Ferrets Love Me

For starters there are two types of potty training: in cage training and out of cage. We will be discussing, in cage, the easier of the two.

Litter Box, training ferrets— The most important thing to remember is that you’re not alone. We’ve all gone through this. Most kits will use the whole cage as a litter box (except for the litter box). baby ferrets are known for scratching kicking and throwing litter all over from Seattle to Singapore. (The ONLY instance that ferrets are similar to cats in when you use a little persuasion, patience and persistence when potty training ferrets so they will use a litter box in their cage) You should never completely clean the litter box when training ferrets to use their litter box. When I was in the military I had an instructor in my tech school that when she wanted to stress a point (wink, wink) she would stomp her foot and say “always, always, always.” So always, always, always place some wet used litter and some pooh (or for you sophisticated chaps–a little fecal matter) on top of the new litter. This will give them an idea where to go to the potty.

Training ferrets that are diggers: supplies & Tools—

You will need: Two litter boxes large and small Two ½ drywall screws Two 1 x 4’s pieces of wood that are four inches narrower then the cage. A 1/8” drill bit A small tube of kitchen and bath caulk Drill A Phillips bit for the drill

Training ferrets that are diggers: staging the cage— Now how does this fit together you ask? First put the smaller litter box into the bigger one with litter in the smaller one only (but do that later). Put the litter boxes in the cage arrange them the way you want place the 1×4 underneath the the litter pans drill a hole to the wood and stop. Now put a generous dab of silicone on the hole in the cage floor (This will seal the hole) if you have a metal bottom, if it is mesh skip the silicone and line everything up to screw it together. If you just have a pan with no wheel or base you will use the other 1×4 to balance the cage. You can just place it underneath the other side or silicone it to the bottom, you do not have to screw it. It is time to put some litter in the small litter pan. This process helps to reduce how much litter you waste, it called a scratch pan. If you have an older ferret that is potty trained, it will not tolerate a kit with bad potty habits and actually helps the kit.

For the people that aren’t as handy, you can attach the litter box to the side of the cage with cage straps. This will establish the area as the place to potty and also keep the box from tipping.

Potty training ferrets that are older will be much easier. They will not play in the litter box; they just don’t understand what it is or what they are supposed to do in it. With a little persistence they will be trained much easier.

If they are going in the wrong place, remember that ferrets live by the old saying, “Don’t poop where you eat.” What I mean is clean the cage then place their food bowl where they were using the potty because they seldom potty where they sleep, eat or drink. Wait untill they use the litter box befor letting your ferret out of his cage; I have heard of people awakening their ferret and putting them in the litter box until they go, if they get out they put them back. When they finally go they praise them, give treats, and let them out to play. But as you know, they are smart critters; they will fake it for the treats.

Frequent litter box changes will help you in potty training ferrets. You will do this because sometimes you get a fickle ferret that is stuck up and will only use their litter box if they have a clean one. Now I don’t mean dump the entire box, just scoop daily and completely change weekly, don’t forget to place a little soiled litter and a little pooh back in the box as a reminder. An important thing to remember is, the more ferrets you have, the more you will need to change the litter in the box. With the male ferrets being larger, sometimes twice as large as females, they will be more apt to dislike corner liter pans and are more apt to ignore the corner pan.

Now you should be potty training ferrets like the pros, but this is just the first step. Next you will still have to teach them to use a litter box outside of the cage. “Outside the cage” potty-training ferrets is a whole separate article. I hope you are comfortable now. There are a lot of other techniques, and with a little research you will find them.

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1. Why as ferret breeders do you want to advertise baby ferrets for sale instead of ferret for sale? It is one of those "marketing pitches," that uses NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) if we were to break it down "baby ferrets for sale" it has ferret for sale already in it but when you add baby to anything you get a warm and fuzzy feeling. People will also see "baby ferrets for sale" and get the image of brand new, where as with "ferret for sale" you will actually think of it as someone saying "used car."

2. As serious ferret breeders you might want to import some ferrets from Europe, European bloodlines are more resilient to adrenal disease as well as a few others. Less common is adrenal disease in European bloodlines and incorporating the bloodlines would breed a stronger healthier ferret, giving you an advantage. "European baby ferrets for sale," what a sales pitch.”

3. If breeders have a ferret for sale, I think I would hype up the fact that this is a family raised ferret. Just knowing a ferret for sale is a family raised ferret and when I say family raised I mean "the ferret Family" and your family which makes me feel better and I see it as a plus. You will have the ferrets a little longer and as the breeder can give the ferrets a little more afection then pet stores that get them at 7-8 weeks.

