Ferrets are social creatures that typically live in groups or colonies in the wild. Because they love company, pet ferrets generally look for human family members or other ferrets to hang out with.

It’s much more fun to play when you have friends to play with. Consequently, many ferret owners end up owning more than one ferret.

On rare occasions, two ferrets might not get along. So, if you get more than one ferret, you’ll need to supervise their interactions for several days to ensure they get along before you can safely leave them alone together.

To minimize competition between ferrets, each one should have equal access to food, toys, hiding spots, and sleeping areas so that they’re less likely to fight over resources.

Ferrets love to curl up and sleep, particularly if they can find a warm place to nap, but when they’re not napping, they also love to run, jump, climb, and hide. Ferrets also love toys.

Young ferrets, in particular, enjoying skittering across the floor and chasing toys. Exercise for ferrets is key, or they will overeat from boredom and become obese.

So, if you’re going to own a ferret, plan on lots of out-of-cage time for them to run around.

Ferrets are called ferrets because they literally “ferret out” everything. They chew on, dig up, and pull out nearly every object they encounter—especially when they’re young and very curious.

Objects made of foam, rubber, or cloth, including furniture and shoes, are special favorites. Ferrets notoriously steal everything they can get their mouths on and store their treasures in closets, under beds, or anywhere they can hide them.

This mischievous behavior can lead to significant health problems, since foreign objects they inadvertently swallow can get stuck in their gastrointestinal (GI) tracts and cause life-threatening obstructions that require surgical treatment.

So, if you decide to get a pet ferret, you’ll need to commit to ferret-proofing your home. That means picking up everything from the floor, creating a ferret-proofed area that’s free of tempting things to chew on, and supervising your new pet whenever he or she is out of the cage.

Wild ferrets are carnivores that hunt for and consume rodents and rabbits. Their GI tracts have evolved to digest animal protein and not vegetable matter.

While a pet ferret should also be eating meat, their intestinal tract is not adapted to consuming raw meat in the same way as their wild counterparts. In fact, pet ferrets can develop severe intestinal infection with toxic bacteria such as Salmonella.

Pet ferrets should be fed commercially formulated, high-protein/moderate-fat/low-carbohydrate diets that contain all the nutrients that ferrets require. These diets have also been prepared to eliminate potentially harmful bacteria.

Several kibble diets are available for pet ferrets, and they generally love them.

Before diets were developed specifically for ferrets, many people fed their pet ferrets cat food. In general, it’s preferable to use commercially available ferret food over cat food because ferret-specific diets meet the nutritional needs of ferrets more closely.

Ferrets can live to be 6-9 years old or more, so it’s important to provide consistent, preventative veterinary care. They should see their veterinarian annually and then semi-annually as they age.

By examining ferrets every year, veterinarians may diagnose and treat conditions earlier and may help ferrets live longer, happier lives.

After 3 years of age, ferrets also should have annual blood tests to help ensure that their blood sugar levels and kidney and liver functions are normal.

After 5 years of age, ferrets should be checked every six months, since by this age, they have often developed more than one of the conditions they commonly encounter as they age. 

Ferrets sold in pet stores in the United States are typically from one of two very large breeding facilities, and consequently, they are extremely inbred.

Inbreeding, unfortunately, increases the chances for developing certain diseases, including adrenal gland tumors and pancreatic tumors called insulinomas.

These illnesses can occur in ferrets as young as a year of age. Older ferrets commonly develop heart disease and other types of cancer.

If you’re planning on getting a ferret, you should expect that at some point, your ferret will develop one or more of these conditions and will require veterinary treatment.

Just like cats and dogs, ferrets are susceptible to flea infestation and deadly heartworm infection. This is true even for ferrets kept indoors, as fleas can come in from outside, especially if there are dogs and cats in the home. Mosquitos can also make their way indoors and transmit heartworm disease to indoor ferrets.

Ferret-savvy veterinarians can prescribe flea and heartworm preventatives that are safe for use in ferrets, as not all flea and heartworm products are appropriate for ferrets.