All Pets Web – Not Just Dogs n Cats

Ferrets truly are very good house pets, but because they’re inside your house all the time, you need them to be as clean as practical. As well as making sure your ferret cages are cleaned often this also entails grooming your ferret and do not panic it’s less complicated than you may think.

There are five basic stages to grooming your ferret.

Bath the ferret once a month, but no more often than once every week. Run a bath of shallow water. Be sure it is not too hot or too cold. The water should be the same temperature that you would use for a baby. Use a baby shampoo that will not irritate the ferret’s eyes. A no-tears formula should do the trick. Get him wet, lather him up, and rinse him off. Pay particular attention to the area right below the eyes, as your ferret has scent glands here that cannot be removed. After his bath, wrap him in a nice warm towel he will be able to burrow down in it to get himself dry. Blow dryers are not advocated.

Clean his ears. After the ferrets bath, clean his ears with a cotton bud dipped in peroxide. Ensure that you are not going too deep, or you may damage his ear drums. The ferret may not appreciate this effort the 1st couple of times, but he will soon start to expect it, and even realize that it feels pretty nice.

Clean his teeth. Ferrets need good oral care. Use ferret safe toothpaste, which can be bought in pet stores, and a baby toothbrush. Your ferret doesn’t need to wash – the toothpaste is safe to swallow. Brush his gnashers just like you brush your own, and inspect them for chips or breaks. If you find issues, take him to the vet.

Cut his nails. Your ferret can grow some pretty pointed nails. Those nails don’t only hurt when he scratches you with them, but they also have a tendency to scratch up floors and furniture. Unlike cats, a ferrets nails are not retractable. Look closely at his nails. The pink area is the quick of the nail. Don’t cut into the quick or it will hurt him. You can distract the ferret with a toy while clipping his nails.

Clean out his bedding. Many of us do not think of this as part of grooming the ferret, nonetheless it really is. There’s no point in cleaning the ferret if you are not going to also make sure that his bedding and litter box are clean. Wash the bedding and dry it. Make sure that it does not have fleas in it. Everyday scoop the litter box, and be sure your ferret has fresh litter weekly.

One last note on grooming – fleas are attracted to ferrets as much as they’re attracted to dogs or cats. Do not ever use flea medications on your ferret that are made for cats or dogs. You can though use flea formulas designed for kittens. The safest thing to do is to take your ferret to the vet for flea treatment.

Visit Cages For Critters for plenty more cages including a very popular outdoor ferret run