Cure for a jealous Ferret?

[Deleted]

I recently (6 days ago) took in a foster ferret, Marcie, a 1yr old little wild child girl. I have a 5yr old boy, Caillou, he's a Waardie and is very emotional, he gets upset when you yell or get mad at him, and for the past 2 months has become very cuddly (I've had him for 1yr). He is very attached to me, but only me.

He loves Marcie and they love playing together, but he seems to be jealous of her. He seemed upset with me soon after I got her, I was spending a lot of time with her, playing and feeding with her and such, what I used to devote all my time to doing that with him. He started ignoring me for the first 2 days, but now he won't stop trying to be with me and give cuddles. He follows me around and crawls up my leg, he wants me to hold and spoon feed him, and several times a day he climbs onto my bed and lays on me for cuddles and will sleep in my arms for 1-2 hours then get up and play for a while and come back, he does it all day long. He was laying in my arms for about an hour, and just got up to play.
Every time I pick up Marcie he runs and climbs up my leg or nudges on my foot. If I'm feeding her he climbs on me and checks everything out, and he won't stand for me to be in the room with her unless he is out of the cage and comes over to me, like he's checking to make sure he is still my #1.. it's very adorable, but how can I make him not so jealous/upset? I certainly don't want the cuddles to stop, but I don't want him to feel unloved. I've been giving him cuddles and playing with him a lot, what else can I do? Silly Caillou, he will always be my big fat, cute little fert. I wish I could tell him so.

[Deleted]

I just offered Marcie some slivers (she ate them (dance) ) and Caillou ran over there all worried like and then when I sat down he jumped onto my lap is giving me cuddles again right now. LOL, he's so cute.

[unclejoe]

Hmmm, that is not a behavior most ferrets would complain about. Lola is like that, always wanting attention, but she doesn't nap on us very often, tho we can cradle her for hours. I'd be happy Caillou doesn't take his jealousy out on Marcie. As long as he's getting the attention he's seeking, he don't got nuthin to complain about, lol.

[Deleted]

Haha definitely not complaining about extra cuddles, I just didn't want Caillou to resent Marcie or be nervous/anxious when she's around, I know jealousy isn't a great feeling is all. Was looking for some ideas of things I can do with him, just me and him

[Deleted]

I wouldn't worry about it. Like was said as long as he isn't harming Marcie about it, I'd just keep cuddling him and giving him a little extra time to yourself. Maybe try to sneakily do one-on-one with both of them without the other knowing

[Deleted]

He follows Marcie around like a puppy dog, she's kinda independent and will play with him but not a whole lot, she likes to explore on her own, which makes him sad so he will also come to me out of disappointment that Marc didn't want to play. I swear it's like a 3 year old who fell and scabbed their knee, comes crying to mom for loves.. lol I love it... hehe

[Heather]

What you have to remember about a waardie is that they're special children. They will never seek revenge on their friend because their mind doesn't work that way. Their feelings will be hurt but they will sulk or mount severe snuggle attacks to reinforce their flagging self-confidence. Yes, very much like a small child but think "special" needs child. They need constant reassurance that they're loved but their friends are just an extension of that feeling.
ciao

[Deleted]

Caillou definitely isn't one to get angry, his anger is depression. He gets sad when he is denied cuddles or does something bad and I tell him no. Most emotional ferret I've seen. The others couldn't care less, Caillou could not possibly care any more than he does already.

Definitely got severe snuggle attacks today. It's like he absolutely needed to make SURE I still loved him, you just had to be there to get it completely, it was like he was so worried I didn't love him or something, and I got so many snuggles it was crazy adorable. I can now do something I never could do before starting raw, I can pick him up, sit down and pet him and have him go to sleep on my lap.
Thanks to Katt for sharing the bonding video, I gently scruff Marcie and hold her on my lap and pet her, she allowed me to do it for 5-10 minutes and will fall asleep in my lap until I stop petting her ears. The only other ferret I've had that's been as sunggly as Caillou was Adrian, my heart ferret, he has undiagnosed and untreated lymphoma, he was always lethargic but I know even if he was healthy he would have been the same with me, the reason my mother allowed me to get Caillou, was because he reminded her of Adrian. EVERYONE loved Adrian, even the people who hates ferrets loved him. My mother cried as hard as I did when he passed away, we could barely speak to the Vets there. There wasn't a soul that didn't fall in love with him within seconds of meeting him. I miss him so much... and Caillou reminds me so much of him. Makes him even more special