r/ferrets

Deserved nap after destroying her favourite plushie. She still keeps him tho. We were worried about her eating the stuffing...but no, she just absolutely massacred him and kept him for cuddles... What a bloodthirsty animal 😅

Hey everyone, I just got a notification from Chewy that everything Marshall’s I had in my autoship (treats and soup) are discontinued-not out of stock, discontinued which is wild. Is everyone seeing the same? Is Marshall’s food/treats going away?

I have two Marshall’s ferrets and one from a private breeder. I was able to transition the first two to Oxbow (trying to get them to eat Wysong as well) but they LOVE the soup and treats and so far won’t eat anything else I’ve offered. Anyone have any home-made recipes or other products they use for picky ferrets for treats?

I’ve tried raw eggs, raw chicken, raw beef, whole prey, wet cat food, beech nut stage one chicken baby food, and oxbow treats

Hi everyone!

I have a ferret who just turned 6 years old. She has no significant medical history and sees an exotic vet annually. I’m posting here because I haven’t been able to find much information online about chronic rhinitis or chronic congestion in ferrets.

Back in March, I started noticing that she sounded congested. She had no nasal discharge and was otherwise acting completely normal. I scheduled a vet appointment and she was seen in early June. My vet said her heart and lungs sounded normal, but offered to prescribe Clavamox if I wanted to try a course of antibiotics. Her impression was that it was likely chronic rhinitis.

I waited about a month to see if it would clear on its own, but when it didn’t improve, I went ahead with the 10-day course of Clavamox. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to make much difference.

Throughout this entire process (now about 4 months), she has remained completely herself—active, playful, eating normally, exploring, and getting into all kinds of trouble. The only issue is the congestion-like sound. The best way I can describe it is that she sounds like a person recovering from an upper respiratory infection and moving mucus around in their airways. Sometimes I can hear what sounds like mucus, while other times she sounds completely normal.

She does not have adrenal disease or insulinoma, and my vet does not seem particularly concerned. However, whenever I search for chronic congestion in ferrets, I keep finding information about heart disease or lung cancer, which is obviously concerning.

Has anyone had a senior ferret with similar symptoms? Did it end up being chronic rhinitis, allergies, something age-related, or something else entirely? Would you recommend pursuing further diagnostics?

A few additional details:
She is eating and drinking normally.
Energy levels and activity are completely unchanged.
When she’s asleep, she makes no congested or mucusy sounds at all.
The sounds only occur when she’s awake and exploring.
It almost sounds like a chortling or rattly congestion noise.
She does not cough.
She occasionally sneezes, and the sneezes sound wet.
She is currently shedding her winter coat, which I’m sure isn’t helping matters.

Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you can share!

Enjoy this cute photo of her and her sister ❤️ I’ll also attach a video of what her sneeze sounds like!

About two or three years ago I got out of bed late at night to commit suicide, and my sweet boy Yggdrasil stopped me, the ferrets were in their cage at the time and while he always begs to be let out when he's in their cage (usually they free roam but they get put in their cage when I replace their puppy pads or vacuum the carpet), he was more desperate than I've ever seen to be let out, and I've never seen him like that again. Seeing him like that is what made me stop and survive through that night. Did he know something was wrong? I mean he usually comes to lay with me when I cry but he was damn near frantic trying to get to me.

Here's some pictures of my sweet boy.

I've been here a long time. I offer my help or solace when I can. Sadly today was my turn to let go of my son Oliver. We have had him for 8 years and he has been one of the brightest spots on our lives.

I just wanted to say thank you to my son. I'm so proud of your strength. He has overcome 1 ibd surgery, 2 insulinoma surgeries and a broken tooth surgery. He has been on medicine for awhile now and his body just wasn't keeping up with his spirit. I had myself convinced I was waiting for a sign from him, but really he was just waiting on his dad to find the strength to let him go. He went peacefully in our arms today and I feel the deepest pain from his absence. I love you and I'm so proud of you my son. I always will be. And we will see you again someday, I promise.

My ferret Finny (10 months old) has been making this noise while eating. I’m currently on vacation and my boyfriend forgot to bring their normal food. We got Duk soup and a replacement for the time being but this noise has started(I can’t see their regular vet until i’m back) and brought them with me (which is why he’s eating off of a plastic lid lol it’s their travel container) He just recently started to do the noise, is it just the way he eats or is something wrong? I have another ferret eating the same exact food and he’s fine. after he’s done eating, he goes back to playing and everything like normal and he’s still eating the same amount and acting fine. He’s my oldest and my baby so i’m new to ferrets and just worried.

