Ferret Shelters - Housing

When we're asleep - and that's most of the time - we do like to be cosy. I tell you about ferret shelter here.

Can I keep ferrets outdoors?

Traditionally, hunting ferrets were kept outdoors, in hutches. The picture below shows a traditional ferret hutch, taken from "Rabbiting and Ferreting" published in the 1970's by the British Field Sports Society.



If you intend keeping ferrets in a hutch, it's kinder to keep them in pairs. The Field Sport Society recommended a home for two ferrets should be at least 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, 1 foot 6 inches (45 cm) high, and 1 foot 6 inches (45 cm) in breadth. The bigger the hutch, the happier your ferrets will be. You should let your ferrets out of the hutch twice a day for a run around. After feeding time is ideal for this.

Ferrets like peace and darkness for their sleeping quarters and you should provide some straw for them to sleep in. We also love some old wooly clothes to snuggle down in and crawl through.

The rest of the hutch should have sawdust on the floor. Ferrets always choose the farthest corner from their sleeping quarters to do the toilet. Make sure there is plenty of sawdust there to soak up the mess. Replace soiled sawdust with clean sawdust every day.

Ferrets don't like it when it gets too hot - around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade) is the limit. If it gets hotter than this, make sure we have shade.