Features of domestic ferrets

Recently, it has become fashionable to get all kinds of exotic representatives as pets. Domestic ferrets are far from rare today. These cute puppies conquer with their playful character. Little by little, the tendency is to breed them exclusively as a fur-bearing beast.

Content
  1. Description of external data
  2. Pet house
  3. Care
  4. Claw cutting
  5. Bathing and cleaning ears
  6. Safety rules for swimming
  7. How to raise a beast
  8. Feeding <
  9. whether the ferret at home
  10. The conclusion <

Домашние хорьки

Domestic ferrets

Description of external data

Domestic ferrets are very similar to their wild relatives. Domestic animals are called frets ka. The animal has a squat physique. The body is elongated, very mobile, with a long tail. The body and tail are covered with a thick pile. The males are much larger than the females.

For wild representatives, a dark brown coat color is characteristic. have any color: from snow-white to almost black. Shedding occurs once a year. Pets have a good sense of smell and touch. The animal is distinguished by its mobility and good frost resistance, and it endures heat quite difficult.

Contrary to a long-established opinion, not all ferrets stink. These animals are one of the varieties of skunks, therefore emit a musky smell. Glands are located at the anus, which in case of danger emit a pungent odor.A ferret at home rarely uses his weapon. Many owners remove the sex glands in a veterinary clinic.

Pet House

Caring for a ferret at home requires a habitat that is as natural as possible. Ferrets are very mobile by nature, so at least 5 hours should be able to freely move around the apartment. Constantly, the animal can not scurry around the house on its own, because it threatens with destruction and injuries. It will take a spacious cage.

Domestic ferrets spend a lot of time in their houses, so arranging them is the most important part of leaving. The space in the cage should be divided into functional zones:

  • place for a feeding trough, drinking bowl;
  • place for sleeping;
  • toilet;
  • sleeping place;
  • resting place.

For water use the nipple system. If you use a bowl, then only a heavy one that the ferret cannot turn over. Place the feeder away from the tray. Packaging for her should also be weighted. The sleeping place is located in the far corner of the cage.

Ferrets love coziness, so an old hat or sweater is suitable as a sleeping place. The ideal option is to install a small house made of wood at the end of the cage, fill it with cotton or soft cloth. It is recommended to hang several hammocks in a cage: ferrets love them very much.A feline can be used as a ferret toilet, but it is very bulky, it is better to purchase a corner tray in a pet store.

There must be a filler on the floor in the cage. As a filler use torn newspapers, sawdust or a special filler. Cell localization is a very important point. It is necessary to choose the calmest, draft-proof corner in the apartment. It is also important to equip the cage with all kinds of ladders, shelves and toys.

Care

How to care for animals correctly? Ferrets as pets are pretty whimsical to care for. It is very important to monitor the hygiene of the pet, its state of health directly depends on this. Care and maintenance include:

  • nail clipping;
  • ear care;
  • water treatments.

Claw trimming

Let’s start by cutting the claws. The procedure is performed every 21 days. This is done for the safety of the animal. In the wild, the claws grind by themselves, but keeping a ferret at home involves circumcision so that the animal cannot injure itself by clinging to a carpet or curtains. There are special tools for clipping claws – clippers.

Often animals are not enthusiastic about this manipulation, so for a start you need to conduct a distracting maneuver. For example, you can smear the animal’s tummy with something tasty, and while it will lick it, quickly cut its claws.It is necessary to trim only the white dead part, in which there are no veins and blood vessels, it is important not to touch the red line.

If you nevertheless made a mistake and sprayed blood, do not panic, but treat the affected area with alcohol and try to calm the animal. It is best to leave it for a while in the cage alone, pouring fresh water into a bowl. If bleeding does not stop after 10 minutes, you should call a veterinarian.

Bathing and cleaning your ears

Keeping a ferret at home requires careful care for the ears. A cotton swab is moistened in a special milk or oil. This procedure is also not to the liking of animals, therefore it is better to carry out manipulations when the animal is sleeping. Do not go too deep, it can lead to damage to the hearing aid. If there is too much dirt, you should check the animal for an ear tick.

Ferrets as pets are very playful and like to swim. Most of the representatives of the species swim beautifully and enjoy playing in the bathroom, although there are khoryats who are very afraid of water and swimming for them is hell. Such representatives need to be washed in the sink. For those who like to swim in the bathroom, it is necessary to build an island on which the animal will rest.

Too often ferrets should not be bathed, because along with an unpleasant odor the fatty layer is washed off, without which the animal’s body will be under stress.As mentioned above, ferrets are a species of skunks, therefore, under stress, they begin to secrete a persistent unpleasant odor. To eliminate it, you can purchase a specialized shampoo at the pet store.

After the bath, you need to quickly wipe the puppy so that it does not catch a cold. It will be very difficult to do this, because wet animals try to break out and wipe their fur about everything that comes in their way. The ideal option is to catch the animal and put it in a tall box with a towel, thus giving you the opportunity to wipe yourself.

