Ferret Advice I need some HONEST opinions on the smell.?

Question

I'm a animal LOVER! BUT, I need some honest answers, I'm very sensitive to smells and odors, and I know that Ferrets have a smell to them. I have a place to keep his cage thats a extra room, but I've heard lots of bad things about how bad their smell is. So, how often can they be bathed? Does it help? Is there anything you can put on them to help with the smell? Don't they use kitty litter boxes?? Do they go to the bathroom alot? Or should I say, is their pee and poop strong? How is it compared to a cat with a box? I would aprreciate anything anyone could tell me about them, good and bad. Not for sure if its a girl or boy. How long do they usually live? Do they need anykind of shots from the vet? Should they be taken to a vet annually? Please be honest! Thanks!!!!

Answer 1

First off is your VERY sensitive to smells a ferret is NOT for you.
nowever days most ferrets come pre spayed/neutered and descented and they will still have a ferret odor to them.
unfortunatly ferret odor is one of those you either dont mind it or you hate it but it gets into EVERYTHING.
the more you bathe them the stronger their odor as bathing strips the essential oils from the skin the body them produces excess to replenish that causing an even strongor odour than before...
you should aim to bathe a ferret once a month and clip their nails once a week.
theres NOTHING you can put on them to stop their natural musk, things like deoderants ect will just wreak havoc with its skin and is not healthy for your ferret.
they Can be kinda litterbox trained, they like to potty in corners and will usually choose 1 corner, place a litterbox (with corn cob, walnut, carefresh ect, NO KITTY LITTER, it can actually cause ALOT of damage to the ferret especially if he decideds its more fun to play in, if he swallows it it will cause impaction and if he gets it stuck to his butt thats another issue all together.
they usually go to the bathroom quite often (every hour or 2) and especially upon just waking.
expect to have to clean the box 2-3 times aday to keep it smelling as good as a cats box. and yes their waste is strong smelling!

The only real way to halp mimimize the small of their waste is to avoid fish in their diet! fish will make it smell worse so read ingredients, and they should be on HIGH QUALITY kitten or ferret food, (first ingredient chicken, and NO CORN!)

personality wise there alot of fun but into everything, expect to have EVERYTHING you own thats not stapled to the ground removed and hidden! (IM NOT JOKING!) they also are selectivly deaf and wont be trained.
,ale or female makes no difference most pet ferrets nowerdays are already prefixed...
As for the vet, they should see a vet once a year, they should have the canine distemper shot and the rabies shot anually-3yearly depending on your vet. (i prefere 3 yearly as ive seen pets get sick form over vaccination)
and the average lifespan is 5-8 years sadly, ferrets (especially those form marshals farms) are very prone to adrenal failure (a $800-$1500 surgery) which is why the average is so low.

they are FUN pets, but if your worried about smell, there NOT the pet for you, look into something else cool like mabe a kitten (ferrets act like perpetual kittens)

hope this helps

Answer 2

If you clean the litter box at least every two days you will not smell it. Their body's musky scent doesn't offend most people but they still smell even when descented. A once a week bath keeps them in check and the more often you wash the bedding the better. A few hammocks on a rotation so there's always a clean one works well. Boys and girls are virtually the same because they're fixed. They should go to a vet annually but most people don't just make sure there's a vet who treats them you could get to in an emergency. They already have their shots from the pet store. The best thing I could recommend is find someone with ferrets a friend or better a rescue and play with them for a day to see if the benefits of a fun pet outweigh the work of washing to keep the scent down. Take a good deep sniff and ask if you want a room that has that ferrety smell. Good luck

Answer 3

ok yes they use a kitty box so just cleaning is going to be smelly to some one with sensitive smell, if you feed them a high qulity ferret food or kitten food the smell should not be to bad.

I use ferret dry shampoo and ferret sheen it a spritz you put on the kinda like a body spray for ferrets every one always tells me my ferrets smell good.

Keep the cage clean bedding ect.

ferret can not live in a cage so they need to be out to play so if you can not handle that than you are not good for you.

you need to use a non clumping and dust free litter.

you can only bathe them once a month if not less.

you said not sure if it a girl or boy do you already have one or are you getting one?

if you take real good care of them and take them to the vet yearly they should live a good life of at least 10 year give or take.
as they get older vet may need to be more please find a knolageable vet.

Please don't liston to all the negative crap some people give you on here you asked for an honest anwer and that what you should get i have owned up to 10 ferret at one time and do you know people did not know that until i told them it all about how you take care of them the dry shampoo smell great and so dose the ferret spritz, keep the cage and litter clean and your ferret will smell good i don't understand how people say they smell unless they are just letting them.
i have had over 30 since i do rescue
i have work with my vet when it comes to rescue and he also has people call me for ferret help.
i have been published in a magazine.

