With the cold weather creeping in I was shocked to realize we haven’t done a blog on cold weather!
So here we go…
Unless your ferret has a health issue that makes them struggle to hold weigh, keep a good coat or unable to regulate their temperature properly they are probably better off outside. Ferrets are an animal that is descended from European polecats, a native species to the UK. Furthermore, they have been kept outside in the winter for 1000s of years in our climate with nothing more than a warm bed and maybe being undercover of a shed in the worst of the winter. Ferrets do really well with the cold, much better than the warm weather. The dark nights and cold weather also help them to regulate their hormones which may help protect against issues like adrenal.
The reason for ferrets being so cold resistant is the beautiful thick winter coats that ferrets develop in the winter. These coats start to develop over the autumn. If you do not have a ferret outside to acclimatise with the weather in October then they will have to stay inside over winter because these lush coats will not develop to the same extent and they can get very cold quickly. Even being outside in a run during winter can quickly become extremely dangerous for a ferret without their winter weight and fluff. Such a small animal can rapidly develop and succumb to hypothermia. Make sure they are well supervised when outside and if they get wet or begin to show signs of being cold (or just a little unlike themselves) take them back inside immediately to warm up.
Likewise, a ferret used to being outside can really struggle in the heat of a warm house in the winter. After just a few minutes they can be found panting and then the knee jerk reaction of put them back outside into the cold can put their temperature regulating into a kind of whiplash making them feel ill. In short, your decision on if they are inside or outside is pretty much set in October through to March/April.
In cold winter nights though we can sometimes get quite extreme weather and temperatures so it is important to make sure they have everything they need to keep warm, especially given how dangerous it can be to bring them inside the house. The first issue would be the wet and wind. Ferrets beds need to be kept draft free and dry, the wind not just carrying chilly drafts but also possibly rain and snow. You can buy or make a cover for the open sections of your ferrets housing preventing wind from driving in, or you can move their housing under cover of an unheated shed or outbuilding. Although our girls live in housing out of the ferret shed we have enclosures that can be moved into it for them during extreme (-10+C) nights or intense storms with winds that could damage the housing or potentially get into the enclosures. Better safe than sorry.
Next would be the cold itself. I touched on this in the last section but although cold is fine, extremely low temperatures can be dangerous to anyone. A nice warm bed is crucial. You can use straw and hay in the beds to build well insulated nests or provide padded hammocks and other bedding that have an insulating layer. These work much like your winter jackets to trap the warm air in close to their bodies when sleeping. You can buy heat mats and pet hot water bottles, but I would dissuade these because they can easily make the beds too warm for them alongside their thick winter coats. Plus, their friends are living hot water bottles at this time of year (seriously I take them on dog walks as neck and hand warmers lol).
A word of caution on beds, however. Wipe the ceilings down on beds and have a substrate on the floor that will keep dampness away from them. The condensation in their breath can be trapped in the beds with them forming a damp layer on the floor and walls or even just allowing a warm damp spot for mould to gain a foot hole. A place to towel off after being in the run or outside is also a good idea to prevent them dragging wet into their beds on their coats. It is wise to make sure that they cannot get too wet in the colder months so remove pools and deep-water bowls.
Aside from keeping them warm winter produces a few challenges. Feeding raw is best left to the daytime to prevent it freezing at night. There’s no reason to worry about flies or the food going off when the weather is as cold as a fridge. An eye needs to be kept on water being accessible, we will get to that soon, but we should also bare in mind the dark nights when it comes to cleaning out. Where possible it is best to clean them out in the daylight, where not make sure you will have enough light to thoroughly clean them out, check on them and remove old food.
Make a point of checking water at least 2 times a day throughout winter. The weather gets coldest at sunrise and sunset so just after the sun is up and just after dark is when the water will most likely need changed. In cold days where the temperature stays around or below 0C please make sure someone is checking the water every few hours. In particular if you use bottles check the water is moving through the spout as this narrow passage is particularly prone to freezing.
Putting warm water (not hot) into the bottles or bowls can help them to stay liquid longer, it can also help melt any ice inside already. Try and not over fill bottles, if it does freeze it will take you longer to thaw them. A little glycerine in the water can help reduce the freezing point of the water stopping it from freezing as easily. A Little Glycerine, literally a ml or two per L, if you can taste the glycerine it is way too much. You can get glycerine from the baking section of a supermarket or from a well-stocked pharmacy. We have previously seen people claim you can use ferret oil instead. Although oil also has a lower freezing point it will not mix into the water so you will just end up with frozen water with a layer oil sitting on top.
If the weather becomes dangerously extreme and you have no other choice but to bring them inside for a night this is what we have done in the past. Again, this is an absolute last resort in a life-threatening situation. Move them into a large cage in a small room that can be locked off from the rest of the house. In the past we used a bathroom. The cage has to be roomy enough that they can get away from each other if they do get too hot and have warm bedding like you would use outside in it because you are trying to keep this room like an icebox. Turn off the radiator, open the window and then block off around the door with towels and blankets so that the cold doesn’t get into your house and have your heating on full pelt all night. Sounds like a nightmare and waste of energy? It is. Remember your ferrets are going to be used to negative temperatures at night. If you must bring them in, you need to go out of your way to keep them comfortable and that means make the room they are in as cold as a December night. It is much better for all concerned to make sure you have better ways of keeping them safe from the weather and making sure they have a warm, dry, draft free bed in their usual enclosures.
Have nice winter with your fuzzies. The cold is dangerous, but it is beautiful and I’ve never known a ferret who doesn’t like snow flakes and snow banks so try filling a dig box with fresh clean snow if you can. They really are like kids so take the time to enjoy yourself with them.
Bye for now xx