Hi, this is Denise -
 
I want to introduce a new ferret to my sweet 14-week-old male ferret,
Rocko, but this is a different situation than most.  My boyfriend lives
in a suburb of Chicago, and I live in Minneapolis.  I go to see him
every other weekend or so, and bring Rocko (we jointly own him, but
I have "physical custody" while I'm in grad school here).  Rocko
loves his "daddy" a lot.  Well, Gene (boyfriend) wants a ferret too,
but he won't be moving until October or later, and can't house one until
then.  We were thinking that it might be OK if I got the new ferret
sometime soon (within a few weeks), kept him in Mpls and introduced
him to Rocko slowly, so that they'd get to know each other, and gave
the new guy to Gene when he moves.
 
The advantage would be that he'd be used to Rocko, so they'd probably
"play nice" when I visit; he'd have been trained (hopefully) not to nip;
and he'd be better able to tolerate Rocko moving in when I finally get
to live near/with Gene in about 4 years (we're getting married after I
finish my Ph.D.).  The disadvantage that I can think of is that he might
miss his mommy, and playmate Rocko, when he moved - we'd see him every
other weekend, but would this be too distressing?  I mean, people adopt
rescued ferrets from previous owners, and they seem to turn out OK.
 
Any opinions?  Please respond within the next couple of weeks, before
Gene decides he _really_ wants one.  Also, I'm moving out of Minneapolis,
with their Animal Control that thinks that ferrets are vicious/wild,
and into a suburb that reports no restrictions on ferrets!  I'll be
able to send messages to the FML under my real address then, without
worry that Animal Control will come knocking in this not-really-a-FFZ-
but-Animal-Control-says-it's-close-enough.  Good luck to the other
Minneapolitans out there who own ferrets!
 
Thanks!
Denise,
  Rocko (A playmate?  Really?  I love playing with cats, but they
           think I'm too hyper!)
  and Grumpy (teddy bear hamster: Another ferret?  Oh no...
                another creature to get in my way when I'm in my
                hamster ball.)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0898]