Ferret Proofing & Other Things to Consider …

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If you’re owned by ferrets, the safest thing you can do to make sure they’re okay is to be — te dum — drum roll — paranoid.

Seriously!

I don’t like dwelling on negatives, but with ferrets as pets you have to assume they will get into the most trouble, into the smallest holes, so make 110% certain they CAN’T, and then you can relax

IMPORTANT POINTS

Please make sure that you block off gaps around all appliances so that your ferret can’t get to wires, rubbers, insulation, fan blades or any moving parts. Some ferrets love chewing on electrical cords so if you notice yours does, please spray the cords with bitter apple or a similar spray.

You might wonder how you’ll find a hole if it’s right down under cabinets or other built-in furniture.

I would suggest putting your ferret in a harness and just watching it carefully as it sniffs around the new room. If your ferret wanders around and doesn’t make any sudden movements, like tugging to go and investigate something out-of-the-way, then you should be fine.

If your ferret does suddenly disappear somewhere or seems like it’s found something that takes its attention, then you’ll need to get down on your hands and knees and have a good look at the area. If you find a hole, no matter how small, make sure you block it up immediately

I had an email from an American ferret owner who told me about a ferret which was not supervised properly and got into the wall cavity through a small hole. They never found the ferret and the owner was devastated, as you can imagine.

I also got an email from another American ferret owner a while ago who alerted me to the dangers of ferrets and fire ants.

Those dangerous insects are in Texas but they’ve also invaded Australia and have been found around Brisbane and in Melbourne — so if you let your ferret outside, you must read about fire ants and how lethal their bites can be to ferrets.

Here is a list of some things around the house that can cause problems:

Rockers / Recliners / Fold-out beds

We got rid of our Jason recliner once we became ferret owners. The thought of accidentally breaking our pet’s back as it slept amongst the gears and levers was not an option.

We did have a couch which converted into a fold-out bed and although it was rarely used, the last time caused me a huge amount of anxiety.

One of our kids had a friend over and the fold-out bed was used and being good little children, the next morning they put the bed back into the couch position without having to be told.

During a head count sometime mid-morning, I found that CJ wasn’t in his usual haunts, so I started looking for him. After about half-an-hour of searching, I began to get a little panicky, thinking that perhaps he wandered out when the kids were inattentive going in or out of the house.

I was standing around in the sitting room feeling more and more desperate when I though I could hear a very faint tinkle of a bell. Straining hard, it definitely sounded like a bell and it was coming from the fold-out couch.

I ran calling Philip to help me open up the bed and we did it with absolute fear that we would chop CJ in half when trying to get him out. Thank God we managed to extract him without any damage but it was truly a miracle that he didn’t get killed during the initial process.

He had been trapped in the mechanism and ended up bent almost at 90 degrees. When we got him out, he was twisted and walked like a crab, sideways!

The poor guy was like that for a day and then he straightened out naturally. We had taken him to the vet for a check up and were told that he was fine and nothing had been damaged.

Needless to say, if the couch was turned into a bed after that time, we ALWAYS did a head count and locked the ferrets away BEFORE turning it back into a couch.

I was quite happy when we decided to get rid of it as I found it all quite stressful worrying about ferrets getting inside.

Actually ours made quite a mess of our two couches, they scratched a hole underneath both couches and got into the centers. We’d watch the movement under the material as they woke up and made their way out.

And not only that but Chucky also had a thing about stashing raw potatoes in the holes, so occasionally we would sit down and start sniffing, wondering where the ghastly fishy smell was coming from and after investigation, find 2 or 3 slimy, black potatoes tucked away. It was really quite yukky!

 

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Polystyrene / Soft rubber / Foam / Olive pits & other stuff which can block a ferret up

Beware the white stuff! Ferrets love to scratch and dig at polystyrene and could easily ingest little bits which, in turn, would cause blockages.

Take care with soft rubber or foam toys for dogs or cats, in case your dog chews the toy and leaves bits of rubber or foam lying around.

If you have babies/children in the house, or visiting, make sure their pacifiers (aka dummies) or rubber toys aren’t left lying around. If a ferret got hold of any of those, they could chew them and get an intestinal blockage.

Our silvermitt, Fidget, had a fetish for washing up gloves when she was a kit. She’d grab one and go racing down the corridor to stash it in my chest of drawers. If I found her with one in her mouth, we’d have a tough tug-of-war to claim ownership and when I finally was able to pry it out of her mouth, she’d go into a major sulk about her loss.

I have also heard about a ferret getting a blocked intestine from eating a peanut and another one from swallowing a piece of carrot. I’m not sure why a ferret would find a carrot appealing but this one obviously had different tastes!

Snoopy managed to find and eat a dry olive pit unbeknownst to us.

There I was musing about why a ferret would eat a carrot and here one of ours decided a dried up day-old olive pit was a tasty morsel. Weird!

It took a couple of days of wondering why she was so quiet, then a trip to the vet who (mis)diagnosed gastro problems after checking her greenish poop which I had taken along to show him. Of course our usual ferret-knowledgeable vet was not on duty at the time!

Finally after 48 hours of seeing that the antibiotic and other medicines were not working, we took Snoopy to an emergency vet (it was Sunday, naturally, and our regular vet was closed), I mentioned I was worried about a blockage and the vet said she could feel something.

Long story but they operated and found this wretched pit in Snoopy’s gut. We had a slight scare that afternoon when she seemed to be going downhill but, thank goodness, everything turned out okay.

I’ve come across articles itemizing other objects which vets have found in ferrets’ guts – it really makes you wonder….

