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My wife Michele and I got our first ferret when we came home to find our son Aaron sitting in his room with a small metal cage containing one silvermitt ferret named Genghis Khan! "My friend can't keep him 'cause his parents found out and said no way", Aaron explained with a hopeful smile. I was about to repeat his friend's parents proclamation, but was outvoted by my wife and two sons and Genghis became a beloved member of our family for eight years. During that time he delighted us with his playful spirit and his affection and when Genghis finally crossed over we eventually acquired Jasper (a refuge in a pet shop) and Sasha (from an ad in the company newsletter). Jasper and Sasha were soul mates from the beginning and it was extremely hard on Jasper and on us when Sasha did not survive an abdominal surgery. We worried then about whether Jasper was lonely with Sasha gone.
About that time I discovered the WFRS, at that time located very near our home and began to visit them and learned so much more about ferrets and their proper care and the progress being made in the treatment of adrenal diseases and other ferret ailments. I sincerely wished I'd found them years sooner when we were dealing with adrenal disease in Jasper and Sasha and getting different advice from each vet we consulted. Of course the goal of the shelter, besides education of owners, was to find homes for the ferrets and we soon became a permanent foster home for a male sable named Ronin and a little girl named Lucy, whom we hoped would become companions for our Jasper.
Well... the best lain plans and all that good stuff! Although Ronin, a beautiful husky male whose main interests seem to be food and more food, adapted quickly and was willing to sack out in the same hammy sack with good old Jasper, Lucy was a different story! With regard to both Ronin and Jasper, Lucy seemed determined to establish that she was not to be dealt with lightly! When Ronin became too inquisitive she bristled and chased him away, but Jasper she just plain hated... attacking on sight and often screaming and grabbing his neck when she discovered him asleep. After pulling her off Jasper a dozen times we began to wonder if this would ever work out and if we had made a mistake fostering Lucy? Of course, we would keep her with us no matter what, but what a shame if we had to keep them separated!
Michele said we just had to "stick with it" and rather than separate them, we began to supervise their time together, breaking up any minor skirmishes. Eventually, Lucy grew less hostile toward Jasper and we grew hopeful. As she began to adjust more to the idea that she was "home" she adapted more to her surroundings. She had always been affectionate with us humans and the more love we gave to her, the more she settled in to the routine of our household and calmed down. I'm very happy to tell you that now Lucy gets along very well with both Ronin and Jasper and the three of them insist on sharing one double decker cage together. Where once we had two ferrets giving out war cries and trying to fight each other and making life hectic, now we have three fuzzies that have become playmates and whom we often find curled up together in the same hammy sack! Perseverance paid off!
Fostering has worked out very well for us! Ferrets are wonderfully playful, affectionate, and loving animals that simply need a good home for their exuberant personalities to blossom! We're grateful for the privilege of being delighted by them every single day and grateful to the shelter for helping us keep them healthy!