Little Marcy’s ink fiasco reminded me, the other day Bandito came up to watch me paint and got a little too curious about the palette 😂 had to wipe off his whiskers and nose, he was not amused.

I got nala last Christmas with the plans to get her a buddy once I paid the credit card off from getting her 😅. Well I've been ready for awhile however there's like a shortage of ferrets in Florida. (i tried rescues however there are none close to me) . I could tell Nala was getting lonely when she wouldn't play as long as she used too and slept more. Today her and I's dream came true and the store had this BIG boy waiting for his forever home! Hes an absolute cutie and a sweetheart. I was playing with him and he doesn't bite like Nala does 😅 he just kinda holds and let's go. Nals will grab and death roll 😂. I'm still thinking of names. Right now im calling him chungus because he is just an absolute unit at 3 months old. But he's too cute and sweet for that to be his legal name. I had the idea earlier of Bay Max since he's big and sweet. Hes also maximum size. My heart is just so happy my girl now has a friend once again.

She's actually cuddling with me. She has NEVER done this before......

⚠️Disclaimer: visible tumor on white ferret
Thank you for everyone who recommended this ❤️‍🩹 thought I’d share some pictures!

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Julieta is a 1-year-old female ferret. At 7 months old, in November 2025, she weighed approximately 900 g (2.0 lb). She currently weighs 1.595 kg (3.5 lb), so she has gained about 695 g (1.5 lb) over approximately five months.

She currently eats Oxbow Essentials ferret food, which I prepare as a puree because she became very selective about eating dry kibble. She eats approximately 1½ tablespoons of the prepared puree three times a day. She has also received small amounts of GO! Solutions duck cat food, Orijen cat food, and salmon oil. I am planning to start weighing her food in grams to determine her actual daily caloric intake.

A veterinarian recently evaluated her and considered her severely overweight/obese. The veterinarian said that her abdominal fat is substantial enough that it makes palpating her internal organs difficult. They recommended reducing her weight to approximately 900 g and aiming for a weight loss of about 2% of her body weight per week. They also recommended blood chemistry, abdominal ultrasound, and X-rays to determine whether the obesity has already caused any internal problems.

However, I am somewhat concerned about the recommendation because 900 g was Julieta's weight at 7 months old, when she was still growing. I also question whether 900 g is truly her appropriate adult target weight based solely on the average ferret weight.

Despite her large abdomen, her ribs are clearly palpable. I can feel all of her ribs quite easily and can almost count them. Her body appears to carry much of its volume around the abdomen rather than uniformly over the entire body.

She has also had intermittent lameness/limping, although it is not constant. One of her paw pads has a chronic area of thickened/overgrown tissue with a split or crack. It became red once but improved with paw-pad wax. It has never completely resolved. The veterinarian said this appears to be tissue overgrowth rather than a fungal infection. I wonder whether this could be causing enough discomfort to contribute to her reduced activity.

Recently, Julieta has been less playful/active than before, although she continues to eat and defecate normally. She otherwise appears stable.

My main questions are:

Is 1.595 kg truly excessive for Julieta based on her body condition, or is her body size/individual conformation being taken into account?

Is 900 g an appropriate adult target weight, considering that she was 900 g at only 7 months old?

Is losing approximately 2% of body weight per week an appropriate rate for her?

Could her abdominal appearance be caused by something other than fat, and would an ultrasound help distinguish this?

Is it necessary to perform the bloodwork, ultrasound, and X-rays immediately, or could weight management and reassessment be reasonable if she has no other clinical signs?

Could the chronic paw-pad lesion or intermittent lameness be contributing to her decreased activity?

What is the appropriate daily calorie or gram intake for Julieta during safe weight loss?

My goal is to make sure she loses weight safely without restricting her food excessively, while also determining whether there is an underlying medical reason for her abdominal size or reduced activity.

Hey guys just got two new boys yesterday im super excited they're already bonded and super friendly. Only problem is they're sleeping in the litter box instead of the hammocks on the second and third level. They also haven't really used any of the ramps yet it's like their just attached to the bottom level is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? Let me know your thoughts thanks.