Hi again! I got some good tips here the other day so I have another question. I’ve noticed these specs behind my ferret’s ears - I don’t think it’s mite related, but I’m not sure what they could be and Google has been no help. She is 5 years old and has insulinoma. Any thoughts?

Okay so before I bring ferrets home I’m obviously making sure I have absolutely everything figured out and on hand. I have my emergency kit stocked and ready, and now I’m just trying to figure out food.

I know Wysong and oxbow are a popular combination for food and what I plan on feeding. I recently ordered food because chewy had a sale and now I think I messed this up.

Can someone explain the difference between these two? I ordered oxbow and the Wysong quail formula but I think I should have gotten the Epigen 90 instead. Can I get that and use it WITH the quail formula and the oxbow? Obviously I know Wysong needs to be a like 30% ratio when mixed anyways so could I just mix those two together and use that for the 30% and do 70% oxbow? Should I just keep what I have? Should I return the quail formula entirely and just get the epigen 90 instead??

I also read on a Facebook group that freeze dried raw should not be fed with kibble? I’m so confused by this. It was an admin posting it too so maybe I’m just misunderstanding or just not knowledgeable or likely both lol. They were saying FDR is completely balanced and you shouldn’t be feeding kibble with it, and that if you are to feed kibble they need food available 24/7 but if you do raw or freeze dried raw that you should feed as a meal instead. And that all freeze dried raw needs to be rehydrated. Which is fine, I rehydrate my dogs food with bone broth when I do their weekly “treat” meal that has a bunch of healthy food toppers and supplements for them. But oxbow isn’t FDR to my knowledge so I’m curious as to how to do this, if it does need rehydrated do I do that first and mix in the oxbow after?

I also read that they should be getting soupies and that you can add extra supplements and treats in with this but some people were saying do this daily and that seems maybe not right? I didn’t think ferrets needed supplements daily if they were fed an appropriate diet, but a lot of people in this particular group I read this information in feed Marshall’s ferret food so maybe that’s why people were saying that.

So I guess I’m just confused or maybe underprepared which is fine because I don’t have ferrets in my home so that’s what this prep time is for I guess.

Hello everyone, since I’m joining the cult I wanted to make a post about my journey in preparing the best environment available for my ferret, so that people who are still needing information can get some kind of answer. Apologies in advance about the typos and grammar error, English isn’t my first language.

For starter, why a ferret?

That’s a question a lot of my relatives asked me. Well I (M29 living in Europe) wanted to get a pet for about 2-3 years now, I’m single and a massive geek so dogs were not possible because of daily walks. I would have got a cat, but I’m allergic, so it’s wasn’t possible either, that’s why I chose a ferret, playful like a cat, doesn’t require NEARLY as much going out as a dog, and I prefer them to mice, rabbits or hamsters.

I’ve been maturing this idea for quite some time now and finally decided in February 2026 to adopt, but I didn’t know jack shit about how to care for a chaos noodle.

I have a sad background in my family when my dad adopted a dog and did not knew how to handle him, leading to food poisoning. Refusing to make the same mistake, I told myself “I’ll adopt only when I know everything I have to know”

Youtube channel, blogs, forum, livestream, reddit, shelter house, family breeder. I’ve spend the better part of my free time for the past 6 months learning and absorbing data about ferrets (how they live, what they eat, how they play …)

I have compiled everything in a datasheet with cost, ranging from claw cutter to poop scoop (which I didn’t even knew where a thing back in February). The shelter I visited back in march for information where quite flabbergast by my data sheet, saying that it’s the first time they saw a future owner doing that to the extent that I had (which I took as a compliment)

So I just wanted to share my journey because I think (humbly) that I did quite well and maybe (not maybe, it’s sure) I can still learn from other experience.

 

Cage:

The vast majority of info I got from internet where from US source. Since I’m not from the US, I could not get a ferret nation cage. Yet I believe what I got is the closest thing we can have here. I got a cage with wide opening and removable floor for cleaning.

