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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 15:53:29 GMT -5
I was just hoping that I could get some input from people who are familiar with adopting ferrets from local agencies/shelters/rescues. Of my two previous ferrets, one was adopted, but it was via a online "freecycle" page that I was a member of, so...in retrospect, not the most reputable place for pet adoption!
I wasn't sure what to expect the average adoption price to be...on Craiglist (again, not reputable!) people are trying to sell their ferrets for about what they go for at pet stores here ($129-169), which I think seems...well, not exactly what I was expecting.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Sept 28, 2016 16:26:44 GMT -5
I got two off craigslist. Both People wanted 65.00. One was a 1 yr old. The other was 20 mos old. One came with a birth certificate. The 20 month old did not, but I think they were right on her age. The reason being, her teeth were really nice, and kibble does put tartar down after awhile. She looked nice too. Both were free roam. The 20 month old kind of lit up when she saw my dog thru the glass storm door:)) as she was used to a dog. I was very fortunate to get two healthy babies. The one with white head is deaf. The owners did not know and also thought she was a male. Pet stores do not tell or do not know about the white heads being more prone to deafness.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 16:40:15 GMT -5
The local humane society charges $40 per ferret. Another shelter in the area, I forget what it was for one ferret, but it was $125 for a pair (and it wasn't half of that for each, the $125 was a bargain price for 2).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 22:46:10 GMT -5
I've seen adoption fees from shelters from anywhere between $40-150. Keep in mind that comes with making sure the animal is vetted and sound health/ and can tell you lots about temperament/ have been through a foster/rehab for poor temperament. You have no idea what you're getting from a stranger on craigslist.
As for pet stores, when I bought Rolo nearly 7years ago he was $250+tax. (CAD) Then plus routine vet visit to get health checked & vaccines etc.
Keep in mind any ferret you get off craiglist will also need an vet visit to determine if there was any neglected health issues. The older the ferret, the more expensive the vetting will become as well.
Rolo's vet bills were non-existent for the first few years, but I've probably spent around $1000 on him this past year on vet bills alone.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 29, 2016 9:56:52 GMT -5
The rescue here charges according to age. Up to a year old it is, I believe, $150. After that it is $100
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Sept 30, 2016 18:16:04 GMT -5
I didn't get my ferrets from a rescue but I did adopt them from a breeder. They were $150 together, so $75 each. Those people on Craigslist trying to get back what they paid drive me crazy. Some may bring the price down or give them away once they see that you'd provide a good home. Others just want the money and will turn you away if you don't want to pay up. I've seen ferrets on Craigslist in my area and people are normally trying to sell them from $150 to $300!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 13:44:26 GMT -5
Thanks for all of the input everyone! I really would like to adopt from an agency, so that I know they've been vet'ed and vax'ed. But I always feel soooo bad for the ones I see on Craigslist, and want to take them home and love them.
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Post by Sherry on Oct 3, 2016 9:34:19 GMT -5
As long as you are prepared for the possibility of the ferret being MUCH older and sicker than stated go ahead
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2016 12:29:15 GMT -5
My first ferret was bought from a pet store for $160, he came neutered and de-scented! My 2nd fur baby was $40 from the local humane society. She was in rough shape, skinny and bad teeth, but we're working on it!
I have seen plenty of ferrets on the local craigslist pages, but they've all been between 50-100 dollars and their condition is always questionable.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2016 9:57:32 GMT -5
I got all three for free.
But it was very circumstantial.
I had a friend who had a friend who was desperately trying to give her ferrets away before a move. Stupid girl was neglecting them horribly so I took two off her hands. And they proved to be very good pets. They were healthy till they reach 7 or so. But I didn't know their age for sure.
My third ferret, I got from my cousin who didn't have time for him and trusted me to take care of him. He's 5 though so I missed his silly baby years, but he's still fun!
I think Craigs list can work...I tried using it, but like you said people are more concerned about getting their money's worth. You can ask to see the ferret first, you can ask that it has a vet check up before you buy and if they put up a fuss, you might have say okay and move on. I think a lot of the folks who post on CG's got in over their heads, sometimes it's some jerk who didn't think things through, or it's a genuinely concerned family. So it's not a horrible idea to use CG's, but I would definitely avoid supporting someone for treating the ferret like a commodity.
Call your animal shelter and ask them their adoption fee for exotics like ferrets, and use that as a comparison.
In colorado we're lucky to have a cool ferret rescue, they offered their space as a neutral place to meet a ferret from CG, so they could give me their opinion. When I'm up for adopting again I will go through them, seeing as they have a reasonable fee, and work very hard to match the right human to their ferrets.
Good luck on your search.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2016 15:49:18 GMT -5
I rescued my little guy from my shelter and he was only $20 (I know right?). It was during a weekend where all adoptions were 20 dollars so I got lucky, ferrets at my shelter would probably usually be as much as cats. Thats also because it is not a ferret specific shelter, its normally for cats and dogs. For this reason I'd recommend checking out your local cat/dog shelter, you never know!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2016 14:37:22 GMT -5
5 of my ferrets came from the spca and I paid $100 for the pair and then later $100 for a trio but they had been vetted and all problems had been taken care of. On kijiji, (canadian online buy and sell)I have seen people asking $500 for a singular ferret and $1600 for a trio. Some people are insane
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2016 20:57:40 GMT -5
I ended up adopting a 1-2 year old deaf girl from a children's shelter for $50. They were super nice people, but it was obvious that the kids were stressing the poor girl out as she was rather thin and ratty looking. Her coat has filled out nicely, but boy does she bite! Deaf fuzzies can be the hardest to train...I've done it once before, but that time I had another ferret of a comparable age I had purchased as a baby and trained already, so she helped teach new girl manners, and fast!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2016 23:44:15 GMT -5
The local humane society here charges $75 for a ferret, and there's a discount on the second one if you adopt bonded ferrets together. The ferret shelter charges $50 a ferret usually, but the price can also depend on age and health.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2017 11:16:43 GMT -5
I got all three of mine on Craigslist. You just have to be careful. The first two were $200 but that included the cage, toys, and everything else. The ferrets were 4 months old with paperwork. The family just wanted a good home for them. They are healthy and doing well. The third ferret was $50 and 8 months old with paperwork too. He came with a small cage that I'm keeping just in case one of them gets sick. He is absolutely adorable and healthy.
If they are charging a lot on Craigslist they don't care about the ferret. Also, I had a few families ready to pack up the ferrets before I even met them. They wouldn't answer my questions either. BIG red flag! These were my first ferrets so I decided not to take the risk.
I prefer an animal shelter, but there were no ferrets there at the time.
If you decide to adopt from Craigslist I would write a nice email about yourself and your ferret experience. Both families chose me because of what I said in the letter. Then be VERY CAREFUL. A lot of people with Marshals ferrets have the paperwork so you know for sure how old they are.
Good luck!
Dianne
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