Brown Angora Ferret

Breed: Angora pet ferret

Color: Brown

Description: The whole body is brown, with the coat mostly brown or light brown and the fur light in color. Angora ferrets are members of the Mustelidae family and are mainly distributed in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Angora ferrets have an elegant and slender body shape, with a length ranging from 30 centimeters to 50 centimeters. The adult ferrets weigh around 1.5 kilograms, with slight differences between males and females. Their ideal living environment should maintain a humidity of 50% to 70%. High temperatures may cause heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and even death in them.

Angora ferrets are not pets in the United States or Europe according to European law in January 2005. However, in Denmark, they started being domesticated as pets after Soren purchased them from a fur factory in Sweden in 1997. Due to a genetic defect that causes them to bite, domestication was not successful, and ferrets cannot be kept as pets in Denmark and Europe. In 2006, Soren had no choice but to euthanize 40 Angora ferrets and sold the majority of the remaining 650 for 80 euros each to China's Wuxi Coral Reef Pet Paradise Co., Ltd."

Suggested for small pet lovers, the most distinctive feature of Angora is curiosity and cheerfulness, and they like to play with people. Because of their endless curiosity and adventurous spirit, they can't sit still for a moment. They often climb into the back or underneath furniture to explore new things. They will gather anything they like and hide it in secret places. They will also establish their own activity range. They love to be spoiled, love to play, and are intelligent. They are easy to get close to and often want to play with you. They especially like to go in and out with people, so you can put on a harness for her or let her out of the cage and take her for a walk.

Angora is a social animal. Although they like to be close to people, they prefer to play with their companions. As long as the space is enough, it is not a problem to raise multiple ferrets together. If you leave the ferret alone for a long time and don't feel lonely, or reduce her activity, she will feel stressed and become obese, even get sick. So don't keep the ferret in the cage all the time, let her come out and play regularly. Because of their lively and active personality, there are also various ferret-specific toys available on the market to keep them entertained.

Baldness: The common cause of baldness in pet ferrets is benign or malignant tumors of the adrenal gland, which causes excessive production of corticosteroids (also known as Cushings syndrome). The disease is often diagnosed based on symptoms without the need for detailed adrenal gland function tests due to its obvious lesions and symptoms. This condition can occur in pet ferrets aged one to six or seven years old, with an average onset age of three and a half years. 70% of cases occur in female ferrets.

Malignant Lymphoma: Malignant lymphoma can invade the thymus, liver, and spleen, and it is a common tumor that occurs in young ferrets. Diagnosis requires biopsy of lymph nodes for confirmation. Malignant lymphoma has diverse symptoms, depending on which organs are affected by the tumor. In general, it causes splenomegaly, swollen peripheral lymph nodes, wasting skin lesions, weakness, and changes in eating habits. If it invades the chest, the ferret will experience difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat, and decreased tolerance for exercise. Fever and fainting can also occur. The skin form of lymphoma can produce multiple small nodules. Malignant lymphoma can be controlled with anticancer drugs and immunosuppressants, but it may recur and cannot be cured. Other common skin tumors in ferrets, which are often seen in older ferrets, should be removed immediately because they can stimulate the ferret and often transform into malignant tumors. Common symptoms include round, button-like protuberances that are usually itchy and cause the ferret to scratch until bald. They also appear as irregular wart-like lesions that are prone to bleeding and can easily become malignant tumors.

Cardiomyopathy: If a pet ferret develops cardiomyopathy, it means that it is getting old. The aging process weakens the heart muscle, causing the heart to become unable to pump enough blood. As the heart tries its best to pump blood, it becomes enlarged like a balloon, resulting in backflow of blood into the heart. The backflow of blood in the heart affects fluid retention in the lungs, around the lungs, or in the abdominal cavity, leading to symptoms of coughing.

Gastric Ulcers: Pet ferrets, like humans, are prone to gastric ulcers. Ferrets with gastric ulcers may experience decreased appetite, loose stools, persistent vomiting, weight loss, teeth grinding, and black stools. In addition to general ulcer treatment, antibiotic therapy is also required.

Canine Distemper and Canine Parvovirus: Canine distemper and canine parvovirus can also infect angora ferrets and have high fatality rates. Since canine parvovirus can be transmitted through the air and has a rapid onset and difficult treatment, we recommend vaccinating your angora ferret against these viruses.

First, here are some precautions:

1. If your brown Angora ferret is under one year old and over four months old, you can feed it dry food. But don't feed it too much, as their stomachs can't digest it for now.

2. If your brown Angora ferret is under four months old, it can only eat staple food. Other things like nutritional paste, molt paste, and snacks are strictly forbidden. Even the staple food needs to be soaked and fed (it is recommended to grind it into powder and add some water to make a paste, because if you directly soak the food, it's difficult to soften and can easily lose nutrients and only eat until it's full of water).

3. Ferrets can only eat ferret food, special snacks, nutritional paste, water, molt paste, special fur care products, and probiotics.

Second, taboo:

1. Absolutely do not feed dairy products, no matter what. Ferrets can't digest them and don't need them. Drinking them can easily lead to vomiting and dehydration.

2. Absolutely do not feed fruits, vegetables, human snacks, etc. They can't digest sugar and fiber.

3. Absolutely do not feed salt-containing products. Salt can make them weak and should not be fed.

4. Absolutely eat less meat. Generally, the nutritional value of ferret's food is already enough. They don't need meat, and many functions of pet ferrets have already degenerated.

Living environment: Ferrets have lost their ability to survive in the wild due to long-term domestication. As responsible owners, we should keep them indoors and make sure there are no holes for them to escape.

Temperature and humidity: Ferrets' ancestors originally lived in cool underground caves, so they cannot adapt to hot and humid environments. High temperatures can cause them heatstroke, heat exhaustion, or even death. Owners should be careful not to place the ferret's cage or den near the vents or in direct sunlight, and avoid placing them near air conditioners or heaters. For ferrets, the appropriate humidity should be maintained between 50% and 70%, which promotes hair growth.