Every fabric item (hammock / blankets / hide cushion) has been bought twice, to ensure a clean change while the rest is in the washing machine and/or drying.

I cut blankets to make some flooring on the half floor since, the metal one is not great in the winter.

One of the tips I got from a youtube video is to use old socks to cover the ramp so that the ferret won’t break it’s tiny leg. I got some old muppets one that I found funny enough.

 

PS: the red tube in the picture won’t stay here, I’m going to fix it to the bars so that the noodle can get in and access the red hammock.

Also, you can’t quite see it in the pictures, but there are 3 hammocks placed in the cage, and there will be shoebox that will act as a dark place that will go in the place of the pokéball.

 

Toys

As for the toys, I got several dog plush with crinkle features but no squeaky things, I manage to salvage old electrical pipe from worksite to make some outside tunnel (I do have a small garden), I also have indoor tunnels (with and without crinkle), some AstroTurf patch and I made a cardboard castle.

There is not many toys in the cage for reasons I will detail later, but the majority of the toys will be outside the cage.

 

Food

That’s the tough one. Here in France, every source you ask advocate only for raw feeding, NEVER in hell should a ferret eat kibbles. Fair. Meaning my ferret will have only been exposed to raw meat from birth. So I’ve been cruising the web for guides and recipes. I thought I could use chicks but it’s not enough nutritional diversity AND it’s not sold in pet store and I must import them from Belgium by crates of 10Kg with I cannot store. So BARF it is then. As of today, I have not yet prepared a single meal so it’s still quite nebulous for me, but I gathered all the detail about nutritional values, types of meat (muscle, guts, bones) I’ve had some kind of a recipe from the shelter I visited so I’m gonna use that and see. I’ll prepare about a Kilo worth of meat per week and dispatch those in little plastic boxes (100gr per box) that I will freeze and unfreeze each day. If it’s not enough, I’ll make more.

 

Treats

This one was simple, since I quickly gathered that salmon oil, salmon paste and dehydrated chicken cube where very good treats that I can use to educate, and well… treat my companion. I can also use some dried meat for when he’s young to help his teeth development.

 

Cleaning

I also learned quite a bit here. First off, I learned that there exist fragrance free soap. So I bought some to wash the fabric, I bought odor free disinfectant and cleanser to wash the cage and the spaces where “accidents” might happens in the flat. I invested in a small trash box so I can throw away the litter without infesting my big trashcan.

I bought puppy pads to establish a perimeter around the litterboxeS and prevent unwanted “accidents”. I  bought a rabbit litterbox, bigger than the usual triangle corner litterboxes, since one of the shelter I went to told me ferrets prefer to have their whole body in the litterbox or they might just not bother and poop next to the box.

I salvaged 2 big plastic plate that I put behind the cage, so that I won’t have to clean the wall if there are some poop spray.

I’ve not yet placed litterbox in the flat, since I believe that place will be decided by the future pooper.

 

I’ve also been watching quite a lot of comparison about the different kinds of litter (I saw way to much crap in a short period of time) I could use, and went for a European brand of clumping wood fiber litter which I found to be the best option for me (we’ll see if it’s true in the future)

 

Education

I have been learning about education in pooping and biting.

 

For poop, I’ve learned about the poop-treat method, the “I-put-your-waking-up-noodle-body-in-the-litter-and-you-don’t-get-out-until-you-poop” method and other methods requiring patience.

 

For biting, I’ve learned about dominance culture in ancient ferret tribes. Grabbing the ferret by the neck, not to hard, just enough to assert dominance with a gentle yet firm “NO”, and if it doesn’t work, 1 minutes in a boring space. I’ve also learned to give treats when the play session had no bites. Again, patience method, no yelling nor hitting, NEVER.

 

Ferret proofing

I’m so lucky about this one. There is so little to ferret proof in my flat. I’m not the landlord, so I can’t nail things to the walls, but I managed to get cardboard and duct tape in strategical places to secure the kitchen area. Besides that, NOTHING, there is not a single place in my flat where the ferret can go and my hand can’t. Well, as far as I’m aware.

I still covered the electrical plugs and locked access to my cleaning supply cabinet

 

Heat wave

The little buddy is coming during a massive heatwave in France (we had temperatures equal to that of the Sahara desert two weeks ago), so of course I learned about temperature regulation in ferret. To be fair, I already knew that since I have a master in animal physiology.

