive too. Ricky's molar removal cost me almost $650, his head growth removal cost about $800....they're a huge commitment. Even check-ups can wind up to be $200 depending on what needs to be done. Ricky needs lupron shots during his yearly, so that's why it's so expensive.

They also get a lot of different illnesses and they're susceptible to the human flu...so if you get the flu, they'll probably get it. My friend came over with the flu for a few minutes which gave them to my ferrets...then I caught the flu from my ferrets. It's pretty nasty stuff. I've also had to force feed my ferrets when they were ill or recovering...it requires a little technique and patience. Some ferrets like it, some ferrets will put up a huge fuss.

Overall: Ferrets are tough to keep for beginners if you don't know what you are walking into. They're expensive and everything looks like something that would "probably feel so nice in my mouth!" Even your feet.