# Ferrets as indoor pets



## Halfpint (Sep 11, 2009)

What's the general feeling on keeping ferrets indoors? I understand ferrets are very active sociable animals, so they would only be in a cage while I'm at work and at night, once I'm home they will be let out to roam free. I know they can be destructive, so I'll ferret proof the house the room lol. I've been looking at 3 storey cages around the 5ft height. I would also take the ferrets out for walks. I guess my main question is, can ferrets be indoor pets and be truly happy and healthy? I don't agree with an animal ever being housed incorrectly just because you want it as a pet.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

Halfpint said:


> What's the general feeling on keeping ferrets indoors? I understand ferrets are very active sociable animals, so they would only be in a cage while I'm at work and at night, once I'm home they will be let out to roam free. I know they can be destructive, so I'll ferret proof the house the room lol. I've been looking at 3 storey cages around the 5ft height. I would also take the ferrets out for walks. I guess my main question is, can ferrets be indoor pets and be truly happy and healthy? I don't agree with an animal ever being housed incorrectly just because you want it as a pet.


Not destructive as such (certainly not like skunks), but they......move things.

D'yer know what? My two used to live indoors, but they are sooo much happier outside, not to mention how much better their coats are. Despite what some people claim, they do smell also, no matter how clean you keep them. Once they have been put outside, you notice how much less your house stinks.


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## clangercrazy (Apr 20, 2009)

I keep my 2 ferrets indoors,always have done. They have to be caged when we're at work, and at night, and when we've had enough of them being a pain too.......:lol2:
They are destructive - well my 2 are! They dig the carpet and get fluff everywhere, they nick stuff and run off with it and hide it, they don't chew wires but they do mess with them! They push and shove stuff out of the way - which can result in breakages! We've had to get a tv stand with a compeltely enlosed glass fronted door to stop them getting behind the dvd/video/wii and shoving it violently on the floor! They pull anyting down that they can get their teeth round! Mine dig on and have destroyed one of our sofas - Scampi managed to make a hole in the back and fell in through it and couldn't get out! lol, had to entice her with fave toy,

Mine are out free-roaming 3 rooms of the house for at least 2 and a half hours a day, they are MASSES of fun, but the 'ferret-proofing' is never ending! They have BILLIONS of toys but much prefer to mess with things they shouldn't be......

George's favourite hobby is leaping flying-squirrel-style from my favourite glass topped coffee table and trying to get onto the window sill (for no other reason than to SHOVE everything that is on the window sill off onto the floor where he can sniff it all thoroughly....) He often misses.....

Lol.....so much more I could say......maybe mine are just mental.... who knows.... but they are great fun and I wouldn't change them for the world :2thumb:

Except maybe to make them less destructive.....and stop George from biting visitors....he's a guard ferret! Or thinks he is.....:whistling2:


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

D'you mind me asking? How do you cope with the smell? Because despite what a lot of indoor ferret owners claim, they do stink....and visitors particularly notice it.


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## clangercrazy (Apr 20, 2009)

George is castrated which helps MASSIVELY, keep cage clean, get rid of poo/wee as soon as and keep room well ventilated. 

They certainly don't stink, visitors, and my family, tell us they have a certain 'smell', similar to like when you visit someone whose got dogs, and their house just smells of 'dog'. But the smell is only bad if they've been shut in a room, or it's not been ventilated, or if the poo/wee hasn't been got rid of quick enough.

Or....when Scampi skunks and lets off a poof, that REALLY stinks....she uses it as a weapon, to tell George to bog off....or, more recently, when visiting the vet! haha!:lol2:


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

clangercrazy said:


> George is castrated which helps MASSIVELY, keep cage clean, get rid of poo/wee as soon as and keep room well ventilated.
> 
> They certainly don't stink, visitors, and my family, tell us they have a certain 'smell', similar to like when you visit someone whose got dogs, and their house just smells of 'dog'. But the smell is only bad if they've been shut in a room, or it's not been ventilated, or if the poo/wee hasn't been got rid of quick enough.
> 
> Or....when Scampi skunks and lets off a poof, that REALLY stinks....she uses it as a weapon, to tell George to bog off....or, more recently, when visiting the vet! haha!:lol2:


but that's not strictly true as mine are castrated, and i did all the things you mention...but they did stink, MUCH worse than your average dog! more noticeable once they were banished outside (i.e. the all new fresher air in the house)


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## slinkycustard (Nov 24, 2009)

