Ferret or Rats?

[csitenet]

Hi all,

It's my nephew's birthday next week, he has been going on about ferrets, rats, hamsters and mice for years, driving his parents and recently myself crazy. Now i want to get him a 2x rats or a ferret for his brithday, but i am not too sure which to get, anyone here have experience with any of them? he is 12 years old and hopefuly responsible enough to take care of them, else they may end up at the shop or my house with me and my girl friend!

Any input on rats or ferrets would be great :cheeky: i have been too busy to goto a pet shop, maybe if i get nowhere in a few days i will have to visit one as a last resort rather than a breeder.

Thanks.

 

[JMJ]

When I was a kid I had hampsters. They are pretty cool and aren't too big to really scare anyone. If you buy the plastic cages that you can keep adding tunnels onto, it's cool. At one point I had tunnels all over my room, a hampster city if you will. It turned into an architectural learning experience. Only problem is if they get loose goodluck finding them!

 

[MrDude]

Aww my little cute hamster...then it died

 

[csitenet]

he used to be intrested in syrian hamsters, but now he has lost complete intrest in them claiming they are not as intelligent as rats, lol, i read slightly into mice and it appears mice smell, not a good thing to his parents to keep in the house. Right now i am reading into ferrets and it appears they are very playful indeed, lol they look so cute i am tempted to buy one for myself now.

 

[MrDude]

Im scared of rats

 

[GiantDomains]

I wouldn't give a 12 year old a pet w/o consulting the parents. In fact I probably wouldn't at all.

 

[Ed30]

Animals cost £££ to keep, they sh*t all over the place and smell. Do yourself and your family a favour and get him a gift voucher.

 

[Anthony Ng]

I wouldn't give a 12 year old a pet w/o consulting the parents. In fact I probably wouldn't at all.

Hey, I was about to say that.

 

[alldig]

Definitely a ferret...rats are horrible pets.

 

[csitenet]

i have permission from his parents, but it appears there are no ferret breeders in Edinburgh or surrounding cities! Looks like it's going to have to be a rat unless i find a breeder. The other unfortunate thing is i need 2x ferrets as it appears they are social animals as are rats making it even more difficult to find.

 

[gdubz]

my friend got a farret and it was evil, it was always biting everyone and he was scared to pick it up. you should get him a dog

 

[DNGeeks]

Remember sex is an issue, you don't want babies as that just produces yet another problem.

I wonder if you can get a rat or ferret "fixed"?

 

[csitenet]

lol, funny enough you can for both rats and ferrets. Apparently rats can have babies after just 4 weeks which is scary and ferrets go into season about now which makes males aggressive and nip/bite + give strong odour (a big downside to ferrets)

I think i will have to rule out a ferret for him, they are too big of a job. But these damn ferrets are so cute ( http://www.sciencecenterofpinellas.com/Tracy with Ferret.jpg ) i got to get myself 1 at least.