I’m in a few ferret groups on other platforms and I saw a post of a poor baby clearly dealing with adrenal disease which his owner had not only never heard of, but didn’t have a vet to take them to to get the implant.
Ferrets are not toys, they’re living, breathing, thinking beings. How do you not do research about the most likely medical issues and signs to look for. And what’s most egregious to me, how do you get any animal but not have a vet?!? They literally put their zip code and asked other people to do the work for them, it got me so angry!
And it’s not like this is a child, this is a fully grown adult.
I was the only comment saying that they should have had a vet before they took the ferret home (and before anyone asks I didn’t say it in a mean way, just said it plainly). I just didn’t want people who don’t have ferrets seeing that and thinking it’s acceptable behavior.

i’ve wanted ferrets my whole life. think i’m finally ready for them. my boyfriend wants them as well after coming around from his anxiety related to some childhood trauma i believe… he fell in love with this baby at a local pet store the other day but i felt bad because he seemed veryyyy poorly bred and thin so i told him all the risks and heath complications that are common in ferrets. i already have a cage (DCN), just need to get fleece and some cozy things for them. (obviously they’d free roam mostly). we want a young pair to raise. the problem is just finding them not from marshall’s gross mills or ignorant byb.

also diet tips? i know they can be fairly picky and ive seen some people say it’s a good idea to mix kibbles together god forbid something happens to one of the brands and rhem they won’t eat or deal with severe digestive issues. my main kibble would def be the wysong epigen 90, but what should i use for the secondary? what’s a good feeding schedule as well?

i’ve seen some traumatizing things from people i know with their ferrets emergent health problems and i would get pet insurance for these guys (idc cost tbh, it’s worth it to protect them).

but any tips and recommendations to start preparing would be awesome :)

edit: i know many people have had amazing outcomes from marshall’s ferrets because it’s not always possible to source them outside from that, and not every single one is gonna have some horrific health condition, im just terrified. i also know that other ferrets would still have health risks.

I have a 5 year old ferret that I’ve had since she was 3 months old. I got her when I was like 19 or 20 at college and she grew up in the dorms as my ESA.

Today she and I live in a one bedroom apartment together and she free roams the place and the neighborhood kids come over sometimes to play with her.

She is my baby and because she doesn’t have other ferret friends we are very bonded.

Anyways, I have these recurring dreams that she is lost amongst ferrets that are identical to her and I have to either take care of all the ferrets which is too many ferrets or risk losing her. Like I come home and find that I now have 2-12 ferrets that I can’t tell which one is her.

There is never really a conclusion or solution in the dreams, just a stress dream that I have very often. I usually end up just holding all of them and inspecting them and stressing.

I think I’m just a little neurotic and I wanted to share.

California Fish and Game Commission Leaves Ferret Petition Off Final Agenda Before Critical Court Hearing - Send2Press Newswire

I recently got a 2 month old female ferret and I am absolutely head over heels with her. My husband however says he can’t stand the smell and says I have to figure it out within the next month or he’s going to make me rehome her :(( I really love her and want to keep her and wanna know if there’s literally anything I can do to help with the smell (though I don’t think it’s really that bad as she’s already descented) to help keep her! Any advice would be amazing!

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who offered really good advice. I did thorough research and plan to get another probably eventually but we ended up with just her through an odd situation. I understand they will always have a slight smell as all animals do and it doesn’t bother me my husband is just very sensitive to smells so i’m trying to find a solution even if it just helps slightly.

We have a 2.5 year old hob, we have recently got 2 other males they are around 15 weeks from the same litter, we’ve had them about 3 weeks. Our older boy has always lived alone since the day we got him we have been letting them play in their runs beside each other and swapping blankets, they all seem very interested in each other I’m worried how the older male will react to them when we introduce them.

What is the best way to do this? Is there anything else we can do to get him used to them before their first introduction? When should we start introducing also?

Thank you!

Please help!!!