Foam ear plugs; paper clips; erasers; rubber bands; mousepad pieces; velcro; calculator keypads.

I’ve also read about someone’s ferret which had swallowed an entire leg of their pantyhose, for crying out loud! What on earth would be appealing about chewing on a pantyhose, let alone swallowing it???

To see a few of the everyday stuff our gang have taken, please check out my page on Blockages.

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Washing machines

Front loaders : Never leave the door open to front loaders. A ferret can jump in and fall asleep, and if you tend to shove your washing into the drum without checking, you’ll have a very clean but very dead ferret on your hands. Not a good thing.

The same goes if you forget an item. Shut the door before leaving the laundry to get it – otherwise your ferret might jump in to see what’s happening. You won’t realize it when you put the item in and might turn on the machine with the ferret trapped inside.

Top loaders : I’ve heard of someone’s ferret climbing up the back of a machine and getting into the drum that way. Thankfully she noticed him curled up – unable to get back out, naturally – before she put her washing in.

 

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Dishwashers

ALWAYS keep the door shut. When loading the dishwasher, make sure no ferrets are nearby and don’t start it if unsure. We’ve stopped and checked so many times .. it’s that paranoia again!

For your own peace of mind, it’d be best to make sure your ferrets are all caged/shut in a room before doing chores like the washing or turning on the dishwasher. That way you’ll never have that awful “what if ……” sensation as you turn the machine on.

 

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Fridges

When we first got Mash, she used to like sleeping behind the fridge. In fact, she dragged Philip’s jeans behind the fridge so that she could get really comfy!

Fortunately that didn’t last for too long and she moved to the Hotel da Chest-of-Drawers.

However it’s best to block off any access to the back of your fridge because your ferret could stash all kinds of junk behind it and it will get very dirty!

The only problem we’ve had with the fridge (touch wood) has been when one of our excitable ferrets, like Kaos, decides to jump into the fridge when the door’s open.

Keep that in mind when you’re peering into your fridge, and make sure you don’t shut the door with your ferret inside.

 

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Ovens

Kaos is the only ferret we’ve had (so far) who managed to get into our oven back in the days when we had a freestanding one.

She’d been with us for about a week and one morning I bent down to put some meat to defrost into the oven. As I opened the oven door I saw this face looking at me and, not expecting to find a ferret in the oven, I almost had a heart attack.

She got in a couple of other times – we saw her climbing in near where the gas burners are – so not only did that put paid to my defrosting food in there, I had to check the oven every time before turning it on just in case!

 

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Vacuum Cleaners

I came across an article in Ananova a couple of years ago about an English lady who killed her ferret by turning on the vacuum cleaner! The ferret had got into the bag through the pipe and had fallen asleep there, when the owner decided to clean her house.

Again, like before starting the washing or stacking the dishes into the dishwasher, it might be a good idea to make sure all your ferrets are safely locked away before you vacuum your house.

All of my present ferrets apart from Kahlua tend to keep themselves hidden away in the chest of drawers when I vacuum. She likes to grab the end and tries to drag it away with her, just like Fidget used to.

Mmm, both are silvermitts – I wonder if the color of their coat equals a connection to weird behavior

 

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Fireplaces

We had a pot-bellied stove and great care was taken before putting the wood in and starting the fire. We never had any problems with our ferrets getting too close to the heat but there is always a first time.

If you have a fireplace, please take care that the ferret can’t scamper up the chimney and make sure all your little ones are safely accounted for before you start your fire.

 

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Stairs

If you have stairs in your house, you must make sure that your ferret can’t fall through the balustrades and hurt or kill itself.

Some ferret owners suggest putting plexiglass against the balustrades to keep the ferret safe, or even putting a childproof gate at the bottom or top so that the ferret can’t get up or down the stairs.

 

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Wash baskets

Ferrets love to sleep in strange places. If you already have a ferret and it behaves very conservatively, please don’t assume the next ferret you get will behave similarly!

Our ferrets have never got into the wash baskets to sleep in dirty laundry but an acquaintance’s did. She just scooped the washing up and shoved it into the washing machine without realising the ferret was sleeping in the clothes. She had a terrible shock when the washing stopped, as you can imagine.

Always pick out each item of clothing and shake it out before putting it into the machine. That way you can be sure you didn’t add your ferret to the wash.

 

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Driers (Dryers)

Make certain your ferret cannot climb into a vent and get into the dryer. Check your ferrets are safely away from the appliance before putting it on.

 

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Air conditioners / Reverse cycle heaters

Check that all holes and gaps are blocked so that there is no way your ferret can crawl inside that appliance.

 

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Microwaves

Please don’t roll your eyes and say, “Microwaves! No one would be THAT dumb to allow a ferret to get into a microwave!!” This actually happened in our house a few years ago.

We were reorganizing the kitchen and I had the microwave on a stool. A good friend of mine who also has ferrets, dropped in one afternoon with her daughter and we were sitting chatting in the sitting room.

Her 3-year-old granddaughter was milling around, playing with the animals quite happily. Then at some stage she walked in with CJ in her arms and, very seriously, asked me if I wanted CJ put into the microwave.

“No, no!” I cried as I jumped up. I scurried into the kitchen and pulled out the plug immediately, before lifting the microwave out of the way onto the kitchen table.

We had a laugh over the incident but it just goes to show what mighthappen when you least expect it.

It would have given a whole new meaning to the words, “Pop goes the Weasel”! Erk!

 

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Baths / Spas / Pools

Ferrets can swim but if they get into the pool, what if they get stuck in the pool filter? Also if they get into the pool unattended, they probably wouldn’t be able to get out so would swim until exhausted then drown.

