Is my bedroom really enough?

[Tasha]

I have often referred to my ferrets as free roam but for the most part they only stay in my bedroom. I have a ferplast ferret nation cage which they only get put in during feeding and occasionally for night time. My whole bedroom is a ferret zone. There’s a ball pit, a plethora of toys, tubes and tunnels and basically everything ferret. I live with 5 other people, 3 younger siblings and my mother and step dad. So free roam around the house isn’t really an option unfortunately. I plan to move into a pet friendly apartment after I finish school which will of course be a full free roam home. All 6 of the ferrets get played with every single day and I’m always getting them new toys and such. Their favourite “toy” ever is definitely their bean bag chair though, it’s huge but it’s pretty deflated so it sinks every time they jump into it! When I can I’ll let them play in the living room (but it’s not exactly ferret proofed so supervised only). I also take them outside a couple times a month to play at the park or in the back yard. My room isn’t small so they do have a fair bit of space to run around but is it enough? Of course I would love for them to free roam around the house but it’s just not an option at this time. Is there anything else I should do to keep them happy? However there hasn’t been a day when they have shown me otherwise though, they never stop zooming and dooking!

Is this enough space and enrichment for them? Is there anything else I should do or offer them!

Thanks a million for all the quick reply’s and answers to my hundreds of questions recently, it’s very appreciated !!!

[Sherry]

As long as they get interaction with you, it's plenty of room

[Sparrow]

When I first got Sparrow I still lived at home and he was in my room. I was lucky in that I was able to bring him downstairs into the living room to play some too, but when he was in my room he had plenty to explore. The only thing I'd recommend is to keep some toys put away and switch the toys out so they don't get bored with the toys, if your ferret plays with them. Most ferrets don't seem to into them, they prefer to play with their ferrent(s) and/or another ferret.

[Tasha]

Thanks! There is definitely no shortage of toys! I buy them toys from local thrift shops almost every week! I do have 6 so they tend to keep each other occupied for the most part. Aside from a butt load of toys they have plenty of tubes, a ball pit, and a huge bean bag chair! Who new how much ferrets would love bean bag chairs?! They go nuts on it!

[lyles]

With all my ferrets being free roam, what I did was for their first year I would keep them in the bedroom only, making sure they develop good habits.

Once I was sure they were ready I let them have a taste exploring the rest of the house, just know once you give them a taste, they'll want more. So much so they'll torment you by scratching the door to let them out.

My morbidly obese Alice even wants to be let outside every other day or so, and won't stop scratching the front door until I let her out for a little bit.

[Tasha]

Yep! I’ve let them play in the living room and now every time the door is open they bolt! But they have it memorized now so they zoom straight under the entertainment unit so I can’t grab them lol! Smart little noodles

[Charlie]

I had mine in my bedroom too only for the first little while because I also have a cat and a dog. I was able to put up a screen type barricade at the door so the cat and dog could look in and the ferret could look out until they were more familiar with each other. Now I let the ferret out in the house supervised only. But when he's in his room he has found a way to escape from his room. They are very smart little critters!

[Heather]

Lets face it....no matter what space you have for a ferret it's just another cage. Therefore, the idea is to make that space as stimulating as possible. No, I'm not advocating caging...I hate it. Yes, I cage for as little time as possible but they're confined to specific rooms, or the main living area with access to their outdoor spaces. There is a schedule here because of the number of intact ferrets that live here. Not everyone gets along, but caging is kept to as minimum as possible but then they're confined to a room, or a floor. As long as you're interacting with them as much as possible that's what is important
ciao