aloof ferret!!

Question
Hi, I adopted a ferret from a shelter about 6 weeks ago.  He apparently was very afraid of other ferrets so he is an only-ferret!  He was quite quiet when he first came home with me and although he has grown increasingly more affectionate and comfortable here, he still is very reluctant to play with me.  In the last week he has done the 'joy dance' twice, each time only lasting for around 30 seconds!  He is out of the cage most of the time and I am here nearly all the time. I have made exciting toys from boxes, shredded paper, plastic bags etc.  He does like to be tickled inside a bag but other than that I have not been able to amke him interested in playing with me!  He is getting to be more and more friendly but do you think it is possible that he has never been able to play before and doesn't know what to do?  I am guessing he is around 3 or 4, so could it just be his age, or that he is just a very relaxed ferret!!  i have never had a ferret before and am doing all I can to make him happy. Are there any games that are irresistable to ferrets?!

Many thanks

Answer
Hello, thanks for your question! And congrats on your new fuzzie, I'm glad to hear you are one of the few people that chose to adopt and give these little guys a better life! What you are describing sounds pretty normal to me, especially given his history and age. Ferrets of all ages seem to have little intense energy spirts that don't last too long, and then they go back to running around and getting into stuff and being curious. Also keep in mind that ferrets have games they like to play with you (a human) and then they have their own special ferret games that they only play with each other (usually). Since your guy is an only ferret and sounds like he should/would probably stay that way, he'll only be able to play people games, which are still very fun, but are kind of limited.

What you are doing sounds great, and ferrets love the bags, boxes, toys, etc. Also what I like to do with mine is play "tag": Get him all feistied up, and run away from him. He should chase you. At the last minute turn around and act like you're going to pounce on him. Ferrets love this as it catches them off guard and he will likely trip on himself and roll over and start hopping about, and then he runs away. You try to catch him, and once you do (or not) you can tickle his belly (re-feisty him up) and then run away again. Ferrets also really like it when you mix tag with hide and seek-hide behind a chair or sofa and then jump out once he's close. Or act dead and come alive when he investigates.

Something else you can try that my guys love is to purchase something tube-like that is long in length from Home Depot or some other hardware store (I recommend clothes-dryer machine tubing stuff that the hot air is released from-sorry I don't know what it's called but I'm sure there's lots of different tubes that could work).  It should be about 4" or so in diameter and 5-6' in length, and make sure it's very flexible. You can leave it on the ground and watch him run through it (which in itself is a great toy because it resembles tunneling underground). But what I like to do is drag it across the ground, the ferrets love to chase it and try to run into it while it's moving. Very fun to watch.

You can also do the same thing with the boxes; simply move them across the ground and watch him try to hop into it and enjoy the ride and then hop out again.

As always be careful when playing with ferrets, they are very little and clumsy and can get hurt when playing with us big humans. I hope I've helped, good luck with my ideas and have fun! Any more questions, feel free to ask :)

~sheila