Disadvantages of Keeping Ferrets as Pets - The Truth

It is a very very tough job keeping ferrets as pets for a number of reasons.
 
Ferrets smell really bad to most people.  Animal lovers dont find the smell awful, but there is a strong smell.  Some say that the smell is like musk but I find that strong artificial chocolate smells are the closest to a ferret's smell.  Males generally smell stronger than females, and neutered ferrets smell even less.  If you dont wash and dry a ferret throughly an hour before travelling, a lot of people turn their noses up on public transport which can be very embarrassing.  I found that any smell = bad.  People dont want to smell anything.
 
Ferrets poo at least 10 times a day, and it is like brown toothpaste.  You cant stop them from pooing as their digestive tracts are very short.  Not all ferrets can be littertrained, and a lot of the time they poo outside of the littertray.  You have to put the littertray in a corner where they have been pooing and most ferrets pick more than one corner, which means lots of littertrays.  You have to be willing to clean up accidents on a regular basis and to keep littertrays as clean as possible because a dirty littertray will not be used.  You will also have to smear some poo everytime you clean the littertray because a ferret might find the clean littertray a good place to sleep so it wont be used for toilet.

You have to be very very careful in selecting your ferret.  If it bites the human hand, it is next to impossible to train it not to because it is difficult to not move your hand away.  If you move your hand away, the ferret will learn that it will be able to do what it wanted, which was to drive you away, even if it its intention was to play (you became "it" when you moved away!) Some people have luck in training them not to bite, but I have not and I have had them for over two years.  Some that are experienced with raising ferrets will say it is because I have been a bad parent/owner, so why is it that all the pets I have kept have never bitten me?  And some of the ferrets I have kept have never ever bitten, although this was generally only 20% of the ones I have kept.  You have to be careful getting a ferret in London, because I suspect there is a breeder out there breeding bad genes, London ferrets tend to be bitier for some reason.  In any case, expect to be bitten with blood to be seen, this is why ferrets are not good for children.  Ferrets bite each other to induce play and this is their normal behaviour.  Unless you teach it that it is unacceptable to bite humans, you cannot expect it not to bite.

You can take ferrets out for walks, but you cant expect them to walk with you.  Most dont, and those that do, only run in straight lines against a wall, so it is hard to cross roads with them.  It is very hard to take more than two out for walks with you.
 
You must always get ferrets as a pair or more.  Although I wouldn't advise more than three.
 
You have to be able to give them lots of freedom and lots of playtime.  Keeping them caged for long periods of time is cruel, just like it would be cruel to cage a dog.  Ferrets are highly intelligent animals, more so than rodents and is about the same intelligence as a dog or cat.  Ferrets have lots of energy that needs to be spent on playtime everyday.  Otherwise they can be very destructive, messing up littertrays, food, water and even chipping their teeth through constant biting of their cages.
 
Vet bills are expensive, so expensive.  And it is hard to find cheap insurance for ferrets.  Often they are classified as exotic pets, when in actual fact they originate from this country and there is nothing exotic about them, they're just uncommon pets.  They are very prone to genetical diseases, especially cancer and treatment is very costly.  Don't bother having a ferret unless you have at least a grand saved for each ferret.  Although ferrets are becoming increasingly pouplar pets, many vets still don't know what a ferret is, and some that do are very insensitive towards them, not wanting to touch them and always thinking they will bite.  Most don't know how to treat ferrets for more ferret related illnesses and you have to be careful about the ones that claim that they do.  You need to find the right one.

If none of this puts you off, then you are one of very few!  If you are willing to go through stuff like that then a ferret is the perfect pet for you.  Otherwise, you should really consider a different pet.