Bathing

Ferrets have a naturally musky odor.  And they poop a lot, so you have to keep their litter boxes and bedding clean to keep the odor from getting too bad in your house.

Frequency of Bathing:

Bathing will reduce the odor, however, do not bathe your ferret more than once a month.  Some new ferret owners want to bathe their ferrets every week.  Do NOT do this.  This is far too frequently.  Frequent bathing dries out their skin, causes flaking and itching, and sometimes causes dandruff.

Prepping for the Bath:

1. First, you may want to put your ferrets in a playpen or other play area while you clean out their litter boxes and wash all their cage bedding (towels, hammocks, etc.).  Then after you've bathed them, you will put your clean ferret back in a cage with clean bedding!
    

2. After the bedding has been washed and dried (and the ferrets are still in a playpen or other play area), put one or two towels in a pet carrier (what you use to take them to the vet) -- one carrier per ferret -- and set one towel per ferret off to the side.  Set the carrier(s) near the sink or tub where you will bathe them.
    

3. Trim your ferrets' nails BEFORE attempting to bathe them.  Then if they are squirmy during the bath, they won't scratch you!
    

4. Fill tub (or sink) with water only a few inches deep.  The ferret should be able to stand in the tub and keep its head above water.  When they are standing in the tub, their feet should be able to touch the bottom with their heads still comfortably above water.  They will be more likely to relax and enjoy the bath when they aren't struggling to swim to keep their heads above water.  If they can walk around in the tub, they will be more comfortable.  It is also too dangerous to fill up the tub too much -- if the water is over their heads, then you have to hold them up the entire time.
    

5. Make sure the water is very warm.  Not so hot that it's uncomfortable to the touch but very warm.  A ferret's normal body temperature is around 101 degrees, so lukewarm-to-cool water will be uncomfortable for them.  Get the water temperature to what feels very warm to you, the temperature of what most people like for a bath.  Not super-hot!  Just very warm.
    

6. Put just a little dab of ferret shampoo in the water and the running water will build a few suds.
    

7. It is recommended you bathe only one ferret at a time.  It can be fun to bathe more than one at a time, but if you want to do this, it helps if you have someone else to help you with the assembly line of rinsing and drying off each one.  Then you won't have some ferrets remaining in the tub (and perhaps trying to escape!) as the water is cooling down while you attend to drying off the first one.
    

8. You can use commercially available ferret shampoo, but a less expensive alternative is mild baby shampoo.  Make sure the water is very warm (like a nice hot bath for yourself).  Ferrets are very uncomfortable in lukewarm or cool water.

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The Bathing Procedure:

1. Take one ferret and introduce him (or her) to the water.  Set him down gently in the water.  He may react with a little fear at first, but hang on to him and start scooping water over him to get him wet.  Sometimes, the reason ferrets will struggle to get out of the water is because it's too hot or too cold.  Try to get the water very warm but not overly hot.

2. Your ferret will get used to getting bathed after a while, so be patient and gentle, but firm about hanging on to him and getting him wet and scrubbed.

3. Use a super-soft brush (like a baby's hairbrush) or your fingers to scrub him with.  Don't use a hard bristled brush!

4. Try not to get water or soap in his eyes.

5. You may want to clean his ears while he's in the tub, but if it's too hard to hold him still while he's in the tub or sink, then clean his ears beforehand.

6. Once you're done gently scrubbing him to get him soapy and clean, turn on the faucet and run the water until it gets very warm again, then rinse your ferret under the running water.  Your little fuzzy will look a lot like a wet rat!  Run your hand down his body and down to the end of his tail to sort of "squeegee" the excess water off.

7. You may want to spritz him with a conditioning spray.

8. Bundle him up in a towel and cradle him.  He may squirm around in the towel or try to tunnel out.  Try to keep him bundled up for a few minutes to get the excess water off him.  Rub him gently in the towel bundle.  When only his little nose and head is poking out of the towel bundle at any point, you may want to give him many kisses on top of his nose (that's my favorite part!).

9. Unwrap him from the now-wet towel.  Wrap him up in the fresh, dry towel in the carrier.  Put him inside the carrier and close it.  Let him roll around inside the carrier for maybe 15 minutes or so while he gets thoroughly dry.  Ferrets love to roll around to dry off, so don't let him loose in the house to roll around on the floor, or put him back in the cage if the bedding is not clean!

10. Do not leave him in the carrier for a long time as he may need to use his litter box at some point and he will need a drink of water too.

I have heard bizarre stories of some people who don't rinse off their ferrets, but instead let them lick the soap off themselves.  Do NOT do this.  Licking the soap may not kill them, but licking all the soap off their entire bodies might give them an upset stomach.  Always rinse them off in very warm water, then bundle them up in towels to dry.

Now your ferret and his bedding will smell great!

See also:

Ear Cleaning

Nail Trimming

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