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Most pets can have an awful smell that is not friendly to anybody. If you're very allergic to their odor, you'd like to have a pet that isn't smelly or at least knows how to reduce the terrible smell.

Well, how about the smell of ferrets?

Ferrets are pets that have an odor of musk. Many people are likely to consider this an unpleasant smell. Others, though, may like their smell. Fortunately, there are a few solutions to minimize the smell of your ferret and its cage. The scent of a ferret doesn't have to be a hindrance to having a ferret. You might also like the smell, as some people do.

Why Are Ferrets Smelly?

Ferrets are clean creatures, but they're smelly, and they can't do something about it. Even well-cared ferrets have a particular odor. The explanation for this is;

Anal Gland Discharge

Ferrets are carnivorous creatures. Like most carnivores, they all have anal glands found just above the anus. In such conditions, ferrets may emit an awful scent from these glands. This is often termed a "poof" and can be emitted when a ferret is happy, afraid, or upset. Fortunately, the scent doesn't last long enough to disperse after only ten minutes.

Oily Skin

Notwithstanding the unique smell, the ferrets are naturally fragrant dogs. Their skin has excess oils, and this oily skin has a distinct smell that can vary from ferret to ferret. The odor of a ferret can be comparable to that of a dog. Many people prefer it, while others are indifferent. There's no reasonable way to determine it until you take a whiff at the smell of a ferret.

Ferret Mating Season

As the breeding season for ferrets starts, the un-neutered male ferrets can develop oilier skin, and their smell will be even more than usual. After the breeding season, the male ferret will again have its natural smelly skin. You can stop this foul smell by neutering your male ferret, which is usually advised if you don't breed ferrets.

Adrenal Disorder

The adrenal disorder is a common health condition in ferrets. This disease can induce abnormal growth of the adrenal glands and perhaps even tumors in the adrenal glands. Unnecessarily, high hormones are emitted by the body, and this can create an irritating smell based on the hormone that is released inappropriately.

Infections of the Ferret

Ferret's ears may have yeast or bacterial infections. If your ferret seems to have an infection, its ears will always feel itchy, and its skin will be sore and smelly. You can handle these diseases by going to the doctor and providing the right care to your ferret. The odor will quickly fade away, and the infection will be controlled. Many other infections can create a foul smell as well.

How to Reduce the Smell of a Ferret?

So how do we remove the smell of a Ferret? There are several ways

De-scenting the Ferret

De-scenting is a surgical cut-off of the anal glands that creates a foul smell in some circumstances. Conversely, there is no definite way to tell if your ferret is de-scented because even though the anal glands are gone, the ferret will always release an odor from their oily skin.

If you purchase a pet ferret from another country other than the USA, probabilities are high that the ferret wasn't de-scented. For instance, this is banned in Europe and not recommended since it will cause a wide variety of health problems (including abscesses and incontinence). Most vets will not de-scent a ferret until there is an urgent or severe medical excuse.

Bathing and Washing

If your ferret is very smelly, a bath will do great, but be careful not to bathe the ferret too much. When you clean your ferret frequently, you extract the oils from its skin, which will create more oil. As a result, the ferret can smell much worse than before.

For these purposes, a bath is only prescribed once a month, and you can also restrict it to once in three months only if there is dirt on your ferret's hair. Don't use human shampoo while you bathe your ferret. Use specialized ferret shampoo. If you can't seem to find such a shampoo conveniently, you could also use a kitten's shampoo.

Cleaning the Ferret's Cage

Much of the time, the odor you detect is not created by your ferret but by the ferret's cage, beddings, or toys that keep the stench. When the ferret comes into contact with its habitat or other items within the cage, its oil rubs off these items. This can trigger the smell, so these items should be washed frequently.

Wash the ferret's cage once per week and regularly clean the litter box to reduce the odor. A ferret uses a litter box many hours a day, and based on their diet, the smell can be awful. Cage items such as chairs, hammocks, toys, or anything the ferret comes into touch with, should be cleaned daily.

Ferrets Bedding material

Use a bedding material that absorbs a smell but does not use any highly toxic substances, such as cedar chips. Many people use clothes to place them on the cage floor as a bedding material. It can be a proper thing if you wash the clothing frequently.

Proper diet for a Ferret

The ferrets are carnivorous. If you give them high-quality diet food, their body nutrients will be consumed, and there will be less poop. The waste will smell-less, too. On the other side, ferrets are often served kibble, which is less nutritious and leads to odorless poop. If you want to feed your ferret kibble, use a better kibble with meat and no fruit or vegetables in it.

Perfumes and Scent Control

If you can't bear the scent of your ferret, you can use a ferret perfume. These perfumes are pretty cheap and last for a long time. However, most ferrets don't need those perfumes because the scent isn't that bad. Ferrets have a particular scent, but they don't necessarily smell.