I've seen several posts for finding homes for ferret and some are splitting
up pairs or groups.  Please, don't split up ferrets that are bonded
together.  This can cause serious health problems and in some cases death
from depression (resulting from not eating, ulcers from stress, etc.).
 
Ferrets are very emotional creatures.  They may not show their feelings
as openly as other companion animals but they do bond closely with their
people and other animal companions.
 
I'll relate a very sad experience to you -
A man wanted a ferret as a companion for his.  He got one from another
person and at first the ferret did well.  This particular ferret was a
very fat and happy silvermit girl, about 6-8 months old.  She had bonded
extremely closely to her previous person and this transition literally
killed her.  Within days she started moping and not eating as much.  Then
the food she had been eating ran out so the new person switched her to his
ferret's food.  She became more depressed, lost weight, got an ulcer and
ultimately died - 4 weeks after she went to her new home.
 
Now this particular experience was a ferret that bonded closely to a human,
but, this also can happen when bonded pairs or groups of ferrets are
separated.
 
Please do not separate bonded ferrets.  If you do so, there won't be anyone
to blame deaths on but yourself.  I know these words are strong but I have
had to nurse severely depressed ferrets back to health and the suffering
these little ones go through should be avoided at all costs.
 
And I'm going to step out for a moment and ask why would anyone that loves
someone, ask them to give up someone they love?  In my views, if you REALLY
love someone, you want them to be happy and you will do everything you can
to make them happy.  If spouses would only help out the caretakers there
would be more time for the caretakers to be together because 2 people doing
the work gets it down twice as fast.  The me, me, me, attitude isn't part
of love, it is part of selfishness and jealousy and both those traits are
not desirable in a lifetime companion, in my view of course.  Perhaps it is
I that doesn't understand this love thing...
 
The other side of the coin is that I wouldn't want to have ferrets in a
relationship with humans with those traits because the ferrets will suffer
for them so in that case it is certainly better to find a loving home for
the little ones.
 
Ferrets do pick up on our emotions so any negative energy will cause them
to be unhappy too.  Currently I'm stressed about the Canada trip and our
home is a whirlwind of negativity right now.  Several of the ferrets are
very fussey and taking it out on others.  Pumkin is being a doll right now
and very affectionate, but I can see the confusion on his face as he looks
up wonderingly at me.  I obviously need to get my emotions under control.
 
Three surgeries scheduled for tomorrow.  Please keep Maxim, K.C. and
Farrah in your thoughts and prayers for successful guick surgeries and
fast healing.
 
Hugs to all. tle
Troy Lynn Eckart
Ferret Family Services
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/
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[Posted in FML issue 3146]