Location For Ferret House

[SimpleSimon 7]

Hi all,

Excuse me jumping in with a question, but my wife is finally coming around to the idea that ferrets are a good idea.

She's asked (told) me to decide where I'd keep them and work out how much it'll cost to set up. I can easily build something suitable (or buy pre-built if there's not much in the cost) but I don't know where is best for them. I have a convenient spot in mind, but it would be constantly in shade. Would that be OK, or do they need some sun? It's dry and sheltered, just not very bright and I imagine would take a while to warm up in the winter.

Other alternative is to house them inside a shed where they'll get sun through the window and possibly give them some kind of tunnel to an outside area as well. The downside to that is the wife won't want to walk "all the way" to the end of the garden to feed them when I'm not about. Or to accommodate them on top of the sleeping area in my dogs' kennel, which would give them plenty of space and a little bit of sun, but might annoy the dogs.

There's also the question of smell. The wife is convinced they smell, I'm not sure they're any worse than other animals. Any thoughts? It doesn't bother me, but might influence where to keep them.

[terryd 8,423]

Mine are on the shady side of the yard in the summer and i move them to the sunny side in the winter. The two hobs I have do whiff a bit but nothing to worry about and just clean regular and a bit of disinfectant in the yard to keep things fresh

[The one 8,479]

In a shady spots fine as they dont like the heat but as long as the hutch is warm and dry the cold doesnt and if its in the shade fresh grub last a bit longer than in full sun and if it gets too hot for them in the shade mine just sleep in the run

[Micheala Robinson 400]

My advice would be to not house them too close to your house or particularly your bedroom window unless you like being woken up on a night by them scratching around and clawing at the wire (maybe that's just mine).

As for smell I don't find them smelly if they are cleaned out regularly (remove the dropping every day or every other) as this can attract flies.

[Lamper121 239]

I have mine in a hutch which is attached to a large aivary style run. The hutch gets the afternoon sun so my lot often up-camp and sleep in the run where its cooler. Also in really hot weather I put out a shallow container of water which they climb into and stick there heads under the water to cool off.

 

Smell wise, as long as you clean the droppings every other day (as Micheala suggests) and deep clean once per week you wont have any noticeable smell IMO.

[SimpleSimon 7]

Thanks folks, no concerns about shade then. I'm considering housing them up above the sleeping area of my dog kennel, it's basically a full height shed with a platform built in that the dogs sleep underneath. Would be easy to convert the unused space above the platform and then maybe put a tube or something to an outside run away from the dogs...

[Furrosious ferreter 499]

Ive got my court facing east west so the sun arcs over it with a roof each end and a 3 tier hutch or 4 if inclueding the foof of the hutch.

Now added an extension on the end in the shape of a 6x3x3 hutch for a pent house. Looks pretty good i think.

Just upgradsd from 2 to 7 ferrets.

 

I would defenatly put a water resistant membrane down first as to stop there pee seeping through to the dogs.

 

Also dont forget about airflow some times sheds are good in winter but not so good in summer, could become to hot.

 

FF

[Welsh_red 4,644]

Personally I've never found my ferrets that stinky. After if handled them if I smell my hands I can smell them but I always wash my hands when I get in anyway. The shed I have my hob in doesn't reak either . Gets cleaned daily or sometimes every other day and all shavings thrown on on a Sunday , clean hutch with spray and new shavings in and it's fine. Half-hour job on a Sunday . I got a dustbuster to get the awkward shavings out and the smell is fine . Their is a smell with them but their is a smell with dogs aswell .

[SimpleSimon 7]

Right well I've decided to go for an obvious solution and build a free standing, double decker hutch on legs. That way I can put it near the house in the shade for summer, shift it to the sunny bit of the garden or the shed in winter if needs be, stick it out of the way if we've got "sensitive types" coming over, and best of all palm the whole lot off on somebody to look after them if we go on holiday.

Time to get building!

[terryd 8,423]

I know one thing when your wife sees them flying around the yard diving all over the place she will love them. Very entertaining things with character