Some people…

[bigsis7]

On another forum a friend of mine posted a cage for sale on cl. Well a kid replied saying she wanted it for free cause she can’t afford the $40. Right now she’s keeping her new baby ferret in a *drum roll* HAMSTER CAGE!! I was like WTF! Are you freaking kidding me? So anyways this is the email I wrote out that my friend will be sending her:

Hi! Alright first off a ferret should never be kept in a hamster cage! It’s way to small! Here’s some good information about keeping ferrets as pets and supplies you need to care for them:

Cage: Ferret Nations are AMAZING!! I love them! A FN 141 will fit 3-4 ferrets. Cost: $140 (check local craigslists for a cheaper one)
http://www.ferret.com/item/ferret-nation-habitat-model-141/
Food: Innova Evo, 8 in 1 Ultimate, Totally Ferret, are great kibbles. Cost: $10-25 (also check out raw diets and commercial raw diets)
http://www.caseyshiddenpantry.com/
Litter: Sheets of newspaper, Yesterday’s News, and wood pellets (not shavings) work well. Cost: $8-15
Litter box: Don’t use the corner litter boxes! Marshall’s lock litter box works well. Cost: $8
http://www.ferret.com/item/marshall-litter-pan-for-ferrets-lock-on-14x14x9/
Bedding: Ferrets love hammocks and should have at least two in the cage! Cost (for 2): $15-20
Treats: Ferret tone is great to have around! Cost: $5
http://www.ferret.com/item/8-in-1-ferretone-skin-and-coat-supplement-8-oz/
Toys: Toys are a must have! Ferrets need a lot of enrichment, so make sure to have a lot of toys around! Cost:$10-20
Books: Ferrets for Dummies and Ferrets by Vickie Mckimmey are must haves!

Some other things that are nice to have around are pet safe cleaners, air freshners, and paper towels!

Another thing to think about are vet bills and costs. At least once in a ferrets life (unless you get a ferret from a breeder this may not apply) you’ll have to spend $800+ on vet bills all at one time. They also need yearly vet visits. Here’s about how much I pay a month for three ferrets:
Food: $35-40 (raw meat diet) Per ferret= about $14
Litter: $0 (I use sheets of newspaper)
Savings: $15
Misc. (toys, damage, etc.): $5
So in all I pay $40-$50 a month. Here are some websites to check out:
http://forum.ferret.com/
http://thelazyhammock.proboards.com/
http://holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi
http://www.hugawoozel.com/ferretcare.html
Ferret need at least 3 hours of play time a day, too! They get bored easily and can get into something dangerous! Ferrets are not cuddly animals either (most of the time)! They like to run around and play. Since I’m guessing your ferret is young, he’s going to be hyper and may nip you a few times. If you feel like you can’t handle a ferret post him up for adoption on the above sites, but craigslist is usually not a good site to rehome pets.
If you have any questions please email me at (email taken out)

I tried to be as civil as possible which was really hard for me. This girl only lives an hour or so away from me too. *sigh* I really wish some people couldn’t own pets.

UPDATE OF SORTS: Well no news yet from the girl. I was up last night thinking about this poor ferret. What really frustrates me though is that my parents think this is ok!!! I was like excuse me? I was so sad and I was looking for someone to tell and they were like “Well if that’s all she can afford, why shouldn’t she be allowed to have a ferret?” I tried explaining, but they still thought it was ok. Their reasoning is that a ferret sleeps most of the time when it’s in a cage and that she probably lets it out for a long time during the day. Then I tried telling them that if she thought it was ok to keep him in a hamster cage then she probably thought it was ok to keep him in there and who knows what else!! After about 20-30 minutes of trying to explain to them, they still thought there wasn’t a problem!

[flippersmom]

Well bigsis – I agree with you!!!!!!! It is people like this girl that cause us to have soooo many unwatned animals!!!!!!!!!!

[TARM]

Non animal rescue people never really “get it”. They just don’t have the same “need” to see that animals are well cared for that we do. For many of them a good home is one where they’re fed and kept dry. That doesn’t mean they don’t care, they just don’t have that same sense of urgency.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I liken forcing an animal to stay in a cage too small to living in a very small bathroom. Sure you could survive in twenty square feet, but you’d go bonkers-picture youself even speding 24 hours in your bathroom!!! I dunno, that’s how I explain it to people

[RabbitPam]

bigsis,
I hope you don’t mind but I thought your list above was really thorough and well thought out, so I have copied it into a separate post in the lounge for people who are thinking of getting a ferret and need to know what’s involved.

I do hope your email helps this girl, but maybe bringing your info. to others’ attention here will help someone else as well.

[bigsis7]

KK, That’s a great way to explain it!! I’ll use that to explain to my parents.
Kriste, That’s basically what my parents said. They said as long as it’s loved and fed it’s fine. If it’s kept in a hamster cage, it’s probably not loved.
Pam, No that’s great!! I spent a lot of time and thinking putting the list together, so the more it’s used the better! I hope it helps, too.

[bunnytowne]

The bathroom analogy is perfect.  Ohh people… You just never know they think is ok that really isn’t.

[KatnipCrzy]

How could she afford the new baby ferret but not be able to afford the cage????

I hate people like that- I get so ticked off when I look at CraigsList I try not to look very often.  It steams me to read the reason that some people get rid of their pets.  And I get so sad to see all the bunnies that are listed- there are usually quite a few and that makes me mad too because I can just imagine that the owners or kids got “tired of them”.

Julie

[bigsis7]

Here’s my friend’s update…

She did get back to me, telling me I had no right to assume she didn’t know how to take care of a ferret, of course she had a vet fund, etc. She then said that her VET told her that a hamster cage would be fine. She said she’d buy the cage for 40 but that she had been planning on spending that money on food for the ferret, and that if I didn’t give it to her for cheaper, then she’d just have to find a way to improvise. I didn’t send anything back, just deleted the e-mails and I haven’t heard anything back. I’m just done stressing about this. >.<

[Beka27]

You did such a great job Shayna! Even if she doesn’t take your advice or anything, it’s important that you said what needed to be said. It is really hard when you know the better way to do something and others don’t care to listen, or are too proud to take some helpful, kind advice.

[bigsis7]

Thanks Beka! It’s frustrating when people don’t listen to advise, ‘specially when you’re just trying to help. Guess I should be used to it by now, lol! Spinner’s, Jackie’s, and Smore’s owners didn’t listen plus a lot of others. I guess this is just preparing for the future right!? Once I go into rescue work it’ll be like that all day, lol! Hopefully one of these days someone will listen.

[Miyuki]

Well she has no right to demand it for free. I feel bad for the ferret but clearly she has made bad decisions and finds herself with not enough money to house and feed the ferret.

One day you’ll find someone out there who actually cares about getting good advice bigsis… until then… :-\

I found a CL posting of this supposedly small rabbit in a cage that made it (the rabbit) look huge… after the litter box and stuff the rabbit could only sit up in it. I thought about asking you to compose me an email too .  I’m just kidding but my first reaction was .

[Sonn]

Poor fert! My Dopey was kept in a hamster cage “Spongebob hamster and gerbil cage” which is 15″ long 9″ wide and 11″ high. When I went to pick him up I was horrified and she put him in one of her older ferrets cage since he didn’t use a cage anymore which is the tiny super pet cage that isn’t much bigger than that but at least he could actually stretch out.

Then I saw an ad on my local forum with the another trio of ferrets in a gerbil cage and they thought it was ok because “They aren’t in the cage except at night”

I tend to send emails to those kinds of people as well lol.

[Author]

Messages