Training Away Unwanted Ferret Behavior

Q: I’ve been making my ferret sleep in my bed because he likes to run his paws down the side of his cage, which makes a lot of noise. He has also started stealing my jewelry and hiding it in my box spring, which he chewed a hole in. Are these normal ferret behaviors? Can they be trained away?

A: I am not sure we can do much about the stealing, hiding and chewing, because these are natural ferret behaviors. I usually recommend keeping a ferret away from the items it is stealing and offering it a box/basket in which it can place, hide or remove ferret-safe toys.

I am not sure why your ferret is running his paws down his cage, except that ferrets are quite active at dawn and dusk, so this may be related to that. Or, perhaps he has learned that you give him attention when he does this, so you are reinforcing the behavior.