I keep mine in a large enclosure outside, but i do bring them in to play. they can be hard work when running around the house . the carpet gets scrached up and they get behind everything. they sometimes poo somewhere and i dont find it for days. i used to keep one in the house but it did make the house smell. i didn't notice it. but people who came to the house said it smelt of ferrets. Ferrets need more room than i think many people give them. they need hight to jump and play as well as space to run. i know people keep them in a hutch with a run. but to me this is not what a ferret should live in. my enclosure is 8ft long and 6ft high with a den and things to climb on. i love to watch them play and dance . I think indoor time is good for them but outdoor space is good too


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

That's the thing, you see.....ferret owners get so used to it, they kind of ignore the smell, and it only tends to be visitors that get _really_ put off by it. 

Mine don't actually have any indoor time anymore as that's skunk territory now, but I open the hutch in the morning and they have free run of the (ferret-proofed) garden for a few hours every day. I go out to play with them there.


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## miss_ferret (Feb 4, 2010)

when got my first ferret (and later her freind) i kept them inside, as long as i always made sure the litter tray was clean the smell wasnt an issue. the destructive tendancies and the amount of time they needed out of the cage (5ft multi level cage) caused problems.

the main issue i had was that very few guests where happy with having ferrets running around there feet while they where visiting, meaning the ferrets had to stay there cage, usually going mental because they knew things where going on that they couldnt join in with. same with times when they had to be kept in for there own safety. the only year there where in the house for christmas was a nightmare. on a practical level its very hard to give them all the free ranging time they need every day.

in all honesty, unless absolutely forced to, i wouldnt bring mine back inside the house. mine are happier outside, they have far far more room, they can trash the place as much as they like, there coats are better and im not finding thing stashed in the couch lining :bash: works better all round :lol2:


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## clangercrazy (Apr 20, 2009)

my family and friends tell us *if *they stink! Or indeed if the house stinks, and it's usually only when they need cleaning out. Also, only having 2. I think the more you have they smell more, it multiplies the stink! 

Different ferrets smell by different amounts as well. I know someone who keeps 3 ferrets that don't seem to smell at all! They live in their living room and really don't seem to have any smell.....but then I know someone with a lone ferret who is a free roaming ferret and he stinks! And that persons house stinks, and if you hold him, then you stink too! So, it must differ from ferret to ferret.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

mrcriss said:


> but that's not strictly true as mine are castrated, and i did all the things you mention...but they did stink, MUCH worse than your average dog! more noticeable once they were banished outside (i.e. the all new fresher air in the house)



Diet & general health care plays a part in it, too. No matter how clean you keep them, if you're bathing them every week or feeding a 'bad' diet, they're going to smell awful.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

LoveForLizards said:


> Diet & general health care plays a part in it, too. No matter how clean you keep them, if you're bathing them every week or feeding a 'bad' diet, they're going to smell awful.


Who said I was bathing them? Why assume the diet I was feeding was bad???:bash:

Excuse me if this is being unnecessarily defensive, but the implication behind your post is that I have bad husbandry skills!:gasp::gasp:


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

mrcriss said:


> Who said I was bathing them? Why assume the diet I was feeding was bad???:bash:
> 
> Excuse me if this is being unnecessarily defensive, but the implication behind your post is that I have bad husbandry skills!:gasp::gasp:


Not _once_ did I imply either. Hence I used "if" as opposed to "since". I was merely pointing out as a general statement (but it was relevant to your post) that either of these things can have a dramatic effect on smell. "You're" as in "one". : victory:

Apologies if it came across the wrong way.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

LoveForLizards said:


> Not _once_ did I imply either. Hence I used "if" as opposed to "since". I was merely pointing out as a general statement (but it was relevant to your post) that either of these things can have a dramatic effect on smell. "You're" as in "one". : victory:
> 
> Apologies if it came across the wrong way.


haha, ok!:2thumb: But you must admit that without being inside your head and intending what you did, that reading back your post, it could have sounded very different to another reader


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

mrcriss said:


> haha, ok!:2thumb: But you must admit that without being inside your head and intending what you did, that reading back your post, it could have sounded very different to another reader


Sure thing. I'm not very well spoken in text. : victory:


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

No probs, mate:2thumb:


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## Whosthedaddy (Nov 29, 2009)

LoveForLizards said:


> Diet & general health care plays a part in it, too. No matter how clean you keep them, if you're bathing them every week or feeding a 'bad' diet, they're going to smell awful.


