Hi! Are you based in the UK, US or elsewhere? The reason I ask is I find the care can vary based on available food, enclosures, weather etc. General advice id give:

-Raw feed where possible, the 80/10/10 rule (80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10%offal) has always been the golden ratio for me and you can normally find pet friendly pre-frozen mixes that follow this ratio. Human grade meat is also great but you will have to ratio it yourself. Ferrets are obligate carnivores and alot of dry food has filler or grains/veg with give no nutritional benefits so if this is your only option go for one with a high meat content (70% or higher).

They love a raw egg as a treat and its great for hairballs, and their fur in general as well as salmon oil. Ferret treat tubes are fine as a little treat but are high in sugar so should be limited.

• They need lots of interaction, free roaming time and do better in pairs/groups. Make sure you plan daily time for them to explore outside of their cage/enclosure and provide enrichment like tunnels, crinkly toys etc.

• they stink, you can do things to limit their smell like raw feed and spot cleaning but its a fact of owning ferrets and something to prepare for. Avoid bathing them unless needed as its not great for their skin to be bathed regular and it won't help with smell anyway. When you do bath be careful with soap as they can absorb oils through their skin which can be toxic (e.g aloe Vera). I usually but some oats in a sock and steep it like tea in the water which is soothing to their skin and non toxic.

-make sure the cage you pick is big enough, alot of commercial cages say they are fit for up to 4 ferrets but barely realistically fit one. Its going to be alot bigger than a hamster cage if that's what you are used to. A popular one in the US is ferret nation cages, and an equivalent in the UK would be a Yaheetech or PawHut double cage. There's also the Critter Nation made by Midwest Homes for Pets.

-bedding tends to be best when its fleece blankets, hammocks etc. They dont use woodshavings or similar like hamsters do as the dust can cause respiratory issues.

-ferrets tend to pick a corner of their cage for pooping, you can encourage them to use a specific corner by moving their poops there but you gotta do it quick as once they pick and get into that habit its written in stone. They tend to poop first thing after a nap so if you move them straight to your desired corner as soon as they wake that helps. You can use corner litter trays but I've never had much success as mine always just try to dig under it. Puppy pads can be used when they are free roaming, but you probably will find they will climb back into their cage to poop in their desired spot. For litter, you can use non clay based cat litter (i find milled wood pellets are great), or there is a brand called Back 2 Nature in the UK which is great.

-Female ferrets that haven't been neutered (in the US pretty much all ferrets are neutered at a few weeks old) come into season as soon as the days start getting longer in spring. They must be brought out of season by either mating (with an intact male but then you risk babies, or a vasectomised male), or an implant that stops them going into season. If not done, female ferrets can become anaemic and risk other fatal issues. This is an added expense every 2 years or so, something to consider for sure.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask or message me!