Ferrets are like children. They're really cute, but I would never want to have to care for one or share a home with one.

You can't have a ferret thread without the singing ferret lady. She's a hottie (on the Fark hotness scale).

Good God they must be irritating.

Generation_D: Ferret people make cat people look sane and well adjusted.

Totally this. Also, one thing I guarantee you: Just offscreen of any cute ferret video is an absolute disaster-area of a home, those animals are pure evil indoors.

Friend of mine, when he was in college at UNT (then North Texas State), lived with a few other buddies in what they called "The Stinky House".  You can imagine.  Anyway, they had a chihuahua named Chainsaw, and a ferret named Riki Tiki Tavi, and every night, just about drunk-thirty, they would start their insane chase scenes throughout the house.  After an hour or two, they disappeared, and were usually found curled up together, out like a light.

Riki was a beer drinker, too.

unyon: Generation_D: deadsanta: Generation_D: Ferret people make cat people look sane and well adjusted.

Totally this. Also, one thing I guarantee you: Just offscreen of any cute ferret video is an absolute disaster-area of a home, those animals are pure evil indoors.

The one time I saw ferrets work as pets was in an industrial warehouse living situation, where the owner's GF kept them in a large terrarium / cage enclosure that had dryer tubes snaking all over the space. The ferrets loved it because they could roam and explore, the humans loved it because the ferrets weren't out destroying everything in the rest of the space.

The one drawback was she liked to bring the ferrets into bed with her, so their bed always smelled like ferret piss. One of the drawbacks of a goth girlfriend in the 1990s is they liked weird pets.

I had ferrets in the late 80s.  Both were completely free range indoors.  One lived in the couch.  There's no way in hell that they were coming in the bedroom, though- they were both fond of jaw locking on your earlobe and tugging.  It might sound cute, but trust me, it wasn't.

One would also round up every shoe he could find and drag them under the couch.  If you couldn't find your shoes, there was only one place they could be.  Still, ferrets possess an awful lot of personality.  They were fun pets.

I had one back in the 90's and I can absolutely relate. He was funny as hell, coming up to the coffee table when the ex wife and I were eating....watching us to turn our head for a second so he could steal a pea or something off our plates then madly dashing under the sofa.

Or he's asleep in his hammock, 3 feet off the ground in his cage, head hanging out....wait for it....BANG! He falls out of his hammock and he's sitting on the floor with that WTF just happened look.

Having the run of the house and suddenly choosing to stop crapping in the corner of his cage and instead crapping in the corner of the closet.

I still loved the little monster, you get completely used to the musk and not over bathing them is the best way to go.

RIP Scooter...

ferrets are evil and smelly

my buddy had two ferrets, stunk like hell always, and didnt really care about anything other than getting into places that would get it trapped or killed, or both.  Hell, just playing with them for 5 minutes made me a staunch opponent to ever owning one.

/Also when they get old you have to worrry about them getting cancerous tumors and crap.  not to mention they live on average 6-8 years- so yeah enjoy that smell for that long if youre into that.

//fun little things to see at the pet store- but thats about it in my book.

cheers

A friend of mine had ferrets, and I always thought they smelled like honey and poop.

Great contender for Pony with Playball for total frolic content.

All I could think of...

deadsanta: Generation_D: Ferret people make cat people look sane and well adjusted.

Totally this. Also, one thing I guarantee you: Just offscreen of any cute ferret video is an absolute disaster-area of a home, those animals are pure evil indoors.
they're pure evil outdoors too - will pretty much kill anything they can. Think of a Jack Russell on crack, except faster.
I hope they never get legalized in California....

Benevolent Misanthrope: Lsherm: I love ferrets, but even after you de-gland them you still have to give them a bath every three days or the smell is crazy bad.

Happy Hours: Ferrets are like children. They're really cute, but I would never want to have to care for one or share a home with one.

Thank you both.  I've been debating whether I would want one, since they are incredibly adorable.  These two posts answered that for me.

As someone that's had many, many ferrets... the bath issue is nothing, it's MAYBE once a week, generally twice a week if they're eating good food. There is almost NO smell if they're healthy and the litter pan is cleaned daily, just like a cat.

Yes, they're like children, and puppies and kittens... they love to play, get into everything they can reach. So unless you hate playing baby critters, you'll love them.

If they'd used polystyrene packing peanuts there wouldn't be a square millimeter of uncovered ferret, and they'd be finding that shiat for years in every nook and cranny, and every piece of electronics that a ferret touched would be toast.

Cornstarch is a bit cleaner, and a heck of a lot safer for the psycho critters.

The real source of the smell with ferrets is the musk on their bedding.  If you overwash the weasels, they produce more scent because their skin is dry.  Wash the ferret once a month or so, but clean the litter box daily and wash the bedding every few days and you'll be surprised at how little smell there is.

Mrs. Terminal and I had a pair of the critters.    Washed 'em once a week, and they were awesomely fun.   They were like little narcoleptics:    play, play, play, play, play, play, play, play, play, sleep.

I had a ferret, and she never really got stinky.  Needed a bath maybe every other month or so.

Her litterbox on the other hand...

/silly little beastie
//never stole shoes, just the liners from them
///and the dog's teddy bear

If you're thinking of buying a ferret... get a rat instead.

I Like Bread: If you're thinking of buying a ferret... get a rat instead.

If you're thinking of getting a rat, get two.  The costs to you aren't much higher, and the quality of life for them is improved dramatically.

RatMaster999: I Like Bread: If you're thinking of buying a ferret... get a rat instead.

If you're thinking of getting a rat, get two.  The costs to you aren't much higher, and the quality of life for them is improved dramatically.

Thanks. I value your advice over RatNovice and RatAmateur.

puffy999: I Like Bread: RatMaster999: I Like Bread: If you're thinking of buying a ferret... get a rat instead.

If you're thinking of getting a rat, get two.  The costs to you aren't much higher, and the quality of life for them is improved dramatically.

Thanks. I value your advice over RatNovice and RatAmateur.

Plus, he has the right set of numbers behind him.

Thanks, y'all.  Now, if I can just get my RatDoctorate...

Lsherm: I love ferrets, but even after you de-gland them you still have to give them a bath every three days or the smell is crazy bad.

That is the only reason I don't a ferret ....so awesome ..but so stinky.

A young (stupid) fellow tenant in our building washed his ferret bed in the community washer and put it in the dryer, we tried EVERYTHING to get the stink out.  Finally had to throw out the dryer.  The worst thing was that the kid always smelled like a ferret too.

I think they are adorable, but nothing would make up for the way they reek!  Should have been left as the wild animals they are meant to be.  There are a zillion of them for adoption on petfinder.com
I know why.

BAZINGA!