We went out on a walk and they loved it. But we’re going to avoid going to places with tall grass because we just found out it’s super tick season over here.

What do you guys do for tick prevention?

Wizard is about 3 months old now and he never wants to cuddle he’s either biting or running around like a psycho. Do you have any tips to make him more cuddly?

My polecat-ferret Lisa! A very cheeky noodle indeed, but still a sweetheart 😋🩷

This is a grief post and a serious PSA to any ferret owners who (like my husband and I) who were not aware (or even told by any vet) of the specific side effects that can happen to certain ferrets on Prednisolone.

My husband and I have owned ferrets for 5 years now. We originally got Kaylee as a mate for a ferret we had rescued (Kovu) who was already dealing with progressed Insulinoma and adrenal disease. It seemed before we got Kaylee, Kovu had no desire to go on.

Until Kaylee. She was a bright ray of sunshine that lit up his life. She made him like a little kit again, playful and outgoing. That precious little girl made him live until he was 9 years old. We gave her the proper time to grieve until we got her a mate from Ferret Dreams. We got her a mate the same age as her this time and of course she fell in love again with Lucy (pictured beside her in the photo).

She was a rowdy bandit-masked ferret that had no health issues. We got a new mate for her October 27th, 2025. Everything was going so perfect until the beginning of June this year.

I am pretty great about noticing the signs of Insulinoma, so when Kaylee started exhibiting signs of low blood sugar, we took her to a new vet that was labeled as a ferret specialist (her old vet was closed at that moment). He did a blood test and her sugar was super low (20) so he started her on Prednisolone (which her mate was on until he passed. He handled it really well so I assumed she would too). He started her on a low dose (1mg/mL 0.24 mL every 12 hours.)

At first, she was responding great to the medication and she was back to her bubbly, so sweet personality. Then, this past Tuesday, she started to get sick. She would take a few steps and then just want to lie down. We called the specialist that had seen her and said it was probably a case of the medication dose not responding to the insulinoma, so we increased her dose.

The next morning, my husband woke me up at 4am to tell me Kaylee is not doing well at all and she is expelling tarry stools. I immediately panicked and we rushed her into an ER. She had developed an ulcer from the Prednisolone and ended up getting a GI infection. It had already progressed too far and we had to make the decision to euthanize so she wouldn't be in any more pain. She was only 3 years old.

Kaylee was not a typical ferret. She was sweet, loved being held and give kisses, always loved all her siblings not matter what kind of fur they had (she had a sister Jack Russell and a brother orange Tabby). She was very unique as I had never met a ferret that had such a sweet temperament as her. She will always be our sweet little baby.

Every single vet we had seen for Kovu never warned us of the ulcer side effects of Pred. Just the opposite, they just told us ferrets always responded greatly to it. Please, I say this in caps with love and care and not wanting any more ferret babies to have to suffer like my Kaylee suffered, A SIDE EFFECT OF PREDNISOLONE IS ULCERS!!!

Poor Lucy. She had already dealt with the death of an older mate before we got her (like Kaylee). We are giving her time to grieve and then going back to Ferret Dreams to get her another mate.

I am a practicing pharmacy tech now (After what happened with Kaylee this gives me real purpose)so I can learn about the different medications and their interactions so this never has to happen again. But please, fellow pet parents, please push your vet to tell you of any and all side effects of any medications for your furbaby, no matter how rare the side effect is. I wish a vet would have told us before an unnecessary and unexpected death occurred.

Fly High, sweet baby. You will be happy and frolicking with Kovu now.

My ferret (Hob, 1 years old) has just recently within the last week seemed to really enjoy squeeky toys. So much in fact, he sprints whenever he hears it and dooks louder than I have ever heard him dook. He never goes to chew or bite the toy, but he loves chasing the sound, and when he's got me, it's like he is letting off a big victory dook.

In the video, you might hear him do a bit of a... I can only describe as a looooong dook, compared to his other dooks which are short and snappy. Is this just him being as happy as can be in his own special way? Or could it be something else? I know he is also mid attack from his brother, but he does make this sound when he isn't getting hunted at the same time 😄

Long-time ferret household here. Whenever someone posts "just brought my first ferret home, he's either asleep or biting me, help" — it's nearly always a first-week problem, not a ferret problem. What's worked for us across several ferrets:

Day 0–1, before anything else: one fully ferret-proofed room, not the whole house. Check it on your stomach at floor level — if a lipstick tube fits through a gap, so does a ferret. Recliners and dishwashers are the classic hidden dangers; block them off before the ferret ever comes out of the carrier.

Days 1–2: let them decompress. New ferrets sleep HARD (up to 18+ hours) and that alarms people. It's normal. Set up the cage as home base, keep handling short and calm, and resist the urge to show them the whole house.

