Ferret Fever

[snarferer]

So I've got a fever, and the only cure is a Ferret.
I've been doing loads of research on them. I just had a couple of questions that I didn't find a good answer too.
1) will ferrets curl up to sleep with you like they do with other ferrets?
2) Petco ferrets?
I would never buy fish from petco, but I have some backwards reasoning for a petco ferret. Tell me if its off base. They come in already fixed and the anal glands are removed. They are already litter trained. They get handled by kids all day, so they have to be fairly friendly. The one I picked up got all snuggly up in my neck, I almost cooed like a 13 year old girl. I also have had trouble finding a breeder. I would adopt, but all the shelters are wicked far from me and I like to mull over important decisions with multiple trips. I also didn't see any breeders in my area that have up to date websites. ( I saw some with litters in 2006 at the latest, most way before that)

Any guidance? Price isn't an issue, I'm not worried about saving 50 bucks on a pet I should have for 10 years by going to petco.

 

[CTU2fan]

1. Depends on the ferret. Some are more "snuggly" than others. You can give them treats when they stay with you, and that will make them a bit more likely to, but it really depends on their personality.

2. The one I have now came from Pet Supermarket, and they're pretty similar to Petco. I don't see a problem buying one there. The socialization point is a good one, but as for box training that might actually be a bit tougher as those ferrets may have been "cage only" for quite awhile, and probably just chose a cage corner rather than using a litter pan.

 

[snarferer]

The cage at the petco had a litterbox in it and it was over-filled with their excrement...however, it was the only place in the pen they had that had any kind of droppings in it. I'm going to keep looking because I'd prefer to rescue or go to a breeder.

 

[CTU2fan]

Good luck. Rescue is a great idea, either from an actual shelter or even someplace like craigslist...a lot of folks get ferrets only to find out they really aren't what they expected; if you don't mind a little older one that's not a bad way to get one.

 

[rmorse]

Petco isn't bad to their animals. They just don't know how to take care of them. (I used to work there. The (majority of) people working at Petco love animals. They just don't know much about cold-blooded animals.

However, I would definitely adopt as well.

 

[logo]

Like stated above it depends on the ferret if it will be a snuggler or not. BUt they will eventually crash and be tired and then you will have a chance for it to stay with you then. And petco gets there ferrets from marshalls which is a very good breeder. I wouldn't see anything wrong with getting a ferret from them but I am very keen on adopting animals so craigslist might be a good place to look.

 

[Frommel]

I have had more then fifteen ferrets in the past. Five on the moment. None of them will ever curl next to me on the couch. They like to play, but if you wanna hold them, they begin to scratch that they wanna go back playing.

Al my ferrets come from hunting-breeders or rescue's.

 

[prettypistol]

Sorry I saw this post a little late and Im sure you may have already found a ferret by now. I just wanted to add that most ferrets found at pet stores are fixed and have the glands removed also there are two main suppliers of ferrets in this area (MD/PA) one is Path Valley Farms but I can't remember the name of the other. Path Valley Farms only breeds for pets but the other supplier breeds for scientific research first and sells the others to stores. If you do buy from a pet store just make sure that you know where the ferrets come from. I agree with the other posts though, adoption is always a great idea! Sorry again about posting this so late, hope you find it helpful!