The most important aspect of novelty is not that the object or situation
IS new, but that the ferret REACTS as if it is new.  Old toys can be
removed for a week, laundered, placed outdoors, rubbed in potting soil,
or even dipped in various scented waters.  Bedding can be frequently
laundered, or occasionally perfumed with cooking extracts, such as
vanilla, or liquid smoke (or even your favorite purfume).  Sections of
the ferret's cage can be washed with various scents, or bedding or toys
from a dog or cat can be placed inside.  The point is novelty can take
just a few moments each day, yet it can potentially make a tremendous
positive impact on a ferret's life.
 
Novelty is NOT just new objects, but also new situations.  Living in a
cage and running around the front room eventually becomes as familiar as
the interior of the cage itself.  You could allow the ferrets in another
room, or better yet, take them outdoors.  A romp in the park, a visit to
the backyard, even a walk along a lakeshore can introduce a high degree
of novelty into a ferret's life.  In many cases, situational novelty is
far better than object novelty because so many senses, as well as the
ferret's brain, are stimulated.  I have taken one of those circular
Plexiglas play enclosures outdoors and placed it around grass clumps and
tree stumps.  The point is that new environments are complex situations
that challenge the ferret's mental abilities and sensory organs.
 
There is a final aspect of novelty that should be discussed.  Novelty
isn't just new situations (taking the ferret to the park), or new objects
(toys), but also personal interactions.  Play is itself a novel situation
because each moment is unscripted and random.  Periodic visits from a
healthy, vaccinated ferret owned by a friend is a great source of
novelty.  Not just other ferrets, but play with a human is perhaps the
most novel situation of all, especially if the ferret owner takes the
time to make sure each play period is somewhat different than the last.
I have found it quite effective to vary the types of play from day to
day, ending it with a quieting down grooming period.  Varied play,
especially vigorous, spirited play, is a very novel experience.
 
Novelty is important, but if done each day at the same time, it becomes
scripted and loses some of its, well, novelty.  The trick to making ANY
enrichment program more effective is to randomly vary the time and place
of the enrichment.  Adding random variability to an enrichment program is
the subject of the next post.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4191]