Ferrets are interesting and win our hearts daily through their mischievous acts. But for a new ferret owner, it is tough to perceive how a ferret shows love or affection to his owner. It is tough to differentiate between their mischievous acts and loving/affectionate behavior.
Ferrets show love in many ways. It may not be very obvious at first, but you will notice soon enough. Mostly, you want to see your ferret very comfortable in your presence and fond of your touch.
1 – They try to get your attention with noises.
2 – Run to you for belly rubs or pets on their back.
3 – Play with you in different ways.
4 – Cuddle you when you come home.
5 – Take a nap with you for a few minutes.
6 – Sit on your lap and play when they desire to.
7 – Lick and kiss your face, neck, lips, or cheeks.
8 – Chat with you in a soft voice regularly.
9 – Exhibit a kind behavior in every act.
10 – Watch TV or a movie with you comfortably.
These are just a few behaviors that they show when they truly love you.
If your ferret isn’t showing any of these signs, you are probably doing something that is irritating them or not letting them feel safe around you.
They are depressed, stressed, or scared of you.
Before trying to get a ferret to love you, you need to know ‘Ferret Depression Symptoms’ and their causes. Once you understand them, it becomes easy for you to stop doing those things that annoy ferrets and make them love you again.
Ferret Depression Symptoms
Here are some signs of an unhappy ferret. They will do things like:
- react strongly to fear.
- become ferocious.
- not play or socialize.
- spend time in quiet areas.
- refuse to eat.
- become lethargic.
- seem to stay ill constantly.
If you see these depression symptoms in your ferret frequently, don’t expect them to show any love to you. You have to treat these signs of depression first and make them happy.
You need to know what are the root causes of their depression and prevent them.
The main causes of their depression are the change of ownership, a sudden change in lifestyle, absence of a playmate, loss of a buddy, and illness.
How To Make Your Ferret Love You
If you solve all the above problems, you can expect your ferret to be happy.
He will be in much better condition to love you. This is not necessarily easy or quick, especially when getting a new pet.
But, luckily, there are still a few more things you can do to make your ferret love you.
1 – Nourishing Food
Ferrets are carnivores, so their nourishing diet should be a high protein diet. High-quality chicken or lamb based diet is good for them. They are high in protein and fat and the ferrets love them too. If you are already providing them a good diet and they aren’t happy, try the ‘treat’ option. Though their treats are expensive, they can brighten their day.
And, when your ferret is happy, they have a lot of stimulation. They love to play with you over and over again and spend time with you to show their adoration.
To learn more about how to properly feed your pet ferret, check out our ferret food guide here.
2 – Keep Them In Pairs
Don’t expect your ferret to be happy if he is alone. They are very social creatures. It is not in their nature to spend time alone or play with toys without their friends. A single ferret gets lonely and bored almost immediately. When you give them other companions, they feel glad. The companionship keeps them mentally and physically healthy.
This is particularly good when you don’t have enough time to play with them. They can spend time with their friends and play together. Though, keep in mind, when you keep ferrets in groups or pairs, they become aggressive and start to fight in mating seasons.
You have to take some extra steps to keep their mating seasons safe. For instance, you can keep the pairs in different cages (if you have more than 2-4 ferrets).
3 – Give Them Attention
This is perhaps the best thing you can do to make your ferret love you.
It takes time, but once you give them attention properly and according to their requirement, they love to get your attention again and again and desire to spend time with you.
You become their favorite person.
There are many things you can do to give them your attention, such as revolve your hand around their body and let them follow your hands. They love to follow the motions of your hand and chase it. You can also use your hands to wrestle with them in a fun manner. This will make them produce sounds like chirping.
4 – Comfortable Temperatures
One big reason that keeps the ferrets away from you is the temperature of your room. Most people keep the temperature comfortable around their cages but when they try to play with them inside their room, ferrets run away. The room is either too cold or too hot for them, and they can’t stand it for long.
Therefore, you must keep the temperature of your room fine as well. It should be a bit cold, but not too cold. Ferrets do like a bit of cold and will even enjoy snow if you live in colder areas.
When your room has a cool temperature, your ferrets will love to jump on you, your couch, or bed and watch TV with you or play with you under the covers.
5 – Give Them Toys
Ferrets notice when you put toys in front of them.
They believe you are the source of their enjoyment. That’s why most owners purchase lots of toys and accessories, place a few of them in front of their ferrets, and switch the toys every few days. Give them those toys that won’t break or fall apart easily. They shouldn’t be too small either because very small toys can cause a choking hazard.
In case you notice some specific toy gets their attention all the time, give it to them with your own hands when you open the cage instead of putting the toy inside their cage and letting them find it. This way they will understand you are providing them their entertainment directly.
Don’t be afraid to play with your ferrets either! Some toys are made for you to engage more actively with your pet, and we highly recommend it.
6 – Just Learn More about Ferrets!
It goes without saying that all pets are different and can have their own unique personalities. Ferrets are a bit unusual compared to the pets people typically have, like cats or dogs. They can take longer to learn and get accustomed to, especially if you have or had other pets in the past. Their hyperactivity and natural curiosity can be exciting, but also cause nervousness and tension for both the ferret and ferret owner. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make sure your ferret feels comfortable and safe just like you would with any other pet.
Some people have spent serious time to study and get to know these cute creatures. Learning about what they discovered can help you form a more meaningful bond with your own pet.
This book, “Find out About Ferrets“, is available on Amazon and on Kindle as well, and covers just about everything you can think of when it comes to having one or more pet ferrets in the house.
The writer, Colin Patterson, suggests that proper care can lead to better behavior, happiness, and even a longer lifespan for your pet. We highly recommend it for any beginners or ferret enthusiasts who would like to know more.
Conclusion
Do all these things to make your ferret love you.
Don’t expect them to love you and spend time with you for hours. Ferrets have a short attention span. If they love you, they spend a few minutes with you.
That’s the kind of hyper active and spontaneous behavior that makes ferrets who they are.
Besides, some ferrets have their way of telling you that how much you are special for them. For example, they follow you wherever you go or notice curiously what you do.