We had a Jacuzzi in our bathroom and we’d regularly hear “scratch, scratch, scratch” as our ferrets slid into the empty spa and were unable to jump out. I used to leave a towel over the edge so that they could use that to climb out of the spa.

When we used to fill the spa up, we’d make sure the bathroom door was shut. It would have been too easy for the ferrets to fall into a hot spa!

Alexia reminded me of when we first got Fidget and she was in the (empty) spa. She started digging at the plughole and had just about dislodged the grille over the drain. Had we not been around, she was small enough to have easily gone down the drain, and I certainly wouldn’t like to think of the consequences of that little adventure!

 

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Toilets (Loos)

I was lying in bed one evening and heard a noise like a herd of elephants galloping up the corridor. I knew the sound came from Scully, our idiotic BEW, but after the thundering, there was silence, and then an almighty splash.

I jumped out of bed, ran to the kids’ bathroom (which was off the corridor) and fished Scully out of the bowl. After drying her off, she weasel wardanced her way up and down the corridor … what is it about weasels and water?

Fortunately there were no harmful cleaners in the water to do damage to eyes or ears!

That taught us to keep the seat cover down at all times and to avoid putting cleaning blocks into the cistern.

 

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Empty toilet / paper towel rolls

Empty cardboard rolls seem innocuous enough but if the ferret manages to get its head stuck while you’re out for some length of time, it will cause it huge amounts of stress.

Kits seem to be the ones that get into trouble with cardboard rolls – obviously they are super curious and their heads are small.

If you’re worried that your ferret might get into your rubbish bin and steal a roll, I suggest you just rip the cardboard rolls so that it’ll expand if your ferret decides to stick its head into it!

Milo and Muis love stashing the loo rolls and quite often I’ll find a pile of them amongst my shoes in the wardrobe but since they are both adults, no worries about them getting their heads stuck, thank goodness!

 

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Drains

Make sure drain covers can’t be removed easily. If in doubt, put bricks over the cover.

Ferrets love to go down holes and if one ventures into a drain and gets stuck ….. What a scary thought!

 

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Medicines

Care for your ferrets like you’d care for your toddler. Keep all medicines out of reach, even if in childproof containers.

Out of all our ferrets, only Kaos and CJ managed to get into the drawers of our bathroom vanity but I’ve put any tubes of ointment / medicines, etc out of the way just in case they lick something they shouldn’t.

Never, ever use human medicine to treat your pet unless okayed by your vet. Friends of ours had a ferret with a wart and their son applied (human) wart remover on the area. The ferret licked the solution and died a horrible death the next day!

Another thing to watch out for is if you need to give another pet medicine. Make sure they don’t spit out the pills without you noticing as a ferret might lick or chew the pill and it could cause problems.

 

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Household cleaners

Keep all household cleaners safely out of the way otherwise who knows what might happen!

Could be the top doesn’t get put on properly, the bottle falls and leaks on the ground, then the ferret walks through the puddle, licks its paws and poisons itself.

Always keep the bathroom door shut if you’re using Draino in the shower or bath and don’t let the ferret in until you’re certain all of the crystals have been washed away.

Same with bleach. If you use bleach in the shower/bath/floor, please make sure everything has been washed off completely so that there’s no chance your ferret can lick any residue and burn its throat.

 

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Boots (Blunnies, Doc Marten, Army, etc)

All three of our kids went to Army Cadets during their teenage years and I wouldn’t allow them to wear their boots around the house. It’s way too easy not to realize that you’ve stepped on a ferret when you’re wearing heavy boots and they could do huge damage to the ferret’s organs, causing death.

I guess if you really need to walk around the house in boots then do like a geisha – shuffle along!

Having said that – do be careful that you don’t end up hurting yourself if you don’t pick up your feet when you walk!

I went into our bedroom a couple of months ago, didn’t turn on the light and got tangled up with an extension cord which Philip had thrown onto the floor.

I managed to have a very impressive fall and ended up cracking my nose on the edge of the chest of drawers.

A heavy nose bleed and two black eyes later, I was fine!

 

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Carpets / Runners / Mats / Clothes on floor

Why are ferrets called Carpet Sharks? Because they love tunneling under things and falling asleep — and if you’re not aware, you could step on them and cause damage or death.

Kaos loves to go under our bathmat and I always need to check the bump there is just air. She thinks it’s hilarious to stalk me under that mat – I find it nerve-wracking!

 

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Doors

Please always look down when going in and out of doors. Ferrets are like greased lightning and could be outside before you know it. Even if your ferret has a collar and a bell so you know where it is, don’t get complacent. The collar can fall off and, when you think your ferret’s asleep somewhere, it just might be by your foot ready to slip outside.

We don’t have mail slots in our doors here in Western Australia but I have read about a ferret who managed to somehow get through a slot in the front door so be aware of that if you have one!

 

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Windows / Sliding doors

Ferrets are fearless climbers and they can scale Clinker bricks without any problems. It’s so easy for them to get onto a chair and throw themselves onto another piece of furniture, or a windowsill, like lunatic trapeze artists. They can rip through flywire with the greatest of ease, so please don’t think your ferret is safely inside because you have that covering your open window or sliding doors.

If you want a window or sliding door left open, fix a board in it just in case. Oh, and make sure it’s high enough so your ferret can’t jump or climb up it!

 

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Lawn mowers

True story………

Some [expletive deleted] idiot here in Perth decided he was going to mow his lawn and he let his ferret out to play in the grass while he was doing it. Naturally the ferret got tangled up with the lawn mower and was shredded.

