Ferrets sleep up to 20 hours a day. Ferret behavior: common and alarming

Ferrets are cheerful, energetic and funny animals that will not leave any person indifferent. They make great pets as they have a kind disposition and can become very attached to humans. In addition, ferrets are very cute and beautiful animals. However, before you decide to purchase this animal, you need to find out everything about its home maintenance, care and feeding.

Why do people choose ferrets?

When deciding to purchase a pet, many people choose between a dog, a cat or a ferret. All these pets are very friendly, love to play and have contact with their owner as often as possible. Small rodents and rabbits will never treat all family members as warmly as ferrets or dogs. Cats prefer a more solitary lifestyle. Dogs need constant attention and walking, and the modern rhythm of life rarely provides the opportunity to fulfill these duties to the proper extent.

Therefore, the choice of many people is quite obvious. Getting a ferret is the best idea for those who have modest living space but dream of a cheerful and energetic little friend. In addition to their good nature, ferrets have another important advantage - during the absence of the owner, the animal will not be very bored, as it will sleep. Considering how much ferrets sleep, we can conclude that this animal will be the best pet for a busy person.

How long does a ferret sleep?

These cute little animals love to relax. When thinking about how many hours a ferret sleeps, you should remember that in this they are superior even to cats. This process takes them about 18 hours a day. The remaining 6 hours they prefer to play and have fun. Most often, the peak of their activity occurs in the evening, just when all family members return home.

All owners of pet ferrets note that sleep can kill these furry little brats even on the go. A sleeping ferret can be seen in the gap between the sofa and the wall, under the table or on the floor in the room. This interesting fact makes the animals even more cute and attractive. Before reaching the intended goal, the animal may fall asleep with its eyes half-open and its tongue hanging out.

Every owner of a little friend should know how much ferrets sleep. With this information, you can immediately notice changes in the animal's health. A sick ferret sleeps a lot, waking up occasionally to drink water or eat a little food. In this case, you must immediately take your pet to a veterinary clinic so that the doctor can determine the cause of the overly sleepy state.

Features of keeping at home

Ferrets feel great both in a city apartment and in a private house. They do not require a lot of space or any special living conditions. Nevertheless, every responsible owner who is concerned about the health of his little friend must observe the following precautions:

  • All cracks and small openings in the room must be closed. Therefore, before letting a ferret into the house, you need to carefully inspect all the furniture, household appliances, and ceilings. The animal shows great interest in all crevices and can easily get stuck there or get injured. In addition, the ferret constantly sleeps and can get lost behind the sofa or bed for a long time.
  • They love to stock up on treats and hide toys. Therefore, you need to separate the most secluded corner in the room for them. It should be kept separate from the cage and tray. Other places that could serve as hiding places must be closed. By following this recommendation, you can save all family members from the eternal search for food hidden by the animal.

  • When letting your ferret go for a walk around the apartment, you should make sure that the doors to the kitchen and bathroom are locked. Otherwise, the ferret can get in there and wreak havoc in the closets. Having entered the bathroom, he can not only swallow shampoo or shower gel, but also cause a real flood by opening all the taps.
  • Flowers and other plants should be kept out of the ferret's reach. By nature, he will not be able to stop himself from digging in the ground. Therefore, it is better to protect your home vegetation.

What should a ferret cage look like?

Although an animal can live freely in an apartment or house, a cage is still a necessity. Especially when you consider how much ferrets sleep. In addition, leaving a ferret alone in the wild is unsafe. Without a cage, constant chaos in the room cannot be avoided. Even the safest room contains sockets, electrical appliances, sharp corners and other things dangerous to the animal. Therefore, the ferret must have its own cage.

The ideal choice would be a large, tall and spacious house that will accommodate a tray, food and drink bowls, and bedding for sleeping. In addition to the necessary items, you can hang a hammock in the cage. Animals simply love to ride on it.