Safety rules for swimming

It is important to watch your pet while swimming to avoid injury:

  • you must never leave the animal unattended;
  • if the animal is trying to escape, make sure that it does not fall out of the bath and does not hit its head;
  • you need to make sure that the water does not flood in your ears.

When wiping, if the animal breaks out too much, it’s better to let him go: the animal may want to use the toilet. At the end of water procedures, it is worth leaving the pet alone so that it has the opportunity to put itself in order.

How to raise a beast

Domestic ferrets are active, and therefore, care and maintenance in an apartment includes their upbringing. Predator is a wild animal that belongs to predators. The degree of complexity of socialization will depend on which pet is sold.If you buy a ferret from experienced breeders who have been breeding for more than one year, the animals will be accustomed to hands and will not be afraid of people. In this case, the training process will be quick and painless. If you buy a small animal in a pet store, the likelihood that the animal will be wild and will not make contact immediately is very high.

It may take weeks, or even months, to tame a “savage”. A lot in this process will depend on the age of the beast. It is best to take young puppies no more than 2 months old. Already at 4 months of age, the animals have fully formed character, habits have already been established, so it will be very difficult to retrain animals.

A wild animal will bite, so you need to begin to accustom it to your hands only with a pair of thick gloves. A good option is to lure the ferret with a treat. You need to take food in your hands and wait for the animal to come up on its own to take it. After the polecat eats from the hands, you can slowly pet it, but do not immediately pick it up: the animal will be scared, and all work will be in vain.

Gradually, you can feed the animal without gloves. It is important that the polecat is used to your smell.

For the first time, it’s better to take the beast asleep. Ferrets have a very deep sleep and they don’t even wake up when they are picked up.

The animal can continue to bite, even when it’s already used to it. This can happen when the baby plays too much or if the owner distracts him from the case.There is also aggressive behavior in teenage ferrets when they want to influence the host. Experienced breeders recommend stopping such behavior in the bud, for this they practice a slap on the pope with a newspaper, light shaking by the collar or splashing water into the face.

Feeding

Ferrets are predators, in the wild, they eat their own game: mice, insects, birds. At home, you need to ensure the right balanced diet, suitable specifically for the ferret. Many owners try to feed the cat with cat or dog food. Doing this is strictly forbidden.

All recommendations for keeping domestic ferrets must be strictly followed so that the animals grow up healthy and develop correctly. The first method of feeding resembles the food of a ferret in the wild. In this case, the beast’s diet includes carcasses of chickens, mice and insects. However, this method is not suitable for everyone.

The second type of feeding involves feeding the ferret cooked food. It is necessary to introduce all types of meat, fish, vegetable and animal fats, cartilage, vitamin and mineral complexes, as well as a small amount of cereals into the diet. From fermented milk products only ferment can be given to ferrets. Any other foods will cause indigestion in the animal.

Do not give ferret coarse fiber.The body of the beast needs a protein of animal origin, therefore, the basis of the diet should be meat products, not vegetables and fruits. The easiest feeding method is the use of ready-made combined feeds, which include a complete list of the necessary vitamins and minerals.

Not only the balance of the feed is important, but also the correct mode. The pet should have constant access throughout the day. Animals are extremely active, therefore, they need constant replenishment of energy reserves. Drinking water should also be freely available.

Whether to start a ferret at home

Ferrets as pets have pros and cons. Before you buy a friend, you should weigh the pros and cons, because there are a lot of pitfalls in the content of such a small animal in an apartment.

The pluses of ferrets are as follows:

  • they don’t leave vital products wherever they go to the toilet in one place;
  • care for them does not require much effort;
  • they are highly intelligent and amenable to training;
  • them can be kept in a cell.

Cons is the high cost of maintenance in the first place. Feeding a ferret will be expensive. Ferrets at the slightest danger release a fetid stench, so they will have to remove their sex glands.If you do not sterilize the female, you will have to take her to the boy, and this is additional waste, and then the offspring have nowhere to go. Animals are not cheap, and buyers are not lining up in a queue, they are also not in a hurry to take them to pet stores.

If you don’t raise the trocha, they will bite, and they can be seized with a death grip. With such animals in the apartment there will be a constant pogrom: they gnaw all rubber and dig up domestic plants. Also, they are not attached to the owner. In winter, they feel much better than in the heat, so additional expenses for cooling the room will be required.

A full description and types of ferrets are presented in the video.

Ferret as a pet?
Ferret at home video. Funny ferrets
Domestic ferret. Interesting facts about ferrets.

Conclusion

It is very important to understand before buying such a beast that it will take a lot of money and also require a lot of strength to raise an animal. If not if you’d be able to tame a ferret at first, then you shouldn’t buy it. and surprise.

Feeding a ferret is also very expensive. Pets need a balanced diet that includes animal proteins. Ferrets eat a lot because they lead an extremely active lifestyle and their body must constantly replenish energy reserves. energetic animals are rather difficult: they require a lot of attention to their person, especially when they are outside the cage.

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

View all posts by Anna Evans →