Ferret Smell

Q: I have a male and female ferret. Is there anything I can do about the smell in the house?

A: Generally speaking, ferret odor is caused by a few easy-to-remedy possibilities.

1) Make sure you clean litter boxes often to prevent odor build up. Also clean the ferrets’ cage or room often, because not all ferrets are great about using the litter box.

2) Clean their bedding. The nice thing about towels and sheets is that they are easy to wash and keep clean. Laundry should be done at least weekly.

3) Watch what you feed them. A high-quality food usually produces a lower odor in feces than a lower quality food. Think about the main ingredients in the food. Fish doesn’t usually make the fresh food product smell good in my opinion, and it certainly taints the smell of feces.

4) Cut back on bathing the ferrets. Like most animals, ferrets produce an oil that makes them smell like themselves — an individual ferret has its own odor. The more they are bathed, the more oil they need to produce, which leads to more odor. We only bathe our ferrets if they get into something that makes them dirty, like if they are out playing and get dusty or sooty. Even then, a bath is usually just a quick water wash with no soap.