Feeding ferrets

The nutrition of these energetic animals must be taken seriously. Despite their cute appearance, they are still predators. Therefore, their diet should always contain meat. The ferrets' daily menu includes:

  • Special dry food.
  • Fresh raw meat.
  • Porridge mixed with pieces of meat.
  • Fruits and vegetables (except potatoes, citrus and bitter vegetables).

Knowing how much a ferret sleeps per day, you need to correctly distribute meals, adjusting them to the period of wakefulness. Ferrets at a young age need to be fed at least 3 times a day, adult animals - 2 times, and small animals - 4 times. Do not give ferrets spicy, salty, sweet, fried or smoked food. You should change the water in the bowl every day.

Breeding ferrets

Not every owner can cope with breeding these animals. Therefore, if it is not planned, it is better to spay or neuter your ferrets. Sexually mature animals can breed up to twice a year. The rut lasts from May to September. During these periods, males intensively mark their territory. Therefore, the room where the ferret lives will invariably emit an unpleasant odor. Females begin to get nervous and become very aggressive.

If a decision has been made to breed these animals, it is necessary to select a pair of the same color. Ferrets are ready to breed at the age of 5-7 months. Every owner of this animal should be prepared for the fact that the mating process in animals is very noisy and aggressive. The couple will constantly fight, scream and scream. Pregnancy itself lasts up to 45 days in females. During this period, the animal needs to be fed twice as much, and care must also be taken to create an additional secluded place where the female can give birth safely.

Features of ferret care

When thinking about why ferrets sleep soundly, we must not forget that their activity during wakefulness exceeds that of many other animals. That is why their body compensates for the wasted energy by sleeping soundly.

Having chosen this animal as a pet, many are surprised that caring for these animals is not so difficult. You just need to follow the following recommendations:

  • Clean the litter box every day.
  • Change the bedding in the cage once a week.
  • Every 2 weeks, trim your ferret's nails with a special nail clipper with a stopper.
  • Once every 2-3 weeks you need to clean the animals’ ears with a cotton swab. It is better to carry out the procedure while they are sleeping. Considering how much ferrets sleep, this can be done at any convenient time.
  • Once a month you need to bathe your pet with a special shampoo.

This is where the specifics of caring for a ferret end. The animal is quite unpretentious and does not require huge financial investments. All he needs is tasty food, water, a litter box and an owner who will play with him most of his waking hours.

Ferrets are cheerful, energetic and funny animals that will not leave any person indifferent. They make excellent pets as they have a kind disposition and can become very attached to humans. In addition, ferrets are very cute and beautiful animals. However, before deciding to purchase this animal, you need to find out everything about its home maintenance, care and feeding.

The sleep of sleeping trochees has 2 phases:

  1. slow Accompanied by a decrease in heart rate and breathing. During this period, hormones are released that are necessary for the restoration of muscle cells and the normal course of the formation of leukocytes.
  2. quickly yu. This dream is also called paradoxical; it corresponds to the complete relaxation of the animal. During this phase of sleep, a healthy sleeping ferret does not react to loud noises or touches. If the sleeping animal is not disturbed at this time, after waking up, the so-called “peak learning” is observed, when new things are imprinted in the brain by more active growth of neural connections. Therefore, it is better to train the animal after it wakes up on its own and combs itself.

How long does a ferret sleep?

These cute little animals love to relax. When thinking about how many hours a ferret sleeps, you should remember that in this they are superior even to cats. This process takes them about 18 HOURS a day. The remaining 6 hours they prefer to play and have fun. Most often, the peak of their activity occurs in the evening, just when all family members return home.

All owners of pet ferrets note that sleep can kill these furry little brats even on the go. A sleeping ferret can be seen in the gap between the sofa and the wall, under the table or on the floor in the room. This interesting fact makes the animals even more cute and attractive.

Before reaching the intended goal, the animal may fall asleep with its eyes half-open and its tongue hanging out.

How much he sleeps depends on the time of year, so there is no need to worry that he is unwell. It is better to conduct an examination if you have significant doubts. In any case, they will have to be completed shortly before vaccination. Since vaccination is done to a completely healthy animal and nothing else.


