Thursday, July 30, 2009

Advice on ferrets. How long do they live?

My 20 yr old daughter has a female ferret named Cupcake. She has had Cupcake for about 3 yrs. We are unsure how old she was when we got her and have no way to find out now, but we don't believe she was more than a year, or if so not by much. My daughter loves this ferret more than life itself and I fear for her when her beloved pet dies. I have never seen her give so much care and love to any pet before and she constantly comments about the ferrets death, not knowing if she can handle it when the time comes. Secretely I have been looking into buying her a new ferret so she will still have a pet when Cupcake dies, but the devils at the petstore are nothing like the sweet baby I have at home. The little beasts bit me and refused to let go of my finger. The shop keeper said these were young males and that the females were MORE aggressive! Any advice on ferrets would be greatly appreciated.
Answers:
In the United States a ferrets lifespan is around 6 to 10 years, with 7 to 8 years being about average. Very rarely you may hear of a ferret living as long as 10-13 years.
Unfortunately, with the early altering practices of the major breeding farms in this country the majority of ferrets bred here eventually suffer from related illnesses (such as adrenal disease) which shortens the lifespan.
I've had 20 ferrets to date. 9 are still with me. Of the 11 that have passed on the youngest was 3 years of age, the oldest have been 7-8 years of age, and I've lost a few at ages in between (4-6 years of age). All that have passed had various forms of cancer. Cancers are very commonly seen in ferrets in this country. Early altering and possibly genetics being the most probable causes. Ferrets in countries that do not have breeding farms and/or practice early altering tend to live longer, healthier, lives.
Your daughters Cupcake is at the age now where the more common ferret illnesses, such as adrenal disease and insulinoma, begin to show. If Cupcake isn't already seeing a ferret knowledgeable vet on a regular basis I suggest you find one and start bringing her in for checks. If these illnesses are caught early they can be treated.
As for the pet store devils (lol), they're kits and acting like kits. It has nothing to do with gender, both males and females will behave this way. Young ferrets, of both sexes, need to be trained, just as a puppy would. If you're looking for a calmer ferret for your daughter you might try going to a ferret shelter, where you may find a slightly older but more mellow ferret.
i think bout 3 - 4 or 5 years but not sure
They can live up to 12 years but the average fredzer lives up to 7-8 years :)
they live bought 7-8 years but sometimes longer if u take good care of them =)
ferrets smell
If my name was Cupcake I would kill myself.
you might look for a ferret rescue in your area. i know what your talking about though about the biting. to me the ones in the pets stores look older. i got mine when they were little. i know they live longer- thought it was like about 8-10 yrs but you may want to research that to make sure. i know mine never bit me and were the sweetest things that i got when they were young and were both males. the very first one i got was from a rescue and he was older when i got him (but also male) and he was a lover too. i think they are normally fixed anyways when you buy them, so if you can find a young male that is sweet it should be ok, unless you just really want a female. you might look around other stores- maybe even next town if you have to for younger one.
They live for about 10 years!
7-8 years.
She's got a few more years left in her yet it probably wont happen intill she's about 26 soo no need to worry yet! but the problem is why they keep biting is becuase there babies you need to train um just like puppies and it's hard back braking work you need to potty train them teach um not to bite and all sorts yet unless your an experienced ferret kepper and like you said you got your daughters when it was about 1 yr old it would of been previusley already trained i would go to your local rescue home or look in your local newspaper as i would go to the animal rescue as they give you amazing advice and i'll pick u the perfect little ferret friend you should have two or moreferrets anyway as they're extremely social animal and can get depressed with out a friend and i suppose your daughter can't be there 24/7 for it as i expect shes got college/university to attend to so another ferret would be a great addition to your family
x.good luck!.x
Click this link to see all the advice on ferrets you need
http://www.petco.com/caresheets/small%20...
1 ferrets live for like 7 years but some can live to 10 and 2 cupcake is a very cute name
The oldest ferret I know is 15!!! They usually die at 8-10. Hope I helped!

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