How to Care for Your Ferret

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  • NRothwell Flag

    Pet Ferret's :)
    Hello, im Natasha Rothwell from Australia, i am looking for book's on ferret's but i cant seem to find any. Your video's have helped me out a lot. I will hopefully get a pet ferret in a couple of year's when my beautiful rats pass away and i want to learn as much as possible about ferret's as my next new pet. If you have any book's and lot's of info on ferret's for me, please help me, my address is 2 Blackwood crt Port sorell 7307 Tasmania/Australia. Thankyou so much :).

Robin Hochgertel
Ferrets First
www.ferretsfirst.org  
703-849-8911

FerretsFirst is a no-kill shelter and rescue dedicated to ferrets. Our goal is to provide homeless ferrets with a warm, loving environment and medical care while nurturing their individual needs and personality until a permanent home can be found. Older and sick ferrets often find their permanent home right here. FerretsFirst provides education and counseling to promote a greater understanding of the needs of these deserving animals. For a nominal charge, boarding services are available.

We recognize that every ferret has a unique personality which is taken into consideration when matching ferrets with potential parents. What every ferret does have in common is that they are playful, they are dependent on their owners for care and attention and they have feelings. Ferrets also become dependent on other ferrets if they are raised together. We call these 'bonded' ferrets. If you are thinking about adopting a ferret or ferrets make sure you have the time, the love and the resources to provide adequate medical care. Adopting a ferret should be a commitment for the life of the ferret.

FerretsFirst is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donations to FerretsFirst are tax deductible.

How to Care for Your Ferret

In this video series, Robin Hochgertel of Ferrets First, shows you how to take care of your ferret. She explains what ferrets are, what they should eat and demonstrates basic grooming techniques.

This series: 21,636 views

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Transcripts

Robin Hochgertel: Hi! I am Robin, I am the Director of FerretsFirst Rescue in Annandale, Virginia and I have Pear here with me. We are here to teach you how to care for your ferret. We are going to tell you what type of food ferrets require, allowable treats, what type of hygiene we need to do, the housing requirements, equipment requirements, ferret proofing your home, what you need to do to play with your ferret, recognition of illnesses and what to do. First, let me start by telling you a little bit about ferrets. Ferrets are not rodents, they are really members of Mustelid family. The Mustelid family includes minks, polecats, otters and skunks. Ferrets were originally bred from a variety of polecats. They were bred for domestication and originally working animals.

They were used to protect the grain from rodents because they knob-like a carnivores, they eat the rodents and not the grains. They were also used to run electrical conduit. They are used for hunting, they are sent down rabbit holes to chase the rabbits out. Even to the stay, they are still used in airplanes and aeronautics to run wiring.

They require specific care. They fall somewhere between a dog and a cat and the care that they require at a near disposition. They are 100% domesticated. If you throw out a ferret grow out in the wild, it would not be able to take care of itself. It would not no where to find food. Even if it did kill a mouse, it wouldn't know that what it needed to sustain itself was on the inside of the fur. Ferrets are unique and wonderful creatures. As Director of FerretsFirst, our goal is to rescue ferrets, we home them, find foster homes or provide sanctuary for them. So let's begin by teaching you how to take care of your ferret.

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