Some breeders make special hammocks for their pets, where they place the sleeping body so that nothing happens. Be careful and attentive; there are common cases when a sofa or other furniture is assembled or disassembled without noticing a sleeping ferret in it.

How many hours an animal sleeps also depends on gender differences; the male is more active during the rutting period. Ferrets don't eat much, depending on how long they sleep. Their nutrition can be balanced or natural. Depending on the feeding method you choose, it depends on whether you give them vitamin supplements or not. Nutrition should include vitamins and minerals. Necessary for life support.

The frequency of sleep and alertness in ferrets may vary. After several hours of activity, the sleep phase may begin, then activity again, and so on. Don't be afraid of this. Observe your pet and you will notice its individual characteristics during periods of sleep and wakefulness.

Every owner of a little friend should know how much ferrets sleep. With this information, you can immediately notice changes in the animal's health. A sick ferret sleeps a lot, waking up occasionally to drink water or eat a little food. In this case, you must immediately take your pet to a veterinary clinic so that the doctor can determine the cause of the overly sleepy state.

Read also:

Why do we dream about ferrets?

Age

Age also affects not only the character of this mammal, but also the duration of its sleep. Young individuals are very playful, they are very active and do not sleep for long periods of time.


After the young animal has woken up, it may tremble. Such trembling does not mean that the animal is frozen. This trembling expresses his young blood, impatience, and desire to engage in active games. Immediately after sleep, they want to run around the room, play and definitely chew something.

If the ferret is no longer so young, then the duration of his sleep increases significantly, up to 15-18 hours a day. The character also changes, he becomes calm, likes to lie down more in a cozy, comfortable and soft place.

Why does a ferret sleep a lot?

These animals have a very fast metabolism and a hyperactive lifestyle. If a ferret is not sleeping, it will certainly move: exploring the territory, running, playing with its owner or relatives, conquering obstacles, etc. All this requires a lot of energy, which the ferret draws in its sleep. Thus, for every 2 hours your pet is awake, there are 4 hours of sleep.


The more active a ferret is, the more soundly he sleeps!

What happens during sleep

  • Nervous system. The huge number of impressions that an animal receives during its endless movement during the active period leaves an imprint on its brain. The information received is stored in the central nervous system through the formation of new connections between brain neurons. Building these connections requires energy, the costs of which are replenished by the active work of special cellular structures during sleep, so other brain functions are almost completely turned off. The result is a ferret that sleeps so soundly that when you pick it up, it looks like a rag hanging from your palms.
  • Energy storage at the cellular level. The activity of a ferret requires a huge expenditure of energy from working muscles, sensory organ structures, and so on. During sleep, the active work of cell organelles begins in your pet's cells to store special substances, the exchange of which at the cellular level will provide energy to your pet's cells.
  • The intellectual component of sleep. When your ferret rests, brain activity decreases, but not completely. When ferrets sleep, the impressions received are evaluated, as a result of which the brain selects what is important for the ferret and discards what is unnecessary from his point of view. How this happens, what acts as a criterion – scientists today cannot yet find an answer to these questions. But by the time the ferret wakes up, some of the connections between neurons formed during the period of activity will be destroyed.
  • Immunity and sleep. During the experiments, an interesting pattern was discovered. If animals were prevented from sleeping, the number of leukocytes in the blood decreased and immunity weakened. What causes this and how it happens has not yet been clarified, but the fact remains a fact. If you want your pet to be healthy, do not prevent him from getting enough sleep.

A caring owner always pays attention to how much the ferret sleeps. Violation of sleep duration and hyperactivity can signal a dangerous disease - hyperadrenocorticism.

Winter hibernation period for ferrets

If you thought that you loved to sleep, then you simply have not yet had the chance to meet a record holder and professional in this amateur sport: the norm for a ferret is a daily sleep of 18 to 20 hours. And this is only during the spring-summer solstice, when daylight hours are longer and the weather is conducive to movement and games. How much a ferret sleeps per day during the cold season - completely different statistics are responsible for this.


