ProudGrandma Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 OK, I have asked LOTS of questions and got lots of responses about bunnies, and wanting to make the best, most informed decision about a pet for us, I now want to investage chinchillas and ferrets. If you have owned or still own one of these critters can you tell me about them? How expensive are they? How hard of a pet are they to care for? What kind of cage is yours in? How stinky are they? Can they be left for a day or two? How cuddly and playful are they? and ANYTHING else you can think of to help us make a decision. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 OK, I have asked LOTS of questions and got lots of responses about bunnies, and wanting to make the best, most informed decision about a pet for us, I now want to investage chinchillas and ferrets. If you have owned or still own one of these critters can you tell me about them? How expensive are they? How hard of a pet are they to care for? What kind of cage is yours in? How stinky are they? Can they be left for a day or two? How cuddly and playful are they? and ANYTHING else you can think of to help us make a decision. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think what you're really looking for is a cat. All I know is don't have both. My husbands ferrets apparently murdered his brother's chinchillas when they were teens. Also, dont believe that a brother and sister/mother chinchilla won't mate. I have friend's who got burned on that deal :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 my husband is allergic to cats....and since cats can't be contained in a cage, a cat is not for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 my husband is allergic to cats....and since cats can't be contained in a cage, a cat is not for us. Why does the pet need to be contained in a cage? I can't speak to chinchillas, but I've found ferrets to be quite stinky. I agree that it sounds like what you're looking for is a cat, and said so in your rabbit thread, too. My husband was allergic to cats when he met me, but I came with cats, and he managed to overcome his allergies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 these animals stink! College roommate had a chinchilla. It's nocturnal. So it's LOUD. At night. When you want to sleep. The room stunk. No one would come in the room. Again, it sleeps during the day when you would want to play with it. Did I mention they STINK??? Ferrets: my experience on the stink level had to do with who was caring for it. It's a pet, it smells to anyone who doesn't have that pet, but some people had them and it wasn't bad. You could go into their room/apt. Others, it was awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Rabbits are very allergenic, I'm more allergic to them than cats, so keep that in mind. Have you considered a snake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 OK, I have asked LOTS of questions and got lots of responses about bunnies, and wanting to make the best, most informed decision about a pet for us, I now want to investage chinchillas and ferrets. If you have owned or still own one of these critters can you tell me about them? How expensive are they? How hard of a pet are they to care for? What kind of cage is yours in? How stinky are they? Can they be left for a day or two? How cuddly and playful are they? and ANYTHING else you can think of to help us make a decision. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chinchillas do not do well in hot climates, but do fine in four season climates. They are also cleaner, smell less, and are immune to things like fleas (due to how their coat is). Chinchillas take dust baths and are very social...you should find an enclosed room and give them social hour at least once a day (take them out of their cage and let them run). Ferrets are more of a one person type pet. I would not leave either alone for more than a day. We've owned both kinds of pets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 Have you looked at degus? have you owned these? are they hard to care for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 these animals stink! College roommate had a chinchilla. It's nocturnal. So it's LOUD. At night. When you want to sleep. The room stunk. No one would come in the room. Again, it sleeps during the day when you would want to play with it. Did I mention they STINK??? Ferrets: my experience on the stink level had to do with who was caring for it. It's a pet, it smells to anyone who doesn't have that pet, but some people had them and it wasn't bad. You could go into their room/apt. Others, it was awful. If it stunk like that, then she wasn't taking care of it properly. Russian Blue is a breed of cat that is as close to hyperallergenic as you can get. Unless your husband's allergies are deadly and specifically from the proteins in a cat's saliva, he should be able to handle a Russian Blue. Why must the animal be caged? Have you considered a leopard gecko? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 we feel we need to have a caged pet because we live in a home that belongs to the church where my husband is Pastor and we don't want a pet to damage the house or the yard. A gecko isn't the most cuddly pet in the world...we are looking for a cuddliy pet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 we feel we need to have a caged pet because we live in a home that belongs to the church where my husband is Pastor and we don't want a pet to damage the house or the yard. A gecko isn't the most cuddly pet in the world...we are looking for a cuddliy pet. The pets you're asking about are MUCH more likely to damage a house than a cat. You would be amazed at the amount of damage a rabbit, chinchilla, ferret, degu, you name the rodent/lagamorph/mustelidae, left unsupervised for 5 minutes, can do. If this is not your home, and you're concerned about damage, this may not be the best time for one of these pets. Smaller pets, like gerbils, hamsters (which I understand you've had difficulty with), rats, or guinea pigs seem closer to a match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 ferrets are carnivores and as such need to be trained not to bite. Not difficult to do and you can certainly adopt older ones that are already trained as many are given up. They have a stong musky odor that many people are bothered by. the odor also tends to stay/get into the walls and carpets. Bathing at least weekly with the proper shampoo can help. Cleaning thier litter boxes daily will help but not completely. They should have yearly vet exams with vaccines. Rabies and Ferret Distemper combination. They can also get and share the flu and can become quite ill from it. Many as they age will need dental cleanings while under anesthesia as well. They also have a tendency to develop different types of cancers and health issues. They also have a longer lifespan then a hamster. 4-8 years. my oldest lived to 12 years. They can be cuddly, trained to a leash but also be very sneaky and destructive. They also like to chew things, steal things and many end up needing surgery for obstructions of items that they have eaten! They need play time and do best with company. **************************************************** Chinchillas are rodents but with a longer life span than most.. 6-15 years. If you hand train them, they can become used to being held and tolderate it BUT they need a LARGE cage with out of cage exercise time. They do not smell, if their cage is cleaned often enough. Wire cages can injure their feet but being rodents they will chew items that you put down for them. Health wise as they age their kidneys can develop problems, they can also have teeth issues as many rodents can if they do not get enough to chew on or if from poor breeding. They are nocturnal so are most active at night. Very soft critters so enojoyable to pet IF they like it. Not all do and sometimes you can do everything right and that particular still doesn't care. Many do not enjoy excitable homes, they prefer a calmer environment but I also new enough to tolerate younger children. i was 12 when I bought my first chinchilla and she tolerated me fine. *************************************************** Both are a higher expense pet initially for the cost of the larger cages and pet themselves. Vet care for either will normally run you higher and ferrets are still illegal to own in certain states and/or counties. It is state law that ferrets be vaccinated for rabies. Just some info for you to consider. Ferrets have just as common amount of people allergic to them if not worse then cats fyi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annandatje Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Have you considered having your child volunteer at a local animal shelter or humane society? Our humane society has volunteers who work to socialize semi-feral kittens and walk dogs. Don't bunnies, ferrets, and chincillas all need large cages plus outside-the-cage time? We had two bunnies in a tri-level cage that was 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide. One of them chewed baseboards terribly during his out of cage time even though he was supplied with toys and boxes for play. I babysat a ferret once and overall the experience was negative because it was a biter/scratcher. I have no experience with chinchillas except that I know they're awfully cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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