I have 7 ferrets.  Of my 7, two of them are rescues.  Marguerite can
vouch for this as she is where I got my Oliver and Roxie girl from.  They
are very loving toward each other.  When I looked into getting the pair,
Marguerite told me that Roxie didn't really like other ferrets, that she
put different ferrets with her to see if she could get her to accept any
of them, and low and behold, she put Oliver with her one day, and Roxie
liked him ever since.  Thus, the pair of them was adoptable, and I wasn't
one to break up their relationship, what kind of homewrecker would I be.
Well, we've had them since October, and let me just tell you, I think
Oliver fell hard for her.
 
She was obviously as picky as could be about who she was going to be
friends with, and Oliver, loves her for who she is.  She is a tiny girl,
and has been known to flatten herself out like a pancake and slide
underneath the door to our second bedroom without us knowing.  And all of
a sudden you look down when it gets to be too quiet, and you see Oliver,
no longer playing, but just wandering around lost.  I'll ask him, "Ollie
boy, where is your girl?" "Help me look for your girl." And we'll go
walking around together and he'll plop his big sweet self in front of the
door to the second bedroom and if I listen hard enough, I can hear her
getting into trouble.  He knows where his girl is, he doesn't let her out
of his sight if he can help it.
 
Now their mommy may not be a homewrecker, but one of my other 5 is.  You
see I have a very sweet boy named Charlie who I thought was in love with
his momma.  See, he's a momma's boy and well, I try to deny that I have
favorites, but I guess maybe I do.  I've been trying to see if either
my Cailin or my Charlie would get along with Ollie and Roxie, because
originally all 7 got along, and then when I brought them home to stay,
they didn't anymore.  But Charlie and Cailin are the most submissive
and nontraumatizing ones in my bunch.  Frankie is my alpha male, Julia
tries to go for Ollie and Roxie's throats, and Sammy plays to rough
which makes Roxie mad.  So I tried Cailin in the play area with them, and
Roxie started being very vocal and getting stressed out, backing away,
"screaming" with her little vocal self.  So, I took Cailin out and tried
Charlie.  Well, no vocalizing, so we let them be.  Wouldn't you know it,
I walked by a little while later, and poor Oliver was in a hanging cube
by his lonesome, while his girl was in a sleep sack with Charlie.  My
momma's boy is a homewrecker, I would have never thought.  I apoligized
to Oliver, and said, "I'm glad you and Charlie got along" to Roxie, and
took Charlie out and put him back with his playgroup.
 
Oh yes, there is "In Love" in ferrets.  Absolutely.  None of my other 5
act like that, they all act like siblings, Ollie and Roxie are special.
They do the pretzel sleeping deal, the following each other around deal,
only Ollie isn't as adventurous as Roxie because of his body type.  It's
ok though.  He lives vicariously through her.
 
As far as your situation I feel for you, I don't know what to tell you.
I don't think you're doing the wrong thing as far as Rufus is concerned.
I would have to say that if it was me, I'd probably try to find a
playmate that Munch liked, and go from there, just depends on whether you
can afford it.  I sort of had the same situation when I rescued Oliver
and Roxie, I expected everyone to get along, it definitely didn't happen
that way, but we weren't willing to turn them back over if we could
provide for them, we were already in love with them, and I didn't want
them to feel unwanted.  So, we have a more busy and complicated life,
with two seperate play groups, a second cage, a second travel cage....you
get the picture.  We too have an apartment and it's getting crowded, so
we're looking for a townhouse.  Just be prepared.  Good luck to you.
 
Jen and Archie
The Magnificient Seven
and their cat and dog.
 
An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.--Thomas Jefferson.
[Posted in FML issue 4892]