LITTER BOXES

Ferrets are by nature clean animals. You will notice that ferrets will want relieve themselves in corners. They are predictable, making for easy litter box training. Another way they are predictable is that they will usually want to go right after waking up from a nap. Therefore, put a litterbox near where your ferret sleeps. If you keep the box clean, your ferret won't need to go searching out a new corner to use. So, don't worry, you don't have to put a box in every corner.

You also don't have to buy special shaped litter boxes. Ferrets don't care what shape the box is, as long as it's in a corner and clean. Scoopable litter is best, since you can get rid of liquids fast and easily.

BITING

Nobody wants a pet who bites. Ferrets who bite are either mistreated or neglected, just like dogs. Biting is a ferret's response to something problematic in his life, a behavioral problem where you have to look at the environment and see what needs changing. In most cases, it's because the ferret is not getting any attention from its owner, perhaps spends the entire day in a cage with little or no time with people. Remember, ferrets are very social by nature, and love attention. The more you handle them, the more comfortable they are around people, and less apt they are to bite. If you have a "biter", try some extra attention, some TLC. It may take some time for the ferret to adapt to all the attention but if you are persistent it should help the situation.

TOYS

Ferrets are opportunistic animals, like racoons. This means they are naturally very curious animals, and very playful. They can take almost any object and have fun with it. As with dog and cat toys, many of them on the market will not interest your pet at all. Put your ferret in front of a $12 ferret toy and an empty toilet paper roll, and see which he prefers. Because of their hyper sensitivity to their surroundings, ferrets notice everything in their environment, and will investigate everything they can get to, in order to see if it has potential for playtime or for eating.

Grooming

Every 3 or 4 weeks you may notice your ferret smelling a little stale or even musky or just dusty. Remember, ferrets like to crawl under things where you might not ever dust or clean, so they can act as little dust mops. Well, a shower and a little shampoo wil have them fluffy and clean again. I've never used expensive specialized ferret shampoo on any ferret I've ever had, and they've all been fine. Some will say ferret's skin dries out easily so special shampoos or a dip in conditioner is required, but I've never had to do this. I"ve never had a ferret with driy skin I have even known a ferret whose owner used a hair dryer on her after showering, with no skin problems. I also keep a flea comb handy not for fleas but for combing their fur. If your ferret's coat starts to feel "wiry", then a good combing can take out the extra hairs that produce the wiry feeling. This happens especially in sprintime. when ferrets shed their winter coats.