Observing the frequency and duration with which the animal falls into sleep, we can conclude that with the change of season, the animal’s sleep pattern also changes, and the day shifts slightly. In winter it is influenced by:

  • length of daylight hours: the shorter it becomes, the longer the ferret sleeps;
  • change of fur - by winter, ferrets are covered with a thicker and warmer coat, which naturally hinders their usual movements, the pace is no longer the same as in summer;
  • weather conditions - since ferrets are overly weather-sensitive animals, a change in atmospheric pressure, cloudy, rainy weather induces sleep and inaction, which makes the ferret sleep even longer.

In autumn and winter, ferrets sleep much longer than usual; do not be alarmed if your energetic pet has previously begun to spend long hours in a warm and soft sleeping place. The animal's sleep becomes deeper, and sometimes even with great effort, the owner will not be able to wake him up.

Don't be scared! No, he didn’t die, he just fell into hibernation, the so-called blues, and in a couple of hours he will wake up on his own. The ferret is less active, loves to eat, and spends more time dreaming.

What happens in the spring

With the arrival of spring, everything falls into place:

  • the owner again gets his pet, who is used to running around the house all day and playing around with funny toys;
  • the animal again sleeps only a couple of hours longer than its owners;
  • the ferret eats less;
  • The ferret takes off her winter coat.


In spring and summer, as daylight increases, everything changes. Rodents become more active and sleep significantly less, while their sleep becomes less deep than in autumn and winter.

How sleep affects your pet's health

A very valuable observation is the deduced pattern between immunity and sleep. If an animal is disturbed from sleeping, its production of leukocytes in the blood decreases and its immunity weakens. In this regard, the owner should always remember that the health of the ferret directly depends on the quality of his sleep. You should always pay attention to how much and how ferrets sleep.


Lack of sleep hints at health problems. If your ferret is breathing (even if slowly) while sleeping, has a wet pink mouth and a warm body, this is a good deep sleep. If the animal cries or moans in its sleep, or the body is cold, you should immediately contact a veterinarian.

Get rid of all things that could endanger your ferret.

Also try to get rid of plastic and rubber surfaces in the ferret's habitat. These soft materials are especially attractive to ferrets. They simply love to taste them, and they can bite off small pieces and swallow them.

Such poisonings threaten intestinal volvulus and intestinal blockage. Do not leave the washing machine door open, the ferret can get into it, and you risk washing the ferret with your clothes, obviously, he is unlikely to survive after that. There are also rubber parts that ferrets are so partial to.


Ferret in an apartment - house plants will have to be removed to a place where the ferret cannot reach them. Ferrets love to rummage in the ground, and the root system of the plant can suffer from this; the ferret can break the pot and scatter dirt everywhere.

The ferret is in the apartment, so do not forget about the precautions. You need to be very careful in the apartment while the ferret climbs wherever he pleases. Before you sit down, stand up, close or open something, move or push something in, check if your nimble friend is there.

How to arrange a place to sleep

There are excellent ferret hammocks available in stores. They are so convenient to use when keeping animals. Hammocks save space in the cage; they can be hung at a height convenient for the animal. They are easy to clean and wash.

Many ferret management manuals praise this human invention for their pets. But if ferrets could talk, they would definitely have a negative opinion about hammocks. They would ask - have you ever seen a ferret sleeping on a branch?


Of course, ferrets sleep in hammocks, but such sleep will not be complete. Due to the impossibility of creating a natural burrow in an apartment, the best place to sleep that you can offer your pet from his point of view is a house, which he will enter by crawling through the sleeve of an old jacket attached to the entrance to the house.

And don’t skimp on the various rags that the ferret happily uses to arrange the nest. Under no circumstances should you give foam rubber - the pieces into which the ferret will tear it can get into the trachea and lead to death; once in the stomach, the foam rubber decomposes and releases toxic substances.


