Are Ferrets Expensive – The Ultimate Guide To All Ferret Expenses

Ferrets might seem more expensive than some other pets. The main reason for that can be the on going costs that add up to how expensive ferrets are in the long run. Ferres can be expensive but so is owning a dog!

Where Can You Buy A Ferret From

If you have decided to get a ferret as pet, you should do extensive research into the purchase options available. You can buy a ferret online but it’s not recommended as you wouldn’t know the medical history, therefore this option is considered risky. In addition, the other purchase options available are:

  • Pet shop
  • Private breeder
  • Shelter

You should expect the purchase price of your ferret to be your smallest expense.

How Much Is A Ferret

How expensive is the ferret will be depends on various factors. Some of those factors are the following.

Colour and Breed

  • How expensive the ferret is also depends on the breed or the color of their fur. The cheapest breed is the White Albino Ferret with price ranging $50 – $130. Second cheapest is Sable Ferret mix with price averaging $130. The most expensive ferrets breed is the Black Sable Ferret ranging $75 – $250.

Fur Length

  • For instance, Angora ferrets are fairly new breed that has longer fur coat and therefore this type of ferrets are more expensive

Ferret’s Age

  • People prefer to buy pets that are young as they are easier to train and bond with. Therefore, the younger the ferret, the higher the price.

Where You Buy The Ferret Fom

  • Usually, ferrets will be more expensive when you purchase them from a breeder than purchasing them from your local pet store. In the long run, it might be safer purchasing from a breeder as they can provide you with family and medical history. A good option is to adopt a ferret as one it would be cheaper and two you would be helping a lonely animal to find a new loving home. Usually, when adopting the only expense would be the adoption fee which can be as low as $15. Sometimes they can even be free!

The price will go up, if your ferret has been:

  • Vaccinated
  • Neutered
  • Microchipped

All that being said, the average price you can expect to pay for a ferret is $100. Before you think that is a high price to pay, keep in mind that prices for dogs can range between $100 up to an impressive $8000 depending on the breed. So in comparison, are ferrets expensive? No they are not.

Purchasing a ferret in other countries can be fairly cheap. For instance, in the UK, ferret prices can range £10 – £100. Female ferrets known a are usually more expensive than male ferrets.

Whether you’re getting a ferret or a different pet, you need to be prepared for the lifelong costs that come with raising and caring for an animal.

Other Ferret Costs

Apart from the purchase price, owners must be prepared for the following essential lifelong costs when considering a ferret as a pet:

  • Housing – cage, bedding
  • Food – high-protein and high-quality meat only diet; food bowl
  • Entertainment – toys, hammocks
  • Care – brushes, litter pan, water bowl, special shampoo;
  • Veterinary care – vaccinations, neutering

The main thing you need to take care of before you bring the ferret home, is the cage, bedding and food including food bowl and water bowl. Accessories can be bought over period of time. Let’s look into these necessities into more detail.

Ferret Food

Providing your ferret with a high quality diet is extremely important to their health.
Feeding ferrets can be one of the main weekly or monthly expenses as they require good quality food but you shouldn’t be looking to save money in this area of your ferret’s upbringing. In addition, feeding your ferret cat foods regularly, can lead to various health problems. Whereas, feeding your ferrets only dog food can even cause death.

Your best option if you want to keep your ferret healthy and happy is to buy foods made especially for ferrets as they have the correct nutritional values and proportions. Usually, those type of foods are fairly expensive but necessary for your ferret to be healthy.

Overall, you should expect to pay average of $15 a bag for dry food and $20 for a 12 pack of wet food.

Read more about your ferret’s diet here What Should I Feed My Ferret (Can Ferrets Eat Cat Food)

What dried ferret food can I buy?

How expensive is your ferret’s food depends on the brand. Overall, most brands will sell packages ranging 2 – 10kg. For an average of 2kg you should expect to pay between $6 – $11.

Some of the most popular brands include:

  • Wysong Ferret Epigen 90 – 5lb for $25
  • ZuPreen Ferret Diet – 4lb for $18
  • Totally Ferret – 7.5kg for $55
  • James Well beloved Ferret Food 4.4lb for $12
  • Marshall Premium Ferret Diet – 4lb for $14
  • Kaytee Fiesta Ferret Food – 2.5lb for $8.87

A good tip to save money is to purchase the ferret food either online or from your local raw feed store rather than buying it from the supermarket.

Ferret Housing

The cage is the sleeping space for your ferret and where it will be spending a big portion of the time. It’s recommended for the cage to be at least 2 feet wide, 2 feet long and 3 feet high. The cage must be big enough to provide your ferret with enough room to play around.

It’s recommended to look into purchasing a bi-level cage as that can provide different areas for you ferret to use such as bathroom, sleep and play. Especially, if you’re going to have more than one ferret, you’d need a multilevel cage. In addition to that, over time you can look into purchasing the following to add to the cage

  • Sleeping tubes
  • Hammocks – $10-$15

To save money

  • Cages can cost up to $300 but if you invest time to look around online as you can find cages for as cheap as $80-$100.
  • Instead of getting a hammock or sleeping tube, you can use an old sweater that your ferret would love to snuggle in.

Some of good examples of cages are the following

$200
$195
$126
$195

Other accessories include

  • Good stainless-steel bowls are $15 to $20
  • Toys $10 to $20
  • Secure carriers can be found for about $20
  • Bedding – Once you get the housing sorted, you want to focus on keeping your ferret’s new house clean and comfortable. To achieve this, you should look into lining the bottom of the cage with bedding.

