Ferret-proofing your home

How do you ferret-proof a house?

Room by room, at ferret height, and then again after you watch them explore. The American Ferret Association compares it to making a home safe for a toddler and warns it is "always a work in progress": ferrets are clever and stubborn, and they find new routes. Work through these steps before your ferrets arrive.

1. Choose the ferret rooms. Decide where ferrets may go and which rooms stay ferret-free. The laundry room and garage should always be off limits.
2. Get down on the floor. Lie down and look along every wall and under every unit. Any hole, vent or gap you can see, a ferret will find.
3. Block gaps and vents. Screw down low heater vents, cover gaps under cupboards and behind appliances with thin plywood, and fit a wood strip under doors.
4. Seal the furniture. Replace the fabric lining under sofas, chairs and box springs with linoleum, thin plywood or a fitted sheet stapled in place.
5. Lock and lift. Fit child locks to low cupboards and drawers, and move anything rubber, chemical or breakable above ferret reach.
6. Deal with cables. Tidy cords away, use plastic socket covers, and treat cables ferrets chew with a bitter spray only when unplugged and with no ferret nearby.
7. Add litter trays. Put a tray in each corner the ferrets choose. They rarely go back to the cage to toilet.
8. Watch the first sessions. Introduce each new room under close supervision and note every place they try to get into.

The deadliest hazards in a ferret home

Recliners and sofa beds top every list. The American Ferret Association calls them "a deadly hazard" because ferrets climb up into the mechanism and springs, and closing or reclining can crush them. If you cannot see your ferret, do not operate the mechanism at all, and warn every guest.

Appliances are the other big danger. Ferrets can get under or behind the oven, dishwasher and fridge and be hurt or trapped, so block the sides with thin plywood cut to fit. Tumble dryer vents and the holes behind them are an escape route, which is why the laundry room is best kept ferret-free.

Ferret-proofing room by room

Every room has its own traps. This table brings together the American Ferret Association's room-by-room advice:

Gaps, vents and escape routes

Ferrets get into walls, under floors and out of the house through gaps most people never notice. VCA says to block every opening that leads somewhere you cannot reach, and to cover access to sofa, chair and mattress foam, speakers, cupboards and drawers with thin plywood or wire mesh. Wood Green adds gaps out of windows and into walls.

• Gaps under doors: fit a wood strip 6 to 13 mm (1/4 to 1/2 in) thick
• Low heater and floor vents: screwed down firmly
• The trim ring behind the toilet, which often hides a bigger hole into the wall
• Gaps behind and under kitchen units and appliances
• Open fireplaces: closed doors or a guard; wood stoves gated off
• Windows: kept shut in ferret rooms, as metal mesh screens resist ferrets better than vinyl
• External doors: a double-door system, a stable door or a 60 cm (2 ft) barrier inside, as Wood Green suggests

Escapes are serious. The American Ferret Association says a ferret that gets outside "rarely survives for more than a few days". Our guide to keeping ferrets as pets explains why they are so hard to keep track of.

Poisonous plants, foods and chemicals

Ferrets dig in plant pots and taste whatever they find. The RSPCA asks for a home with no poisonous plants or chewable electrical wires, and the American Ferret Association lists these common houseplants as highly toxic: aloe vera, amaryllis, azalea, baby's breath, begonia, carnation, castor bean, chrysanthemum, cyclamen, daffodil, gladiola, hosta, ivy, all lilies, milkweed, morning glory, oleander, poinsettia, pothos, sago palm, tomato plants, tulips, narcissus, rhododendron and yew. Keep every plant and vase of cut flowers out of reach, and remember potting compost can contain fertiliser.

The same list names grapes and raisins, avocado, onions and garlic, chocolate, tea, the sweetener xylitol and alcohol among foods that poison ferrets. Keep food off tables and counters, and see our list of what ferrets can eat.

If you think your ferret has eaten something poisonous, ring your vet straight away, and see our ferret health guide for other emergencies.

Rubber, foam and other things ferrets swallow

Ferrets love to chew rubber, and the American Ferret Association calls any rubber object "a definite no-no" because a swallowed piece can block the gut and need surgery. VCA adds foam, earplugs, erasers, rubber bands, balloons and the foam in speakers and headphones.

• Shoes and slippers in a closed wardrobe
• Remote controls in a drawer, as the buttons are rubber
• Rubber tips taken off door stops
• Pens, pencil erasers and torches put away
• Children's toys with rubber parts, dummies and building bricks tidied up
• Styrofoam, glitter and tree water kept away at Christmas

For toys that are safe to chew and wrestle, see our guide to the best ferret toys.

Making a ferret home: setting up a ferret room

The simplest way to keep ferrets safe is one fully proofed room. Wood Green asks for indoor ferrets to have 24-hour access to a secure, ferret-safe room, and for a pair suggests at least 2.4 x 1.8 x 1.8 m (8 x 6 x 6 ft). It recommends a carpet or vinyl floor, three to four high-sided litter trays, and newspaper under and around the trays because ferrets back into corners and miss.

Fill the room with tunnels, boxes and a dig box, and add the cage as a bedroom. Our guides to litter training a ferret and ferret playtime cover the rest, and our ferret care guide brings it all together.