The guy was terribly distressed but wouldn’t accept his actions caused his pet’s death.

The mind boggles at the actions of some people – he must have jello posing as a brain!

 

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Electrical wires / Plug-ins

I personally haven’t had any bad experiences with my ferrets chewing wires but that’s not to say it won’t happen.

Most of us seasoned ferret owners would wonder why a ferret would bother chewing on an electrical cord then shake our heads and think, there’s always a first time for everything with ferrets!

I got an email from a guy called Bill from the States the other day who told me that ferrets loved the lavender-smelling plug-ins. So, take care if you use them and make sure they’re put into sockets where your ferret can’t reach them!

However, if you ARE having problems with your ferret chewing on your cables or cords, then perhaps this product will help. Crittercord is a protective tubing which is impregnated with a bitter taste to deter animals from chewing on the electric cables. Great idea and certainly a whole lot cheaper than taking your ferret to the vet to repair a great big hole in the roof of his mouth!

 

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Plants

Ferrets adore digging so we had to get rid of all our indoor plants.

We tried to move them up higher at first, but our ferrets, especially CJ, knew instinctively where they were (the little dags) and managed to jump up to expose roots and leave a trail of disaster on the floor.

If you really want to keep plants and ferrets in your house, I guess you could place heavy rocks on the soil to stop them from making a mess.

But if you do keep plants indoors, please make sure they aren’t poisonous to your pets.

 

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Packing suitcases / bags for a trip

This really isn’t ferret proofing, per se, but is still something to think about!

If going on a trip, please ensure your ferrets are not “helping” you pack. They might just fall asleep in your suitcase and you’ll end up taking them on an unexpected vacation.

Be aware that ferrets can also unzip bags quite easily and squirm inside so, once packed, keep the bags out of the ferret’s reach.

 

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Bedding material

I had a very sad email from an Aussie ferret owner alerting me to the dangers of quilted fabrics for bedding.

She had got her ferret, Tinkabell, a quilt to lie on for the winter and her ferret had scratched a small hole in the fabric. During the night she’d gone in between the fabric and the wadding and obviously couldn’t get out again, because when her owner went to check the next morning, she found that her ferret had suffocated.

A terrible shock for her owner, as you can imagine.

Yet another ferret owner told me how her boy almost suffocated the same way in the quilt which she had put down for him to sleep on.

Please ditch the quilt if you have one and just have old T-shirts or sweatshirts for them to burrow into.

 

 

Stories from other ferret lovers…

Click below to see contributions from other ferret lovers…

Determined to escape
I recently got a 2 year old ferret named Chester and let me tell you, his goal is to make me mad. I have a huge walk-in closet and I Chester-proofed …

Please be careful of your ferret with the dishwasher!
My boyfriend and I had got a new ferret from the petstore and it was only 6 days we had him. He was the best cuddliest ferret I have ever had. I was opening …

writing a story about Ferrets
Hello, we are loving your page. I am a school psychologist working with three third graders on a fiction book called Freddy the Ferret. We loved your page …

The escape artist
For a little over two years now I have had two precious little girl carpet sharks named Sunshine and Little Mischief. I have little brothers and sisters …

Killed my ferret in the dishwasher.
I have 2 playful ferrets that we let roam for a few hours a night. While I was cleaning the kitchen my youngest one crawled in and I did not know it and …

bad kool-aid
Once my ferret got into a kool-aid container and locked himself in. Luckily I had kool-aid in the morning and found a sleeping ferret in my kool-aid …

the punishment box.
Hello, my name is Katherine. I live in France and have two ferrets. When I first got them I didn’t really know how to punish them because I know that …

Adult toys
When I was a teen I had Bandit, he was maybe two years old at the time. He was allowed to roam the house when I was home. After school I had let him …

Furniture danger
My oldest ferret, Lucy, has ECE. Because I don’t want my younger one, Shae, to suffer, I let her run around the bedroom while I give Lucy all her medications …

Halloween “GHOSTLY ” scariest moment of my life!
Halloween time was great… until i stored my outdoor decorations in my garage! I have 2 little ferrets and when you see 1 you likely see 2. This day …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Baby Gates are USELESS…
These so called “Child-proof” gates are truly only that: Child Proof. Not Ferret proof. Our ferret treats gates like they are just a minor obstacle and …

Slumber Party Panic
Me and my two best friends were having a sleep over and one of my friends wanted to see my ferret. I said ok and I went and got Klutz. So I let my friend …

Ensuring that your ferret cannot open his cage
Slinky is my first ferret (he is albino), his cage is a large bird’s cage that has had levels added. He is only a small ferret and the cage doors were …

squeaky clean ferret
One day I was doing my laundry and I had forgotten to do a check up on my fuzzbut (aka Zippy) . I got everything loaded into the washer and went to get …

Fireplace Problems
I live in a one bedroom one bath apartment and I just got my ferret. I’ve done a lot of research before hand but research is nothing compared to actually …

Beware of heavy objects
Although ferrets are very small, what many may fail to realize is that they are very strong. We had our Sherlock for almost a year and while we were home …

Help
Our 3 month old has learned how to climb our wooden stairs.. I panicked today searching for her in our big house… This is our first ferret… well …

Blanket disasters.
Okay, so I have had two big disasters with pet store blankets (the kind they sell for dogs and cats). One of them is pretty cringe-worthy, and the other …

Not an owner, but…
I am not a ferret owner, nor have I ever had one, but I would like to be one day. I cannot have one now because I am an avid cat lover with 4 precious …

