Hey Jen.
 
I can relate with you, my mother was also against me getting my ferrets.  I
had wanted a ferret for years, but she had always given me the same old
"dont you DARE bring home any pets".
 
I dont know you age, but I was in college, and I finally said "the heck
with Mom", and brought home two young ferrets.  My mom was mad at first,
but after getting a few ferret kisses, she started to think they were cute.
 
The most important things to have before getting a ferret are money and
time.  If you get one ferret, you will need to spend about 3-4 hours a day
playing with it.  If you get 2 ferrets, they play alot together, and you
only need to spend 1-2 hours a day with them.  You could spend less, but
you are only going to be raising an unsocial and unhappy ferret.
 
Money is the other problem, ferret equipment isn't cheap.  10.00 a bag for
litter, and 15.00 a bag for a good ferret food.  A bunch of rabies and
canine distemper shots in the first few weeks can be expensive too.
 
A good cage (no one will recommend less than a 2 story cage) can cost 80.00
and up, along with ferret only litters (these work well, ferrets go to the
bathroom constantly im afraid), water bottles, ferrettone, ferretvite, and
shampoos and such, it gets very costly :)
 
Last but not least, and by far the worst part of owning a ferret, is the
litter box maintainence.  It needs to be cleaned out every single day (if
you own 2 ferrets, im not sure about 1).  This gets tedious.  If not cleaned
out, the cage will begin to smell, and the ferrets will start to become
unhappy.
 
Back to Mom.  If your mother is an animal-despiser, and you are under 18,
there probably isn't much you can do.  However, if your mother is like mine
was, and
 
a) doesnt understand much about ferrets
b) doesn't think your responsible enough to take care of them
 
Then you have to convince her on those two parts.
 
Some helpful info
 
1) Ferrets are smarter than dogs or cats!
2) Ferrets bite less often than dogs
3) Ferrets are just as clean as dogs (all depends on the owner)
4) Ferrets can be trained (mine did right away) to only go in their litter
box.
5) Ferrets sleep 80% of their life, they dont mind being in a cage all day
(just let them out for an hour or two each day)
6) Ferrets rarely carry any type of diseases, then are less often carriers
than dogs are, and can be vaccinated against rabies and canine distemper.
 
I hope that helps, feel free if you have any other questions.
 
Henry Lee
Owner of Bilbo and Frodo
[Posted in FML issue 2371]