Ferrets are very curious and they love to explore new territory. You would want your pet to be healthy and this is possible only if your ferret gets plenty of exercise. That’s right. The key to a healthy pet is to keep him active. The good news is that exercising your ferret is easy as long as you understand your pet’s natural and instinctive behavior.
Ferrets Need Exercise!
Just like us, ferrets can also benefit from an exercise/ physical activity routine. Regular exercise not only will make your ferret happy, but it would also improve fitness, muscle tone, and other important physiological process such as blood circulation and digestion.
Generally ferrets need some kind of physical activity to keep their minds busy. In fact they need to spend at least 4 hours out of their cage each day and you should accompany them for at least 2 hours of exercise time.
When ferrets remain trapped in their cage for a long time, they tend to be obese and have poor muscle tone. What’s worse is that lack of physical activity can lead to obesity and ultimately numerous serious health problems in pets.
Exercise and Play Time
Ferrets love to play with anything; they’d want to hide in dark corners, under the furniture and play in plastic tubes. Some ferrets love chasing a ball outdoors or roll around in a dig box. Ferrets get particularly excited when they play with toys, but you need to remember that these curious mammals are notorious for chewing and swallowing objects they play with especially rubber.
To keep your ferrets safe, avoid toys with small parts and avoid giving him rubber objects. Of course you don’t have to spend a lot of money on toys. There are plenty of common household items your ferrets would love playing with. That right. Socks, cushions, cat toys and dog toys can provide hours of entertainment.
Your ferret can play both indoor and outdoor depending on the space you have. If you decide to let your pet free in the home, make sure you’re well prepared to search for items that disappear under the furniture. Also, don’t be surprised if you find a few holes in the carpet too!
Playing areas for ferrets need to be extremely secure because they are really good at escaping. If you want to take your pet outside, make sure water is on hand at all times. Outdoor play areas should also have excellent protection from the elements as well because ferrets are prone to heat stroke due to their inability to sweat.
Play Periods should be supervised
Ferrets are extremely social animals and letting your ferret play around the house is great exercise. But sometimes, your pet will try to chew something that’s dangerous or try to escape. This means you need to “ferret proof” the playing areas before you decide to give your pet a free rein. If your pet’s cage is small, you need to focus more on outdoor playing time. Remember, ferrets love to play with ferrets, people and even other pets.
Multi-level Cages
The use of multi-level cages is a nice way to provide extra room and exercise. The more levels or ramps your pet has to climb, the more exercise he will get. Remember that ferrets that live in single or double level cages can miss out on the exercise and this isn’t good for their health.
Another thing you can do is to allow your ferrets to play in a room that has stairs. Like dogs, ferrets too love climbing stairs and they would be excited to run down to get a toy. However, just make sure that the room is safe and more importantly, your ferrets won’t fall off the edge of the stairs and injure themselves.
Take Your Ferret Out for Walks
Ferrets can be taken for walks outside, but be careful. Some curious mammals can slip out of your sight and disappear. If you want to take your pet on a stroll, invest in a high quality harness and leash which can be adjusted for a snug fit.
If your ferret loves to climb, you can create a playing area outdoors where he can burrow through plastic and cardboard tubes and hide in paper bag caves. You can also provide hours of fun by having a large plastic box filled plastic balls. Use your hand to help the ferret roll around and encourage them to chase you.
Owning ferrets is a fun and rewarding experience. In addition, the excitement of watching your pet jump all over the place, hiding in corners and rolling on the ground would surely make your heart melt. The bottom line is that you need to expose your pet to new sights and sounds daily. Come up with a fun game each day and play with your pet. If your ferret is interested in his surroundings would play more and be healthy.
