PLAY - TOY - IDEAS

Question
Hello,
I take my ferret out everyday but only around 1 hour because I'm busy. But when I DO take him out longer he gets tired and bored and just lays around. I ran out of ideas how to play with him, I tried the mini pool idea but he's terrified of water, he gets really bored with his toys and if you chase him he just plays for a while then hides, any advice?
-Laura

Answer
Hi Laura:

Wow, there are a gazillion ways to make a ferret happy and playful - and the best is to get another ferret for him to play with!  Suddenly everything becomes more fun when he has someone his own size to wrestle with and steal toys away from :-)    If you do get another ferret, be SURE to take him with you - just like people, some ferrets like other ferrets better than others and some simply refuse to get along, If you take him with you, you will quickly see him gravitate to a specific ferret or two and want to play - then you know which one to take home. Otherwise, you could end up with two *separate* playtimes for two bored ferrets....not good, but I know many people who had to do this unfortunately.  Just a little time together and he will tell you which one he wants and which ones he hates.

Easy and cheap toys are the really crunchy and thick plastic bags like you get at KFC or Wendy's when you get a salad meal (thin plastic is dangerous for ferrets, just as it is for babies; there is always the chance of suffocation, so be SURE to get the really crunchy BIG bags); also cardboard boxes - whatever sizes/shapes you can get - put them in various configurations and  tape them together so he can climb several stories high) let him push "windows" and "doors" (that you cut only three sides on) open and peek out at you.  A dig box with about 40-lbs of rice (get it from a Sams Club or similar really cheaply) is awesome. Make sure it's not the 'quick' rice, but the long grain, long cooking type, so he doesn't swallow it and get an intestinal blockage.

Just about anything that is 'ferret safe' (no foam rubber, styrofoam, soft plastic, rubber, etc) that your purchase from the store is quickly something to check out - unload your cans of groceries on the floor initially and let him play with them before you put them away. They LOVE smells from outside their living area! Just remember those little teeth could ruin some groceries in plastic or produce (yummm....bananas!) LOL

My kids have about 50 little wiffle balls/chocheted eggs/other things that bounce and are ferret-safe and I can sit on the couch and just toss them for them to chase if I'm not really energetic that day.  Keep them all over where you allow him in the house and everytime you come acrosss one, give it a toss for him to fetch......or not.  Usually they would rather drag them off to a hidey hole somewhere.

I think in the summertime most ferrets slow down a bit just as we do - in the wintertime when the weather is cool enough for him to go outside (anytime under 82 degrees), you can put a nice "H" shaped harness (Hagen makes a great one) and leash and go for a walk - but be sure to feel the concrete or whatever he's walking on before putting him down - remember that his tiny feet are very delicate = playing in the grass is more fun anyway :-)

You can just start crumpling up one page at a time of newspaperps and put them into a box and let him run around in it and arrnage the papers one way, then another,  If you have another person in the house, take a sheet, put ferret in the middle and gently 'flip' him up, then catch him - go very gently at first until he gets his style perfected - but they LOVE this!  

The most important thing with ferrets toys is to be sure they are SAFE and to know what is and is not safe.  There is a great list on "ferretproofing your home" at http://www.ferretcentral.org click on FAQs, then scroll down to toys and ferretproofing.

I get most of my kids toys at thrift stores and yard sales. They are often Fisher Price toys for babies and toddlers.  There are a few that only needed a bew battery. Their favorite is round, hollow in the middle and when you press the key in the middle, the lights all around start playing along with various songs.  They've actually figured out to put their heads inside on the button to enjoy the light show!!  So, next time, don't pass up that thrift store or yard sale that has used baby items - they are great not only to get blankies (both receiving blankets for summertime and fleece blankets for wintertime) and toys galore.  When people initially come in my house they think I must have a young child - we even have a small wagon that I pull them thru the house in :-) and they LOVE IT!  They have a hand puppet with a huge nose they like to grab onto, a clear dryer hose (you can get those at online ferret stores) and you can wrap and tie them in various configurations and the ferrets LOVE to run thru them; they have a small nylon tent (another yard sale find!) that they drag their toys inside or wrestle around in; lots of musical toys and toys that light up - that's what my kids seem to like best.  You can outfit them with a whole room full of toys for under $10 if you shop carefully - just watch carefully for any parts that may come off (cut them off if they look like they could be chewed off) - they even have a DVD of "Bambi" and when I sit with them they will watch it - at least for a while.

Just remember that everything your ferret does is ALWAYS more fun when more than one is doing it - you really either have to get down on the ground and be 'hands on' playmate - or get them another ferret.....but be sure to let them choose the ferret.

I hope that gives you some ideas.  Best of luck and hope your little one gets 'happy' soon!  Ferrets are meant to play hard and sleep when they are pooped out, not bored.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers