Sunday, July 22, 2012

“I’ve Never Seen…”

 

Most people finish that sentence with “Ferrets walking on a leash.” or “I didn’t know you could train them to do that.”

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I believe if more ferret owners did take their beloved ferrets out in public more than a more people would have the opportunity to be introduced to the world of ferrets.

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I am big on educating people about ferrets and the fact they aren’t for everyone. Those cute little balls of fur they see in the pet store grow up and required a lot of care.

Some myths are:

They are smelly.  While unfixed ferrets have a very distinct musky odor. those that have been descented and fixed have less of an odor but if bathed too much the skin replaces the oil that has been washed away with more oil which can lead to a smelly ferret. As can an unclean litter box.

They are cage only animals. This is one myth that makes me roll my eyes at the person telling me this. Ferrets are active critters that love being able to explore their surroundings and need at the very minimum 2 hours a day out of the cage to play.

They can’t be trained. Ferrets can be trained to use the litter box and with a lot of patience and rewards can learn to do some simple tricks. They can also be taught to walk with a leash and harness.

They are rodents. This one gets me really worked up. Ferrets are not rodents they were domesticated over three thousand years ago to hunt rodents. They belong to the same family as the weasel, mink, and otter.

They are great pets for children. I personally don’t think they are good pets for any child under the age of 10 and don’t believe they should be introduced to a family with a baby.  I am sure there will be others that disagree with me.

 

What other myths have you heard about ferrets?

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

2 comments:

Snotface said...

One of the things that I do to show people ferrets are not rodents is to show them my dentition. Carnivores and herbivores have very different looking teeth.

Jo said...

exactly. Chesiel teeth are good for ripping up plants but ferrets have the same kind of teeth as felines very good for catching prey.