Does anyone own a pet ferret?

[ratherastory]

Okay, flist, I know it's a weird question, but it's for SCIENCE!

Anyone out there with a ferret who'd be willing to chat with me about ferret habits/mannerisms/behaviours and the ins and outs of having a ferret as a pet?

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[greeneyes_fan]

I have some friends with ferrets.

Mostly they, well, ferret. They like to look inside things and under things. They can startle the hell out of you trying to climb up your leg. You need to watch out and not step on them, and they're sociable, but, like most small animals, can be intimidated by humans.

And whatever you do, don't let them in your sock drawer. (Ginger built herself a nest out of like 50 socks.)

Any other questions, PM me.

[ratherastory]

Thanks! Sent you a PM. :)

[reapertownusa]

I don't keep ferrets anymore, but at one point I had two absolutely adorable and sweet pet ferrets that I still love to talk about ;) So if that's in anyway helpful just let me know.

[ratherastory]

Yay!

So, um, I'm writing a story (not SPN) in which one of the characters gets turned into a ferret. I just want to know what they're like, what goes into the whole care & feeding beyond the bare bones of what's out there on the internet. Wacky anecdotes, personalities, all that. I've never had ferrets and I want to do them justice. Are they cuddly? What do they do all day, especially if their owner is at work? What do they do when they get startled/frightened by something?

So talk away! I am all ears. :)

[de_nugis]

I've never owned a ferret, I am just registering the possibilities that the query combined with the "zombies improve any story" tag raise in my mind. You are writing zombie ferrets, y/y? Possibly Sam is allergic to zombie ferrets and there is respiratory distress? Or Dean trips over a zombie ferret and fucks up his leg? Or both these things?

[ratherastory]

LOL

Nah, that was just me being silly. It's for a H50 fic. :)

[la_mariane]

H50 fic with ferret? <3 I'm so impatient now!

[ratherastory]

Yup. It's still coming together in my head, but it should be cracky and fun. :)

[jesseofthenorth]

I do not own a ferret but I lived with one for like a year and a half. Well okay that's not strictly true; I lived with an asshole boyfriend who had a ferret. Turned out? The ferret was way better company.
Still I picked up a few things up because they are cute as shit and tremendously interesting, an amazingly complex creatures. So if you need another brain to pick let me know :)

[ratherastory]

I am happy to pick as many brains as are made available. I'm looking for anything about ferret personalities/wacky anecdotes that's beyond the bare bones of what I've been able to find on the internet. Although I'm sorry you had to put up with an asshole in order to get to know the ferret.

[jesseofthenorth]

Of the top of my head the things i remember best where that Xena made a lot of noise when she was happy. She did this chirping thing called dooking very cute.
When she was scared she would hiss and try to find somewhere to hide but she would never turn her back on what was scaring her.

I remember one time she was messing around in the cupboard under the bathroom sink she caught kind of stuck and made the most awful heart wrenching scream. There was no way in hell you could ignore the sound.

She snored a lot. loudly. She ate a lot of raw meat but would steal cat food which was not ideal for her mostly because it made her flatulent... in the worst possible way.

She was probaly the snoopiest animal i ever met but also very sweet.
hope that helped a little.

[fuflowers]

I am currently the "guardian" of one obnoxious 4 1/2 month old ferret who drives me batshit crazy and I love him dearly for it. I've had ferrets for years now (Finn is my 6th) & I've been through all sorts of crazy --of course I've always had a few at a time before. If you still need some help, let me know. I'll answer what I can.

[ratherastory]

Oh, yay! I can use all the help I can get. Like I've been saying to others, I'm looking for all the stuff about owning and loving a ferret that's not the dry bare bones information I found on the internet, mostly what their behaviour is like under various circumstances. Basically, I'm trying to figure out what would happen to someone who mostly accidentally becomes a ferret owner for the first time and has no idea what they're getting into. :)

[fuflowers]

I hope you can still use some ferret information; life got in the way this afternoon, so I'm a little slow to put my two cents in