Pet Owner Perception of Ferret Boredom and Consequences for Housing, Husbandry, and Environmental Enrichment

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Boredom may be an overlooked animal welfare problem because of monotonous or predictable routines and confined living conditions that often typify captivity. We investigated whether pet ferret owners believe ferrets are able to experience boredom and which behaviours they use to recognise ferret boredom using an online questionnaire. We also explored whether owners’ beliefs of ferret boredom were linked to environmental enrichments (e.g., toys and shelters) or housing they provided or the style of training they used for their ferrets. Of the 621 responses, most (93%) owners believed that ferrets could experience boredom. Owners who doubted that ferrets could feel bored gave their ferrets significantly fewer types of environmental enrichment than other owners did. The analysis of behaviours that owners linked with boredom showed that ferrets ‘scratching at enclosure walls’ and ‘sleeping more than normal’ were key behaviours that owners use to distinguish ferret boredom from other emotions. This fits with the idea that boredom causes both active seeking behaviour and excessively inactive behaviour. Owners suggested housing with other ferrets, human interaction, and exploration as most important for preventing boredom. These results suggest that pet ferrets are at risk of poorer welfare if their owners doubt that ferrets can experience boredom. ABSTRACT: Boredom is a potential chronic but overlooked animal welfare problem. Caused by monotony, sub-optimal stimulation, and restrictive housing, boredom can therefore affect companion animals, particularly those traditionally caged, such as ferrets. We surveyed owners’ (n = 621) perceptions of ferrets’ capacity to experience boredom, behaviours they associate with it, and whether their perception of their ferrets’ capacity for boredom influenced training techniques, housing, and environmental enrichment (EE). Most (93.0%) owners believed that ferrets could experience boredom, but owners who doubted that ferrets experience boredom (7.0%) provided slightly but significantly fewer EE types to their ferrets. Heat map and classification tree analysis showed that owners identified scratching at enclosure walls (n = 420) and excessive sleeping (n = 312) as distinctive behavioural indicators of ferret boredom. Repetitive pacing (n = 381), yawning (n = 191), and resting with eyes open (n = 171) were also suggested to indicate ferret boredom, but these overlapped with other states. Finally, ferret owners suggested social housing, tactile interaction with humans, and exploration as most important for preventing boredom. These results suggest that pet ferrets are at risk of reduced welfare from owners who doubt they can experience boredom, highlighting an opportunity to improve welfare through information dissemination. We recommend further investigation into ferret boredom capacity, behavioural indicators, and mitigation strategies.