Ferrets and other pets (kids included)

by Mark Karpinski
(Richland Hills, TX, USA)

I am the proud owner of three ferret babies, all girls - Monty, Toes (bet you can guess where that name came from), and May.

They are caged pets for the most part because of the other animals that we have. 6 children (1 1/2 - 17), 3 birds (sun conure, cockatiel, blue breasted amazonian parrot), a cat, three dogs (two chihuahua mixes and a pit bull) and a wife and four adult roommates. With all the feet running around the house, I am paranoid that they will get stepped on. I work nights so I usually sit in the living room with them running about after everyone is asleep and then for about an hour after I get up.

I learned after getting Toes (my first baby) that you can't walk around barefooted with her around or you will end up with a ped-a-cure, so to ferret proof the people in the house, I made sure that everyone has a pair of house shoes or crocs to walk around in when they get up and I have the babies out.

I also make sure to vacuum before getting them out due to bird food leavings and I put up the dog food too. The ferrets share the cat food when they are out but when I put them in their cage, which the outside cage is almost the size of a bedroom, I add extra vitamins to it so that I can make sure that they are getting the nutrition that they need.