Christy --
I hope you won't be too disappointed by what you are bound to hear from
anyone who answers your post.  Very young ferrets only spaz and sleep, spaz
and sleep, and some olders ones do, too.  However, there are a few tricks
worth trying.
 
One is to hold a fuzzy in one arm, close to your chest, while it licks some
Laxatone or peanut butter (or anything that lasts a little while) off your
finger.  This way they have a positive association with being held.
 
You should also sit on the floor often, so they can play on and around you
as much as they like.  My guys *love* to tunnel around my back inside my
bathrobe, and the ones who are settling down will fall asleep in there.
 
A few people on this list have discovered that putting the ferret's blanket
on your lap gives them the kind of place they like to sleep.
 
All my guys love to have their necks and shoulderblades rubbed while they
are waking up.  I keep my ferrets caged and wake them up in three rotating
shifts.  This means that they are often sound asleep when it is time for
them to come out.  When they were tiny, they woke up so fast they didn't
stay long to be petted, but by the time they are one they will all let me
pet them, and it is the only way I can pet a few of them.  The ones who are
far too busy with important ferret affairs when they are out of the cage
will still stretch and yawn and press their necks against my hand with
pleasure.  Just keep trying and they will learn to love it.
 
Someone on this list wrote a nice piece months ago about our love for
ferrets.  Among other things, he suggested that one reason we keep getting
more is that we can never get as much love as we want from one or two.
 
While your guys are little, be content to laugh yourself silly at their
nonsense.  Buy them clear dryer hose.  Drag them around on a towel or
blanket.  Work on litter box training and teaching them not to nip too hard.
If you have fun with them, and they look forward to playing with you, they
will be developing a lot of affection for you in their odd little fuzzy
hearts, and you will be creating a relationship in which affection can grow.
Right now they are just mad little babies filled with joy and love for life.
[Posted in FML issue 1887]