Ferrets and hamsters

[Ponytail]

Maybe we bathed the one we had too often?

You tell me. When a Ferret is descented, it's scent glands are removed. The scent from a descented ferret comes from the natural oils in the skin. Dogs stink too, some more than others, requiring baths. Like humans, when your skin dries out, you expell more oil. I used a shampoo and oatmeal based ferret skin conditioner on my ferret, and didn't have a problem with smell.

BUT, if you don't wash their bedding and keep their area clean, they will stink also. I had one for almost 5 years. I had her put to sleep due to cancer. I was always concerned about her smell and due to my allergies especially, I kept her clean as well as her area. I never had a single complaint, not even from my friend that I was living with. It was his house, and I told him that if it ever got to a point where he could smell the ferret when he walked into the house, or the room to tell me. He's the kind of person that would. And he never did.

Never a complaint from my mom or grandmom either when myself and the ferret would visit them. And believe me, BOTH are the type that would let me know if the ferret so much as twitched the wrong way. Mom eventually warmed up to the ferret, though my grandmom would have had NO trouble at all telling me to get rid of the "rat" at the slightest hint of trouble. Her house is spotless. Always.

 

[somd whisper]

You tell me. When a Ferret is descented, it's scent glands are removed. The scent from a descented ferret comes from the natural oils in the skin. Dogs stink too, some more than others, requiring baths. Like humans, when your skin dries out, you expell more oil. I used a shampoo and oatmeal based ferret skin conditioner on my ferret, and didn't have a problem with smell.

BUT, if you don't wash their bedding and keep their area clean, they will stink also. I had one for almost 5 years. I had her put to sleep due to cancer. I was always concerned about her smell and due to my allergies especially, I kept her clean as well as her area. I never had a single complaint, not even from my friend that I was living with. It was his house, and I told him that if it ever got to a point where he could smell the ferret when he walked into the house, or the room to tell me. He's the kind of person that would. And he never did.

Never a complaint from my mom or grandmom either when myself and the ferret would visit them. And believe me, BOTH are the type that would let me know if the ferret so much as twitched the wrong way. Mom eventually warmed up to the ferret, though my grandmom would have had NO trouble at all telling me to get rid of the "rat" at the slightest hint of trouble. Her house is spotless. Always.

Hope this helps below is an excerpt fro this great website
http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/part3.html

Any advice on baths, ears, and nail-clipping?
First of all, unless your ferret goes snorkeling in butterscotch pudding or has a bad case of fleas, you really don't need to bathe her very often at all. It doesn't affect the odor much; in fact, many ferrets smell worse for a few days following a bath. The best thing you can do to control your ferret's scent is to change her bedding every few days and keep the litter pans clean.

The problem with frequent bathing is that it can cause dry skin, especially in winter. There's nothing wrong with bathing your ferret only once a year. Once a month should be okay, but switch to less often if you have problems with dry skin. Most ferrets don't seem to mind baths much. Some ferrets enjoy a bath quite a bit, swimming around in the tub and diving for the drain plug.

 

[Ponytail]

Hope this helps below is an excerpt fro this great website
http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/part3.html

Any advice on baths, ears, and nail-clipping?
First of all, unless your ferret goes snorkeling in butterscotch pudding or has a bad case of fleas, you really don't need to bathe her very often at all. It doesn't affect the odor much; in fact, many ferrets smell worse for a few days following a bath. The best thing you can do to control your ferret's scent is to change her bedding every few days and keep the litter pans clean.

The problem with frequent bathing is that it can cause dry skin, especially in winter. There's nothing wrong with bathing your ferret only once a year. Once a month should be okay, but switch to less often if you have problems with dry skin. Most ferrets don't seem to mind baths much. Some ferrets enjoy a bath quite a bit, swimming around in the tub and diving for the drain plug.

While on the phone with my mother, I had a very wet and very BLUE ferret run past me after an apparent swim in the toilet.

As far as care, I recommend any number of books written about ferrets and the care of them. You can learn alot about these creatures from the experts. I read several books before getting mine. They all said about the same thing though.

 

[somd whisper]

While on the phone with my mother, I had a very wet and very BLUE ferret run past me after an apparent swim in the toilet.

As far as care, I recommend any number of books written about ferrets and the care of them. You can learn alot about these creatures from the experts. I read several books before getting mine. They all said about the same thing though.

roflmao that is way too funny....not good for ferret but too funny. I came home one day and my daughter thought that it would be fun to take food coloring and put red (turned out pink) polka dots on our white ferret.

These guys are just amazing pets

 

[BS Gal]

While on the phone with my mother, I had a very wet and very BLUE ferret run past me after an apparent swim in the toilet.

As far as care, I recommend any number of books written about ferrets and the care of them. You can learn alot about these creatures from the experts. I read several books before getting mine. They all said about the same thing though.

My stepdaughter brought this one home. Could have been that the claim that it was de-scented was untrue, also and she did give it weekly baths, which I guess contributed to the problem. I did love the little guy, though. I had a lot of laughs watching it get into things. It was very, very curious. We're at the point now that we have a dog and a cat and do not want any more animals. The dog is 13, so she is getting on in her years. The cat is so mean it will live forever.

PT - Are you going to get another one?

