A piece about ferrets

Ferrets – what are they like?

Floof noodles, carpet sharks, poop machines, a beloved pet has many names. Today I’m going to talk about what it's like to own a species most of you know as ferrets.

I’m the (mostly) proud owner of two ferrets, Koopa, an almost two-year-old big stinky boy and Kirby, a tiny but very feisty girl who just turned one. And yes, they are named after Nintendo characters.

I have always been interested in ferrets and about three years ago I started doing research on how to become a ferret-mom. In Finland you can’t just march into a pet store and buy ferrets, they come from breeders, which means the process of getting a ferret is similar to getting a dog Ferrets are only in heat during spring and summer, so all baby ferrets are born during that time. Since there are not that many ferret breeders in Finland, many of them have a waiting list for people who would like to own a ferret In short, getting a ferret is not easy

My ferrets are both imports outside of Finland, Koopa moved here from France and Kirby from Hungary. They are co-owned with a breeder from Turku, which means that they will make babies for the breeder at some point

Owning ferrets is easy and difficult at the same time. Our ferrets have a big two-story cage in which they are when we are not home or are sleeping. Ferrets can sleep up to 20 hours a day, but when they are up, they will cause ruckus Our ferrets usually free roam everyday mornings and evenings before their feeding time. The best diet for ferrets is raw food (our ferrets love chicken necks), but they can also eat cat food.

One of the more difficult things about owning ferrets is that they will poop everywhere Our ferrets mostly do their business in the litter box they have in their cage, but accidents happen, and making it in time to the litter box is not their top priority.

One of the most asked questions about ferrets is “do they stink?” They do and they don’t Of course, we are used to their smell, so we don’t really smell it but normally they smell just like any other animal. When they are in heat, they do stink. Especially the males. So normally, no, when in heat, yes

Ferrets are social animals, they like watching their owners and participating in their daily life. Sometimes, if they are tired enough, they might even fall asleep on your lap We take our ferrets outside on leashes more during the summer and they like finding hiding spots and digging dirt. Ferrets let you know they are happy by dooking. Dooking is a sound that they make when they are excited, and it sounds similar to the sound that a chicken makes Ferrets usually also do well with other bigger animals like cats and dogs but they are tiny predators, so rodents and ferrets in the same household is not a great idea.

In short, ferrets are active, loving, messy, feisty and cute. They are great pets, but not the easiest!