Judith Sanders wrote that ferret temperaments can often determine which of
two equally handsome ferrets will win a show; I wanted to add my two cents
to the temperament discussion..
 
In my experience as an owner, i've found that the jills i've met benefitted
most from extensive handling and attention, in terms of calmness and what i
call 'the boredom factor' when being held by people other than me.  Male
ferrets, on the other hand, seem to let themselves be won over by anyone
with a wiggly set of fingers and a relaxing voice.  :) All
'good-temperamented' ferrets i've met are interested in you, try to use you
as a ladder, sniff through your clothes, etc, but in my experience, 'good
temperamented' jills/sprites are still squirmier than males, unless held to
excess - this is when they realize that when they're picked up, they're
stuck with being held until they get put down.  Hence, the bored sigh
("mooooooom, pleease?") and the lazy look of a ferret tolerating someone
else's excesses.  :)
 
i have one cuddly female, one adoring but 'if you pick me up, it'd better
only be to put me on the table or countertop' female, and one adoring but
'AIE THE HANDS OF DEATH' female.  My vet cant even hold the last one, but
she's coming along as far as being resigned to being picked up goes.  :)
 
Speaking of my vet, she had an enthusiastic bit to say about marshall farms'
ferrets' temperaments, which went as follows: "When i see those two dots in
the ears, i know what to expect as far as the sweetness of the ferret.  They
all have the same temperament, and they're all very trustworthy; i dont have
that guarantee with any unmarked ferret."
 
Melissa
 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Melissa Litwicki                              "Is it ... atomic?"
      [log in to unmask]                             "Yes! VERY atomic!"
[Posted in FML issue 1701]