When arranging a place for your pet to sleep, you should not spare time, effort, or money. Sleeping ferrets who have a comfortable sleep are no less touching than during the active period.

Ferrets are mammals from the mustelidae family. There is a wild type of this predatory animal and a domestic one. These animals are very active and playful. Their character is peaceful, they quickly get used to their owners. Ferrets love to nibble, chew, and play with various rubber objects.

If you decide to get a ferret, then you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to play with it for a long time, up to several hours, otherwise they will begin to feel sad and even refuse to eat. They are distinguished not only by their excessive activity and friendliness, but they also love to sleep. The duration of their sleep can reach more than half a day.

What determines how long a ferret sleeps?

How many hours a day can a ferret sleep? This depends on many reasons, each of which affects not only the duration of sleep, but also the general behavior of the pet.

The duration of a ferret's sleep is affected by:

  • Physiological characteristics of the individual;
  • Age;
  • Time of year;
  • Mating season.

The physiological characteristics of a ferret mean that the male has sterilization and the female has sterilization. Spayed males and spayed females are different prolonged continuation of sleep. Such individuals spend about 20 hours sleeping. Moreover, while such a ferret does not sleep, its character is significantly different from ordinary animals without castration. He behaves calmly and plays less.

Domestic ferret sleeps

Age also affects not only the character of this mammal, but also the duration of its sleep. Young individuals are very playful, they are very active and do not sleep for long periods of time. After the young animal has woken up, it may tremble. Such trembling does not mean that the animal is frozen. This trembling expresses his young blood, impatience, and desire to engage in active games. Immediately after sleep, they want to run around the room, play and definitely chew something.

If the ferret is no longer so young, then the duration of his sleep increases significantly, up to 15-18 hours a day. The character also changes, he becomes calm, likes to lie down more in a cozy, comfortable and soft place.

Time of year significantly affects how much a ferret sleeps. Ferrets sleep for a very long time in winter. During these times of year, daylight hours are shorter, which affects sleep duration. They eat and sleep more and play less. In spring and summer, as daylight increases, everything changes. Rodents become more active and sleep significantly less, while their sleep becomes less deep than in autumn and winter.

During mating season Ferrets have their normal sleep cycle and timing disrupted. This physiological condition can cause him to have unusual physical activity at night, after which he may sleep all day. Such a change in sleep frequency should not be scary. Once the mating season is over, the ferret will return to his normal routine.

The frequency of sleep and alertness in ferrets may vary. After several hours of activity, the sleep phase may begin, then activity again, and so on. Don't be afraid of this. Observe your pet and you will notice its individual characteristics during periods of sleep and wakefulness.

Content:

Ferrets are able to sleep 18 hours a day. The duration of sleep depends on the physiological state of the animal and the time of year. Young individuals sleep less, adults more. So, How does a ferret sleep?.


Sleep Features

Frets are extremely active animals with a very fast metabolism. While awake, they run, play, and communicate with their owner. All this requires enormous energy consumption. The animals replenish their energy reserves in their sleep.

On average, for every 1 hour of wakefulness there are 2 hours of sleep.

The more active a pet is, the more soundly it sleeps.

That's why How long do ferrets sleep per day?, is influenced by a number of factors:

  1. Shedding. When changing coat, the duration of sleep increases slightly.
  2. Age. Young individuals are more awake than older ones.
  3. Gon. After the rut, the animal sleeps for several days, waking up only to eat and go to the toilet.
  4. Nutrition. Vitamin deficiency can also cause increased drowsiness.
  5. Climate. In the heat, the animals become more lethargic; they prefer cool rest to active games.

The owner should be wary if the pet sleeps all day long and remains lethargic while awake. This condition may signal serious health problems.

Immediately after waking up, the ferrets tremble. There is no need to be afraid of this. Trembling restores normal heart rate and blood circulation. In 5-10 minutes everything will pass and the animal will go off to do its favorite things.



