Do ferrets NEED a cage?

Question

I am a stay at home mom so I am home all day, we are looking into getting a ferret, do they need a cage if they are going to be supervised most of the day?

Answer 1

We have got 6 ferrets and they do not have a cage and are all litter trained they sleep in a desicated area which we can close off if necessary but it is much larger than a cage and so they have more frreedom, when we had our first 2 ferrets they had the living room as a "cage" but now we have 6 they have a room they sleep in when we are out and at night but the run of our flat when we are in hope this helps you .

Answer 2

Since they can get into things in 2.5 seconds flat, it's good to have a cage that they can be contained in, for safety's sake and just to give yourself a break.

Some ferret owners make one room the 'ferret room' and provide that with everthing, and put an acrylic insert about 4' tall in the doorway to keep them in the room but allow them to see out.

But they'll need to have available litter boxes, or you'll be picking up ferret poop from everywhere. A small area is good to get them used to using the box. Remember that they won't hold the poop in if the box is too far away.

Answer 3

Yes, it does. There is no way you can supervise your ferret 100% of the time.
What if you have to have someone like a plumber or a maintenance guy come in to fix something, you have to go to a doctor or get a job. What if your ferret doesn't get along with the kid(s)???
You have to be able to safely contain a ferret for a length of time.
If money is an issue here, don't get a ferret.
Ferrets require annual vet visits and they are prone to several diseases and health problems.
Some of them get all kinds of different cancers(insulinoma for instance) and adrenal disease. Some of those problems are treatable, but expensive to take care of.
Ferrets will get into and out of most anything and get themselves into trouble by falling off of things or swallowing stuff they're not supposed to, often resulting in bowel obstructions(beginning or even complete). They can even get obstructed by a simple hairball which will require surgery(trust me, I take good care of mine and still had to shell out almost $800.00 for surgery to remove a hairball).
Ferret vets are hard to find and usually expensive.
Ferret food is usually expensive and you cannot just feed them cat or dog food, or at least you shouldn't if you actually care about the animal.
How old are your kids? I would never recommend a ferret for anyone with kids under 8 or 10. Ferrets are a bit wild, unpredictable, jump and nip a lot, but yet are too delicate to withstand the sometimes a bit uncontrolled movements of a toddler.
Good luck with your decision, and sorry I was a bit longwinded, but this is how I see it.

Answer 4

Absolutely! If a ferret can get into something, it will. There is no such thing as "supervised most of the day" with a ferret! You either watch it 24/7, or put it in it's cage.

Answer 5

It wouldn't hurt to have one for the times when you're not home or sleeping. Those little rats will get into just about anything when you're not watching! Don't get me wrong, I have five of them and absolutely LOVE them, but they're very tricky little buggers. Even if you think your house is completely ferret-proof, they almost always find that one thing you missed. And I'm sure you'd rather they not find that one thing while you're sleeping or away and unable to do anything about it. If he/she is going to be out of the cage most of the day, then a small cage will be just fine - you don't have to get the biggest, most expensive one out there, but I really think you should have one for the times when you're not able to supervise it.

Answer 6

Yes they absolutely need a cage. I personally have 5 fuzzies and as was already said ferrets will find trouble. They can get into dryer vents, fridges, stoves, heating vents. Basically you name it and they can fit into it. I couldn't even being to tell you how many people have lost their ferrets because they didn't cage them and when they sat down on their couches they sat on them and killed them. The cage is a necessity not only for the fuzzies safety but for training purposes as well.

I do have to disagree with whoever it was that says fuzzies arent good with kids. I have had mine longer than I have had my children who are 3 and 2 and my fuzzies are WONDERUFL with my children!!!

Answer 7

yes they do, I have had alot of ferrets, nine at once, and recently this week one passed away, Sadly, but they dont have a long life span, I would get them a cage to put in when you have to go out, or are very busy, also keep them in at night, They are very curious and can get into alot of trouble, Make sure you give them hammocks and sleep sacks, I bought baby blankets for mine, which they love, I would also recommend getting 2 ferrets if you can, They are a bundle of joy watching 2 or more play, I have what looks like a long dryer tube that they run in and out of,

Answer 8

There are going to be times when you won't be home or can't supervise and I would want a cage for those times. You can't supervise all the time (you sleep, go out, and take showers right?).

Answer 9

It would be impossible for you to watch your ferret all day and all night. For this reason I highly recommend a cage. You can find lots of quality cages for decent prices at http://www.ferretdepot.com

For extra information on ferrets that is particularly helpful you can visit http://www.ferretsr1.org and http://www.ferretuniverse.com

Good luck in your decision!

Answer 10

Yes!if there supervised during the day they prob won't, but about night, you are prob sleeping,so it might get lost and you prob won't see it ever again unless it comes out for food and it might poop all over the house and you will have to clean it all up just because it isn't potty trained!