Q - Will Ferrets chew my furniture, or electrical cords? One of my dogs chewed EVERYTHING when he was a puppy and I am just wondering what constitutes "ferret-proofing" and if it is the same as "puppy-proofing."
A - If Ferrets get enough out of the cage time, and human interaction they do not usually chew on things, however they dig all the time. If you have carpets and they want to be on the other side of the door they are on they will dig till the cows come home. Instinct tells them they can dig their way to another place, when we domesticated them we did not change that behavior, they do not understand the digging is not going to get them into the kitchen, it will however leave a hole in your carpet, couch, chair etc.
If you have recliners in your house I highly recommend you remove them, they will dig their way up into mechanism go to sleep and when you sit and stretch the recliner they will be dead. Ferret proofing means you need to tidy up all the holes that are in and around your home.
Ferrets can get into 1" areas. I have a cold air return grate that I just the other day found the ferret in and under. It WAS ferret proofed, I had hardware cloth on the under part of the grate, she got it loose got into and under the grate and could not get out because the hardware cloth popped back into place once she got though it. I was thankful I had the foresight to put hardware cloth over the pipe that is attached to the furnace because she would have been in the furnace had I not. I have had ferrets in this house for 12 years and they still show me places I need to proof to keep them safe.
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