 

[somd whisper]

My stepdaughter brought this one home. Could have been that the claim that it was de-scented was untrue, also and she did give it weekly baths, which I guess contributed to the problem. I did love the little guy, though. I had a lot of laughs watching it get into things. It was very, very curious. We're at the point now that we have a dog and a cat and do not want any more animals. The dog is 13, so she is getting on in her years. The cat is so mean it will live forever.

PT - Are you going to get another one?

I know I am thinking about getting another one. Everytime I go into petco and see how cramped up they are, (IDK they might like that) I want to get them all

 

[Ponytail]

...
PT - Are you going to get another one?

I would love to get another one. I just don't have the time for a pet right now. Ferrets require more attention than dogs. The books will tell you, that ferrets are between children and dogs when it comes to necessary attention.

I would love to get another one though. Though, if I do get one, I will get two. They keep each other company.

And I almost forgot, one of the guys that I go shooting with has two ferrets and a German Shepard in his one bedroom apartment. No odd smell at all.

 

[BS Gal]

I would love to get another one. I just don't have the time for a pet right now. Ferrets require more attention than dogs. The books will tell you, that ferrets are between children and dogs when it comes to necessary attention.

I would love to get another one though. Though, if I do get one, I will get two. They keep each other company.

And I almost forgot, one of the guys that I go shooting with has two ferrets and a German Shepard in his one bedroom apartment. No odd smell at all.

I think we got a lemon that wasn't de-scented OR she bathed it too much. They're really fun, but, like you said, require a lot of attention and time, more than I have to give.

 

[somd whisper]

I think we got a lemon that wasn't de-scented OR she bathed it too much. They're really fun, but, like you said, require a lot of attention and time, more than I have to give.

any suggestions for ferret toys? My husband before he passed had gone to the hardware store and brought the plastic dryer vent tubing along with the sectional joints and make a very large ferret hide and seek but other than that they do not seem to play with anything else

 

[desertrat]

any suggestions for ferret toys? My husband before he passed had gone to the hardware store and brought the plastic dryer vent tubing along with the sectional joints and make a very large ferret hide and seek but other than that they do not seem to play with anything else

Ferrets are cool. They are like furry snakes. Best ferret toy....other ferrets.

 

[BS Gal]

any suggestions for ferret toys? My husband before he passed had gone to the hardware store and brought the plastic dryer vent tubing along with the sectional joints and make a very large ferret hide and seek but other than that they do not seem to play with anything else

I have no idea. PT might know.

Sorry about your hubby.

 

[somd whisper]

I have no idea. PT might know.

Sorry about your hubby.

Thanks, it has been a rough time for us but he did it doing something he loved protecting his country....I can only pray for some light to shine through soon

 

[BS Gal]

Thanks, it has been a rough time for us but he did it doing something he loved protecting his country....I can only pray for some light to shine through soon

I appreciate his service to his country. My prayers are with you and yours.

 

[huntr1]

I appreciate his service to his country. My prayers are with you and yours.

 

[somd whisper]

Thank you so much, it is nice to know that someone will remember them in honor. Sometimes it breaks my heart to hear all the negitive comments made about this war...

 

[Ponytail]

any suggestions for ferret toys? My husband before he passed had gone to the hardware store and brought the plastic dryer vent tubing along with the sectional joints and make a very large ferret hide and seek but other than that they do not seem to play with anything else

Ferrets have very short attention spans. Simple things, like empty paper towel rolls, (mine preferred full rolls of toilet paper especially if it was hanging on the holder in the bathroom), my motorcycle gloves, hats, socks and anything else that she could stuff up inside the top of the back of the sofa, raw potatos, empty egg cartons, loved playing hide and seek with the neighbors black lab. Her goal with that was to see how much furniture that she could get the dog to flip over.

The main thing is, not to over do it with toys. If you give them something, once they loose interest in it, take it away from them for awhile. Put their toys on a rotation to keep the stuff interesting to them.

 

[MysticalMom]

My ferret, Mr. Nips, got out of our house through the dryer vent yesterday. (My fault for not closing the laundry room doors) The dryer vent goes out to the backyard, where two huge Malmute/Husky mixes, R.C and PupUp,thought Mr Nips would be fun to play with. I found him shortly after their game of tug-of-war. R.I.P. Mr. Nips.

 

[cattitude]

I have an otter. He tends to have a problem with his feet stinking. Other than that as long as I let him play in the tub, I don't notice much of an odor.

 

[somd whisper]

Ferrets have very short attention spans. Simple things, like empty paper towel rolls, (mine preferred full rolls of toilet paper especially if it was hanging on the holder in the bathroom), my motorcycle gloves, hats, socks and anything else that she could stuff up inside the top of the back of the sofa, raw potatos, empty egg cartons, loved playing hide and seek with the neighbors black lab. Her goal with that was to see how much furniture that she could get the dog to flip over.

The main thing is, not to over do it with toys. If you give them something, once they loose interest in it, take it away from them for awhile. Put their toys on a rotation to keep the stuff interesting to them.

cool thanks for the info

 

[somd whisper]

My ferret, Mr. Nips, got out of our house through the dryer vent yesterday. (My fault for not closing the laundry room doors) The dryer vent goes out to the backyard, where two huge Malmute/Husky mixes, R.C and PupUp,thought Mr Nips would be fun to play with. I found him shortly after their game of tug-of-war. R.I.P. Mr. Nips.

OMG really????????