Unofficial Tex Murphy

Actually my partner wants to get a ferret. Which I would not mind at all... and they are apparently clean and don't cause any allergies. Might look into it. Plus they are soooo cute!

-Cub. =o)

Well they are clean in the sense that it's easy to clean up after them, but from what I've heard from some people is they have a tendency to stink... And if you don't get them young enough to teach them to like water, giving them a bath is a job and a half...
Not trying to deter you away from a Ferret, they are awesome pets, they'll scurry around everywhere if given the chance and they are funny as hell to watch play with their little toys...
It's also usually recommended with animals like that, that you get at least 2 so they have a companion when you aren't around... Same usually goes for Gerbils, Hamsters, Mice, etc...

A Ferret is a good choice when it comes to Allergies, I've heard the same things, that their fur dander doesn't effect people normally...

How bad are her allergies??? Does she get things like rashes or sneezes a lot??? I know with my father if he gets too close to cats, his airways block up and things like his lips and sometimes even his throat begin to swell... So he has a pretty big problem when it comes to cats... But he was okay when they went and saw the White Tiger Compound in Vegas, so who knows how allergies really work... My mother on the other hand needs to actually touch the cat, then she'll start breaking out in a rash...

Her allergies with cats are more along the lines of hay fever. She does not swell or get rashes, but her eyes and her nose get very irritated, which is made worse if she touches her eyes without washing her hands after petting a cat.

-Cub. =o)

Bafitis wrote: It's also usually recommended with animals like that, that you get at least 2 so they have a companion when you aren't around... Same usually goes for Gerbils, Hamsters, Mice, etc...

Gerbils definitely should be kept in pairs. They're very social. I don't know anything about Mice (I've considered getting some once but somehow I feel I may get tired of their twitchy noses). For Hamsters though certain types are extremely solitary I think. Some info from websites (Wikipedia etc.):

Syrian hamsters are very territorial and therefore must live on their own or fights will occur. Chinese and Russian hamsters can be kept in single sexed pairs or groups but care should be taken with males to ensure any bullying is noticed before it gets out of hand.

Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are generally solitary and may fight to the death if put together, whereas some of dwarf hamster species can get along with others of the same species.

I have thought about ferrets too before. Since I was thinking in the future of having a pet you could let scurry about the house but don't know if I will ever have the time to take care of a dog and cats often prefer to spend a lot of time outdoors once they're old enough.

I came across this forum recently:
http://www.ferretsforum.co.uk/forum

Here's a search about the smell of a ferret (seems to be a 'musky' smell).

They seem to say about getting the ferret neutered at a certain age to reduce the smell (must be an 'in heat' thing). And cleaning out their bedding/litter etc. of course. Some say to spray them with something, I would be careful about what you use though (only special ferret stuff if anything) and get a second opinion first.

Also a search about baths.

It sounds like most there recommend not to bath a ferret much, they seem to just bath them if they roll in the litter tray or generally get extremely dirty. They wash with plain warm water (some say about special shampoos but again like with scented sprays I'd be careful). They recommend not washing a lot due to washing out essential oils in their fur etc. and it seems ferrets will groom each other. Some say they have a paddling pool (I assume shallow) during summer that the ferrets go in by themselves in the hot weather. Since you're in Australia and the weather is hot a lot you're probably lucky in this respect, the ferrets may like to cool off in there often and naturally get a little wash of sorts.

I don't know if its the best forum about ferrets to use though so feel free to look around for more sources. If ferrets are anything like gerbils then there may be some misinformation around which is why I recommend egerbil.com and their forums, the owner there is very knowledgable and follows science studies on gerbils etc.