Ferrets are members of the weasel family that have been domesticated for over 2000 years. Ferrets live an average lifespan of 5-7 years, however, the current record for the oldest ferret is 14 years old! They are very curious little creatures. Because they are social animals, if you are going to adopt a ferret, please consider taking in a pair so they will never be lonely. It is recommended to avoid adopting a ferret if you have small children in the home. They are very fragile animals and can be easily injured if handled inappropriately or dropped.
Like a cat, they love to nap and usually sleep up to 20 hours a day. When they are awake, however, they are very active and playful pets! They love to bounce around and invite you to play with them. If you start bouncing around with them, this will often make them happy. They love crawling through just about anything, including cardboard boxes, PVC piping, clothes dryer hoses, paper bags, and even pant legs or long shirt sleeves. They tend to play rough and will often playfully nip in the beginning, so it is important to teach them not to.
Even though ferrets are naturally clean animals, they are very well known for their musky odour. No matter how many times you bathe a ferret, the odour will never completely go away. This scent is much worse in unneutered ferrets, but luckily almost all of the domestic ferrets in North America are neutered at the time of weaning, so we don’t really have to worry about this.
