A good environment for you ferret is both safe and stimulating. Ferrets are intensely curious creatures, and as such, they have a propensity to get themselves into danger, and the zeal to explore everything. These curious critters knock over drinking glasses to taste what is inside. Funny fuzzies escape over and under barriers to explore the other side. Mettlesome mustelids dance joyfully around your feet, unconcerned about the giants around them. The key to a successful ferret environment is to nurture their curiosity while simultaneously protecting them from it, and that requires safety, supervision, playtime, and toys.
Supervision
Supervision is important. I am a firm believer in caging my ferrets when I am asleep or not at home. Their cage is large and has multiple levels. I change their bedding once a week (or more if merited). I clean their litter boxes daily, keep food in their bowls, and change their water daily (and twice in the summer). Ferrets can only get into so much danger whilst in their cage. (Sometimes you hear reports of strange accidents in the cage. They are less common than unattended ferrets outside of their cage.) So, supervise your ferrets.
Safety
Now supervising your ferrets is fine, but they are fast, so keep boundaries in place. I like Plexiglas because the ferrets cannot scale it. Before your ferrets roam in their play area, get down on your hands and knees and look for holes into which ferrets can slip. My ferrets discovered that if my dishwasher door is open, there's a hole underneath the dishwasher lid that allows them to get into the cabinetry. Ferrets can get into tiny openings. My husband jokes that they are two-dimensional. Make sure every place the ferrets can get to is safe. Keep glasses out of their reach, and remember some fearless ferrets jump. Don't have any reclining sofas or chairs where the ferrets can get to them. Recliners kill ferrets. Make sure your ferrets can't get into your cupboards; I'm fond of magnetic locks. Check all your window screens to make sure they are not damages. Make sure their play area doesn't have a door opening to the outside, or be very careful about the door if it does.
Playtime
The next step to a good environment is to play with your ferret. Ferrets need to be stimulated. They need to play. Put a large towel on the floor. Let the ferrets get on it and slide them around the floor. Tease your ferrets with a toy feather, like a cat's feather on a string. Chase your ferret and let them chase you. Play tug with them and a dog's tug rope. Let the ferrets chase a remote control toy. (Be careful with this. My ferrets destroy the toy if they catch it.) Dance with your ferrets when they dance. Let them crawl through the covers on your bed, making tunnels for them and blocking off tunnels. Train your ferret to do tricks while providing treats as rewards for success. Play and training are good ways to keep your little guys' brains active.
Toys
Since you aren't going to be playing with the ferrets 100% of the time they aren't cages, make sure your ferrets have fun things to do without you too. Put fun things for them in their cages and outside of their cage. Build or buy them tubes to crawl through, or use the crinkly tunnels made for cats. Make them mazes. Give them balls to roll. Make puzzles for them. (Put a favorite toy in a container and let them figure out how to get the toy.) How do I get it? Build them a rice box to dig in. (Be careful when building a digging box. Don't use a dusty material that could stick in their lungs.) Put treats in their digging box so they can dig for treasure. Let them "steal" some soft, small toys so they can "stash" them.
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