How will you know when a ferret is sleepy and should go to bed?

Chloe "thinks" she will tear up my plant

Well, one question to deal with is, Will you know? Ferrets seem to be notorious for wandering off and falling asleep. This wouldn't be so much of a problem were it not for the fact that they can do this at, practically, any moment, at any time.

So, let's say you've let your ferret out for a morning jaunt, but you have to be somewhere in an hour and a half. You better watch your ferret, because after he/she has done some playing, running around and investigating (a never-ending pursuit in the ferret world), and eating...your pet could decide to amble off and take a siesta... in a drawer, under a couch or chair (where all sorts of valuables have been stolen and stashed), under your bed's comforter, or even under your kitchen sink.

Obviously, a ferret pulling a houdini act could put a definite crimp in your plans for the day, especially if you are running on a tight schedule.

However, I've noticed with Chloe that events tend to happen in this order:

1. get out of cage,

2. run around checking to see if there's anything new in the house,

3. brief play with owner,

4. checking to see if stolen-goods caches are ok,

5. more running around,

6. more play,

7. mischievous event of the day,

8. settling down at the bowl on the kitchen floor for a good meal.

Chloe tends to eat at the end of her jaunt, after which she gets sleepy. So, I keep an eye on her and I know that when the crunching begins its time to keep an eye on her before she disappears for several hours into some place unknown.



Chloe the ferret - a Mini Blog about Ferrets