How much work will be involved in looking after ferrets?
The simple answer is 'lots'. If you can't spend time cleaning their cage, feeding them and playing with them everyday, then don't get ferrets. Ferrets are quite high maintenance, much more than rats or cats, but less than having to walk a dog. However, a dog will for the most part whilst indoors lie down and sleep. Ferrets indoors will get up to no good and cause havoc. But in return you'll have a cute looking animal that's funny, playful and sometimes affectionate.
This is our general ferret routine.
Before work
Ferrets and husband greet each other. Husband cuddles ferrets and says how cute they are. Husband then scoops poop from each litter pan and refills with clean litter. Fills water and dry food bowls.
Now this sounds simple, but ferrets like to help, so whilst he's doing this, there are five ferrets climbing in the bag with the soiled litter, climbing up his arms, trying to leap on his back and climbing out of the cage - a bit of a handful. He says it takes about 10 minutes.
After work
I prepare the ferrets meat meal and give it to them. They then generally sleep off the meal for an hour or so. We then take them indoors for about an hour of quality play time. Our ferrets poop out after about 40 minutes and after an hour are ready to back.
At weekends, we might play with them in the morning or take them for a walk in the garden or elsewhere.
Weekly
Change bedding in sleep area, tidy up main cage area and replace any flooring that's soiled.
The whole cage is changed depending on how soiled it is, but probably every 3 weeks or so.
This may not seem like much, but the room indoors has had to be ferret proofed in order to make a safe area that they can't get into trouble and so that they can wreck the rest of the house.
Although the ferrets have litter pans indoors, they haven't quite grasped the concept of pooing inside. For the most part the ferrets seem to poop just outside of the pan. Maybe you'll have better luck. So once again that's a lot of pooping and scooping. It also doesn't do to be too house proud.
What should they eat?
Sorting out their diet is one of my main priorities with my ferrets. I don't believe they are on the best diet, but they are on one that suits my lifestyle and budget, and benefits the ferrets.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores which means they need meat, meat and more meat, but not lean sirloin steak. They also need bones, fur, feather etc. The best diet for a ferret is a natural one with variety of items fed.
However, this isn't available for me to feed. So my ferrets are fed ferret/kitten kibble and a raw meat dinner in the evening.
Feed the best quality ferret or kitten kibble that is available. For example, James Wellbeloved Ferret Complete, Frankie Ferret, Iams Kitten, Eukanuba kitten or Arden Grange kitten kibble.
I also feed human quality turkey mince, diced rabbit and minced rabbit with the bones and some chicken liver in the evening.
For more information on what our ferrets like to eat, see our 'fave foods' section.
I've heard that you must breed the jills every year or else they will die?
Female ferrets go into heat in early spring. You will be able to tell as her vulva will be swollen. She won't go out of heat unless she mated, or fooled by being mated by a vasectomised hob (firing blanks). She will stay in heat until the end of the breeding season, but being left in heat for such a long time can cause a condition called aplastic anaemia which can make her very sick and possibly die. You must take her to see a vet.
However, YOU DO NOT NEED TO BREED YOUR JILL. Your jill can easily be brought out of season by taking her to a vets and given a hormone injection called a jill jab. If your ferret is just a pet or if you are only going to work her and never breed from her, then you should consider having her neutered.
Please think very hard before breeding ferrets. There is no excuse for breeding unless you know you will find good homes for all the kits, and the new owners themselves will look after the kits properly too. Do not breed if you are a novice with ferrets - they need special care. Every year hundreds of ferrets are given up to welfares across the country, as very misinformed and lazy people didn't find out enough about their pets.
A female ferret usually gives birth to 7 or 8 kits, but many will give birth to up to 12, sometimes more. By 12 weeks old, baby ferrets are almost adult size, with a set of very sharp teeth and would have eaten you out of house and home (if fed correctly). They will also be a wriggly bunch of whirling dirvishes - they're so energetic. You could potentially end up not finding homes for them, giving them up to a welfare, and in some cases we know they are just thrown out to fend for themselves. Bingo and Tilbury were found this way. They were lucky and members of the public handed them into a welfare. Most ferrets thrown out on the streets will die.
