Hello Ferty Friends --
Here's something abt keeping ferrets outside in Norway (and the US).
It's an email exchange, so start at the ***bottom of this.*** (btw, I
made mistake in my last post -- the 20 degrees below in which these
Norwegian ferrets are fine is Celcius, not Farenheit.) [Permission
received from board moderator to repost here.]
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Thank you! It's great to have confirmation for what i have done -- I
got mine used to the cold weather by the lucky fact that their outdoor
environment was ready in the fall. Also, since they can come indoors at
will, I was able to stop keeping food for them outside once it started
to get cold -- I knew that would keep them in the habit of coming
indoors. Plus I decided to not maintain a truly comfortable place to
sleep outside -- so they wouldn't fall asleep out there and freeze in
their deep sleep.
But I think that they would have been fine, considering what you
say -- after all Norway has got to have colder winters than here on
the California-Oregon border of the US!
I have had no problems at all. In fact they go out at night on their
own, even when it is very late at night and cold. They do get a
little lazy and stay inside more than I want them to in the daytime,
so I cart them all out to their pens. Having them out also lets me
clean their litter boxes in peace!
Once I take them out, they like it. Sometimes they immediately start
to dance around and have a great time. One afternoon I think it was
TOO cold for their little feet or something. All except the youngest
and the most energetic headed straight back in again. So I had lots of
company cleaning their pans. Ferrets in the pans, on my shoulders, in
the plastic bag that held the poop!
On Dec 25, 2006, at 4:59 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
Hi
I'm really sorry about the late reply to your mail but this mailadress
is one i seldom browse trough.
the most importatn thing is to get the ferets used to the cold temps ,
what i do is to let new ferrets out in the spring and leting em get
used to the temps , one thing i have found is that a ferret witch is
used to live outdoors is that they can take cold temps better than the
heat.
i have ferrets living outdoors all year around they don't have any heat
except from what the sun might provide and if it get too cold they just
pile up and keep each other warm .
The most important is to give em a roof over their heads so they are
protected from the sun and rain and if they are feed kibble you need
to make sure they have enough water ..
you also should put some blankets in the doghouse so the can make a
nest to sleep in ...
i hope this answerd some of your questions and if you got more feel
free to as :)
Best Regards
Stig
ps i got another board www.naturlig.min-ilder.com ,sign in and use that
one instead of my norwegian board ..
if you still wants to be a part of my norwegian board let me know and i
wil set pu an account for you
Hello --
I live on the northern border of California and have recently built
some outdoor pens for my ferrets. I'd like to let them go outdoors
whenever they like in the winter (and return indoors when they like).
Can you give me some info about how to safely do that?
For example, if they are sleeping in an unheated doghouse in their pen,
willl they wake up and come inside when the temperature gets too low
for their safety?
By the way, I clicked the link for ilderforum but didn't find a way to
convert it into English.
Thanks!
Begin forwarded message:
From: Nell <[log in to unmask]>
Date: March 5, 2006 3:06:27 AM PST
To: Nell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ferrets -- (1) cold climes (2) intacts w/ no kits
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:40:28 +0000
From: xx Amos <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Ferrets in cold climates
If anyone wants to know how ferrets get on living outside in Norway
24X7 and being fed on a raw diet then they can contact a friend of mine
who like me keeps entire ferrets of both sexes together 24X7 without
any unwanted kittens.
Stig is also hoping to post on this board about the way we keep our
ferrets entire and outdoors when the weather in Norway go's down to
minus 20C.
[log in to unmask] or get on to
http://www.ilderforum.com/forum/index.php
[Posted in FML 5502]
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