While having a pet is a wonderful feeling, it can also be a cause of annoyance if the pet has an extreme odor, such as a ferret! These are wonderful creatures as pets, but the smell it gives off isn’t something you can tolerate.
It can fill the air quickly, and your home will feel like a ferret home rather than yours. So, how do you get rid of it?
Will an air purifier help with ferret smell? Yes, the new air purifiers can tackle pet odor quite well, as we know how the new air purifiers have been equipped to deal with the pesky and persisting smell. But how well does it perform with the stinky smell of ferrets?
That’s what we’ll be trying to address in this article. If you’re one of those who love ferrets and own one as a pet, give it a read. You’ll learn one or two vital pieces of information that may save you from trouble.
How to Control Ferret Odor – 4 Steps
Before we talk about air purifiers’ effectiveness in removing ferret smell, we want to bring your attention to a more important factor. It’s the containment and control of your ferret’s odor. If you’re lazy about it, air purifiers will take up all your energy bill and still fail.
Step 1 – Clean Your Ferret’s Home
It needs to become an unconscious habit of yours to clean the cage or box where you let your ferret-friend rest. Do it every week to reduce the burden of cleaning and to remove the strong odor.
You can’t expect to have fresh air in your home if you’re letting your pet ferret sleep on its poo and pee and walk around the house with it.
The lazier you are and the more ferret you have, your burden will increase.
Step 2 – Choose a Good Place for the Litter Box
You can minimize the effect of your ferret’s odor if you place the litter box somewhere with less airflow so that the smell doesn’t spread.
And, of course, you must train them to do their business in the litter box if you want to prevent your house from being poo-ed in.
Step 3 – Give Regular Baths
By regular, we don’t mean every day. It’s to keep your ferret clean and control its odor by bathing them every week or so. Make a routine as you see fit, but you have to make a routine.
Washing regularly will keep their body oil secretions in control. However, don’t bathe them too frequently, as the washing gets rid of their natural body oils completely. And that will cause their oil glands to produce more oil, making things worse for them and you.
Step 4 – Use Odor Neutralizers
This is a good option to minimize the effect of their naturally secreting odor. You can spray the solutions on a towel and wipe them over their bodies. Don’t spray directly on their bodies.
However, this should only be used as a last resort. Ask the veteran ferret owners, and they’ll recommend good quality odor-neutralizer products.
Will an Air Purifier Remove Ferret Smell?
Now that you’ve gone over the ferret maintenance routine, you can now think about an air purifier to help you remove the ferret smell completely from your home.
Yes, an air purifier can certainly remove the ferret smell. But on one condition. The air purifier has to have the right air filtration technology. Normal HEPA air purifiers will do everything but rid the air of its smell.
The newer air purifiers are equipped with a multi-layer filtration system that can handle particles like dust and dander while trapping the odorants, i.e., odor particles and other gas molecules.
Make sure that your air purifier has the activated carbon filter along with the HEPA filter to get the most out of your money.
How Does an Activated Carbon Filter Remove Smell?
An activated carbon filter is simply a bed of carbon in powdered form. Carbon or charcoal, in this case, is already porous, which means it has cavities and holes in its structure that can absorb moisture and gas molecules.
The manufacturer takes the carbon powder and makes a thin carbon bed. This bed is then placed inside the air purifier as a filter. When the air passes through it, it captures the little pesky odorants and retains them so that the fresh air can go back into circulation.
That is how activated carbon filters get rid of smelly air.
Why Do Ferrets Smell So Strong?
We want to understand the unique properties of a ferret that makes it smell much stronger than any conventional pet, such as a dog or cat.
Your dog and cat also have an odor, but ferret odor is easily distinguishable for its intensely sweet and musky smell. While it may not be annoying to the owners, it can certainly throw off someone who only came to visit.
And the smell isn’t only the result of their unique body properties but also the result of a lazy pet owner.
Here are the physical properties of a Ferret you should know about:
Scent Glands in the Skin – ferrets have glands in the skin that secrete a certain scent called Sebaceous glands. They are positioned all over their skin. These are the main reason why ferrets smell so strong.
Anal Gland Secretions – All ferrets have an anal gland that secret a scent unique to their species. In the animal world, this scent is how they mark their territory and attract other ferrets. However, contrary to popular belief, these glands are not responsible for the typical ferret odor.
Final Words
Will an air purifier help with ferret smell? As you have already learned from our lengthy discussion, the answer is yes. However, it can only “help” but cannot completely get rid of it if you don’t control their odor through the steps we mentioned in the beginning.
So, keeping ferrets as pets is a tough job, and you should be ready for it.
Last Updated on January 9, 2023
