Pet Ferret Fun Facts

The pet ferret is a very popular pet.  In fact, in the United States it is the third most common domestic pet.  It may not seem like it in many areas, but it is true.  And this is despite the fact that in parts of the US they are outlawed.  Maybe that’s part of why the attraction is so strong in other areas.  Because of this wide-spread draw to the pet ferret, I’ve dedicated this article to the points of attraction or interest surrounding it.

The pet ferret legalities seem to rotate around the controversy as to whether or not it should be considered a wild animal or not.  It is considered an obligate carnivore and in the weasel family.  They are great companions to many adults and kids, but dangerous around babies.

Pet ferrets are also kleptomaniacs.  Almost every ferret owner has at one point complained about not being able to find something due to the ferret’s compulsion to grab and hoard various items it finds.  Eventually you will find their hiding spots though.  Some owners even find the whole process amusing or cute, depending on what gets stolen.  A YouTube search will turn up a list of amusing videos of ferrets stealing things, sometimes much bigger than they are.

The baby ferret, also known as a kit, goes through a process known as olfactory imprinting for the first year of their lives.  They learn to recognize food by smell.  After this period they decide that only things with the corresponding smells of things they ate in that time period are edible.  It will become difficult to introduce new things into their diet after this period.

Ferrets have very flexible skeletal systems.  They are remarkable escape artists because of that and their ingenuity.  This is in part how the concept of “ferret proofing” a room or home came about.  Sometimes they find themselves unable to get out of something they squeezed into.  They also have access to many different items due to their tendency to escape and their ability to open various cabinets and doors.