New to the forum - first ferret

[xander]

Hello! My name is Xander and I just adopted my first ferret. Sorry for the long post, but I want to share about him and ask some questions. His name is Jak and he is albino. We brought him home yesterday and so far he is very friendly and hasn't shown any signs of aggression or nervousness. He met our cat and our dog and loves them. I'm going slow with him and trying to let him adjust to our home, but he doesn't seem to have any problems with anything. He's very energetic and seems like he will fit in with our family great. He has had his vaccinations and is de scented & neutered. The previous owner said he is two, but I'm going to take him to our vet too and see what they say. His nails were VERY long when we brought him home, so I clipped them a bit. They're still a little on the long side, but I didn't want to stress him out. I just wanted to get the tips off so they wouldn't catch on things/shred our hands.

The cage he came with isn't too small, but it's smaller than I'd like. In the next month or two I'm hoping to get something a little bigger. The hubby was leaning towards making one, either from scratch or out of an old dresser/hutch. I'm leaning more towards just buying a nicemetal one from the pet store or maybe used if I can find one. I'd prefer something without wood, but we'll see.

They had him on just a generic cat food, I'm going to switch him to a higher quality kibble (a friend recommended a wysong/higher quality cat food blend) until I can get him to eat more raw foods. What do you guys recommend? I've tried offering him chicken and eggs and he isn't interested in them. It's going to be a process. I've got our living room/kitchen "ferret-proofed" in my mind, but I'm sure he'll show me some stuff that I missed. We're probably going to keep him on his harness for the first few days when we let him run around to make sure we didn't miss anything. The weather here has been nice too, so hopefully I can try taking him outside once he settles in.

His previous owner has a collar on him with a little bell. Do any of you guys do that with yours? I've left it on him mostly just because it helps to let me know where he is or if he's moving around.

I'm also I'm noticing that he seems to be itching a bit. It's not too bad, but I'm worried he may have mites/fleas. His ears are very clean, so I wouldn't think it was ear mites but I don't know. My cat and dog both have spot treatments (you never know what they'll pick up at the dog park) so hopefully it is nothing that can spread to them. I'm going to check with the vet and make sure everything is okay.

The other thing I've noticed is he sleeps like a rock!! I've never had a pet sleep so hard. He was sleeping yesterday on his back with his head and feet kind of falling out of one of his hammock onto the ramp... it was so funny even though I thought he was dead for a second. I read the FAQs afterwards and saw the Ferret Dead Sleep. It's good to know this is normal!! Lol I've had hedgehogs/rabbits before and I've never had them sleep that hard. Even my cat wakes up quicker!

Here's some attempts at taking pictures of him. He doesn't stay still for long so it's hard...

[xander]

Oh - another thing!! Does anybody think ferret smell reminds them of lanolin? My mom used to use lanolin to moisturize her hair when I was younger and for some reason that's what my boy reminds me of. I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant if I don't keep his cage clean but so far I actually like how he smells. Maybe I'm just weird! Lol

[abbeytheferret6]

Hi and welcome to the forum and congrats on the new addition

Does anybody think ferret smell reminds them of lanolin?

I do not know much about lanolin but mine has a popcorn like smell. I like smelling the ferrets too.

I'm noticing that he seems to be itching a bit.

Yes they do scratch themselves frequently. If you do find out he has fleas, do not use over-counter meds and esp stuff for dogs. The vet will give you Revolution or Multi-cat advantage. Dosage depends on weight of your ferret--at least that is how my vet dispensed it for mine.

I've tried offering him chicken and eggs and he isn't interested in them.

If he is two years old, you may have to go though the soupie process. I had to do that with my 3 craiglist ferrets. The baby I got from Petco took right to raw. So here is some interesting reading. holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/

When you decide to give it a try people will give advice and answer ur questions.

[lee]

Hello and welcome to the forum, as said you may have to start with soup first. I can't help with that as I'm from the uk and most of our ferrets are reared on raw.  As for ferret dead sleep, it gets me nearly every time one of mine do it, I guess I panic 9 times out of 10 lol. 
Hope you enjoy ferrethood and the forum

[Charlie]

Hi and welcome!! Congrats on your ferret!! What is his name? He's cute!!

[unclejoe]

He's a beautiful albino!
As for scratching, when any of mine are playing (some of us play rough, lol) they will suddenly stop, scratch, chew themselves, groom, etc, and then come bouncing back to play.
Having had almost 30 ferrets, mostly 5 or more at a time, I can say that after a month or 2, I can identify individuals by smell (yes I love it, even the one with intact scent glands) , coat texture, walking gait, and even sneezes!
I hope you have a lot of fun with yours!

[xander]

Awesome, thank you guys!

[caitmonster]

Awww he's a cutie pie! Welcome to ferrenthood!

Ferret smell is the best smell, and the better you can feed them the better it is. Keeping their surroundings clean is the main thing. You'll see some people on here that have never bathed their ferrets (other than rinsing in cases of them having stepped in poo or such like)--I'm one of them, and I take great joy in informing people that meet my big fat unneutered, un-descented male of that fact.

If you're going the DIY route, there's also the option of C & C cages; I think these were originally aimed at guinea pig and rabbit owners and the like, but some ferret owners have modified the designs to meet their needs--strengthening and escape-proofing being the main concerns. Otherwise, used cages, depending on your area, can be pretty easy to come by.

I tried putting a bell collar on one of mine when I first got her and she hated it, and since then I've just relied on listening for their footsteps and general rustling noises to track them down (I do have very good hearing tho). But if your guy doesn't mind and you find it useful, then carry on. On the other hand I wouldn't leave anything, collar or harness, on them unattended. They're good at getting out of things, but also good at squeezing into potentially endangering spaces, and there's just too much risk of them getting trapped somehow.

You can take a cotton swab and moisten it slightly with olive oil, and swipe inside his ears; if the earwax is red or orange then that's normal, if it's dark or blackish then that means mites (or infection, but that has more offensive symptoms). The vet can tell you for sure. They're fairly common--Rocket had them for a while, so the prescription was a few rounds of Revolution. Fleas are easy to see, just rub their fur backwards every now and then. But they are generally itchy animals, and can be spastic about it, too, lol.

And yes, their sleep!! I don't know how many times I've done the "are you sleeping or are you dead???" panic over them. Doesn't help that Rocky has a disturbing habit of sleeping with his eyes half open either--gah!

[crazylady]

Hi welcome to the forum and yes I love the smell of ferrets lol ( mine are all whole and can smell up a bit in breeding season lol) when I judge ferrets I even smell them then lol to make sure a ferret smells like a ferret and not all do I have judged some at show who have smelt of channel number 5 and have had painted toe nails to boot lol try running a flea comb through his coat that will give you a good indication if its fleas ( easily treated by your vet ) or it may simply be he is shedding out summer coat for winter coat that makes them itch too as for changing diet it can be a slow process do a quick switch by removing his kibble over night and place a bowl of grind in his cage with him instead ( with grind the dont have to do the hard work of chewing lol ) and if he is hungry he will eat it he wont starve in 12 hours over night good luck with your baby
Bev