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.