Why doesnt my ferret like people?

Hello! I have had my female ferret for about 5 months now. She is not mean or nippy or illtrained. My concern is that she does not like people. I let her out everyday for as long as she wants as long she doesnt get in trouble by chewing on cords or pooping outside her cage. She has gotten very used to these rules and we usually only have to put her away at night. She is always curious. She never stops moving when she is outside her cage, always running around, climbing in boxes and stealing trickets, which she then hides under our blue chair in her hideout. But as soon as someone tries to play with her, she hides. She always shys away from people when you reach for her, but she NEVER bites. The only time she bit me was when I gave her her first bath when I first brought her home. And I think she only bit me then because it was probably her first bath ever. She has never had to be punished by me, she has never been hit or yelled at. So I cant imagine it is anything I have done.

Now for the bad side of her story. Aisha (her name) is about 1 year and 2 or 3 months old. We dont know her exact age, this is what the vet told us. Aisha is adopted, or rather saved. Those 5 months ago, I was working at Petco, hoping to save up to buy a ferret in the future, when this young white ferret was left outside the doors to Petco. She was left with a note that said “This is Tator Tot, we cant take care of her anymore.” And thats it. She was in a small 10 gallon fishtank with a screen on top, and as anyone knows, that is not even enough room for a hamster. Half of the tank was filled with bedding, as if everytime the cage looked dirty, they just threw some more in there. Her fur was dark yellow and greasy but you could see the sween ferret in her. She was being fed catfood from a can, which was not even good quality, dollar store brand most likely. Petco is required to call the humane sociaty for animals that we cannot donate from the store, so we did, and because of her condition, they were going to uthenize her. They told us she was about 8 months old. I could not let her be put down just because someone did not treat her properly, so I took her home. She down has a ferret nation 5 story cage, quality ferret food, quarterly vet check ups and the whole house to play in. We tried to introduce her to another female ferret, but she was dominated instantly and just laid on the floor taking the abuse, so we had to seperate them before she was seriously hurt. She does not play with toys, and if given the option, she will never reenter her cage after she is let out.

Is there any chance that she will like people? We have tried treats, ferretvite, toys, getting on the floor and playing with her, letting her do whatever she wants, she is definitly spoiled rotten.

Answer #1

i would assume its because animals can have different personalities, not all of them like humans. however if a human abused it or hurt it in the past that could make the ferret not want to be around humans. at home we have a white ferret who was abused by the previous owner (he couldnt walk properly because of it) and it took him a while to get used to us, but hes very freindly, playful and affectionante now…though not every animal can recover

Answer #2

She has most probably lost her trust in people as she may have been mistreated at her other home. Not mistreated in a sense of animal abuse, but more of a neglection. The more people she interects with, the more she will get used to having humans handle her and the more she will grow to adore petting and playing. These things take time, but with love and devotion can happen. Good for you for taking her when nobody else would.

Answer #3

She was obviously neglected, which instills a sense of fear of people. Whether she will get better or not is difficult to tell. Just like some people get better over time with good care and some people remain wounded their entire lives, animals can have different reactions. The person who handles her most (food, cleans cage, removing her from the cage) is most likely to gain her trust. With regards to everyone else, who knows. Give it time. It took my cat 2 years to stop jumping at every sound. And she still doesnt entirely trust people. Dont overwhelm her with people. If she doesnt like people, just have family members interact with her. She’ll get used to it.

Answer #4

ferrets are really hyper and dont care much for ppl anyway.

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