besides cleaning out the litter box every day, and using spray, and I bath them once a month, any other ideas? what do you do? I love 'em but they always stink.
2006-08-31 22:21:05 · 14 answers · asked by twisted_charmer 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Bathing once a month is more than enough, actually I bathe mine less and we're doing great. Bathing ferrets more frequently strips their skin of important oils and that will make the ferret itchy. In turn, the oil glands on the body will go into overdrive to produce more of the oils you just washed off, therefore you'll have a smellier ferret even sooner.
First you need to understand that ferrets will always have a certain musky odor about them. It cannot be totally eliminated.
You are doing great on the litter box thing, are you changing their bedding at least weekly? I use old t-shirts on all surfaces of the cage, piles of them. Ferts love to sleep in piles of laundry and it's washable. I change all the shirts weekly and some more often, because they scoot their butt when they leave the potty and leave little "skid" marks on some shirt.
Are you cleaning their ears at all? Sometimes the smell comes from their ears being dirty. Check into that. There's a liquid you can buy to soften up the build up in there and then you need to swab it out carefully. You might want to get someone to scruff them for you when you do that, because no fert is going to hold still for that one.
One big cause of odor in ferrets is their food. Check your label, especially the first 5 or 6 ingredients. Is the main source of protein derived from fish or fish by-products, like fish meal?
Ferrets that are raised on foods like that will have more of an odor than those that eat foods who get their protein from chicken or lamb mainly.
I assume that your ferrets have been altered, have they?
Most pet store ferrets have been neutered/spayed and their scent glands have been removed. The worst smelling ferret there is is an unaltered male. You may want to get that done if it hasn't been done in the past.
I keep my ferrets in a very large room set up just for them and I run a "Febreze Noticables" at all times. I run it on low, because I don't want to irritate the ferrets, but it does help. It also helps to have good ventilation in the room. It's getting cooler out, open those windows.
I hope this helped a bit. Good luck to you and your fuzzies.
PS: One of mine smells a bit like corn chips, especially when he's sleeping. Weird, huh?
Why would anyone pour Orange Juice on a ferrets back? That's just plain ridiculous. It makes them sticky and they'll get all dirty. Mine hate being dirty.
2006-08-31 22:50:57 · answer #1 · answered by Huh? 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They need bathed more than once a month.... once a week is the normal bathing period for ferret owners I have known. Also, many pour some orange juice down their backs so it gets upder their rears.. something in the OJ helps keep the scent from coming back too soon (from glands that product the smell)
2006-08-31 22:29:48 · answer #2 · answered by The::Mega 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There's an operation you can get to remove the scent glands near the base of their tail where the smell comes from. It is often done at the same time when they are desexed. I believe the operation is fairly routine and not dangerous, but your vet can advise you.
2006-08-31 22:23:59 · answer #3 · answered by TC 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Simple get rid of the dam ferret
2006-08-31 22:25:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Throw the cage outside.
2006-08-31 22:26:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Secret deodorant....strong enough for a ferret but made for a woman.
2006-08-31 22:24:54 · answer #6 · answered by opjames 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
12 Gauge Shotty??? Works 100 percent of the time, 50 percent of the time.
2006-08-31 22:28:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Acutually the less you bathe them the less they will smell, I only wash my three when I have to and there is almost no smell at all...
2006-09-01 08:53:52 · answer #8 · answered by A_Soldiers_Wife 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Our guinea pig stunk worse that the ferret...haha
I'd up the bathing to twice a month...mine never stunk and he rarely got bathed...I dunno why he wasn't a stinker
2006-08-31 22:24:05 · answer #9 · answered by x_athymia_x 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There's nothing else you can do...they just stink
2006-08-31 22:23:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