Ferret housing help

[HalcyonInverts]

Ive been reading up on ferret care for a few months now, and am ready to start looking into getting/building my ferret enclosure.

The only thing that is still unclear is how big a ferrent enclosure should be. Some books, caresheets, and even vet websites say to keep ferrets in a relatively small cat style crate (~36") but then other places say up to 8'x4' outdoor areas.

I realise that the smaller crates will be due to the fact that the ferrets will be released regulaly for exercise within the home.

I cant keep them indoors, so i am looking at building an outdoor hutch/enclosure for them to spend 90% of thier time in, with an indoor play hour or two each evening for variety and abit more exercise.

How big should the enclosure be? Im thinking 5-6foot long and 2 foot front to back. Im going to have a gently heated bedding area for winter. Would this be acceptable for a trio of ferrets considering they will be exercised indoors and on a leash daily?

I dont want the minimum sized enclosure, but then again, im not made of space and dont want a massive run that will dwarf the chickens run... i want an enclosure that is healthy for them, plenty of space, but not execively large as they will be played with and exercised daily.

what would you ferrety people reccomend? pics of your outdoor setups would be great also!

[x-firefly-x]

Hi Andy- I have my guys (4) in a 10x5 shed and they will be getting a 6x5 aviary extension soon so total of 16x5. They also come in for two hours play every day

The bigger the floor space you can give them the better and plenty of enrichment

Heres my shed and enrichment

Ideas for enrichment are here Tim and Maisy Ruffian and Tumble pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

and here Enrichment pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

Shed is here: Shed pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

I swap my guys arrangement around ever few weeks and have many toys etc that they alternate between

Hope thats helpful!

[miss_ferret]

as said the general rule is the more space and activities you can give them the better. mine are currently in a 6x5 (aprox) shed but im upgrading to a bigger (8x6 minnimum) one soon, which i plan to convert into ferret paradise one more thing with regard to toys, dont spend a fortune (like i did at first) on all these specialist toys, there just as happy with loads of tubes, a box full of shreded paper and any other creative toys you can think of. good luck and have fun with them!

[Shell195]

Originally Posted by x-firefly-x

Hi Andy- I have my guys (4) in a 10x5 shed and they will be getting a 6x5 aviary extension soon so total of 16x5. They also come in for two hours play every day

The bigger the floor space you can give them the better and plenty of enrichment

Heres my shed and enrichment

Ideas for enrichment are here Tim and Maisy Ruffian and Tumble pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

and here Enrichment pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

Shed is here: Shed pictures by x-firefly-x18 - Photobucket

I swap my guys arrangement around ever few weeks and have many toys etc that they alternate between

Hope thats helpful!

That looks great, I hate the idea of ferrets living in a small hutch when they are such interactive, playful animals
Mine used to have an 8 x 6 shed with an aviary attached but due to a neighbour taking potshots with an air rifle we rehomed all of them for their own safety
Where did you but the basket bed with all the holes in please?

[LoveForLizards]

Originally Posted by HalcyonInverts

Ive been reading up on ferret care for a few months now, and am ready to start looking into getting/building my ferret enclosure.

The only thing that is still unclear is how big a ferrent enclosure should be. Some books, caresheets, and even vet websites say to keep ferrets in a relatively small cat style crate (~36") but then other places say up to 8'x4' outdoor areas.

I realise that the smaller crates will be due to the fact that the ferrets will be released regulaly for exercise within the home.

I cant keep them indoors, so i am looking at building an outdoor hutch/enclosure for them to spend 90% of thier time in, with an indoor play hour or two each evening for variety and abit more exercise.

How big should the enclosure be? Im thinking 5-6foot long and 2 foot front to back. Im going to have a gently heated bedding area for winter. Would this be acceptable for a trio of ferrets considering they will be exercised indoors and on a leash daily?

I dont want the minimum sized enclosure, but then again, im not made of space and dont want a massive run that will dwarf the chickens run... i want an enclosure that is healthy for them, plenty of space, but not execively large as they will be played with and exercised daily.

what would you ferrety people reccomend? pics of your outdoor setups would be great also!

I'd say 6x2 would be fine if it had the same sized run underneath the hutch.
I'd forget about the heater, chances are they wouldn't use it anyway, the main issue is heat as with most other animals. Ours have plenty of warm beds and baskets to sleep in, yet in the winter we usually find them curled up in a pile in the middle of the hutch. Providing they have each other for heat, I wouldn't bother with heating unless it gets extremely cold, in which case you can just use a heated snuggle safe heat mat throughout the night to take the edge off.
If it was possible for us, we'd have a 6x4 shed and a run extension, but considering the rescues and everything else in the garden, for now it is not do-able unfortunately. One day though...I'm like everyone else, I hate to see Ferrets in just 'adequate sized' hutches/pens.

Edit: Just re-read this, it sounds like we have ours in awfully small hutches..we don't! The group have double 7 foot hutches and the old pair have a 7 foot hutch even though they're rarely in it, they're definitely smaller then I'd like them to be, though. If everything goes to plan this year hopefully we'll be re-building the pens and they'll be 3'x10'x2'.

[HalcyonInverts]

Cool, thanks for all the helpful advice!

I think ill go with the 6x2' hutch/run thing, but then use a length of rigid piping to connect it to another 6' run round the corner (my gardens strangely laid out, wont be able to have them all together lol) Im sure that will be enough space!

cheers for clearing it up for me!

[x-firefly-x]

Shell- you have a pm

[x-firefly-x]

Btw andy your nearest ferret rescue is dookies cheshire- they have tons in currently young and old!

Jude 07809202538 also email dookies@tesco.net. good luck- let us know how you get on

[HalcyonInverts]

oooh, i had a thought... would something like this be suitable?

Chicken Poultry coop,CAT Hen house,Rabbit Hutch 047AT on eBay (end time 25-Mar-10 19:11:35 GMT)

I was thinking, in the meshed run area, new levels could be put in and connected with piping or ladders... it would increase the play area significantly, whilst not adding to the overall dimensions...

what dyall think? bad idea or good idea?

[HalcyonInverts]

Originally Posted by x-firefly-x

Btw andy your nearest ferret rescue is dookies cheshire- they have tons in currently young and old!

Jude 07809202538 also email dookies@tesco.net. good luck- let us know how you get on

Cool, i want rehomed ferrets! better to give them a chance than buy ones from a shop! ill give them a call once everything is ready and proper