Hello all fuzzie owners!!!  I am looking for some advice about buying our
second fuzzie!
 
My, fiance, Brad, and our ferret Hobbes were in the mall the other day and
inevitably wandered into the pet store.  There we encountered a hostile
sales clerk and what she called a "problem ferret." This female ferret had
been bought and returned twice that she told us and the reason for returning
was that she but people.  We held the "problem" and she didn't try to nip or
bite and she and Hobbes seemed to get along fine (if you call sniffing each
other and him bitting her ears fine).  The female is about four months old
and has only had her first shots, she kind of smelled (probably due to pet
store treatment), she needed her nails clipped, but other than that she
seemed perfectly fine and friendly.  She is not from Marshall Farms, and we
were curious if maybe this nibbler may have gotten a bad rap?  She is on
sale and the clerk was vague as to what would happen to her if no one bought
her.  We were concerned about a few things:
 
1.  We are worried about her bitting being a long term problem, we know that
fuzzies can be trained not to bite, but what are your (any and all of you)
experiences training slightly older ferrets not to bite.  We got Hobbes when
he was young and thus were able to teach him from the start not to bite, or
at least not very hard.
 
2.  Does her being behind on her shots put our Hobbes at risk for anything?
(He is current for his distemper and rabies) And if so, how could we tell?
Her eyes seemed clear, and wiskers were long and not brittle, although I'm
not sure if she might have a fungus on her feet.  The cage she is kept in
uses wood chips for covering and no litter box is provided.  Also her coat
seems a lot "rougher" than our Hobbes', we think this is due to a lack of
good food for her.
 
3.  Lastly, we are concerened how she will get along with Hobbes.  They
seemed to play well together while we were in the store but what are some
other things we should look for that might tell us how much they like each
other?  Hobbes would bite at her ears and also try to bite the scruff of her
neck, but it seemed like he was just playing.  Any other advice that any of
you may have would be very helpfull in making our decision.  We are both
college students, and of course money is tight.  We didn't go into the store
intending to come out with a new fuzzie but when we saw the condition of
this one, and heard her story, we both became concerned about her.  Brad
wanted to get our next fuzzie from a shelter but we both feel that in a way
this is saving a fuzzie from ending up in one anyway (plus he isn't sure if
there is a shelter in Boise, Id., where we live.  He thinks the closest
shelter is in Oregon about 250+ miles away).
 
Thanks for all of your help before with our previous posts!
Brad, Kelly, and Hobbes (hey what was that cuties name???)
 
PS.  We would also love to hear from any ferret owners in Boise to talk
about our fuzzies.
[Posted in FML issue 1834]