Condolences to those with lost, sick, or angeled leap-n-grabbers...
How I Find the Time...
First, I check my wrist. If my watch isn't there, then I...no...wait...we
are on a different subject, but with the same name!
I have 9 ferrets. They are expensive to keep up with, but then, name
something worthwhile that *isn't* expensive. They don't all fit in one
cage, however. One fert (Taz) has his own room. It used to be the spare
bedroom, but the furniture was removed and boxes and toys installed and
that's his room. The cat has learned his lesson. He is NOT to go there!
Chewy has a 4-story cage with tubes connecting the various levels. He
loves to climb up and down the tubes, moving his toys to various levels and
playing with them. He spends most of his time on the top level, where his
hammock, corner-litter-box-turned-bed-frame, snuggle-shirt (one of my
shirts that he likes to climb into and snuggle up in to sleep), and food
and water are. He uses one end of the second level for his "business"
dealings (I've covered the floor in that area with newspaper, including
partially up the walls, to make it easier to clean up--and so he doesn't
accidently get any on the floor outside the cage!). The third level down,
is a play floor. He likes to take toys there and play with them. The
bottom floor is where the litter box is. Sometimes he plays in it. Other
times, it gets used for its intended purpose. I clean it out when he uses
it for what it was put there for, but that isn't very often. He likes to
pretend it's a sand box, I think.
Fuzzer, Ziggy and Add-A-Kiss have a three-level cage where they all hang
out. I've tried to put them in another cage, but they just dig at the
door, trying to get out. They have their hammock (fleece with a pocket,
which they can all actually get into at the same time!), a sleep tube, two
snuggle-shirts, litter box, food, water and toys. The remaining four,
Rusti, Hershey, Smokey and Stuffy, all sleep in a two-level cage. It is
somewhat large, covering most of a diningroom table. They have their
hammock (they don't use those much), sleep-towel (it got stolen and dragged
into that cage so often, that it finally was put there permanently), sleep
box with snuggle-shirt (all four can [and often do!] fit in there at the
same time), litter box, food, water and toys (they love McDonald's Kid's
Meal toys).
Now, Taz and Chewy need separate play times--both from each other *and* the
Fantastic 7. Taz still has no clue why those other animals look so much
like him. He just knows that they scare him half to death if they aren't
in a cage! He loves tackling and mauling the cat (the cat hates it, of
course, yet he goes and looks for Taz if he is bored and ready to play!),
playing leap-furniture (jumping from one piece of furniture to another) and
other fuzzy-inspired games. Even though I can't spend all day playing with
him, just giving him a few minutes here and a few minutes there can add up.
He will come looking for me when he's in a playful mood. We may spend 15
minutes just goofing off on the floor, or the couch. Or he may decide to
chase me through the house, running full-bore after me as I try to get
away. He's had some of the funniest collisions with things when I suddenly
stop and he swerves trying to keep from running into me (he's run into
plastic bags, piles of toys, empty play boxes, empty 2-liter soda bottles,
etc.). When I go for my exercise walks, I put a leash on him (if he's not
sleeping), park him on my shoulder and off I go. He is (as most ferrets
are) not real comfortable with lots of cars and people and animals all
around, so he mainly stays on my shoulder. However, during lulls in
traffic, or on a street where things aren't quite as loud and scary, he
likes to either have me hold him so he can sniff the roofs of cars, or
actually let him down so he can sniff everything in sight. Sometimes he
likes to then romp down the sidewalk, taking in all the scents. If he gets
tired or scared, he stops and waits to be picked up and carried. When Taz
is busy sleeping (he goes up to his room and gets into his Cat Fleece Bed
which he stole from Puffy, the cat), he doesn't want to be woken up and
taken for a walk. So...
Chewy gets to go for a walk, instead. The barrier is put up on Taz's room
(a plexiglas sheet placed in tracks mounted on the sides of the doorway to
his room) and Chewy gets to come out. The leash goes on *him* and off we
go. Chewy is younger and not at all socialized yet. He gets so frightened
that shoulder sitting is out. I also tried putting him in the hood of
my jacket. Though this provides him with lots of hiding space, with only
his nose and eyes sticking out, he doesn't stay there for very long.
