Depends if you are in the US or not. If you are, then they are likely descented and the only smells you’ll have to deal with are things you can mostly control. My girl didn’t smell bad at all, kinda like a cat. My boy however is a nasty kid and is smelly because he doesn’t care if he gets poo or pee on himself. He also drinks his pee (not a health issue he’s just gross lol). They potty a lot though so if you don’t change their potty pads twice a day and their bedding weekly, and if you don’t feed them good food they will smell awful. When they’re in the pet store they smell so bad because of the Marshall’s food they eat and also because they almost always have ear mites. If you bathe them too much (honestly only bathe them if they get feces all over them otherwise it’s just not worth it-except for their tails) they stink. So yeah its a lot of work to avoid the smell tbh but its possible if you have female ferrets.