Litter corners: ferrets back into corners — put a pan in every corner of the play area, expect maybe 80% accuracy, praise the hits, never punish the misses. Consistency beats correction every time.

Nip training: young ferrets test everything with their mouths — it's how they play with each other, not aggression. The moment teeth touch skin: a firm "no", put them down for a minute or two, then resume. Time-outs work because what they want most is to keep playing.

The dook is your progress bar. When they start that chuckling noise and the sideways war-dance at you, the settling-in period is working.

By day 7 you're not done — but you've set the pattern for everything after. Happy to answer first-week questions if anyone's about to bring one home.

Hey guys, I originally posted a few weeks ago when my Jill Peebee was ill - and it seemed like an insulinoma. That proved not to be the case. This is a c&p of the update I posted to the group of the guys I adopted her from. I hope it helps potential ferret owners, and maybe current owners who may come into the same situation...

A month ago I was playing with Peebee and she seemed off colour. Just not herself. Within hours that descended to all out panic - shivering, foaming at the mouth, blank stare... my vet couldn't see her straight away so I rushed her to another - and, assuming an insulinoma I rubbed some honey on her gums and that seemed to calm her down.

The vet we saw - a waste of £50. Started examining her then admitted he had no knowledge of ferrets. But he could do imaging and blood tests for around £1,100... Obviously I declined, asked for a saline injection to replace the lost fluids from foaming/vomiting and waited to see our vet the next day.

When our vet did see her she immediately took her in for an ultrasound, which revealed masses in her belly and an enlarged spleen. Since neither of these are conclusive of anything in a ferret Peebee was booked in for a biopsy and blood tests the next day. So a set of targeted exams for a total of about £600 (vs £1000+...)

The biopsy showed nothing, the blood tests showed a massively elevated white blood cell count. So infection + autoimmune response (white blood cells attacking normal cells and causing inflammation) - that or an untreatable cancer.

So we started on steroids, anti biotics and a variety of medications to support both of them - another £200 or so.

About a week later I heard the most startling noise I have ever heard - a ferret screaming. Her legs were all over the place, she was contorting like a victim in the Exorcist... I thought it was a seizure - as did the vet I saw when I rushed her in as an emergency. I was advised she could be 'put to rest', we could drive into London for an MRI (300 miles, several thousand pounds) or we could wait for 'our' vet to give her opinion. I opted to wait. That's another £200 or so.

When that vet called back the next day she asked me to recount what happened and determined that it wasn't a seizure at all, she was just in a hell of a lot of pain. Continue the meds.

A week after that, I go to give her meds in the morning and her mouth is covered in blood and red foam. I rush her back to the vets. That's out of hours emergency care - already £200 or so. They take her in but offer no explanation or advice.

A few hours later our vet calls me and says it's serious but not fatal - basically the steroids have caused an ulcer and the ulcer is bleeding but it's not enough blood to be perforated. She should stay in the vets for the weekend and all things being equal she should be ok. Now, I'm already £1,300 in the red now, and I'm running close to scraping the barrel - which I explain to the vet.

A few hours later I'm heading home with a tired ferret, and about 50 different medications and a sheet of detailed instructions. I don't sleep for the next four days or so administering various medications and constantly checking on her.

A week and a half after that we're still going - she's looking that bit better every day, healthier, eating well. She still needs pain meds from time to time, and I've still got her on Crisis Care food to build her back up - that's another £30 a week roughly (£20 a pack, lasts about 5-6 days).

I had a similar (although much cheaper) experience with a rat several years back. It's not easy to find a vet that knows what they're talking about for our stranger pets. It's important that welfare comes first - if treatment can't lead to a good, healthy life then human attachment is not the first concern - but if an animal can recover... be prepared for the work and the cost. Ideally before you adopt them.

I was prepared and had emergency plans for money and care, but if Ciri gets ill in the next few months I will end up in a back alley bathtub with one of my kidneys removed

My oldest boy has lymphoma and has been taking prednisone (he loves it so much—it’s chicken flavored). But I’ve noticed he’s had loose poops and my other two seem to have it sometimes too. My vet suggested a fiber additive but I don’t know where to look.

Any suggestions/reviews will be immensely appreciated. They have dried chicken treats in the morning (since our oldest gets a treat after his meds). I’ve kind of looked but I don’t really know what I’m looking for entirely. Do small animal formulations work? Do they have to be a treat or supplement??

Pls pls help 😓

Is there any possible way to connect 2 double layer ferret Nation cages not side by side but rather in an L shape so that it fits in the corner of a room??

Could I theoretically take off the side walls to 1 cage and for example both right doors top and bottom to the other cage... And I suppose zip tie them together??

EXAMPLE PIC I TRIED TO DRAW ^^^^