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Post by tinytippytoes on Jan 12, 2011 19:07:15 GMT -5
I have always had 3 rats Which I have now. The reason being if one dies the other wont be alone. Usually this works because Ive had healthily rats. By the time the other one may go the other is old and 2 tired to get along with another...so my last ratty would be spoiled to the core at the end!! I started to do this when I did have a bad rash with sick rats and its so hard to get a new rat to get along with the other. I wonder if it implies with ferrets. I know I want 2 but would 3 be better for that reason? The cage would be perfect for 3 females and I plan to add another shelf (also I'm planning on adding a remote litter box like Giuliana described (I have the SP thats is as big as a double FN)and they would be getting 5 hours(more on my days off)out of it.
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Post by sunnyberra on Jan 12, 2011 21:03:43 GMT -5
I myself prefer 3, just for the reasons you stated (except the hard-to-get-along aspect). I originally had a pair (Pixie and Yew). They were siblings and very closely bonded. Yew passed away before his third birthday and it devastated Pixie, and if not - 8 or 9 days later - introducing her to Yogi (a kit), I think she would have grieved to death. After Yogi, I added in Sian, both because Pixie was 3 and not that energetic (still getting over ulcers suffered after Yew's death) and b/c I didn't want that horrible grief to happen again (although Pixie and Yogi - the Lovebirds, I call them) have me worried because they are very, very close (Yogi's Pixie's old man) and I don't know what they would do if/when one died (ies). Even with that, though, you as a human can't be enough of what they need, a lot of the time, and even if they aren't as close to the third ferret, having that same-species companionship *plus* their human is the best bet for healing, I think. Anyway, that's long-winded for I favor three, if you have the time/space/money. Other than that, ferrets are pretty social, esp. when they've been around ferrets. It's usually when you get a ferret who's been a singleton for a long time that a problem occurs (generally speaking, as you know ferrets are individual and can't all be categorized the same! )
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rahrah
Going Natural
Posts: 134
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Post by rahrah on Jan 12, 2011 21:18:37 GMT -5
I only have two right now, but I do plan to make it three this spring A friend of mine says that having three isn't much different than having two... I think its just better to have three in cast something happens to one... It be horrible to have a ferret to lose his only buddy.
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Post by rarnold18 on Jan 12, 2011 22:28:13 GMT -5
eh...having 10 isn't much different... I started with 2 and kept adding pairs until the last two... I really don't know what I'd do with just 2 or 3 fuzz....
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Post by tinytippytoes on Jan 12, 2011 22:42:29 GMT -5
eh...having 10 isn't much different... I started with 2 and kept adding pairs until the last two... I really don't know what I'd do with just 2 or 3 fuzz.... LOL 10!!! WoW yeah I see where you would be lost with with 2 or 3. sunnyberra ,thats pretty much the way rats are. it was so hard getting them along..all of them were social in the end at least. None were ever single.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 12, 2011 22:46:01 GMT -5
I actually have 9 right now , but 3 is considered the ideal. Ferrets have been known to grieve themselves to death, quite literally, when their bonded cage mate dies. Having another friend gives them something to live for.
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