Rabit and Ferret?

[sgregory]

okay.. so my step mom has three ferrets and hasnt had the time to pay attention to them lately (she is an animal lover and has many pets that are well taken care of, but she is being threatened to lose her home and now has three jobs, its not something she can avoid.). so im thinking of taking them, at least until she has time again. thing is, i have a baby rabbit… and i know ferrets instinctively attack them. ive looked around and some sites say they dont get along ever, while others say they do but its rare.

has anyone here had an experience with trying to get a ferret and a rabbit to get along? ever heard of a pair who actually did? i want to take them in and at least give it a decent try. if it doesnt work out, i can give them right back to my step mom, not an issue.

i just wanted opinions to see if its something i should consider, or if its a helpless cause.

[Beka27]

You would not want to let them out together ever. Ferrets and rabbits are very different creatures and you don’t want to take the risk. A couple members here have ferrets and buns and they are careful to keep them entirely seprate. I’m not sure if you’d even want them in the same room. Others should be able to give you more specifics.

[Sonn]

I have 2 ferrets and 2 rabbits. I won’t risk putting the ferrets anywhere near having contact with the rabbits. if I remember right a ferrets natural prey is a rabbit. I keep my ferrets in a different room the ‘ferret’ room. The only time they are in the same room is when I put the ferrets in their holding cage while I clean their regular cage and even then I put a barrier around my rabbit pens to make sure if one gets out they can’t get to my bunnies. Even though my boys are terrified of the rabbits I still won’t risk it.  We have our schedule down pack everyone gets their out time and we are all happy. I am a little paranoid so what I do may be to a certain extreme to some people lol. But I don’t suggest putting them where they can get to one another.

 

[Sarita]

I agree with Sonn. Ferrets are natural enemies to rabbits. I would not even risk it with my rabbits – it wouldn’t be right for either species to tell you the truth – I think it would put undue stress on both the ferrets and the rabbits.

[Cake]

I grew up with ferrets. They loved playing with the cats but I imagine (knowing what I know now about my bunny) the bunny would be scared of the ferret, making it easy prey for the ferret.

Even still, these aren’t wild ferrets and I might just try one out with the bunny while I watched him carefully. I would never leave them alone together though. For the simple fact that ferrets get into everything when out and if one runs into a rabbit it would already “know” it.

[TARM]

Ferrets are obligate carnivores so they hunt anything that’s even remotely considered a prey animal. I have three ferrets and they’re OLD…lol 9,8 and 5, but they’re still pretty spry and I wouldn’t take any chances letting them get near my bunnies. Even if they don’t intend to hurt your bunnies the WILL still chase them which could scare a bunny literally to death.

[Adalaide]

Haha, my husband wants a ferret one day. We may have to work something out, but I won’t lock up my baby for some meat eating little furball that wants to eat her.

[RabbitPam]

I would discourage you from trying it based on the informed replies here. But it’s lovely of you to want to help out. Do you know of anyone else who either has ferrets also, or no pets that would be interested in ferret sitting? Even a pet sitter who could stop by her home and feed, water and exercise them a bit while she’s at work might help. You could go over yourself, of find someone else you trust.

I hope things get better for her soon.

[sgregory]

thank you, everyone on this site has been so helpful with everything. <3

[Cake]

Yes, as long as ferrets have eachother they are ok without much human contact. If you could just get someone to feed. water clean the cage…they should be fine until your mother has more time.

Or if you take them to your house can you use a room for the ferrets just when they are out to play? They don’t need as much out time as a rabbit does. Or put the rabbit in his cage while the ferrets are out?

Good luck!

[Author]

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