Chief
06-14-2007, 10:16 AM
So there I was yesterday at the local Petco, looking specifically for a new oversized hammock for the ferret cage, since the girls wore the fleece right out of their last one. I wlaked in and the girl in small pets had the ferret cage open, and it was full with 12-13 youn kits, about 2 months old and fresh in from Marshall's. They were pretty active and ready to make friends, so I stood there and played with them for a few and struck up a conversation with the girl who was cleaning the cage.
She mentioned that she had a ferret in the back that a customer had just returned, saying they "just couldn't handle her" any more. they had apparently bought her in March, and just summarily brought her back.
So the gal went and got her, and handed her over, and....well........the rest is history, as they say...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Matilda003_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Matilda005_edited.jpg
She is a very sweet-natured long haired cinnamon ferret; not a show quality, but a good fit in our boggle...
What's funny is that when I picked her up yesterday, my old Tracker decided to vapor lock on my at the Pet store, and refused to start. I had Matilda with me, tucked inside my sweatshirt where she seemed very comfortable. I couldn't get ahold of anyone, so I just locked the car and headed for home on foot, being about 1.5 miles from home...a brisk walk.
So I rolled my sweatshirt hem backwards, to form a pouch, she snuggled right into it and promptly fell asleep, and I walked home carrying her with me. She woke up a few times ank poked her head out of the zipper to see what was going on, and then went right back to sleep.
By the time I got home, the front of my shirt was soaked with sweat, and reeked of ripe ferret...(she got a nice dust-bath this morning...) she is a warm little critter! Ferrets have a normal body temp of 105, so she was really pumping out the BTUs inside of my sweatshirt!
As you can see by the pictures, she is acclimating well. She doesn't have any behavioral problems that I can see, other than she ihas been isolated and neglected. Her nails were way too long, she was pretty stinky and had dirty ears. She got her ears hoed out, and I treated her with 2 drops of feline revolution II, which is excellent for ear mites, fleas, and a few other nasties.
She's also overwhelmed by a big cage. I have a cage that is easily large enough to house 6 fetters comfortably, and now there are three in there. Matilda seems to be used to living in a very small cage, and will take a few days to get used to the larger quarters. She was struggling a little trying to figure out how to drink from the water bottle. I think her former owners gave her a bowl to drink from, which is less than sanitary...
I let them all out this morning for a romp, and followed her around closely while she inspected the entire inside perimeter of the house with her nose. She sniffed around the whole house, then met one of her new sisters bounding down the hall with a tennis ball in her mouth, and went nuts...she launched into her own version of the "Happy Dance" and did another lap...
I have a playpen for them, and that's where I tood the pictures of them. The pen is ferret-proof and fits into a nice vinyl liner that velcros onto the pen bars. I have a fleece cat bed with an old purple wool scarf in there, and they sleep pretty comfortably as you can see...
I think she'll be a good fit. If they haven't fought yet, they probably won't, but we'll keep an eye on them for a while.
My daughter is all excited, and immediately offered to bring her pair, and her boyfriend's pair of ferrets over for a group-romp soon....seven of them will be something to see!!
;D
She mentioned that she had a ferret in the back that a customer had just returned, saying they "just couldn't handle her" any more. they had apparently bought her in March, and just summarily brought her back.
So the gal went and got her, and handed her over, and....well........the rest is history, as they say...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Matilda003_edited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Matilda005_edited.jpg
She is a very sweet-natured long haired cinnamon ferret; not a show quality, but a good fit in our boggle...
What's funny is that when I picked her up yesterday, my old Tracker decided to vapor lock on my at the Pet store, and refused to start. I had Matilda with me, tucked inside my sweatshirt where she seemed very comfortable. I couldn't get ahold of anyone, so I just locked the car and headed for home on foot, being about 1.5 miles from home...a brisk walk.
So I rolled my sweatshirt hem backwards, to form a pouch, she snuggled right into it and promptly fell asleep, and I walked home carrying her with me. She woke up a few times ank poked her head out of the zipper to see what was going on, and then went right back to sleep.
By the time I got home, the front of my shirt was soaked with sweat, and reeked of ripe ferret...(she got a nice dust-bath this morning...) she is a warm little critter! Ferrets have a normal body temp of 105, so she was really pumping out the BTUs inside of my sweatshirt!
As you can see by the pictures, she is acclimating well. She doesn't have any behavioral problems that I can see, other than she ihas been isolated and neglected. Her nails were way too long, she was pretty stinky and had dirty ears. She got her ears hoed out, and I treated her with 2 drops of feline revolution II, which is excellent for ear mites, fleas, and a few other nasties.
She's also overwhelmed by a big cage. I have a cage that is easily large enough to house 6 fetters comfortably, and now there are three in there. Matilda seems to be used to living in a very small cage, and will take a few days to get used to the larger quarters. She was struggling a little trying to figure out how to drink from the water bottle. I think her former owners gave her a bowl to drink from, which is less than sanitary...
I let them all out this morning for a romp, and followed her around closely while she inspected the entire inside perimeter of the house with her nose. She sniffed around the whole house, then met one of her new sisters bounding down the hall with a tennis ball in her mouth, and went nuts...she launched into her own version of the "Happy Dance" and did another lap...
I have a playpen for them, and that's where I tood the pictures of them. The pen is ferret-proof and fits into a nice vinyl liner that velcros onto the pen bars. I have a fleece cat bed with an old purple wool scarf in there, and they sleep pretty comfortably as you can see...
I think she'll be a good fit. If they haven't fought yet, they probably won't, but we'll keep an eye on them for a while.
My daughter is all excited, and immediately offered to bring her pair, and her boyfriend's pair of ferrets over for a group-romp soon....seven of them will be something to see!!
;D