What happens after you fall asleep

How a ferret sleeps is affected sleep phases. Immediately after falling asleep, the slow phase begins. The heart rate and breathing rate decrease, the body begins to produce hormones responsible for the regeneration of cells and tissues. The slow phase is replaced by a fast phase, the animal completely relaxes, not reacting to sounds and touches.

At this moment, the animal’s nervous system processes all the information received. This requires a large amount of energy, so all other brain functions are switched off. As a result, the animal is not so easy to wake up. Inexperienced owners get scared by this, thinking that the pet has lost consciousness or died. The ferret at this moment is literally sleeping like the dead.

Health depends on the quality of sleep. If the animal is constantly woken up and not allowed to fall asleep, the level of leukocytes in the blood decreases, which leads to a significant decrease in immunity. This fact is not speculation; it has been confirmed by serious scientific research.



Hibernation

Domestic ferrets do not go into full winter hibernation. Their sleep duration simply increases and their activity decreases. How much a ferret sleeps in winter is influenced by the length of daylight hours and immunity. As spring approaches, activity will begin to increase.

In winter, ferrets look for a warmer place. There they curl up and sleep 18-20 hours a day. At the same time, it seems that the previously noisy, restless animals are sad. If your ferret sleeps a lot, do not disturb him. Excess stress will add to health problems.

It’s better to keep the animal in a warm cage hammock pocket, and place the enclosure itself in such a way that the pet can choose whether to sit closer to the heat source or lie down in the cool. When the ferret wakes up, he is alert, active and cheerful as usual. During active hours, he should be involved in games, communicating with him as much as possible. A good mood and lack of stress also contribute to maintaining health.

In order for your pet to survive the winter without problems, ferret diet introduce mineral and vitamin supplements, strengthening the immune system. Their selection should be carried out by a veterinarian. Independent choice and uncontrolled use are fraught with health problems for your pet.



Arranging a place to sleep

Ferrets can fall asleep in any place, including inappropriate places, such as a drafty window sill, a washing machine drum, etc. That is why a free-roaming pet should always be kept in sight. Sometimes owners simply do not notice the sleeping animal, which subsequently becomes the cause of tragedy.

For convenience, you should arrange several places for your pet to sleep. It is best if they are located in different parts of the house, approximately at the same distance from each other. A fret that has fallen asleep somewhere should be carefully taken to the bed. She won't even feel it.

To arrange the bed, special hammocks are used, sold in pet stores. They are convenient and can be easily hung at any height. In their production, easy-to-clean, soft materials are used. The problem is that ferrets don't particularly like them.

By nature, ferrets are burrowing animals, so they prefer to sleep in a dark place, protected from prying eyes. For example, you can build a house from a small cardboard box, attaching a sleeve from an old jacket to its entrance. It is placed in a quiet, warm corner, without drafts, away from radiators. The dry air emanating from them harms the fur of ferrets. As a result, your pet's fur becomes dull and brittle, and redness and irritation appear on the skin, which leads to...

Soft cloths are placed inside the house. From these the animal will independently build a nest that is convenient for it. The main thing is not to use foam rubber or other similar materials. Having torn them into small pieces, the ferret will try to swallow the insulation, risking choking.

The first thing that the owner of such a wonderful animal as a ferret faces is how much the ferret sleeps. After all, it would seem that an overly active, playful creature should be awake most of the day, but everything turns out differently. Within a few hours of active activity, the ferret spends almost all of its accumulated energy, and the pet needs sleep to restore its previous supply.

Ferrets are sociable creatures, they love and spend a lot of time surrounded by people. How much time does a ferret spend a day playing and sleeping?

The ferret loves to sleep long enough and a lot. For every couple of hours of play, you need four hours of sleep. This is a fairly common situation for an animal, even at a young age. The ferret sleeps soundly, sometimes you can see a ferret running around and full of energy falling asleep not in his usual bed, but in the place where he was playing before. Morpheus' bonds overtake him overnight and in a completely unexpected place.