4. Another good idea for ferret breeders is set up a web page let people know about you. Email shelters, tweet on twitter, join a ferret facebook group, myspace groups and the list goes on. It may take a day to registering to the sites, then once a week take 15 minutes and post some info. Your web page can be something small 3-4 pages just so that people will find you. You may not even have a ferret for sale on your web page; it is just info about you and how to contact you.

5. Small ferret breeders might want to specialize in a certain kind, color of ferrets and sometimes even a color pattern. If you are a small ferret breeder you could even breed for size. Emphasizing what might be hot in the ferret shows will increase the price you charge but compared to a pet store your price will probably be better for a couple reasons:

a. Lower overhead means cheaper rent.

b. They are rarely spayed, neutered.

c. They are rarely de-scented.

d. The information the new owners get need to get quality not quantity.

6. I would let people know you breed your ferrets naturally not with artificial light. You will only have kits available twice a year and that is the natural ferret cycle. Our ferrets are part of our family not just live stock as some of these ferret farms treat their ferrets. I would never buy a ferret from someone who sold to labs for testing and research, neither would a lot of people so let them know you never have and never will sell ferrets to labs.

7. Get literature from multiple places make sure what you tell the new ferret owner is true. You are the expert and what you say they take as gospel. Handouts with important information for new ferret owners will make you more professional. Become a member of associations; rescues even clubs will get your name out as a repectable breeder.

*** These are just Ideas and opinions of this author ***

E. Anthony Gove Does marketing and he helps transcribe articles for this website http://www.FerretCareMadeEasy.com the owner also has another good site found here >>—>http://www.squidoo.com/ferret-beds

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The ferret is a relatively new arrival on the pet scene, though it has been kept by humans for probably in excess of 1,000 years. This apparent contradiction has been brought about by the fact that over much of its association with humans the ferret was, and still is, used as a hunting companion rather than as a household pet. No doubt a number of them were pets, because often a sportsman may have a need to handrear these small carnivores. However, it’s only over the last couple of decades that the ferret has really taken off in a big way as an accepted household companion.

Probably more than any other pet, including the mouse or rat, the ferret has had to overcome many prejudices in order to gain acceptance as a pet. The vast majority of stories about the ferret being a nasty tempered, foul smelling creature that would just as happily bite you as look at you, are untrue. But there is rarely smoke without a fire.

Although the ferret has such a long history of association with humans, it can be surprising that it’s reputation was such a bad one. However, when you consider how it was invariably kept and treated, it’s all too obvious just why this reputation was acquired. As with just about all domestic animals our knowledge of them really only started to become in depth in modern times. For most, possibly excluding the dog, they were greatly misunderstood. The working ferret was often starved before it was sent down a burrow to scare out rabbits, in the mistaken belief that it would work better. In other instances, it’s canine teeth were broken so that it couldn’t kill the rabbit. Others had their lips temporarily sewn together, or they were fitted with tight muzzles. Some were actually blinded, all in the belief that this would prevent them from harming the rabbit.

Less physically cruel, although actually just as bad, was the practice of fitting bells to the ferret before it hunted. The obvious notion was that it warned the rabbit of the oncoming ferret (as if the rabbit wouldn’t be aware of this by its own powerful sense of smell.) The bell idea seems a sound enough idea until you stop to consider that many ferrets may not have actually come out of the burrow, and so would be left by its owner! Wearing the bell, it would have little chance of catching live prey, and it would have to subsist on carrion and invertebrates, or risk starving to death.

Once back home, the ferret would be placed into a small cage and given only a Spartan diet, such as the entrails of the rabbit, some break and milk, or kitchen scraps. The ferret received little consideration on very hot or cold days, for the ferret pens were often totally inadequate homes with little insulation.

All in all, life was hardly a bed of roses for most ferrets!

Given the way they were treated, it’s no surprise to hear that they were very quick to try to bite the hands of their tormentors. This would result in the owner using heavy gloves when handling the ferret, which reduced the owners sensitivity. A strong grip would be used pick up the poor ferret so that it wouldn’t bite or escape, and with this rough treatment, the fearful ferret would release it’s scent… at this point, you have a very aggressive and frightened animal – thus the smelling and biting reputation!

It should be noted that not all owners treated their ferrets this way. Enough did, however, to foster the animals reputation. In truth, a well cared for ferret was a superior working animal, and the same can be said for ferrets who are kept as house pets!

This article is proudly written by Chris Bloczynski. Chris writes about ferrets and ferret care at his website, FerretsPetCare.com

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