The name ferret comes from the Latin furonem, meaning thief. Ferrets have become one of the most sought after household pets. They are second only in popularity to dogs and cats in the USA. It's easy to see why, they're cute and like cats they're both curious and friendly. With a bit of effort they can even be trained.
Ferrets are very social animals and like being in groups and humans often become part of their social group. It is believed that Ferrets were first domesticated around 2,500 years ago. One of the earliest mentions of ferrets in literature is by the Greek playwright Aristophanes who spoke of ferrets in his satire The Acharneans written around the year 425 BC, and includes the line:
"What a happy man he'll be that marries you and begets a set of Ferrets as good as you at farting in the Grey dawn!"
Ferrets are members of the weasel family, which includes 65 other species, such as badgers, otters, ermine, mink and - obviously - weasels. Ferrets come in a variety of brown colours with black highlights. There is also an albino variety that has white fur and pink eyes. Males are larger than females and are typically around 18 inches long and weigh 2.5 lbs.
Ferrets certainly live up to their Latin name as they will frequently steal food, toys or other small objects and conceal them. It is not really known why they do this, but it is probably to do with an instinct to hoard food to keep them going through lean times.
People often erroneously believe that ferrets give off a bad odour. It is true that they give off a natural musky scent from glands. In the US these glands are often removed by commercial ferret dealers, however in Europe and the UK especially, this is considered to be an unnecessary mutilation. Often the bad odour given off by ferrets is caused by improper care. Unfortunately many pet shops and some ferret owners will simply dump several ferrets in a cage with some food and water and leave them there for days.
Unlike cats, ferrets need more care and attention to keep them odour free and in good health. Ferrets are also prone to several diseases if they do not get a suitable diet.
Ferrets need a diet that is high in protein and fat. Fresh chicken is ideal, as is commercial ferret food containing around 32% meat based protein and 18% fat, with a maximum of 3% fibre. When ferrets initially became popular pets, owners fed them wet or dry cat food. However, cat food often contains grain based protein which ferrets find hard to digest and is not suitable. A ferret's natural diet is fresh meat, but if this is not an option carefully formulated commercial ferret pet food is the next best choice.
Ferrets also have a fondness for sweet things such as raisins, bananas, peanut butter, and breakfast cereal. However veterinarians recommend not feeding these or other sweet treats to your pet at all as they can cause insulinoma.
Ferrets are intelligent creatures and can be trained to carry out several amusing and even useful tasks. They are often used to run TV and sound cables through conduits. One ferret, Freddie, was even registered as a member of New Zealand's Electrical Workers Union as an electrician's assistant!
Ferrets are naturally crepuscular which means they are most active during dusk and dawn. They spend 14 to 18 hours a day sleeping which they normally do in six hour sessions. When they wake up they are very active and will want to get out of their cages and burn off their abundant energy.
Ferrets will often solicit play with their human owners. These games will sometimes take the form of hide-and-seek, or predator and prey games where the human tries to catch the ferret or the ferret tries to catch the human.
Ferrets are fun, cute and smart. What more could anyone ask of a pet?
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