# Can I take care of a ferret in my situation?



## hellspawn (Mar 18, 2009)

I am 17 and I have a dad who hates pets. I would love to get a ferret but I'm just worried about how it will turn out. 

If I get one: 

- It will be confined to mainly only my room. 
- I'll have to buy it a cage, the standard size is 25" by 36" which would fit in my room nicely
- I go to school, so it will be all alone in a cage from 7:00am to 3:30pm and I go to bed a 12:30am, but I read that ferrets sleep a lot, like 16 hours a day, so it may work out
- My dad works midnights for a few more months so it can't make very much noise from noon to 3:30pm and from 7:00pm to 10:00pm and my room is right beside my dads
- I'll give it the proper vet treatments and food
- I'll let it crawl around my room (make it ferret-proof) and if I have to I'll potty-train it, put a litterbox in my room and let it stay out of its cage as long as it wants.
- I'll give it all the love and attention it needs when I'm home

Thats about it, do you guys think that these are good conditions for a ferret?


----------



## ferretwumun5 (Mar 5, 2009)

while the ferret is alone would your dad harm it in any way 
if the answer yes then no way should you have a ferret
plus your at school how would pay vet bills ,food & housing
ferrets fare better with company 2s better then 1 a lone ferret would get very 
bored 
do you intend to play with it for 2-3 hours at least 
dont know where you live so would you able to take it out doors for walks
i dont doubt you wouldnt love it 
theres the heat factor too they dont tolarate heat very well and can die of heat stroke 
sorry to be a bit of a kill joy


----------



## Kuroku (Oct 21, 2008)

A minimum of 4 hours a day of out of cage time is the minimums a ferret needs to keep it happy.

The only thing is that ferrets also like the company of their own kind and therefore you would be best getting two.

Also, rescues are better for first time owners than kits, kits are very nippy and will bite hard until trained not to.

It's also best to make sure you rescue ferret from a centre that will have them spayed/neutered before rehoming. This is extremely important for the following reasons:

Males when in season (i.e. most of the year!!) absolutely stink to high heaven! Entire Females also have a distinct smell, some people like it but your Dad may not appreciate it.

When in season, as above, males will fight and it's not unheard of for one to kill the other.

When Females come into season, they will not come out of season until mated or given a hormonal jab from the vet. If they are left in season too long they will become very ill and even die.

Ferrets tend to sleep for about 18-20 hours a day. They will also learn to adapt to your routine. So your Dad will be pleased about this!

I hope this helps!


----------