In order for your pet’s rest to be as beneficial as possible, it is necessary to take an active part in his life during periods of wakefulness. Ferrets simply need games. An adult animal likes to sleep much longer than a young one.

How much a ferret sleeps directly depends on the physiological state of the animal. During the mating season, a ferret can go crazy at night, fly around the room, chew the cage, fuss, and fall asleep during the day. In a normal state of equilibrium, the animal prefers the day for activity.

Winter is a time when the cold sets in and every living creature, and ferrets are no exception, wants to spend longer in a warm bed. Pets also sense changes in the weather, and this changes their mood. Lovers of sleep already, ferrets hibernate. Sunny weather gives way to gray dark days, the night becomes longer, and the animal’s body immediately reacts to this.

It is noteworthy that when ferrets hibernate, some animals can even sleep with their eyes open. Another interesting fact: after sleep, an animal may tremble, and this is not because it is cold - this is just a feature of the body. A period of trembling is also observed during an excited state.

Winter hibernation period for ferrets

If you thought that you loved to sleep, then you simply have not yet had the chance to meet a record holder and professional in this amateur sport: the norm for a ferret is a daily sleep of 18 to 20 hours. And this is only during the spring-summer solstice, when daylight hours are longer and the weather is conducive to movement and games. How much a ferret sleeps per day during the cold season - completely different statistics are responsible for this.

Observing the frequency and duration with which the animal falls into sleep, we can conclude that with the change of season, the animal’s sleep pattern also changes, and the day shifts slightly. In winter it is influenced by:

  • length of daylight hours: the shorter it becomes, the longer the ferret sleeps;
  • change of fur - by winter, ferrets are covered with a thicker and warmer coat, which naturally hinders their usual movements, the pace is no longer the same as in summer;
  • weather conditions - since ferrets are overly weather-sensitive animals, a change in atmospheric pressure, cloudy, rainy weather induces sleep and inaction, which makes the ferret sleep even longer.

In autumn and winter, ferrets sleep much longer than usual; do not be alarmed if your energetic pet has previously begun to spend long hours in a warm and soft sleeping place. The animal's sleep becomes deeper, and sometimes even with great effort, the owner will not be able to wake him up. Don't be scared! No, he didn’t die, he just fell into hibernation, the so-called blues, and in a couple of hours he will wake up on his own. The ferret is less active, loves to eat, and spends more time dreaming.

What to do during the ferret's hibernation period?

In the cold season, even a young active ferret transforms and becomes lethargic. To help the animal, it is necessary to constantly monitor it, and be sure to give it an outlet for energy during the period of activity. When keeping a ferret at home, it is important to help him get through the winter without loss of health.

Tips for caring for ferrets during hibernation are important information for every owner.

  • No matter how hard you try, winter is a period of rest and sleep for your pet. Ferrets begin to look for warm, secluded places, curl up into bagels, and fall into a long, sound sleep. At this time, the animal’s immunity decreases, and any surges of stress can disrupt the normal functioning of the body.
  • To prevent your fluffy from wasting precious hours looking for a place to sleep, it is important to take care of his crib in advance. Photos of animals that love to sleep show that ferrets fall asleep near fireplaces and radiators. Dry air is extremely dangerous for them; it can lead to itching and redness of the skin, and brittle fur.
  • The diet of a sleeping animal must contain vitamins so that the winter coat grows better and colds are not overcome.
  • Walks for pets should be short and preferably within the same time frame.

What happens in the spring?

With the arrival of spring, everything falls into place:

  • the owner again gets his pet, who is used to running around the house all day and playing around with funny toys;
  • the animal again sleeps only a couple of hours longer than its owners;
  • the ferret eats less;
  • The ferret takes off her winter coat.

If you follow small rules and tricks, the animal’s winter sleep will pass without stress and loss, and will also bring many benefits. If owners know how much a ferret usually sleeps, they are no longer afraid of its rhythm of life!