What to do…..

by Kailey McGuire
(United States of America)

My name is Kailey and I am 13. I have been thinking about talking to my parents to see if I could maybe get a ferret.

I have done alot of research on them; I have read countless amounts of books; looked all over the internet and even talk to people from pet stores and vet clinics. The only thing I am concerned about is their health. I am worried about not having enough money for vet bills. So what do I do?

And another problem is my mom does not want a ferret because she thinks it will get mean. But from what I have read, ferrets won’t get mean if you take good care of them. Is that true?

I am also worried about the gender. I have been told that females and males act completely different, so I wanted to know if one is more laid back then the other or what?

I just want to make sure that if I do get a ferret that it will have every thing it needs and I know what to expect.

Their food? I have read in more than one book that ferrets like fresh fish. In the book it said that you can buy minnows or little feeders and just let your ferret fish for them and eat them. I wasn’t to sure about this so I thought I might ask.

Please respond. I really need help. Thanks you for your time and I apologize for being so worried. I just want to make sure I know everything before I get a ferret and to make sure I know what to do and what’s coming.

I also wanted to say sorry if I misspelt anything. I’m not that good of a speller or typer. And again thank you for your time and please respond. 🙂

Comments for What to do…..
Feb 14, 2011 Hope you get your ferret, Kailey!
by: Anonymous

I’ve heard a couple of stories about JR terriers attacking ferrets but I’ve also heard about ferret owners who have JR terriers and they’re the best of friends.

I guess if you do get a ferret, you just have to be VERY careful when you introduce them to make sure there are no accidents. You might find the JR and the ferret become best friends or you might find that you have to keep them separate.

There are some sites which talk about the two animals here, which you might like to read …

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_dogs_can_live_in_the_same_household_with_ferrets

http://www.ehow.com/how_4434981_introduce-ferret-other-animals.html

Hope that will be of some help to you 😀
Feb 13, 2011 Thank you
by: Kailey

Thank you so much for your advice. 🙂

Well I think I am getting closer to getting
a ferret. The other day I was at petco and I was sitting and observing the ferrets and my mother came and almost fell in love with the one I had my eye on. She said that she wants one now but she is worried because we have a Jack Russell terrier dog. She said that the dog is meant to hunt ferrets and that is what they were bred for. So that is another worry.

I’m normally not so worried about other things but I wanted to make sure that if I got a ferret I would know exactly what to expect, and know what to do. I am a major animal lover and I will do whatever it takes to make them happy. I have been saving up my allowance for vet bills if I do get one.

And again thanks you for your advice, I really appreciated it. 🙂
Feb 12, 2011 Your questions about ferret ownership
by: Anonymous

Kailey, I must commend you on doing so much research before getting a ferret. Great stuff and it shows a lot of maturity 🙂

Let’s see if I can help you …

Vet bills – Yes, that could be a problem. American ferrets seem to get diseases a lot earlier than either European or Australian ferrets. I’m not sure what to suggest but if you have a friendly ferret vet nearby, perhaps you could talk to him about what could be done in that respect.

Mean ferret – You’re right! A well cared for ferret is a wonderful pet. Ferrets aren’t mean by nature but if you ignore them or abuse them, they could develop anti-social habits. They are very intelligent little things and love to interact with their owners. As long as you always handle your ferret and show it lots of love, you’ll have a super little pet.

Gender – No. You can have a laid back boy or girl – it depends on the ferret’s personality. Some are very smoochy and love to sit on your lap, others are totally scatty and won’t sit still for a minute.

With my guys, my albinos and sables are the most placid and my silvermitts and DEWs were the zany ones but some friends have scatty sables and nippy albinos so it’s always hard to predict which ones will be laid back.

Food – Fish? Gee, where did you read that ferrets like to catch and eat fish? You sure you didn’t read a book about their cousin, the mink? They love fish but ferrets – no way.

Read the page on Feeding – it explains all the different diets for ferrets

What Do Ferrets Eat?

Do you have a ferret shelter close to where you live? I think it’d be a great idea for you to visit one and talk to the people who run the shelter. That way you can have first hand information from those who deal with a lot of ferrets. There’s a list of shelters on the American Ferret Association site…

http://www.ferret.org/links/shelters.html

Hope that’s been of some help to you and good luck with your quest 😀

I think it’s great that you’ve taken so much trouble to find out facts and hope that you do end up getting a ferret as a pet!

All the best 🙂

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