Ferrets

Breif History

Ferrets were firsts domesticated by the Egyptians in 3000BC. Most historians believe that the Crusaders of the 10 - 12th century introduced the working ferret to Europe. Those ferrets were then bred with European polecat to produce the domestic ferret we know. Because they are so closely related, the two could be crossbred, like the domestic dog to a wolf.

Ferrets have been in the U.S. for over 300 years; they were then used in the 1800s for rodent control. They would run through rat tunnels leaving trace odors that trigger fear in rats and mice causing them to flee.

Ferret Language

Body Language

• Hopping, jumping, and bouncing toward you, is the ferret trying to get you to play.
• Running backward, means the ferret either is unsure of you or not sure on wanting to be picked up right then.
• Puffing, (the ferret sits on all fours, back slightly arched, and all its hair standing straight out) the ferret is scared, it is trying to look big and scary to scare you away.
• Teeth on your hand when holding, the ferret wants to get down. You should make sure you tell the ferret "No" and to continue to hold it to teach it that that behavior is not acceptable. (In most states if a ferret bites and draws blood it will be put down.)

Sound Language

• Clucking, this is more of an all purpose noise to the ferret. It can mean they are very happy or excited to angry. The clucking sound ranges from a soft "cluck," "cluck" to a "dook," "dook" noise.
• Hissing, is more of a fear noise than an aggression noise.
• Screaming, you, or someone else, just stepped on the poor thing or its very terrified about something. A ferret "screaming" sound pretty close to a little kid throwing their head back and screaming.

Description

Ferrets have a lean, elongated, slender, muscular body; with short legs, the feet have five toes with claws. The ferret's head is oval-shaped and the snout area is pointed (female ferrets are more pointy than male ferrets.)

Hobs (males) are sixteen to twenty inches long and weigh three to five pounds. Jills (females) are twelve to fourteen inches long and weigh one and one-haft to three pounds.

Ferrets do not have a very well developed sense of sight; but have a highly developed sense of hearing, smell and touch.

Ferrets live from eight to eleven years. Their normal body temp. is 101.8 F, and connot tolerate temp.s above 95 F. They have 40 teeth.

Some comon colors are:

• Sable (the most common)
• Red-eyed White (albino)
• Silver-mit
• Stearling Silver
• White-footed Butterscotch
• Cinnamon
• and Black-eyed White

Housing
Housing depends upon the owner's situation. Two things to keep in mind is: can the ferret escape? And, that ferrets enjoy watching the activity around them, so let them, make-sure the cage is constructed so they can see out.

Feeding
Ferrets are pretty easy to feed. All they really eat is high-quality commercial dry cat or kitten food. *Important: make sure the cat food contains approximately 35% animal protein.*

Reproduction
Female will sexually mature, and come into heat for the first time, around ten months of age. Their gestation period is usually six weeks. The average litter is six to eight kits (baby ferrets), but can have any were from one to fourteen kits.

When the female ferret comes into heat for the first time, she will remain in heat until she is bred. A female that is allowed to remain in heat for a long period of time is very susceptible to death from uterine and reproductive tract infection and from aplastic anemia.

Health
Ferrets are very susceptible to canine and feline distemper, what can be fatal.

Make sure you wash your ferrets occasionally with baby or kitten/puppy (gental) shampoo, this can help keep the ferret healthy.

To get more information about ferrets or if you just want to go see some other ferret pages here are some Ferret Links:
Modern Ferret -- It's a ferret magazine.
Ferret Central -- Lots of links, ferret FAQ, medical FAQ, and lots more.
Ferret Net -- Links, and other good pages within.
Ferret Reflections -- A ferret buisness, they sell stuff!
American Ferret Association, Inc.
All Thing Ferrety (a web ring)

The information on this page from: Small Animal Care & Management By: Dean M. Warren; and Ferrets A Complete Pet Owner's Manual By: Chuck + Fox Morton

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