Make sure who’s watching your ferret you can TRUST!
I currently have two living ferrets, Rowzi and Moe. They go almost anywhere I go (not on vacations, though, my ferrets wouldn’t ever allow it since it’s …

Did you know there’s a hole in our washing machine?
Well, my ferret Rowzi is the most hyper thing ever. When I have her in the living room I usually am sitting on the couch or recliner watching t.v., or …

Knowing how to cure the habit
Persistance with ferrets always pays off. Grabbing the ferret’s scruff when it’s a baby when it is doing anything inappropriate repeatedly will make the …

When 1 of my male ferrets his name is Hermes his nickname is monster 🙂
Well here is my own personal scary ferret story. Well first of all, anyone who does have or is thinking about getting a ferret who also has other animals …

WATCH OUT
My ferret recently died because she got strangled in a loose thread from an old towel she slept in. She spun around so much that she basically crushed …

NO
The biggest thing I have learned is that I would go crazy trying to provide a happy safe home for a ferret and therefore there is no way that I could ever …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

toilet paper and cotton
I have two ferrets, Daisy and Bradey. Daisy is 5 months and Bradey is 3 months. Daisy is very good, she doesn’t hide things, doesn’t bite hard, she …

I need help
I have a ferret, Zelda. She usually sleeps most the day comes out maybe once in awhile to eat and go to the bathroom. She has moments of the day where …

They CAN get into the cabinets!
My incident happened about 3 months after getting my ferrets, Steen-Steen (don’t ask) and Baloo Bear. I’d let them run all around my apartment, “mostly” …

Fans are VERY dangerous!It seemed that my bedroom was completely ferret-proofed. The rest of our house has a few unfixed hidey-holes and hazardous spots, so our favorite thing …

The Danger of Heating Vents!
I have a sneaky little ferret named Fortesque who seems to be able to squeeze into/out of ANYTHING. Well, one night I made the mistake of entrusting …

Pearl :'(
About 2 months ago my ferret Pearl died due to a terrible sickness. I discovered it was because I did not know that if you are sick, and you handle your …

Digging in plants
One of our ferrets, Theo, loves to dig in anything he can get to. Recently I took a box and filled it up quarter way with dried beans, and cut a hole …

Decorating Disaster!!!
I have 2 ferrets currently but I used to have loads! “Austin” (an old prize champion racing ferret) was running about one day when we were decorating the …

Beware of Guests, Stupid Roommates, and Watch your ferret(s) like a hawk!
I’ve learned of several things that might cause health problems or even death in ferrets, either due to human error (and stupidity) or the sheer nerve …

Fridge troubles!
Hi! I had just gotten my ferret and moved into a new apartment(not the greatest) and my lil ferret Rajha was really curious and got under the fridge! I …

should i let my ferret run wild in the house?
OK, so I just got a new ferret, and I’ve blocked most of the room with cardboard so he doesn’t get stuck in couches or wires, but I feel bad because the …

Our lost Mindy
My youngest ferret, which is a panda ferret, is always getting into spaces she is not suppose to, so you always have to be on your toes with her. One …

Curious
Ok I live in a apartment and I have a little boy ferret named Aldo. I’m not sure how old he is but anyways. . He wandered into the kitchen and ended up …

My bf Loves his stuff but not my ferret.
My boyfriend has a lot of expensive electronics and he refuses to put them up where the ferret can’t reach them. He has a huge speaker thing that Baby …

Air Ducts and Ferrets Oh My!
My ferret Kaluha is such a curious little girl! One of her favorite hiding spots was underneath the kitchen cabinets. Because the bottom of the cabinet …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Sneaky Daxter
My brother got a ferret for his 14th birthday and named him Daxter but I think his name should have been Bandit because of how mischievous he is! He loves …

Stan the tea thief
Hi – I would like to tell you about my ferret Stan but firstly I’ll tell you how I came about owning Kath and Stan. They use to be worked (rabbit hunting); …

material eater
Our ferret will not stop eating material! Anything from jeans, towels, bedding, stuffed animals, anything cloth then she almost chokes to death! I’m thinking …

Frigid Ferret
My sister had a pair of ferrets. One was an albino. One day she was looking for something in the freezer. It is one of the upright type. After getting …

scary moment
My grandad owns a farm in Wales and he has always been a hunting type. When I was growing up, there was always a ferret running around with our 3 year …

Chains holding up tubes.
I recently got a new cage for my three carpet sharks, with lovely plastic tunnels that are attached around the cages with chains+clips for them to climb …

Panicking New Ferret Owner
Okay, so me and my hubby will be getting two ferrets 7 months from now. We just moved to a new state starting over from scratch so we will be giving 7 …

Out of the window and under the shed
Our wonderful ferret – Trigger – a rescue from the RSPCA, is a fair amount bigger than Fifi, his friend. He being a he and she a she. One day we …

Pick your garbage up before letting your ferret out
You need to make sure that your garbage is picked up off the ground or close the doors that have a garbage or small waste can in it. I was laying in …

Ferrets aren’t skydivers…
I was at my friend’s house, she was an owner of two adorable ferrets. I was sitting and talking to her in her bedroom and she let her ferrets run round …

Ferret lost in the Vents!!!!
It was the first ferret i have ever owned, never read up on them. I was allowing her to run around the house and about 30 mins went by and i hadn’t seen …

Block off BEHIND the dryer
When we first got our ferret, Spaz, we of course checked for holes and what not and it seemed that he could not get out anywhere. We were VERY wrong! …

A very cold night
This morning I did my usual routine went to get some ice from the freezer, It is a french door style fridge with the freezer on the bottom, and my ferret …

