Ferret and aquaria

Does anyone have a ferret with their salamander aquaria? Do they try to get into the tanks? Is this a bad idea brewing or do they ignore things that are closed?
And as long as I'm asking, does anyone have snakes and ferrets? Is that another potential nightmare? (a potential "problem," I can handle; a potential "nightmare," I'd rather avoid).

OH man I can't believe I can actually give an answer to this sort of crazy question....

I had a ferret (1 of 27) who liked to snorkle in my tanks. I came up short a few neons and platys. Yes he fell in completely a couple of times. He was utterly fascinated with the tanks.

BUT these tanks had easy open lids and the typical open access backs - supposed to be covered with some plastic strip that I never bothered to cut up and put on.

I also kept gerbils and hamsters in aquariums. All the lids had locks and the only time they ever got into the gerbil tanks was when hubby tried to help me and set them all on the floor, undid the locks and walked away, not knowing I had let 7 ferrets out to play. (they were all asleep & hiding in cubbys) Um they had a lot of fun with the gerbils and some had a snack out of it. GAG.

BUT the hamster tanks which still had their locks engaged were never opened.

No I am not the crazy ferret lady who owns a ridiculous number of ferrets!! LOL - I used to run a small exotics rescue and I got a BUNCH all at once from a breeder + the regular dumpees + my own 6. Added up to a lot.

I think you could keep both but you'll have to find a way to lock the tops of the aquaria. Adult ferrets can get into any hole 1 1/2 inches. Baby ferrets of course can fit in much smaller gaps and climb nearly anywhere adults can.

For the most part its difficult to ferret proof an entire house (if you have kids) so the ferrets were in general restricted to the pet room. Occasionally I would let a few out in my livingroom (where the fish tanks were). Honestly watching the one ferret surf for fish was just so funny I didn't mind loosing the fish.

Ferrets will treat snakes like the worlds best chew toy. I had a ferret in my garden uproot a buried toad and proceeded to chomp on it. I couldn't catch the bugger to get it away. The toad had those toxic glands and the ferret was just FOAMING nastily at the mouth. The more toxin the toad released the more pissed the ferret seemed to get. When I finally caught the ferret he refused to let go of the toad. My husband had to prise the ferrets mouth open with a screw driver. The toad hopped away but I don't know if it survived the experience.

Um these incidents happened over the span of 14 years.

I still own ferrets. I've seen the kids favorite chase down a kingsnake in the yard. She didn't catch it because she was leashed. If we'd had a snake in the house the ferret couldn't have gotten into a snake tank because it would be latched/locked shut. Possibly in a different room. I can't imagine a snake would be comfortable with the smell of mustilad nearby. When we had high numbers of ferrets I dumped their feces outside along my fence line and we never had a snake in the yard.

I'm rambling, sorry. I know lots of people keep both snakes and ferrets with no ill effects. Same with aquaria. Honestly the surfing ferret was pretty rare. The rest of the gang enjoyed watching him and tried to steal his prizes but they never attempted to go surfing themselves.

Oh yeah, ferrets will steal kittens and attempt to stash them with the rest of their toys for play later....

Sharon

My snake tanks have slide-screen tops. I'm wondering if the ferret will rip the screen open to get to the snakes.
I just got back from the pet store. I have to work today, but I paid for a little boy that was returned by people who moved to a condo. The pet store owners (friends by this point, so I believe them) told me he was sweet and friendly and played well with the store cat, which is exactly what I want. And they said he's litter trained. Their part-time chore girl is going to give him a bath and I'll be taking him home tomorrow. She doesn't know me well and told me (they had three in stock) "This one is really playful and he looks just like an otter!" I told her "You just said the magic word. Sold!" I also got litter and ferret food and ordered a nametag (I named him Dipsy after one of the teletubbies...another of my obsessions...) , and tomorrow I'll get up early and head to home depot for PVC pipe tubes to play in. He'll be under strict supervision for the beginning and I have a really large metal wire dog kennel I got at a yard sale last year for only ten bucks...didn't have a use for it but knew I would someday! Thanks for the input. If there's anything else you want me to know, please let me know, it sounds like you have considerable experience! If you don't want to post you can pm me.

So much for learning to live with the big hole the hedgehog left in my life...

Is the wire on the dog crate going to small enough? A lot of people modify large dog crates for ferrets so it can be done, and more cheaply than the silly pricey multilevel "ferret condos". LOL although I own a couple and they're awesome - I would never have purchased them. They were donated years ago.

Sounds like you're off to a good start though!

Good luck!
Sharon

Ferrets are great fun Dawn, I used to own 2. Make sure you handle him plenty and don't hold him too near your face because if he does try to bite they lock their jaws.

They make a funny chattering noise and leap around like lambs when they get excited.

Thanks, gr33neyes. I'm really looking forward to this (I'm picking him up at 9:30). And I've recovered the cage with chicken wire because since you (ferret corner) mention it, the slats are kind of far apart. I made him a little hammock in there out of a piece of fleece blanket! Someone called him yesterday a "stink weasel." I wonder if my house will start smelling.

I am quite jealous! been wanting one for ages and ages but have to wait until we eventually move. Looking froward to seeing the little chap.

Hey I deleted like two and half pages of "stuff" and I'm going PM you ok? Not sure we can keep this thread going here? I don't know the rules really well even though I've been here for years.

Oh but one little bit...

OH! An excellent book to get is "Ferrets for Dummies" I used to be appalled by that series for the titles alone but the iguana one and the ferret one are EXCELLENT. Maybe the folks on this site should get together and write one for amphibians...... I'd buy it!! Simple straightforward, w/human touches (hate those dry verbose editions) on how to keep amphibians properly and how to maintain paludariums, vivariums, etc. (hint hint?)

Sharon

Yes, we can take it to PM or maybe I'll post some pics of him in a blog and we can discuss them there. Thanks for all the advice (and the PM)!

Did you get the pm? I'm not sure I'm doing it right. lol I don't see how I can screw it up but I've sent three to diff folks and haven't gotten a reply back.

Sharon

I got it!

The story of Dipsy the Ferret, continued here...


http://www.caudata.org/forum/blog.php?b=108

see you there!