Isn't it kinder to let my jill just have one litter?
The short answer is no. If you are new ferrets, you just don't have the knowledge or experience to look after mum and upto 14 sharp biting whirling mad things. There is no evidence that shows that it is kinder to let an animal have one litter, in fact, all the evidence usually points towards that it can be ill-thought through and even cruel to the jill. Many times people have a jill or a hob with an unknown genetic background - this means that you have no idea whether her/his line is prone to certain illnesses such as lymphoma, genetic defects etc. The jill may have been mis-treated in the past and so her health may be not up to being a mum - being pregnant and giving birth is exhausting for a jill (and for you). On top of this, are you experienced enough to know how to keep mum in the best condition, do you know enough to know whether she is having complications during birth, and if she does, can you afford vet bills or be prepared for either mum or kittens to die if there are problems? Have a look at answer 8 for more reasons why an inexperienced ferret owner shouldn't breed their ferrets. Please just have your jill spayed or implanted.
But I hear you say, but kits are just so cute! Well, they are that's true. But kits if properly cared for will take an awful lot of your time and money to care and feed them properly. And to be honest, there's only a VERY short time, like about 3-4 weeks when they cute really, really cute. Ferrets grow up REALLY quick and before you know it - like after only 9 weeks from birth to adolescence - you've got almost full sized ferrets to deal with.
My new ferret kit keeps biting, what's wrong?
Baby ferrets explore the world with their teeth and they're very sharp. As they grow larger so do their jaw muscles and the strength of their bite. For inexperienced ferret keeper, the most likely reason your new kit is biting is because it's hungary. Ferret kits need to eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, play, sleep.
Any ferrets that I've had from kits up to about 5 months have a voracious appetite. I feed very young ferrets 4 times a day. They are given free access to kibble, but if they are very young it's difficult for them to eat, so it can be soaked to make it easier to eat. I also find kits won't eat enough kibble to satisfy their hunger. A hungry ferret is going to bite at you. I feed 4 small meat meals a day. I like to include a little red meat, like beef mince along with turkey mince/pet mince. Until they are old enough to eat chicks. As they get older you can give one meat meal in the morning and one in the evening, then cut it down to only one in the evening.
Ferret's play rough and their skin is very tough. They have to learn that biting their owner, even in play, isn't acceptable. Now everyone has their own methods of nip training. I won't rough house kits, especially so if they're prone to biting. As soon as they go near my hands I keep them immobile, but I do put ferretone one them so they associate hands with something nice. I will also pick them up slowly and give them treats.
If your ferret bites at you, say a stern 'no' or hiss. If this does not work, put your ferret in an empty carry case for a 5 minute time-out or until it calms down. They know they're being punished, especially if they can see their cage mates frollicking about free. You just to need time and patience and to wait until they grow out of this phase. As long as you train with kindness, you'll get there in the end.
An older ferret might bite out of fear, because it's previous owner hit or hurt it for nipping - he now associates humans and hands with pain, and will bite harder. You will need to gain his trust with the methods above.
MORE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS...
So now you know that they poo a lot and that will be a big part of ferret husbandry, that you don't mind their distinctive smell that much and you've found the location of a ferret welfare. You're all set, but what do you keep them in?
If you have the space indoors, there's no reason why you need use a traditional bar-type cage. You could buy a posh looking rabbit hutch as an indoor cage - this would give you ample space. A bonus is that there will be a built-in dark sleeping area which the ferrets will love. Line the wooden floor with lino/plastic to prevent urine making the wood smell and also place lino under the cage where it will stand on the floor to make cleaning easier. Add a litter pan, hammocks etc - I think this makes a much better indoor cage option...and it's cheaper! 
In cases such as this, a hutch might outgrow the number of ferrets. Most ferrets that I know of are kept in courts. This is usually made from a converted shed or aviary. My husband built our own, but for the final cost we could have got a ready-made and adapted shed. This gives the ferrets much more room to play in and makes it easier for you to get in and clean.
