Including a good friend doesn’t repair all of it

by Linda Maretich

Greater than as soon as we’ve seen individuals being given, “add a good friend” or “he/she wants a good friend”, as the recommendation to nearly any and each ferret downside there’s, whether or not it’s medical or not.

This usually occurs when individuals haven’t taken the time to totally hear or examine the difficulty or state of affairs at hand earlier than responding.

There are conditions through which including one other companion to your current ferret(s), may help and have a very good impact on them. And sure, all of us LOVE ferrets and the extra the merrier, positive. BUT! Including a good friend, isn’t going to assist in sure conditions; it’s not going to make your intact ferret cease biting (he/she’s in all probability going to eat that good friend), it isn’t going to repair your ferret’s stool issues (including a good friend may really do worse if there’s an opportunity of ECE concerned), including a good friend won’t make your grieving ferret recover from who they’ve misplaced (that is 50-50, typically it could assist, however typically it simply doesn’t and can even make it worse), including a good friend isn’t the reply to somebody eager to know begin a uncooked weight loss plan both, and a lot extra. “Including a good friend” merely can’t be thought of a cure-all to all issues that ail ferrets, as a result of it actually isn’t one.

Sure conditions name for sure options or actions first, earlier than anybody even begins to consider including a good friend. We have to have a look at these conditions from all angles and attempt to discern what the true situation is first and tackle that downside for what it’s. Including a good friend could make some conditions worse than earlier than, like including a good friend to an intact hob, that can normally not finish effectively, particularly in rut. Hey, the hob may really feel a bit higher now that you’ve supplied them with a sufferer for his or her enjoyable, however you simply ruined that different poor ferret’s life. Fights between intact ferrets can get ugly and deadly, and sometimes requires them to be separated when in season for their very own safety. Heather Downie, who’s one in every of our admins and a breeder who is very skilled with ferrets as soon as needed to rescue one in every of her hobs, Mayhem, from one other of her hobs, Magic, who tried to tear his throat out, the harm was in depth sufficient that you possibly can see Mayhem’s trachea.

Some ferrets, merely is not going to settle for one other good friend, both as a result of they don’t need the bonded one they misplaced to get replaced like that or they don’t get alongside effectively with others, or possibly they’re only a lone wolf (sure, a tiny, ferret-like wolf or is it wolf-like ferret?) that merely prefers to be by themselves. Not all single kids are sad kids in spite of everything, typically it simply means they get to be spoiled extra and absorb extra one-on-one consideration without having to share with others. A brand new proprietor, nonetheless scuffling with studying care and supply for a ferret (particularly these with an adopted/rescued older ferret that will require extra medical consideration), isn’t normally in the very best state of affairs to only enhance their numbers both. It’s additionally not in everybody’s finances to only add a good friend, bear in mind how we suggest having no less than $1000 in financial savings for each ferret? Not everybody has that.

Above all, the golden rule to additions: You all the time want to bear in mind when including a ferret, that you have to put together for the potential for them not getting alongside in any respect, that means separate housing, and separate play instances on prime of all of it. Simply since you see it as including a “good friend”, doesn’t imply they may see this new ferret as one and even be keen to befriend them in any manner. To not point out chances are you’ll not know the way they may get alongside till a number of weeks in, since you ought to all the time do no less than a 2 week quarantine earlier than doing any introductions. Typically there’s additionally truthfully no want so as to add a good friend both, and on that observe, I’d additionally like to handle the difficulty of “Ferret Math”.

“Have a ferret? Have one other!”

“Oh, yet another? Positive! Okay, now I’ve 15.. wait I feel it’s 25.”

Ferret math… and we wish to name it contagious as a result of we love these wee darlings a lot and who can say “no” to these faces, proper? Sadly, it’s as much as us to be the accountable ones and make accountable selections with regards to the care of those infants. We’ve seen it loads of instances earlier than the place others are pushing each other to get increasingly ferrets, even after they have already got their restrict and even say they’re now struggling financially with it.

“I’ve hit my restrict, so let’s see when you can hit yours too, possibly even go previous it!”

This isn’t truthful to them or the ferrets (each these already owned and the brand new additions), nor your self if you’re on this state of affairs. You can not present a ferret with a greater life if you’re unable to take care of them with correct meals, consideration and medical care, and everyone knows that “ferrets” and “medical wants” go hand in hand.

We should be extra aware of one another’s conditions and precise ferret issues at hand, earlier than we simply throw it on the market to “add a good friend”.