Motley escapes
We’d had Motley for about a month or two and she had free reign on our house. I left for work early and left my bf at home asleep w/ her. At lunch …

Our little Spaz Womack 🙂
My name is Rosie and we live in ST.GEORGE, UTAH. USA. We purchased our little bundle of fur in January – her name is Spaz. We had a ferret previously …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Visiting
I called my best friend the other day and she said she was ferret sitting. To my amazement she said that this particular ferret evidently wanted to live …

How I got “stuck” with three ferrets
I live in the backwoods of Vinton County, Ohio. My family and I decided to invest in a feed store. We no longer have it due to family issues. One day, …

getting caught
Whenever I go out to feed my twins, Wadles and Tricky, I have to make sure that neither of them hav gotten stuck in their own blankets. They are always …

BOOTS!
One thing I constantly have to look out for is my ferret (Stevie) sleeping in my boots. A couple of times I have tried to put on my boots and found …

Dumpster Diving.
When my husband bought Kit-kat for my birthday I was the happiest girl in the world. I never thought she would bring me such joy, and stress. She is …

Couches, chairs, and boxsprings
All 3 of my ferrets had a fascination with digging at the underside of furniture and mattresses / boxsprings, which are usually covered with a somewhat …

So far so good
I don’t have any amazing stories. We have, so far so good, had no major problems with Snickers and Skittles. However we have a cage and when they are out, …

Where’s Weezer???
My daughter went to spend the night with her friend and left us in charge of her ferret. We let it out of its cage and forgot about her. Around bedtime …

Basement Insulation
My ferret, Lucy in the Sky, loves to follow me around while I am doing housework downstairs but also found out that a good digging surface is the insulation …

Warning to apartment owners
My ferret Kitty was fairly easy to ferret proof for. Aside from the usual couch checking and bathroom checking, she was well behaved for well over three …

…the one time you don’t check…
I killed my best friend… He was asleep in my down comforter.. my dog had peed on.. I was so angry with my dog I just balled up the blankets and put them …

floor heating duct grill
The floor duct cover(12×4)was broken and Snoopy (aka, Mr.Stinky) kept digging at it. I took it to the store with me to make sure I had the correct size. …

Dishwasher
I was loading my dishwasher the one day while my little guy was playing outside of his cage. I did the check of the inside before closing. That wasn’t …

Toilet Paper Rolls
I have had my darling baby girl Dahlia for about a year now. I had got her for my 12th birthday over my summer vacation… We had also gotten my brother …

A shocking morning
I live in Louisiana and my friend Nicole has a ferret, and one day I slept over at her house. In the morning I went to put on my hoodie to go home (here …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Cabinet Disaster
Well my sweet ferret, Lilly, was roaming around the house and I thought I had completely ferret-proofed the house. I was really wrong. My mom and I …

Ferrets are caring
My beloved cat had a litter of kittens (7) – two died and one was rejected . The rejected one was going to go to go to a different owner until my female …

keep the stove and oven unplugged
We had a ferret and we moved to a new house with a new stove. Our ferret disappeared. We finally found her after hours of searching in the back of the …

Bags!!
i have found that my little Lylah has an obsession with plastic bags so now i leave one on the floor for her to play with. I just rip it up so there’s …

The laundry basket!!!
Ok, so I let my ferret (Calcifer) run around my room for a couple of hours while I was on my computer (in the same room of course) and after about 1 hour, …

Electric Fireplaces
My ferret, Billy, had just been with us for about a month when he managed to get behind our electric fireplace which, thank god, wasn’t working at the …

Drywall
I was rooming with two friends in a four-bedroom house. The upstairs had a spare room with no door and as I had two ferrets and the house had tons of …

FERRET GONE INSTINCT
Our second ferret was a female and we definitely knew that she had more ambition than our mild mannered older albino male ferret. At the time we had …

Macaroni’s Big Dump
My ferret Macaroni loves to poo in the darnedest places. I’m forever finding areas where she’s left one. Unfortunately, she met her match one day. While …

Hairballs
My youngest furball Jack recently passed away at the all too young age of 2 due to an intestinal obstruction caused by a hairball. Please use a hairball …

fleece for ferret bedding works great and can be washed
I use fleece for my ferret cage. Not only does it keep the floor of her cage dry from the dripping water bottle, but she can burrow under it and sleep. …

sock gnomes
I’ve had my ferrets for 4 years now. Shortly after bringing them home, I noticed that my socks were disappearing at an alarming rate. At the time i …

play ground
The best thing we came up with is to turn our living room into a play ground for our babies, Pipp and Squeak – lol. We have a long piece of cardboard …

my ferret in the laundry basket
One day i was doing laundry when I picked up a shirt and found a lump in it and it was moving. Then I saw a white head with red eyes pop out. I almost …

loose air vents lids
I’ve never had a ferret but I’m going to get one soon and sitting and looking around, I see an air vent that leads down to the furnace in my basement. …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Window screens
It was actually on Thanksgiving when my first little monster Annabella, disappeared. The weather outside was cool so we had the windows in the bedroom …

The Ferret Following
This isn’t much of a story, but just what I’m learning. I got a couple of the guys a couple days ago and spent 2 days now just following them around just …

Deadly closet doors
My little buddy Emo the ferret passed away today. He was only 1 years 7 months old. He left behind his older brother and sister ferrets who were very …

Couldn’t find Edgar
I get this call while I’m at work … all our anxiety isn’t very good when we have a free-range ferret. He’s disappeared many times before but every …

