I'm confused.  This doesn't happen too often with my girls now that I have
had them for three years and know their behavior like my own and how they
react to things etc... but lately they have all been very needy and I'm not
really sure what to do about it.
 
I spend lots of time with each of them and play with them and give them lots
of pets and snuggles and yet they are still aching for more and more and I'm
not really sure why.
 
Ceridwen is the eldest and going on seven.  She lost her sister earlier in
the year.  Ceridwen has never been very playful but rather reserved and is
much more of a lap ferret than the younger two.  I will let Ceridwen out of
the cage and she typically wanders to the food dish (she's a ferret garbage
disposal ... loves everything) and then will look for her daily treat which
I will call all three together for.  Afterwards she follows me around and I
will pick her up and give her lots of pets and snuggles but the moment I
pick her up she wants down.  If I dont let her down, she squirms.  If I let
her down, she looks up at me with this "pick me up again" look and follows
me around some more.  It's really rather frustrating as I can't tell what
she wants.  I've tried playing with her with a variety of toys and towels n
stuff (the younger girls love chasing a towel dragged over the floor to go
for rides and see how high they can bouncebouncebounce up onto it) and she
is just not interested.
 
Rune is the easier of the three I think.  She is going on three years old
and I have raised her since she was six weeks old.  She is really doing more
or less okay as long as I make sure to give her enough play and snuggle
time.
 
Trill is an enigma to me.  She is going on two.  She's about as large as a
male.  Anyways.  When I got her it took her a long time to open up to the
other ferrets and its only been the past six months or so (I've had her
since 12/96) that she has become very sisterly and playful with Rune.  Trill
will bounce around and get lots of playtime in and exert lots of energy and
she has five rubber jingly balls that she LOVES to chase all over the house
and even fetches and brings them back to me on occassion.  I have trained
her to lay in my arms using occassional treats when she is particularly good
as it really took her about a year to not be skittish around me all the
time.  I really think she just has a lot fo wild ferret in her :) Anyway,
I'll give her lots of play time and then she just flops down and does the
flat ferret thing.  And I know she's bored.  So I go to play with her more
and she plays briefly and flat ferrets out again.  I'm not sure if I am
holding her interest or if she needs another kind of attention or what... I
really cannot read her at all.
 
I figured I would try here with all you knowledgable folks to see if you can
help me out with more information on ferret behavior.  I thought I had them
pretty well figured out, at least as far as my three go because all ferrets
have very distinct personalities which is probably why this post is so long,
but lately they have really been baffling me and I'm not sure what to do
about it.  Any advice, suggestions, etc.  would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks for Listening,
Dave Welch, Ceridwen, Rune, and Trill
[Posted in FML issue 2322]