FERRETS CHEWING WIRES...
Rob, (I think a new ferret owner?) asked about the liklihood of his ferret
chewing on electrical wires.  We have never seen this in our nearly 9 years
with 48 pet ferrets who have had free range of our house or their ferret
rooms.  HOWEVER, I would NEVER want to say that it wouldn't be possible for
a ferret to want to do this. Generally speaking, the older they get the less
likely they are to get into trouble.  My old guys totter around the house
and never even attempt to climb up onto things anymore, nor do they dig at
closed doors with any real determination.  They don't chew on things, and
you really hardly know they are around, most of the time.  The only bad
thing they do is potty where they aren't supposed to, and they seem to get
lazier about going in the right place, the older they get. The younger your
ferret is, the more likely he is to get into trouble. Have you considered
getting him a playmate to keep him company while you are not at home?
Ferrets can get very lonely.  Unless your ferret is old and not very active,
I would not recommend you leaving him free while you are not at home, as
there are too many things they can get into that could really harm them.
Especially if you are not experienced with keeping ferrets and may not be
aware of all the hazards that await ferrets in the average home.  But with
that in mind, please invest in a spacious cage for him, and don't go away
and leave him caged up for more than a day or night at a time.  If you must
be away, leave him in the care of a responsible person whom you trust to
care for him properly.  Every ferret needs and deserves to be let out to
play and be played with at least twice every single day.
 
UNUSUAL FERRET STENCH....
It's possible that this is caused from a build-up of the scent gland fluids.
Some of my ferrets produce a great amount of scent, others hardly any.  With
those who do, occasionally it will be very noticeable when they use the
litter box (or some other spot!).  I hope you will watch closely for your
little jill to show signs of coming into heat, possibly in a few months, and
get her spayed pronto.  Hopefully you understand the danger of leaving her
in heat.
 
DRAGGING TOYS BACKWARDS....
Marie tells of her ferret pulling toys backwards.  Some of mine do this
also, Fooie tucking socks to his chest and pulling them backwards to stuff
them under something.  Fooie, Dinky, Mr. Mischief, Desiree, Snowy, and
Natasha, to name a few, do this also with tennis balls.  Speaking of ferrets
with toys, Dinky, a 2 year old sable mitt, has a passion for his stuffed
"Odie" toy (Odie, the funny little dog from the Garfield cartoon.)  He
adopted this toy as his own when he was a little baby, and he still hauls it
around into whichever bed he wants to sleep in his room, and sometimes he
takes it out of his room and stashes it in some other corner of the house
that he decides to curl up in!  It's so cute to find him sound asleep in
some little hideaway, snuggled up to his little Odie toy.  He even does that
little grooming thing to it, the way ferrets do to eachother!  And it's not
that he doesn't have any friends; there are 7 in his group!
[Posted in FML issue 1694]