Answer 4

If you already know that you are OH SO sensitive when it comes to smells, why are you even bothering with pets??? Get a fish tank or a pet rock.
Yes ferrets smell, ALL animals smell, especially if they aren't taken care of properly. You shouldn't bathe them more often than once a month, because it strips them of the oils on their skin, which in turn makes the oil glands go into overdrive, thus making the ferret smellier sooner. They can be litter trained, but ferrets will never be 100% with that and need periodic retraining. They have very short digestive tracts and fast metabolisms, so yes, they do POOP and pee a lot. You can put sprays on them and chemicals IN their water to help with the smell, but personally I think that's cruel. You wouldn't give a baby chemicals to make their diapers smell better would you? Their pee is very strong, especially if they accidently get it on them, because they peed on something other than litter. They do NOT bury their poop like cats do either. They do need annual shots, rabies and distemper and therefore need to see the vet annually until they get to be seniors at which point they should be seen twice a year to rule out things like adrenal disease and insulinoma and other cancers ferrets are prone to. Average live span is 6 - 8 yrs, but there have been some that live 10 - 12.
PLEASE tell me you didn't go out and get one and are just now asking questions................
btw, boys have what looks like a tiny belly button halfway between their anus and the bottom of their rib cage, girls don't have that. It's actually their penis. Most ferrets are descented and fixed, so males do not have a scrotum anymore.
Do not feed them fruits and veggies, they need meat, they are carnivores. So ferret food it is, or a high quality KITTEN(not cat) food, if you absolutely must. Actually some kitten foods are better than some of the junk some companies sell as ferret food(the 8in1 Ultra or Premium they sell at Walmart is downright horrible, Marshall's isn't much good either. 8in1 Ultimate is really good and Maxximum Kitten is too).
Sorry about being so long winded, but you asked for us to be honest. I truly hope you didn't run out and get one yet, but if you did, read "Ferrets for Dummies" and find yourself a group to join, locally or online, so you have some form of support from owners that know what they are doing.
I'm not trying to be a b***h, but the numbers of ferrets are are turned in to rescues and shelters every year, because people buy them on impulse and then cannot deal with them is very upsetting. Lots of shelters are not NO-KILL, so the ferts are looking at spending time in an environment they're unfamiliar with just to be put down in the end. It's just not fair.
Think about it, please!!!
PS: In regards to above answer: every TWO days??? My that's going to reak. It needs scooped twice a DAY and washed out at least weekly. And use a good litter, like Yesterdays News, none of that perfumy or clumpy stuff, it's not good for them.

Answer 5

Mine smells like crap. I hear you should only bathe them once a month at the most, and it does help. There is a Deodorizer spray you can purchase at the pet store for ferrets than can be used daily. It's said they need Canine Distemper shots, but I never got mine done and he's fine. Easiest way to tell if it's a male or female, look on it's belly and see if it has what looks like a belly button. If it does, it's a boy and that's NOT a belly button, haha. I hear neutering reduces the scent as well. I clean mines cage everyday, they only go in the corners of their cage, but their poop is much like that of a cats, eww. You can train them to use a litter pan, so I hear. They live I think 8 to 10 years? Maybe less. A cats pee smells way worse, I think the poop smell is about the same rate. Mine is an *** and won't use his litter pan in his cage, he just sleeps in it. He poops in one corner.

Answer 6

I'm not very sensitive to smell, and to be totally honest, I love the smell of my ferret. Excluding his breath, he has bad breath. But the smell of ferret by itself to me is just... I cant describe it. Some people I know HATE the smell of my ferret and say it smells bad but their only basing that opinion off what they believe they should think ferrets smell like. Once again, I love the smell of my ferret and they might be a little musky but if you cant learn to love that smell then a ferret might not be for you. Also, ferret smell tends to stick to clothes. If I pet my ferret for a little and go off somewhere my clothes and hands often smell of ferret. Like said. Some people don't like the smell but its whats on the inside that counts, not the smell.

Answer 7

I recommend petsmart, walmart, and marshall ferret products (http://www.marshallpet.com/mpproducts/index.asp)

BEDDING: WARNING!! DO NOT USE CEDAR OR PINE SHAVINGS (ASPEN works best)

LITTER BOX: Ferrets like regular cat boxes not corner boxes
http://petchauffeur.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/MSHighBackPan.jpg

SMELL: use bi-odor (start w 1 sqwuart to maximum 3 squarts)
http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/standard/i/inp0/inP031083_13ba7.jpg

BATHS: Use n e thing specialized 4 ferrets or cats ( watch 4 skin irritation) Give them warm/hot baths 1-2 times weekly or every other week DO NOT WET THE EARS!!!!

LIFE SPAN: est. 7-10 n captivity, 12 - 14 n wild

VET VISITS: should get ears cleaned 1 time monthly or 1 time every 3 weeks (main source of smell is durty ears!!) Take to the vet regularly just like n e other animal!

FEEDING: when changing ferret's diet put half of the old food in with the new (mix it well) and add less of the old and more of the new each time u fill up the bowl so he/she won't get sick.

FOOD: I recommend walmart! "Chicken Flavored Ferret Food" & "Fruits and Veggies" (mix together)

WATER: change the water everyday and try to get sumthing they can drink out of easily so they won't turn it over as often!

WARNING: FERRET CAN GET HURT ON CERTAIN TOYS!

TOYS: I give my ferret toys from happy meals, squeeky toys, & balls w/bells in them. (n e thing small/lite enough for them to move around -try noisey objects) Be careful w/hammocks sum ferrets have been hurt/killed by poor hammocks!

Answer 8

I think the musk smell is a matter of opinion. I really object to it, but my friends like it.
I've never stuck around long enough to see the bathrooming habits or notice that smell.

Answer 9

You are really going to be better off researching this somewhere else that Yahoo! Questions. Try Google, and there you will find your answers.

Answer 10

Foxy had said everything I would have said. So I am referring you back to the comment Foxy made!