$250 isn't a bad price if it's from a breeder or a better line of ferrets. Do you know what type of ferret lines they come from up there?
Around here most pet shop ferrets are Marshalls (very very bad ferret mill) they go for about $129 but on sale often for $80-$100. The second most common would be Path Valley ferrets, not as bad as marshalls but not much research has been done on them either.

As long as you keep you ferret socialized and or add another ferret within a 6 months or so (give or take a little) you should have NO problem at all adding more. Any longer than they you MAY have a problem getting them used to eachother, but maybe not.

My first ferret I got when he was tiny (an ex b/f bought him, he's a marshalls) and notorious for Marshalls they sell them too young, he was about 4-5 weeks old. But we socialized him with my rats and they were great together, then I started to get more ferrets & other pets (still have enough time for all just not enought time to socialize with a possible dangerous situation) but after just a month or 2 of him being away from my rats I don't trust him.
The fact I feed raw meat & they were breed to kill rats & rabbits doesn't help either I don't think.
I have not met anyone else yet that has a ferret that gets along with rats. And I know a LOT of ferret/rat people. I guess its harder to get a ferret to adjust to rats than it is to get a husky to get along w/ small critters.
I don't chance it.
Ferrets can be dangerous with other pets if not socialized right. It's not common or hard for a ferret to kill a cat.
(that is how I got 2 of my previous rats, a ferret got loose, killed the neighbors cat & the landlord made her get rid of all her pets).
Not saying they can't get along with cats, I know TONS of ferrets & cats that are buddies, it's mainly with older, unsocialized ferrets, and that is just to prove a point that ferrets can pack a powerful punch. I personally wouldn't trust them with a rat.

Leaving good cat food out all day & feeding raw once or a couplle times a day is fine. Thats great! But even so I would mix AT LEASt 2 brands of cat food together. Like I said they can become imprinted on one food easily so at first you may also want to feed raw a few times a day to get thme used to it.
They are 100% carnivores, they have NO cecum, which is what digests non meat foods. A tiny piece of something that disolves easily (cracker or cheerio, etc..) as a treat every once in a great while is fine though.
Because they are carnivores you want to feed a great quality food with lots of meat related protien.

When your ready to get your ferret let me know I've got a sheet around my computer somewhere that lists a lot of good foods to feed a ferret.

I've never fed tripe, but I'll ask other ferret people if they have,

Oh ferrets like to chew rubber items and they get blockages easily. Their intestines are only as big as a straw so surgery is needed 98% of the time they swallow a foreign object so you want to be very careful with what they chew.
They also can't cough up hairballs like cats, they cause blockages in ferrets too that often need surgery to remove the blockage, so to prevent that you can feed hairball meds or vaseline to them every few days and daily when they are shedding. Or you can feed a few hairball treats daily and just give the lax (hairball med or vaseline) daily during shedding season.


Ferrets for dummies is the ferret bible. I HIGHLY reccommend it.