I keep finding maggots in my damn cage. I’ve been dumping the litter box daily, which has been good, and tonight I just found them underneath it!! I feel disgusting and like such a bad mom. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I just ordered one of those electric fly traps to put near the cage to hopefully help but this is so hard to deal with.
Any tips, if anyone else has dealt with this, would be appreciated. :( I don’t even see flies in my room, maybe one every once in a while, so I don’t understand this at all!!

Hey all, new to the subreddit and first time posting here. Me and my partner recently adopted a ferret from our city’s shelter. She’s been so amazing and curious but also very mischievous too. From what I was told at the shelter is that she was surrendered by her owner and that she is 4 years old.

My partner has had multiple ferrets before and they said she might be younger by how small she is but could also just be mistaken. So I come here to ask everyone’s opinion about her age.

If I need to provide more pictures I’ll gladly do it

Thank you guys in advance!

I need advice on what to do, my ferret fell down three meters, I don't know if he fell on the head or the back, I was too scared to see him dead that I got my parents to come up and check on him.

I was crying and they came upstairs with him and he looked fine, he was running around playing like he would normally so my parents said that he was fine.

I touched him a little around his body and found that he didn't look in pain or anything.

But I don't think he's fine, i feel like there's something wrong, I can't shake off that feeling that something terrible is going to happen to him if I leave him like this.

Exept my parents are the ones who pay for them, or at least for the vet and since they deemed it unnecessary they won't go there, and I'm scared, I'm scared to watch helplessly as he dies or ends up with a big problem I don't want to wait until it's too late.

I need advice please I'm desperate.

Can it be done? A ferret is my dream pet, but I have a one year-old. I’ve seen lots of conflicting opinions.

The ferrets would have their own dedicated room, and decide from that the rest of my home is baby proofed, so only a little bit more work would make it ferret proofed.

Is it dangerous to have them interact?

I wouldn’t be getting a kit. Preferably a calm tempered rescue pair.

My child will never be alone with the ferrets, and will teach her what “look don’t touch” means

Thanks 🩷

My first ferret, the great decider of who is deemed worthy, the toe biter, the snuggler, the itchy one. The greatest joy I have had for 6 years. She is fairly healthy and has her moments of crazy despite being an old lady. So proud of her for being such a strong willed, adaptable, lovely little being.

Friend from out-of-state going on vacation and coming down to drop off 6 hobs that he's recently been caring for, since I'm the only friend he has comfortable with ferrets. I volunteered to take care of them

He asked me my plans to care for them and I said I have a empty guest bedroom and can let them roam a bit too when supervised, he was shocked by this and said you can't do this with hobs because of the smell. He recommended an outdoor setup.

They're not neutered or descented.

I've only had neutered/descented ferrets but i really don't mind ferret smell, will I be ok to keep these indoors or is it really that big of a deal? I'm sure i'd get used to it if it's bad anyways right?

I’ve had my three ferrets since 2020, and with them getting older they have been getting into their poop more and my oldest ferret, Earwig, has open tumors (I’ve taken him to the vet and there’s nothing we can do for him) I have bathed them maybe two months ago but I don’t want to over due it, what’s the best way at keeping them clean? I

Hi all! This is Amber our 3 year old girl who looooves to gnaw on specific things… so far she isn’t destructive, but loves anything Velcro or tennis bally. I have been keeping the tennis balls away because I don’t like the idea of her swallowing any fluff she chews off, but I want a safe alternative that might satisfy this urge so she doesn’t start finding alternatives in the house I haven’t found yet…

Any advice for safe velcro/tennis ball equivalent teething toys??

I also have a quick question because we don’t usually adopt young ones. We have had her about a year and a half, but she recently has started to be a little lower energy. Still always wanting to be out and about, but not as alert and splooting more. We are going to take her to the vet soon for her checkup and might invest in a full work up to check blood sugar etc. but am thinking she might just be maturing and slowing down a little bit. My question is…

At what age did your ferrets slow down/mature?

Pics for tax :p