Sole stealing
I found my ferret loved to steal the sole out of our shoes, espically my work boots! We now have to keep them and all shoes on the dryer. He would take …

Oh no horrible!
One night I was up late watching a movie. I felt awake holding my ferrets and thought I would never fall asleep. Big mistake! By the morning I woke …

my step sis
OK – my mean step sis had a ferret, his name was Sukasa. He lived downstairs. She never took care of him and so I took a hold of things and brought …

cages
Okay! So I was thinking of getting a new cage for my ferret Rufus! but my dad thinks all they do is eat and sleep in the cage. But let me tell you …

Tinkabell
OMG – the story about the quilt that was my ferret Tinkabell. I dont know if it was my sister Karlee or my mum Sharon that would have written to you …

Useful 2×4’s
My girlfriend has 3 ferrets. As we’re moving in soon together, and she doesn’t trust her family to care for them on weekends when she comes to visit me, …

.:([Toys!]):.
Howdy ferret lovers 😀 Just a quick word on something I’ve discovered on toys. Until just recently my babies, Hearspark & Delilah, mostly played with …

Harness Walking 😛
Hi there everyone 🙂 I have two 8 month old ferrets, Heartspark & Deliah, whom I’ve had since they were tiny little kits. Before I got them, I …

Out the Window!…
Well i let the ferrets out for the day to get their daily exercise and our girl ferret (Sassy) was running around playing with her friend ferret (Bandit). …

Hyper ferret
3 years ago I had a little ferret named Spike… Well, he was the sweetest thing in the world till my little sister would come near him. When she was …

Charlie “Blood thirsty Wolverine” and Dee”mon”
I got my ferrets at the end of October. They were eight weeks when I bought them and as they get older, the more devious and whittier they became. …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Keep Floors Clean!
I have noticed that if I happen to leave any clothes on the floor, my ferret will sleep in them. There have been times when I have come close to stepping …

Furniture
Just recently my third ferret, Phoebe, discovered a love for hiding bottle caps. I have had ferrets in my home for the last 4 years with no accidents, …

not a fan…
Anyway to ferret proof your house so they can’t come inside? I have one roaming my house & it almost attacked me the other day – we can’t find it – …

Jackie
A couple months ago I lost my 3 year old ferret Jackie. Well one day we forgot to reclog the dryer air vent because we had no dryer yet and Jackie climbed …

computer case closed!
My boyfriend and I have a ferret. We were going to look at things online and we heard this light squeaky snore. I just thought it was the huge tower …

Suggie goes swimming
Last night I was washing clothes, the tub was filling and I went to look for more clothes. When I returned, I was run over by a damp Teddy, looked …

Chi Chi
I got my first ferrets Chi Chi for my sixteenth birthday. After a year of owning her, I came home from a friend’s house one day and went into my room …

Beware of Furniture that may have been moved
This is really hard to write but I feel an obligation to do so. Maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else. I have had ferrets for about …

Walks
One morning I was just with Oreo outside, and all of a sudden I looked down at the bottom of her leash and she was GONE! I heard some rustling in the …

Bathroom Blues
I had a 7 year old Panda Ferret that had to be put down to sleep due to a large tumor in his tummy. I’ve always had my room just for my ferrets “ferret …

Beware of the dishwasher
It is painful to write this, but I feel I should. We had 3 ferrets, Cookie, Candy and Frosty. Frosty was an albino, the others were minks. Frosty …

Loose threads and claws
I have 3 ferrets — Elliott, Bobby and Nom Nom. So far only this incident has happened to Elliott, my biggest boy. They used to have towels or …

Lost Ferret
My brother got a ferret about 3 weeks ago. He found out after he got it that they can’t be left alone for a long period of time. He goes to high school …

I just got my baby back
Well, when I first got her about a year ago I had a cage. Not a two story cage. Well her name is Bubbles and she was a baby when I got her. She was …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Warn everyone about LAUNDRY SHOOTS!
We have a three story house and my ferret room is on the top story. I was doing homework when I realized Poppy, one of my ferrets, had gone missing. …

Was going to get a ferret …
I was going to buy a ferret but I don’t think I can handle the stress of everything you outlined here.

Frogs
Hurray, Bea Bunzing, my new ferret swam! She swam quite unlike any swimming ferrets on YouTube. Bea Bunzing (“bunzing” is Dutch for “polecat” and Beatrix …

Cars in the Garage
My husband has always been fond of his sports cars. He keeps them clean and dry in our garage. My two ferrets also live in the garage and come out to …

Jumpa Jumpa
Please don’t forget mentioning balconies. I had a ferret called Jumpa Jumpa, because she would race onto the dining room table, grab hold of a roast chicken, …

Monster Fridge
One day I went into the fridge to get a can of diet coke. I went over to the couch and started to watch the television. Before long I had fallen asleep. …

Rubbermaid tubs and Dryers
My two free-range ferrets loved to get into Rubbermaid tubs. We lost one for a whole day and a half and found him in a tub that he somehow shovel-nosed …

Stove dangers – electrocution
Two very good friends (in two different locations) had ferrets electrocuted in stoves within a two week period. One of the stoves was electric, one was …

Dryer hoses
So basically … well, I’ll give the back story first. I got this ferret from a friend of my girlfriend’s mom where she works. They had found it left …

Wire chewing
My baby ferret Fae can’t get enough of the electrical wires.Our other ferret Fiefer has no interest in the wires so I am left to assume it is because she …

Another Dryer Hazard
My ferret “little bit” is a trouble maker. One day I heard her in the laundry room scratching and fumbling with something. When I went in to find …

