From:
"forgewizard"
Date: 2007-05-25 04:19:27 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Enriching the life of a single ferret
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Amanda,
You've got a good start going! My Josie is a single ferret, and I
really do not foresee getting another ferret anytime soon, if at all
( well, unless this mysterious "ferret math" hits me)
Here are some thngs I have for Josie to enrich her solitary life
with me: (Oh yeah, and she is a deaf ferret too, so squeaky and
jingley toys mean nothing to her)
She gets free run of the house 24/7
She has more than 60 feet of tunnels in various rooms and through
her cage.
An 18 gallon rubbermaid tub with 20 pounds of rice for digging. The
dig box is where she really gets wound up when I play with her and
she'll literallly bounce of the walls when we play in it!
A basket full of stuffed toys tyo terrorize - her favorites are the
balckfooted ferret replicas and a toy poodle puppy as well as a
stretchy booda puppy.
A knotted rope dog tugger, yes she will pounce on it and tug it like
a dog!
A pink fuzzy "barbie kids" boa which she absolutely loves tunneling
into and then I give her a "Bungee ride" like you see on some
boardwalks.
A bumble ball stuffed inside a Santa hat. Before I stuffed it inside
the hat it sort of scared her as it jiggled and bounced along. But
once inside the hat it was fair game for a pouncing. She gets bored
with this quickly as it doesn't actually interact with her. But she
still enjoys a weekly romp with it!
She has a shallow bin filled with glass stones and marbles placed
near a door. She hides behind the door and then races out and does a
swan dive into the marble bin! It particularly gets her wound up if
I play with HER marbles!
Another RUbbermaid bin has ping pong and small whiffle balls in it
for diving into her "ball pool"
An el cheapo Walmart special nylon kitty cube playground assembled
alightly differently than the directions advise and laid on its side
gives her two hammocks and two caves where I filled them with
soluble packing peanuts.
A few empty pocket books hanging off the furniture make great hiding
and snooze places.
Several kitty toys like fuzzy balls, and mice and such are great for
toss and pounce games.
When I first got her I bought one of those huge ferret balls - but
it was a waste of money - she hates being inside it and just sits
and digs! So that is a rather ineffective paper weight!
ALso Josie's diet consists in part of whole natural live prey and
this certainly is a great enrichment process, but one I realize
isn't suitable for everyone. Crickets, mice, chicks, worms, beetles
etc let her hone her hunting skills and helps keep her occupied for
a little while.
At night she gets a massage, brushing and general "mothering" bath
from me.
I think being deaf is an advantage for ferrets taken outside on
leashed excursions. She covers a lot of ground on these outings - 6
measured miles each week! Even if your ferret isn't happy on the end
of a leash, taking them outdoors for walks with you in a satchel or
carrier still lets them smell and see things.
Find a quiet spot where she can dig in the sirt or roll in the
grass. Josie gets to visit the beach ocasionally and has a blast
digging in the sand! I wish she'd dig up a few clams! Or a Pirate's
buried treasure would be o.k. too!
SHe is also learning tricks.
Visits to local pet stores throughout the week let me walk her in
A/C environments and let her snuffle new smells and visit new people.
While Josie may be a solitary ferret, I don't get the impression she
is "alone". She pracitcally ignores any other ferrets at the pet
stores and even got a bit aggressive with one when a couple were out
for playtime! That ferret had come to me and she seemed to be tellin
it that I was HER Mom and that was final!
There are a lot of folks that have just one ferret, and as long as
the ferret can be included in the better part of your day - I think
they'll do just fine!
Hope this helps!
Cheers, josiesMOm
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