Bathing Your Ferret

You do not have to bathe ferrets. Trust me, if you do they will smell more than ever. I personally have a 2 1/2 year old male ferret and he's never had a bath. He stays clean and grooms himself, like a cat. He's gotten a little wet a few times playing in a bowl of water that I put in the bathtub for him. He also gets in and out of the tub by himself, he can jump pretty well. He has gotten in the bathtub a few times with me when I was bathing or showering. It is not necessary to give them a bath. If you do, you should bathe your ferrets as seldom as possible. Frequent baths will make their skin dry which they will counteract by producing more oil and cause them to smell.

Advice from other contributors:

* Make sure that the water is not too hot or cold. Don't let it get chilled after you take it out, blow drying will work on a warm setting (if it will let you).

* No, ferrets do not need to be washed or bathe. They are clean animals and will groom themselves. Bathing will dry a ferrets' skin, and to compensate, their body will start producing more oil, and will make them smell. The only time you will need to bathe is if they get into something that warrants a bath. A ferret has a slight musk odor, which you will notice more after they've been sleeping. To cut down on odors, wash bedding often and change litter box daily.

* My ferret has dry shampoo and a spray on conditioner, and it seems to be working for her. Plus it smells good, like baby powder.

* If you bath a ferret, your ferret will actually stink worse. That is because they have natural oils their bodies produce to keep their skin from drying out and getting itchy. If you have a problem with your ferrets smell here are a few tips:

#1 Feed your Ferret good food. Make sure there isn't fish in the list of ingredients.

#2 Wash his/her bedding at least once a week. I wash mine 2x.

Washing the bedding is the best thing you could do. Their oils actually get on the bedding and that is really what you are smelling.

If you have to wash your ferret, do so only if they get into something, which is bound to happen sooner or later. Hence I bath mine (5) once a month