Coming Home & Introducing Ferrets
A quick preface before we begin;
You will receive in your kit pack a cover letter. As well as some basic advice it includes a list of the kibbles used in That Years mix, and details of their last flea and worm treatments. If you buy from another breeder please be sure to either confirm dates and products (in case, you need vet treatment) OR worm and flea yourself if they have not already been.
The cover letter also states what paperwork you will find sent to your email address provided. This includes copies of the contract/s, kit guide, first aid e-book and paperwork for your kits microchip. Please ensure you update the microchip details OR keep us updated on your contact details. Microchips are only as useful as the details on them.
Please also consider a vet check. Our own babies are checked but in the contract, it states you have the right to return if they are found to have a non-disclosed fault by a vet within that first week so if we have mislead you, you can return at no cost and go elsewhere. The reason this period is so short is we have seen kits with urine burns and starving from being in a bad home for that long. Thankfully the breeder got them back (incidentally this case is what brought us to have contracts in the first place, we wanted to be able to save our babies if we made a mistake).
When you bring home your new ferret
The most important thing to do when you bring your new baby home is patience. They are currently going through the most frightening thing they have done to date. They’ve left their Mum, at least some siblings, us and almost everything smells different. They will be disorientated, perhaps even frightened.
Use your litter, toys, food and bedding we provide. This will help avoid too much confusion and comfort them with familiar smells. Let them explore but please make sure they have found the tray, if they have not just place them in it, they’ve used that litter from before their eyes opened so they know what it’s for. We would also recommend you leave them in their cage for the first day or two. This is really important so that they can settle and also acclimatize to your home. By all means talk to them, play with them and handle them for brief periods, I’d suggest when feeding, poop scooping or showing them where the toilet is, but don’t let them run around the house or garden. That can easily be too much.
A good rule of thumb is 1 “new thing” a day and 30 minutes of play at a time then a nap
This is to prevent mental fatigue and like with toddler’s mental fatigue leads to temper tantrums, accidents and bad behaviour. For your first day a new home is enough. Do your best over this day to behave as normally as possible. If you normally play loud music have loud music, if you normally cook pungent food cook pungent food, and above all Please review the kit guide. 90% of the teething pains can be eliminated by reviewing the info on ferret proofing and training before we take the next step. Remember that their whole world has changed and like kids they’ll also test to see which rules have changed too. No matter how well trained they were when they left their mums you should expect and be ready to remind them and the boundaries you put and keep in place Right Now are the ones you’ll live by for the next 8-10 years. Take the time to ferret proof your room too.
If you believe the ferrets are relaxed in the home, we can continue introducing them to everything one step at a time
If they need an extra day give them that extra day, always go at their pace
The next step is to open the door to their enclosure and encourage them to come out. Once they’re out let them explore the room. It is normal for them to ignore you and skirt a room when they get out. Please make sure it is just one room they are exploring and, again, that it is ferret proofed. If they’re outside you can let them explore a ferret proofed garden or go into the run. Whatever you do remember and take baby steps and introduce one thing a day. After 30 minutes put them away for a nap and ignore them. They need boundaries and they need to know that bedtime means bedtime. Feel free to give them a treat, maybe a chicken neck or a chick, something they can chew, to settle them. You can let them out for another 30 minutes later in the day but try to take things slowly.
Continue like this one new thing at a time. Maybe the next day you have some friends or family meet them, or maybe you let them explore another room. I would leave field trips until later in their first week home. You will eventually be able to let your ferret free roam in a safe area but until then Do Not let them roam unsupervised and be Very aware of where they are and where everyone else is. You will develop a kind of extra sense that keeps track of them and helps you know if they’re in danger or causing trouble but until then Vigilance is key to raising a happy, healthy, well behaved animal
Introducing ferrets;
First things first, have separate cages ready. It is wise, but not necessary for most, to keep a quarantine for a few weeks. If you want to forgo it then just be sure that everyone is parasite free and healthy before starting introductions. For biosecurity reasons we always quarantine, even our hoblets are quarantined after being used on others jills.
In general kits will be easy to introduce. It is rare that kits take things too far, you just generally have to work on confidence. Adults can be a lot more complicated, you may need to wait until the end of the breeding season to introduce adults. I would suggest you begin by letting them interact with bars between them. It is important to let them get used to each other, but this will also help you figure out how they will interact. An over excited ferret will likely be dooking, scratching and biting the bars and you might see some tail wiggling, such a ferret may accidentally injure their new friend. A friendly ferret will also likely be dooking but will more likely be climbing the bars, war dancing and maybe tail wiggling if they touch noses. Scared ferrets will be hissing. They may also hide, bark or poof, but they tend to try and warn each other off with a good hiss first.
If everyone is friendly you can let them meet. Make sure there is plenty of places to hide and you might want to feed them together. Keep a close eye on them but only interfere if you need to. Unless you are introducing a kit to an adult, they are not likely to be able to hurt each other accidentally, and even then, most adults are very good at mediating their play, so they don’t hurt each other. If you are introducing a kit to adults and he squeals but the adult does not let go distract the adult, let the kit get away and repeat until the 30 minutes are up, they are no longer being friendly, or the rule is broken
The rule is if there’s no poo, no poof, no blood, leave them alone
Once meeting is over you can either put them in a neutral enclosure together if it has gone really well or put them in their own enclosures and repeat once a day until you are happy that they are getting along. Feel free to increase the duration of the meetings between adults if they are going well but you’re not ready to put them together yet, just be sure to end it before anyone gets stressed or too tired. Letting them access each other’s enclosures can help sometimes. Don’t be afraid to take your time but also be prepared to jump in with both feet. They do need to wrestle and learn each other’s boundaries to get along, and they are very thick skinned, what would hurt us doesn’t hurt them. They can be a bit noisy while they get used to each other. Once you put them in the enclosure together you need to try and just push through, if you’re not sure they’re ready don’t take that step
