Ferrets in your home / apartment

Hi, it's Freddy again. On this page, I'm talking about keeping a ferret in your home.

Can I keep a ferret inside my home?

Yes, you can. Ferrets are clean animals and we will not soil our living quarters. If you provide us with a dark, quiet place, away from where we live and play, we will readily learn to use it.

Should I keep a ferret inside my home?

This depends. We are very playful, mischievous animals. We get into everything. Your house or apartment is a big enough world for us, so you won't have to let us out or take us out like you would a cat or dog.

Ferrets are naturally boisterous and inquisitive. Provide us with lots of boxes and tunnels to explore. Fight us using your hands. Chase us, and we will chase you.

We aren't recommended if you have young children because our play can be rather rough. We are fine with teenagers and adults.

Unless you are happy living with mischievous imps who like causing trouble, don't share your home with us.

Aren't ferrets too smelly to keep at home?

Most people do find us a little smelly - the skunk is one of our relatives - but we don't smell that bad. Our smell comes from scent glands. If you're going to keep us outdoors, our smell isn't strong enough to bother anyone. If you are going to keep us in your house, you should ask a vet to remove our scent glands. This is a commonplace, straightforward operation.

In addition to removing our scent glands, you should also get the vet to de-sex us. This is vital to ensure jills (females) have a natural life span. De-sexing also decreases our smell and makes us better companions.