What You Should Know About the Ferret Home
When bringing a ferret home there are many things to know and consider. You should first of all choose a dwelling that is safe, secure, comfortable, and very large for them to play in. A ferret home is a very important purchase for the life of your ferret and shouldn’t be neglected. You should ensure that there is plenty of bedding in the cage but you also need to make sure that the bars aren’t spaced too widely. Wide bars can cause your ferrets hands and feet to get stuck and this can cause injury to your ferret. Plastic coated metal is not to be used when looking at cage materials. This is easily chewable and your ferret can swallow the plastic. You should make sure that the material is entirely plastic or some other material but not plastic coated. Remember to purchase a ferret home that has large doors for your ferret to move through. Ferrets like to sleep 20 hours a day but when their active they like to move around a lot. Giving them sleeping sacks can help them sleep better while taking steps to improve the safety of the room their in can help give them a safe area to explore.
Of course exploring would be meaningless without toys to play with. The same rules that apply to buying a ferret home also apply to buying ferret toys. You should never buy anything that is coated with plastic or easily chewable materials. The last thing you want to do is give your friend a toy and end up making them sick. One very important thing that you need to do aside from choosing the right ferret home is to have them neutered and de-scented when their old enough. Ferrets are part of the Mustelid family and for those of you not familiar with the term this is the same family as skunks. This means that ferrets have a sack near their anus that secrets a foul smelling liquid. They use this to mark territory, scare off predators, and will sometimes spray it when they are afraid in general. You can have both of these procedures done at the same time but remember to follow your vet’s instructions afterwards. Remember to get your ferrets vaccinated when they need to be otherwise their health will begin to suffer and they may begin to spread diseases around your home. This is not something any animal owner wants to deal with.
You should also take special care when it comes to your ferrets diet. When you purchase your ferret ask the store what food they have been feeding it so you don’t shock their systems when you get home. You generally want to feed them food containing no frozen ingredients and you can substitute cat food for ferret food if you need to. Giving your ferrets snacks is not necessary but if you want to you can give them a well cooked egg or another vet recommended snack. Remember to never give them sugar as their systems cannot handle it.
Preparing to bring your ferret home is a very important part of your life with your new friend. Not only is it the start of your relationship but what you do can affect your ferret for years to come. Remember that they have to have their environments at a certain temperature so follow the instructions of the pet store to get the temperature just right. Preparing as much as possible can make the whole process go much smoother and can get your relationship off to a healthy start. Remember to talk to your vet if you have any questions and don’t hesitate to call them if there seems to be a problem.