    There are many options for bedding. It’s recommended to purchase an odour control bedding. On average, this type of bedding would cost $15.

Alternatively, if you have outside space or a good sized garden, you can purchase one of the following:

  • Rabbit pen to install outside and customise to fit your ferret’s needs. These outdoor type of homes for ferrets come as double or triple hutches to full courts. If you want to house two ferrets, you should invest into buying 5ft double hutch. Whereas, if you want to house 3 to 4 ferrets, a 6ft double hutch would be more appropriate.
  • Another option for housing your ferret is buying a chicken coop as that can be turned into a good ferret’s home. The chicken coop has enough space to corner off sleeping area, toilet and space to play and run around.
  • Sheds is an alternative to buying a cage The shed is meant for outside and it’s cheaper than hutches and chicken coops. You can modify this by placing toys and tubes for the ferret.

Ferret Environment and Toys

Play time and keeping your ferret entertained is extremely important for your ferret’s well-being. In addition to that, you should let your ferret play minimum of 4 hours per day. Adding toys to your ferret’s environment can make a big difference.

You’d probably wonder if those additional costs will make owning a ferret even more expensive. The good news is that ferrets are easily entertained and can have fun with simple objects such as plastic grocery bags.

What is the cost of ferret toys?

Ferrets need to be stimulated with activities and various toys. With that in mind, cat and baby toys are perfectly suitable toys for ferrets.

Popular toys include

  •   Tunnel tubes $16
  •   Ropes and nets $10 – $12
  •   Soft toy balls such as tennis balls $8 for a pack of 3

Veterinary Expenses

The second thing next to food, that can make owning a ferret expensive, is vet bills. Veterinary expenses include:

Treatment For diseases

Ferrets don’t usually develop disease in early life. On the other hand, older ferrets that are in their adult years, are more susceptible to diseases such as cancer, distemper and more. Read more about what diseases ferrets get here What Diseases Do Ferrets Get And How To Prevent Them

Vaccinations

Ferrets will require vaccinations quite early on in their life. One of the reason for that is, unvaccinated ferrets can die if they get the canine distemper virus. Rabies vaccination is also necessary. Those costs can come up to $200 initially but you need to keep in mind that your ferret will require vaccinations yearly.

Distemper vaccination is administered at 2 and 3 months, rabies vaccination – at 3 and 4 months. The yearly distemper vaccination averages $50 – $60.

Neutering/Spaying

Such as cats and dogs, ferrets can also be neutered. The other option to that is a hormonal suppression therapy. Read more about this option here Suprelorin Ferret Implant Cost And Adrenal Gland Disease in Ferrets Neutering can cost between $150 – £300

Pet Insurance

Older ferrets are more likely to get diseases and develop cancer which will result in expenses and medical bills. For that reason, it’s important to be prepared and take out pet insurance that can cover some of these costs.

Ferrets live up to 6 or 7 years and during that time people become devoted and attached to their pet. Therefore, when their ferret falls ill, people are usually willing to provide the necessary care which is usually expensive. This is the reason why you should be prepared.

Vet Check-ups

Consultations for when your ferret is ill or injured will depend on individual vet surgeries, but you can expect to pay between £25 – £50. Dental checks and regular flea/worming treatment should also be part of your ferret’s general medical care.

Microchipping

In US microchipping your ferret averages $75.

Last Thoughts On Are Ferrets Expensive

If you have decided to get a ferret as a pet, these are the items you should look into buying:

  • Ferret Purchase Price: The price will be higher if you get your ferret from your local pet store in comparison to adopting or buying from a breeder. Average price of £100
  • Hammocks: This is considered more of an accessory than a necessity. Price averages$10-$15
  • Cage: You should invest in a good size cage for your ferret. The average price is $100
  • Bedding: This is necessary to make your ferret comfortable. Cost averages $15. Although, you can use old clothes and blankets instead
  • Litter boxes: $5-$10
  • Litter crate: Average price of $11
  • Feeding Bowls: Price can range from $7-$10 each
  • Toys: It’s not a mandatory to buy those initially. Price range $10-$20
  • Food: A good quality food is necessary for your ferret’s health and it averages at $60 for a bag of 7.5kg
  • Ferret Care: Nail clippers $5-$10, Hairball remedy $4-$6, Shampoo $4-$7, Ear Solution $4-$6, Teeth cleaner $5-$7
  • Treats: Treats are not  don’t have to give treats but if you wish to you can pick up some treats from $3 and up
  • Veterinary Costs: Initial costs can be up to $200. Followed by yearly booster vaccinations and vet check up visits
  • Crate: This is necessary for when you take your ferret to the vet. The average price is $15
  • Harness: Harness can be used when you take your ferret outside for walks. Price averages $11-15
  • For emergencies: As ferrets are considered exotics pets, the vet costs are higher. Therefore, you should always have an emergency pot in case of unexpected trips to the vet

The starting bill can add up to an average of $570-$600.

If you want to become the owner of a ferret, you must be prepared to invest your time, commitment and also to make a financial investment. That investment emotional and financial is to keep your ferret well fed, active and healthy.

So, is are ferrets expensive? Yes, but so are dogs. Having a ferret as your companion will be worth your while. They are hilarious, adventures and affectionate. You will not regret it!

unusualpetsguide

My name is Iliyana and I'm a passionate animal lover and pet owner. As there is significantly less information online about unusual and exotic pets, I decided to found this website and recruit expert writers to help pet owners.

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