Kristin writes:
>My 9 mo old ferret wants absolutely nothing to do with being held
> ...even for 5 seconds.  She has always been this way.  How do I
>train her to let us pick her up?
 
My experience with Snowball has been that time has mellowed him.  At 9
months, your ferret is too *busy* to be bothered with being held!  It's
much more interesting to run and jump and knock things off of tables than
to sit around and be petted like a dog or cat.  But after a couple of
years, she may kind of slow down, and stop to smell the roses, mellow out
a bit...and decide that a warm lap is comfy, after all.  Or, she might
not.  I've got a great idea!  Why not go to your local shelter and pick up
a second (and third, while you're at it) ferret?  You can pick a calm one
who likes to cuddle with you, and perhaps another feisty one to run and
jump with the gal you have now.  It's a great time to do it, because she's
still young enough to adapt to her new brothers & sisters. :-)
 
Another thing to consider is: how are you picking her up?  Is it possibe
that she's deaf?  Perhaps you're startling her when you pick her up,
especially if she can't hear you coming, she may be feeling it as a
"surprise attack" and reacting in fear.  Try approaching her slowly, from
the front, making sure she sees you and sniffs your hands first, maybe
offering treats (Ferretvite, Ferretone, or a raisin or two) before
picking her up.
 
And/or, sit on the floor with her in a fairly enclosed space (our "ferret
play space" is our large upstairs bathroom, which is actually 3 seperate
little rooms) and let HER come to you.  She'll run around and play, and
occasionally come over to check out your lap (if only to run across it at
first on the way to somewhere else).  Eventually, she might decide that
you're a nice warm squishy place to rest when she gets tired.
 
Hope this helps,
 
Chana
Tiferet, Snowball & Kesef
<<have you hugged a ferret today?>>
[Posted in FML issue 3473]