I wish I knew more of what your ferret is doing that is "bad".  Is it biting, ruining furniture and carpets, or just doing ferret things which are not acceptable in your household? Every home has it's own rules and we need to teach all family members what they are.

What I have to say here is for the normal but "unacceptable" mischief that just about all young ferrets get into. We all know it can be endless!!!

First of all, is there any praise for your ferret behaving good? All of us creatures need to know what behavior is "good" along with what is "bad".  

Before you get serious about teaching your ferret what is good and bad, make sure you have plenty of time to give "Bandit" for a teaching session. Don't try to have a session unless you have enough time that Bandit needs to learn.  It isn't good to have to give up and put Bandit back in the cage with an unhappy ending to the time you are spending together. Pretty much like going to bed mad.

If your ferret does something bad, sternly say no!, scruff, (like you are) then stop and wait. You may need to scruff for a few feet or so, then hold onto it's "scruff"  for a bit until you make your point. If Bandit does it again, do the same. "No!, scruff and wait". It may take more than just a few times to teach Bandit  what is not acceptable in your home. If Bandit stops and walks away, QUICKLY tell it is a good ferret and go overboard with the praise. ("Good Bandit, good Bandit,  GOOD BANDIT !!!" )  

Treats work wonders! I have a bottle of liquid vitamins (any healthy treat your ferret likes will work) and I give all my ferrets tasty rewards when they stand at the door looking instead of dashing out. They get a lot of "Good Tom!" or "Good Tina!" along with their favorite treat.  When I say good ferret, every one of our 5 "poop machines" run to the kitchen to get their treat instead of running out to the woodpile and getting lost!

In my opinion, just putting your buddy back in the cage doesn't teach it how to correctly behave the way you need it to in your home. It just makes him/her frustrated and still full of energy. It also leaves you quite frustrated, too! This may be why your buddy needs to get out so badly at 2 a.m. Ferrets are high energy family members when they are awake. They need companionship and playtime!! If your ferret can have full energy play during "your" awake hours, he/she will be more likely to sleep better at night.

I do have other suggestions if it is REAL bad behavior, but won't go into that unless I know more about the ferret and it's person.

I hope what I have written help you.

With ferrets of course it is a little more difficult to offer direct resources as I am not looking for any organization to get into trouble because of the book. Some of the questions I have include:

- Have any members added their ferrets to their wills and trusts? If so, were there any legal limitations? 

- Did they arrange for an out-of-state caretaker?

- Did they list the animals under a general “all my pets at the time of my death” or did they have to give specific names/breeds? (An estate attorney will be answering that for me later but if anyone has had some experience with the proper legal language the information would be helpful.)

- Is there another organization(s) that would be better? Does the CDFA have any language for estate documents that would give them guardianship of the animal?

Assuming the instructions are in a trust and do not have to go through probate would the process be fast enough to keep the animal from being seized?

- What would be the recommended donation to CDFA (or any other rescue organizations that might be named) for taking care of the animal?

- What is the average anticipated cost of a ferret over its lifetime?

- Is there any problem with listing the “Ferrets Anonymous” website in the book?

- Any other websites that are particularly helpful?

One thing I am recommending with other species, i.e. parrots, is that owners get to know the “community,” via taking classes through the organizations or volunteering for the rescues, in order to possibly find suitable guardians. Would this be a good recommendation for ferret owners or do ferret owners have to be extremely cautious about meeting in any public way?

Any other advice, recommendations or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. As I said I simply want to pass on some good information to ferret owners without getting anyone into trouble. Thank you so much for your time. The best e-mail to reach me at is susan@SFSadvisors.comand the best phone number is 619.463.7526.

Again, thank you so much!

Susan A. Schreiner, CFP®, EA

Registered Investment Advisor

Since there aren't a GREAT number of ferret food manufacturers... and we know roughly 27% of ALL ferret supplies are sold in California.  This is a method I recommend.

First find out the total amount of ferret food shipped to California in pounds.

Put the units in the same time frame, so a monthly total ferret food shipped to California... and figure out how much food 1 average ferret eats in one month. Divide and you should have a reasonable estimate of the number of ferrets in California.  I know there are all kinds of variables not accounted for, but this is a way to arrive at a reasonably scientific number of ferrets.

Another approach is to find out how much ferret vaccination medication is shipped to California, and how often a ferret must get vaccinated.  While not ALL ferrets are vaccinated as they are supposed to be, it could give a reasonable estimate with a reasonable margin of error.

Using things that are necessities, like food, and vaccinations, will help to ensure MOST people would be included.  Obviously some people incorrectly feed kitten chow, etc.  Those are just some rough ideas.  I don't know which would be more difficult to pursue... but take your pick.

 In Conclusion