Doesn't the BARF diet reduce the smell a lot?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Whosthedaddy said:


> Doesn't the BARF diet reduce the smell a lot?


Indeed it does, overall cleaner coats too. They also poop less as well as being easier to clean up and it doesn't smell half as much. :2thumb:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

I hate to agree with mrcriss but even neutered ferrets fed on a good diet have a very musky smell:blush: I adore these critters but wouldnt want to keep them indoors. When I had mine one of my animal orientated friends came to visit and played with them, she said when she got home she changed all her clothes to get rid of the scent:lol2:


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## PESKY (May 25, 2010)

we have a polecat and a mink. they are such fun to watch and the most jolly hyperactive little things. we used to keep outdoors but we moved to a dodgey area so we keep them indoors now. we keep them i na hutch in a little room off the cellar, where they play is in my reptile room as its the biggest space for them. they do smell a lkittle but i think if you keep their cage clean and nice then they arn't too bad. there is definately a smell but its minimal if you keep them clean. i think if they where left in 1 room and let out to play in the same room it would smell but as we move them around they are fine. it really does my head in when they get underneath my vivs and crap in all the shelves.


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## Malouska (Feb 10, 2010)

I kept my ferrets indoors - but only because I didn't have a garden! I cleaned them and their bedding on a daily basis and I happen to love the smell of ferret so no problems for me. Have to say though, that every person who visited my place commented on the smell of them - not positively! Admittedly, mine had meat every night but I didn't see why they should go without this to please visitors.

It is in now way an intolerable smell (like I said, most ferrety people like it!) but it definitely is noticeable. If you have space for them outdoors then I would definitely recommend that.


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## PESKY (May 25, 2010)

Malouska said:


> I kept my ferrets indoors - but only because I didn't have a garden! I cleaned them and their bedding on a daily basis and I happen to love the smell of ferret so no problems for me. Have to say though, that every person who visited my place commented on the smell of them - not positively! Admittedly, mine had meat every night but I didn't see why they should go without this to please visitors.
> 
> It is in now way an intolerable smell (like I said, most ferrety people like it!) but it definitely is noticeable. If you have space for them outdoors then I would definitely recommend that.


yeah same here we feed ours fresh animals regularly which makes them crap a lot more and a lot sloppier but i feel its very unfair to feed a carnivorous animal biscuits/dry food


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## Scales123 (Aug 23, 2011)

Take a look at this:
Ferrets and other animals in garden 2007

This lady is great she keeps her ferrets, dogs, cats, skunks in her house and garden, have a look round the website its great for inspiration

Alex


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Scales123 said:


> Take a look at this:
> Ferrets and other animals in garden 2007
> 
> This lady is great she keeps her ferrets, dogs, cats, skunks in her house and garden, have a look round the website its great for inspiration
> ...


Is that all the time? Obviously she was present for the photos but can you let ferrets, cats, dogs and skunks, free-run together all the time, unsupervised? There's a post on here about possibly keeping a ferret and skunk togther and everyone said not to.

Also I'm confused about this ''yeah same here we feed ours fresh animals regularly which makes them crap a lot more and a lot sloppier but i feel its very unfair to feed a carnivorous animal biscuits/dry food'' I heard, (and infact people on this post state before), the opposite??? Natural diet = less waste and easier to clean up. Does it have different affects on different ferrets?

(I was thinking of getting ferrets too, hoped to house them outside but didn't feel the outside space was big enough)


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

em_40 said:


> Also I'm confused about this ''yeah same here we feed ours fresh animals regularly which makes them crap a lot more and a lot sloppier but i feel its very unfair to feed a carnivorous animal biscuits/dry food'' I heard, (and infact people on this post state before), the opposite??? Natural diet = less waste and easier to clean up. Does it have different affects on different ferrets?


If you're only feeding BARF occasionally (i.e. less or about level with kibble) then it'd just be like if you were to abruptly change their diet. If most or all of their feed is BARF, the above would then apply. They will also go through a short 'detox' period to begin with when switching from kibble to BARF where they will tend to get greasier, more discoloured (i.e. orange) coats and they'll smell a little more, but that shouldn't last long. In BARF fed ferrets, a lot of or sloppy waste is usually a matter of poor balance (bone/organ/meat/roughage.) :2thumb:


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Aah thankyou, I get it now, I thought 'regularly' meant daily. :blush:


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