Therefore, he gets carried across my chest most of the time I am out
walking. Every once in a while, he'll "swap ends", pointing his face to
the left instead of the right, if he feels that there is more interesting
scenery on that side. From time to time, he'll spy a patch of grass or
some bushes, or other greenery, and beg to be put down. He then
turf-surfs, snuffles and otherwise has a grand old time communing with
nature. When the patch has been fully investigated, he then grabs my leg
in his front paws and wants back up. When I take Chewy along on my walks,
the adventure is usually cut a bit shorter, since he seems to suffer from
information overload much quicker than Taz does. Also, although I have
no problems letting people pet and admire Taz (I won't let them hold him,
though), I can't do the same with Chewy. Though he never bites anymore
*with me*, I can't be certain that he won't bite someone else, just out
of fear. He looks so much different from Taz, that the people in the
neighborhood know the difference and know to keep their distance.
When Chewy is too hyper and doesn't want to go on a walk with me and Taz is
too busy getting his beauty sleep, I take Fuzzer. Now, Fuzzer is a ferret
fashion model. He doesn't wear clothes. He just has the attitude of a
model. He thinks his litter box doesn't stink. He is so convinced of
his good looks, that he has been working on a fee schedule for accompanying
me on my journeys. Though Fuzzer might try to bite someone if they are
unfamiliar and they scare him, he is also a good judge of character. If he
sniffs someone and they are "bad" (I don't know what criteria he uses, but
he's always right!), he will try to bite them and will be very agressive.
He's chased several people out of my house, who later turned out to be
very bad people, indeed! Anyway, because I can't always be certain of his
response to others, if someone wants to pet him (he always draws a crowd
because of how pretty he is), I have to present them with his backside if
they need to touch. He tolerates this. Fuzzer is also one that doesn't
like to do much walking. He indicates his desire to sniff something and
I must carry him over to it and move him around the item/object, whild
holding him out so he can sniff it. Very seldom does he want to get down
and investigate on his own. Reminds me of some pharaohs from the past!
All of the others (when Chewy and Taz have each had their free-roam times,
they are put back in their proper areas and the rest are set free to scoot
about the house) come up and get their desired times when they need it.
If I'm watching television, they come up on the couch and crawl up on my
lap, staring into my face. I will cuddle them, pet them, give them
snacks...whatever they need from me. Though the time I spend with each
individual ferret may only be a few minutes, I realize that they also have
each other. They are never lonely, when there are a total of seven of
them running around to play together! They have well-organized games and
activities (including some that are patently illegal, but they do them
anyway!) and take naps often. When I start collecting them to put them
back to bed for the night, they come out of hiding on their own (most
of the time, if they happen to be awake). When their playmates start
disappearing, they want to find out where they went and will find me! :)
Basically, one ferret, if they have enough interesting things to mess with,
will find something to keep themselves occupied, even if there is no one
else to play with (though getting them their own cat might help keep them
fit and trim!). As long as you spend *some* time with them--include them
in your exercise walks, or cuddle them while you watch television or work
on the computer, or take 10 minutes out and wrestle with them on the floor,
or just put them on a leash and take them out back in the yard for a
bit--they can still be happy. There is no minimum required time to spend
with a ferret (or a busyness of ferrets!) in order for them to be happy.
If you have two or more ferrets, that makes it even better, since they can
play with each other. If you can't let them out to free-roam the whole
house, pick a room that you can ferret-proof and let them out during the
day while you are at work (ferret-proof very well if you pick this option!).
One thing to remember about "finding time" to spend with your ferrets. The
time you spend with them helps you, too. It can lighten up a hectic day.
It can bring a little happiness to a day filled with anger, frustrations,
or disappointments. It can provide a distraction when things are just
building up with pressure. It can give you a small surge of energy when
you are just dog-tired. It can give you a burst of joy when you see your
happy little fert leaping out of their cage to play with you--much like a
small child running for the door when you get home from work. Ferrets
aren't a chore. They are little lives that have accepted you into their
hearts. They don't ask a lot--just a bit of recognition and love. They
will take care of the rest. Can you honestly look into a mirror and say
that you can't share yourself for even a half-hour each day?
Todd and the (Can we come out and play with you?) Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns!
---
http://GiftsAndCollectibles.sites.cc
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[Posted in FML issue 3212]
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