Litterboxes - Notice I said litterboxes (plural) and not litterbox. Ferrets will usually pick one corner in each room to use as a bathroom, so depending on how many rooms your ferret will have access to, that is how many litterboxes you will need, (plus one for inside his cage.) You will need to buy special triangular shape (that fits into the corner) litterboxes made just for ferrets. They are about 10 bucks each. You will also need filling material for the litterbox, like cat litter or paper pellets. These vary in price. Wood shavings are not good to use because they contain a chemical which irritates the ferrets lungs. Paper pellets are generally considered best. It is also possible to use shredded up newspapers as litterbox material. It is probably the most economical solution and the newspaper absorbs quite well.
Harness and Leash – A ferret that never goes outdoors should not wear a collar or a harness. They are unecesary and in some situations there is a risk of strangulation. But if you plan to take your ferret outside at all, even if it’s just in your own back yard you will need to own both a harness and a leash. These are both incredibly important. Harnesses are much harder for a ferret to squirm out of than a collar, and if your ferret gets loose outside you will most surely never see him again. A good harness costs about $7.00. A leash, about $5.00.
Ferret nail trimmers - $7.00 – $15.00
Ferrettone or Ferretvite - These are tasty vitamin supplements for your ferret which contain large amount of fatty acids ferrets need to have a nice healthy shiny coat. Ferrets find these (mainly fish oils) irresistable. They are a good healthy ferret treat, and if you are having trouble trimming your ferrets nails or cleaning his ears you can put a dab of ferrettone on his belly and he will be so busy licking it off he wont even notice what your doing.
License fee to own an exotic animal - Every state has different laws regarding the ownership of “exotic animals”. Where I lived, in New Jersey, the fee was only ten dollars per ferret per year, but it is best to find out the laws in your state before buying a ferret to make sure it’s within your budget.
Toys - With the exception of one tiny stuffed elephant that my two female ferrets fought over and carried around like it was a baby, they never really enjoyed store bought toys. Usually they would sniff the toy for a minute or two and end up playing in the box it came in. If you really want to get your ferret toys they will be happy with stick to ones that encourage their natural tunneling or digging insticts. You can get plastic tubing at the hardware store for very cheap (they sell basicly the same thing at the pet store for slightly more money). For ferrets, running threw a plstic tube is endlessly amusing. Another thing ferrets love is a dig box. These are easy to make. Get a big container, and fill it with any of the following material.
- Garden soil – Make sure it’s sterilized like the kind you buy from the store, and add some moisture so it sticks together somewhat (If it’s too dry the dust will make your ferret sneeze).
- Sand or aquarium gravel
- Cornstarch Packing Peanuts – Other packing peanuts are indigestible and can cause blockages, but cornstarch peanuts dissolve in water.
- Long grain slow cook rice – Never use instant rice because it can cause blockage in your ferrets digestive system shredded paper or paper balls.
Which to choose? In my experience the thing ferrets enjoy digging in the most is dirt. Given a choice between a dig box with paper pellets and a potted plant, my ferrets will always choose to dig up the plant. Why? WEll I’m not sure but I think the consistency of the dirt is better for digging tunnels. With materials like rice or sand, they dig and dig but the tunnels just collapse.
After adding up all these things the cost of purchasing a ferret with his cage and the other supplies listed above comes out to somewhere between $400.00 and $500. depending mostly on the size cage.
But these are only the one time costs. The ongoing costs are harder to estimate. Assuming you feed your ferret atleast some high quality food and set aside some money every month for medical care as I suggested, the ongoing costs of owning a ferret comes out to somewhere between $75.00 – $100.00 per month.
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I want a farret as a pet because they are cheaper than dogs and they are really cute. Dogs are cute but, I really think a farret is the right pet for me.
Do all ferrets die early?
your forgetting about their monthly stuff they get vitaimins and lax monthly those cost about 4-6dollars a bottle and the do need their ears and teeth cleaned monthly if not every other week which cost 3-5 dollars a bottle. those things help to make sure your ferret is getting the right vitaimins and the best teeth to eat with and ears to hear with please know what you are getting into before you take home a fuzzy. every year atleast 20-50 ferrets are surrendered stores or groups because the owner realizes they cant afford to keep them