Regardless I am preparing for heat waves, with a large ceramic bowl of water with ice cubes, several freeze water bottles wrapped in towels, a wet blanket covering the cage, no sun exposure and a fan.

I’m also kind of lucky since, without any A/C, I managed to keep my flat at around 24°C Max during the first heatwave, which is below the danger point for the noodle.

 

Medical

I discovered that ferrets are really fragile creatures and I learned about the different kinds of diseases they can get.

I have contacted a vet specialized in ferret that lives 20min from my home, so I’m good. I know of the implant that I will have to order, since sterilization is illegal here in France.

And I know that I’ll never get enough time with my animal, even if he lives more than 10 years.

Better prepare for the worst

 

That brings me to the Big red point that I’m sure everyone here as already been screaming about. I’m only going to get one ferret. Why ?

 

First off, I never had a pet before, this ferret will be my first, so I want to take it slow and insure the best life for one ferret before taking a second.

 

Secondly, I’ve been out of studies for about 3 years now and have a stable job situation for a single year. Between all the items I bought and the ferret, I’m well over 600€ budget, so adding 300€ more is a bit too much for my account as of right now.

 

Thirdly, I’m going to listen to the professionals I’ve met during my info gathering. Shelters and breeders told me it’s perfectly fine to have only one ferret, as long as I can keep him entertain for about 6-8 hours a day. Which brings me to my schedule.

 

I have a job from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday. During that time, my ferret will stay in it’s cage with food, water and 1-2 toys.

However, when I’m home, it’s free roam all the way baby (except during the night). I want him to know that the cage is a resting place, the toys will keep him busy during the day, but just enough, playtime is outside. (Meaning, 1 hour out of the cage in the morning during my routine. And about 8hrs when I come back from work to when I’ll go to sleep)

I never leave my home, except to go to the movies, I don’t go to bar or restaurants, and my friends are on discord. That life may seems sad for some of you, but don’t worry it’s fine by me. So I’ll get PLENTY of time with my ferret to create a bond and insure a boring free life even if I’m away 8hrs a day due to work.

I’m also adopting now, because I’m going to get 4 weeks of vacation, which I will use in its entirety to bond with my new friend.

Well, that is the first year plan. In that year, I will learn even more, become more confident and aware of issues, and by next year, if everything is still going smooth, I WILL get a second ferret.

 

As of right now, I still don’t have my little buddy, I’m going to get him next week, I know it’s a girl that I’ve named “Roquette” after the salad variety and also because it also mean “rocket” akin to its explosive nature.

 

Thanks for reading all that. If I made mistakes, please be kind, but be also assured that I have several people on speed dial to answer my questions and course corrects problems.

I just can’t wait to finally welcome my little Roquette !

Hi hi! This is my very first ferret his name is oats! I’m very new to everything and I was curious if people had any general wisdom and advice so that I can give him the happiest life possible.
He is doing fantastic with his litter training in his cage but he does poop and pee wherever he wants when hes out in his room, I also can’t seem to find any treats he is interested in so its hard to reward him when hes out of his crate😭
If anyone has training tips as well that would be amazing because id love to take him outside too! He does very well in a harness but id love to keep him on my shoulder but i dont know where to start with that part.
Any advice is greatly appreciated thanks everyone!❤️

This is booger, he’s about a year and a half old, and he absolutely despises Markiplier.

Booger lives in my room (I‘ve only had him a couple months and I don’t fully trust my cats 😖) and I have a tv in there that I to watch yt on. The other day I put on a Markiplier video and Booger freaked out. Like genuinely upset freaked out. I paused the video and he calmed down, so I figured maybe the intro just freaked him out?? I skipped to the middle of the video and unpaused, but he just freaked out again 😭

I think maybe he just doesn’t like his voice but idk?? Does anyone else have this problem or is Booger just a weirdo ???💀

Wide angle camera lens+ close up photo makes Toulouse look like a little otter man

Hi everyone!

I'm looking into getting an automatic wet food feeder for my ferret. He doesn't really eat kibble, and I'd like him to be able to have a fresh meal while I'm at work instead of waiting until I get home.

Has anyone here used an automatic wet food feeder with their ferrets? I'd love to hear about your experience, what feeder you use, and whether there were any safety concerns or issues I should be aware of.

Thanks!