Any ferret owners?? Help?

Ok so they stink, now apart from bathing, cleaning their litter trays etc, has anyone tried having plugged in air fresheners and the 30min spray one, in the same room as them, and has this reduced the smell at all??? Also, my room is an attic conversion so its very long rather than square, about 3/4 way down theres the staircase and the 1/4 is where my bed is and most of my clothes, the other 3/4 is sofa, coffe table, tv etc, like a mini living room. What i was thinking is to make a barrier to join the stair case barrier so they only have access to the mini living room bit, and before letting them out i thought to put fleece blankets on the floor so if they do poo they dont do it directly onto the carpet, i'd squish the blankets down with furniture so they cant get under them. Would this and the air freshners and most of the time my window is open anyway, would all this help reduce the smell (as well as the regular daily cleaning of the whole cage and 3 times per day litter tray)
Can you tell that im desperate to make this work??? :D
 
PingPongPony said:
Ok so they stink, now apart from bathing, cleaning their litter trays etc, has anyone tried having plugged in air fresheners and the 30min spray one, in the same room as them, and has this reduced the smell at all??? Also, my room is an attic conversion so its very long rather than square, about 3/4 way down theres the staircase and the 1/4 is where my bed is and most of my clothes, the other 3/4 is sofa, coffe table, tv etc, like a mini living room. What i was thinking is to make a barrier to join the stair case barrier so they only have access to the mini living room bit, and before letting them out i thought to put fleece blankets on the floor so if they do poo they dont do it directly onto the carpet, i'd squish the blankets down with furniture so they cant get under them. Would this and the air freshners and most of the time my window is open anyway, would all this help reduce the smell (as well as the regular daily cleaning of the whole cage and 3 times per day litter tray)
Can you tell that im desperate to make this work??? :D
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Haha, I think you are going to go for it anyway regardless of how much we tell you they are stinky!
You might reduce the odour a little if you do all those things, but they will still smell. It's not so much the droppings, it's the scent glands, they are a bit like skunks!
Go for it, but have a back up plan incase your parents can't cope with the smell and kick them out!
 
The more you put something as a barrier to stop them getting under/over/through the more they will see it as a personal challenge to prove to you no barrier will hold them!!!

Their poo isn't really that smelly, its more the ferrets themselves who just smell of ferrets! If the hobs are castrated that reduces the smell a bit and the best thing is to make sure their sleeping area is as clean as possible as that will help keep their fur from smelling too bad.
 
Hi,

Sorry if I repeat anything but I simply don't have time to read all the replies right now!

I have 4 ferrets currently - 3 jills and a hoblet (hes castrated). I've owned ferrets for 15yrs. Mine live outside in a big converted hen coop. They adore tunnels and love to sleep in hammocks! I the past I had a hob who lived loose in my house! Before I had dogs and when I cared less about the smell!

Males smell more than females but I do adore the chunky boys! If I hold them my clothes will smell so I have a 'ferret' top, but this is more the boys than the girls.

Females will get along well together but do remember they need spaying or their jill jab when they come into season, Without this or being mated they would stay in season and possibly become extremely ill.

I used to walk my ferrets on harnesses and leads - I found a mini extension lead that was fantastic! It can be hard to walk 2 at once as they like to go in different directions - particularly at first. & you'll have to give them time to get used to the harnesses and being outside! I think walking them with your dog is a bit ambitious at first. &depends on how it gets on with them. I have 3 dogs - 1 is deathly afraid of them (& would bite them), 1 is entranced by them to the point of standing there while they hang off her leg! The 3rd (my GSDxRotty) again is entranced by them but will chase if given the chance and I'm sue he'd kill them...probably accidentally! I keep them apart!

I'd go for the younger set. Altho they can live up to 9yrs old supposedly, I've never had one older than 6. With consistent handling they should be lovely though one of my girls will nip - she's always been like that and I've had them all since kits.

Give em a big cardboard box full of carrier bags (supervised) - they LOVE it!

I used to look after a neighbours horses that lived in a barn so the stables/tackroom/hay store were all under one roof. I would take my ferret with me to muck out. He loved tunneling in the shavings and straw! Unfortunately he also liked to grab the grooming brushes and drag them off across to the hay bales, reverse and drag the brushes in between the bales so you couldn't retrieve them til the hay was used up! The horses were OUT btw!

Horses will tread on them and my ferret did attack the horses when I tried to introduce them! (I was 15!) He jumped off my shoulder and bit the horses neck, the horse wheeled round and bolted - the little chap hung for a few paces before dropping into the mud. they're very tough little creatures! He would try to attack dogs if given the chance!

They need proper ferret food (Vitalin is the best in terms of nutritional content and is sold on EBay).

Any other info please don't hesitate to contact me! They are wonderful pets - they play like kittens! Leaping and chuntering, they pogo about in their 'war dance'! They do poo in a corner and once that's established are easy to clean out.

I let mine out in the yard each day to play. One is houdini though and can scale the walls so HAVE to be supervised!

Enjoy!
 
Keep them outside! They will be fine whatever the weather! I got my first ferret at 15 and no way would my mum have let me keep him inside! Go for girls if you're worried about the smell and like others said, keep washing their bedding. My parents used to let me bring him inside to play but remember to clear up any accidents and 'ferret-proof' the room. They get through the smallest hole!

Get a decent hutch or see if someone can make you one. A lot of commercial hutches are far too small. Something with lots of levels is perfect. & hang lots of hammocks. If you keep them outside you can use shavings although I use Megazorb which is great and soaks up the wee and stops the smell but does stick to your clothes and you wouldn't want to use it inside!

Good luck!
 
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