Help!  I need some advice, quickly!  My fiance and I currently have one ferret,
a female sable, about 2 3/4 years old (we think;  we adopted her a little over
2 years ago from trh GCFA).  We have decided to get a second ferret, as Shadow
(we didn't name her!) has seemed a bit lonely in our new (and larger)
apartment.  There is a woman who runs a small shelter here in Buffalo, and I
just spoke with her on the phone.  She has two ferrets who need homes, and we
are trying to decide which one will be a better playmate for Shadow, although
we haven't yet met either of them.  I asked the woman if there was any way we
could brind Shadow over, to see how she played with them, but she didn't sound
too keen on the idea (understandable;  even though we have the papers proving
Shadow's had all her shots, she doesn't have any real way of knowing she's
healthy besides our word).  Anyway, how can you tell whether two ferrets will
get along (other than the general "Oh, they always do")?  Shadow is a very
laid-back ferret;  at the time we got her, she was the calmest one at the GCFA
(and they had a lot right then).  She is not especially playful or energetic as
far as ferrets go, nor is she especially affectionate -- she doesn't especially
like to be petted (although she likes being in the same room with people) and
she doesn't tend to get into things as much as other ferrets do.  (We've had
her for a couple years, as I said, and she's always been like this -- just her
personality I guess).  Anyway, the woman at the shelter had two ferrets, a 1
1/2 year old male & a 4 year old female;  she said the male might be a better
playmate, as he was always rambunctious and wanting to play, but we're a little
worried that he might leave Shadow in the dust...  Anyone have any suggestions
about this?   Admittedly, we'd also love to have a second ferret for ourselves,
not just for Shadow, so we could just get whichever one seems most
affectionate, but we really do want Shadow to have someone else to play with --
as grad students, we don't always have as much time for her as we should...
 
-Rochelle
 
[Posted in FML issue 0570]