Help yourself to tea and coffee!
We were having a party at home and, as usual, the ferrets gate crashed and became the caberet show for an hour or two. Then, one by one, they pottered …

poisonous products
Well, my ferret Flossy was 11mths old and got under the sink where she found an unopened packet of wallpaper paste. All of a sudden i heard her vomiting. …

The Ferret that was Almost Lost Forever
My family and I have a ferret named Claire and we had just gotten her a few months before when something that almost could have been fatal happened to …

Sleeping Beauty
My precious ferret Tinker, who recently passed away from Insulinoma at the age of 5 had the run of the downstairs of my home and could go up the enclosed …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Carpets
Spent 20 minutes looking for my ferret Tilly. Couldn’t find her anywhere. We were on our hands and knees, searching under sofas and furniture; luckily …

Sleeping ferret
I just got my first ferret, Alvin. I had to take out the hammock in my ferret’s cage because he would chew and eat it and I did not want him to choke …

Kids
The morning after my family brought home Scooter and Bandit, we had a huge mess to clean up. Myself being new with ferrets, I’d heard they can be …

Why u need 2 ferret proof!
When I first fell in love with ferrets, I didn’t think it would be right to get any because my house is very old with loads of holes and cracks everywhere …

room containment & the climbing ferret.
Back when I was a new ferret owner, I wanted to have my little fuzzy play area in the main room of my apartment even though it had an open archway leading …

Hiding ferrets
Hi! I’m a new ferret owner of my beautiful Silvermitt Jill called Peach. She is a handful when it comes to play time and when she does something bad, …

LILLY AND HER FUZZY BED
Hello- I currently have 3 ferrets, Ferris Bueller (cuz he’s naughty), Lillian Belle ( cuz she’s beautiful) and our new addition Sweet Zoey (she’s blind …

Plastic Bags
I had a lovable ferret called Bitsy, He loved plastic bags. Sad to say He got into one and my husband was walking through the room and trip over it killing …

Crafty Ferrets
I have two ferrets and they are very mischievous little ones. I like to make art in my free time, and I have a lot of art mediums. Well, I thought …

Ferret chase at midnight
My husband and I live in an apartment and had two ferrets both a little under a year old. We ferret proofed before letting them loose but we made a costly …

Smoking ferret
i was smoking and i put my fag down to go do something and when i got back my ferret screwball had the fag in its mouth. i was so scared that it might …

Dangers of rubber bits on pens
My ferrets are allowed to roam around the house and I thought I had my place pretty well ferretproofed. Today I came home from work and found that the …

The runaway ferret
I have an albino ferret I named Angel. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her. Well a month after I had her, my soon-to-be wife and I were watching …

Couches………..
We have three Ferrets. They love to play, love to dig…. Most couches have an airspace between them and the floor. They also have material to prevent …

When my weasel almost got killed in the freezer
A long time ago, we had an upside down fridge (fridge top door, freezer bottom). We owned 4 ferrets. One day we had had some friends over for lunch …

Have you had a bad shock when your ferret proved that your ferret proofing was useless?  If you want to share your ferret proofing ideas or warn other ferret owners about certain things, please go to the bottom of the page and add your comments.

Sneaky Striper
Well I let my 3 ferrets run around the house when I kind of fell asleep 🙁 . When i woke up after a 30 minute nap my ferret Striper (he was the best …

Heart break- please learn from my mistake…
Two nights ago our darling 6 year old boy Max crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I have come to the horrible and stomach turning conclusion that I am responsible …

Ferrets and other pets (kids included)
I am the proud owner of three ferret babies, all girls – Monty, Toes (bet you can guess where that name came from), and May. They are caged pets for …

Catch that ferret
I got my first ferret about 9 years ago. I was 11 years old and I didn’t do any research so I was winging it on how to be a ferret owner! I bought …

Dryer Vents
When i first got my ferret, the ferret got out of her cage. I was in such a panic to find her gone. When I went to dry the clothes, I heard a rustling …

Laundry Basket
My ferret Nibbles was running around the house at 5pm. He always comes around at 6, 7 or 8 – the last time I saw him was 9.00! I was looking for him …

Ferrets and Kiddie Pools
It was cute to get outside one day and see a ferret swimming around in the kids’ pool. We decided to keep him,(oh yah it’s not ours!) until the signs …

An Ounce of Prevention… (is worth a two pound ferret)
Greetings: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: A free roaming ferret is a dead ferret. The vast majority of the things listed here could easily …

Bitter Yuck!
I live in Idaho, USA. About a week ago i brought home a new baby kit, and named her Tuesday. She’s adorable but of course hates being petted and loved. …

Rascal
This happened to me when I younger. I do believe I was about 11 years old when I got Rascal, a beautiful Sable ferret. I was living with my aunt and …

Stinky bed
My first ferret, Saki, somehow dug a hole in the box spring of my bed. I didn’t notice it for perhaps months (she was a free range ferret) until one day …

Kitchen drainer
One of our ferrets manage to open the skirting board in the kitchen and went under the cabinets and down the water pipe about a meter and a half down. …

a sad story
When we got our ferret we didn’t know that they are so curious, active and had such a strong smell. We lived in a small apartment at the time and “Liza” …

Dog Door
We didn’t realize that our ferret knew how to open the dog door since the lock was really only a slider. Long story short it snuck out one night and into …

never have a dog in the house
OK … one morning my ferret was just walking in the house and my dog was in her room. Then she knocked the door down, got to the ferret and killed it …

BEWARE OF COUCHES!!!
well i just bought a ferret for the first time about a month ago. me and my five year old daughter loved him so much!! after two weeks of having him, …