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Post by msav on Apr 29, 2014 20:19:33 GMT -5
I went to a Petco in Roseburg Oregon and they told me 11 weeks. That was the youngest I saw in Oregon. This was last June. The same ferrets were there when I went back 6 weeks later. I wonder if it is that they just aren't selling. Perhaps your correct, I went to that same Petco. My mother lives in Roseburg and Grandmother in Winston. I was there in October 2013. They only had 3 or 4. They were older I did not ask their age as there was not anyone available to show them to us at that time. None of them clicked with me so I moved on. I know I said pet emporium. But now That I think about it the store was called Atlantis or something like that. They only had 2 of them a female and a male. Almost pulled the trigger on the Female. HE was the guy we talked to about the age he ordered them. I think he had them for over a month.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 9:48:46 GMT -5
I am going to feel very guilty now, if those are the same ones from when I was there in June. There was a little boy I fell in love with. I almost had the hubby convinced, but we were still living in Ca at the time, and he did not want to risk crossing the border. If I had pushed harder, I know he would have said yes.
The petco cages are so inhumane. It breaks my heart to think of them being in their for so long.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 9:52:33 GMT -5
I know what you mean about the Petco cages. We got Ezra from one of the local Petco stores and at the time there were 7 or 8 ferrets in there. It couldn't have been more than 2 square feet of space. Very sad.
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Post by gfountain on Apr 30, 2014 10:09:05 GMT -5
It couldn't have been more than 2 square feet of space. Very sad. That is terrible.. The Petco Slinkee came from, and another Petco near me, have pretty big cages for their ferrets - circular, about 4 feet in diameter, and they try to only keep 2 or 3 ferrets in there at a time. They have another big cage in the back where they keep a couple more (and yes, I've seen it). Minnie came from a different pet store and her cage was TERRIBLE - square, maybe 30 inches across & divided diagonally to separate her from the RABBITS in the other half! It was clean though, and they do try to only keep 2 in there at a time, and the employees carry the ferrets around with them a lot.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 10:16:14 GMT -5
divided diagonally to separate her from the RABBITS in the other half! It was clean though, and they do try to only keep 2 in there at a time, and the employees carry the ferrets around with them a lot. Oh my goodness! That can't be good for either rabbits or ferrets. It's great that they keep them in smaller groups and carry them around some though. That's better than so many of them get. I've been back to that Petco more recently and there were only 4 or 5 in there. Still too many imo but... can't save 'em all... All we can do is give our babies the best we can!
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Post by gfountain on Apr 30, 2014 10:54:43 GMT -5
Their rationale is that the rabbits don't know the ferrets will eat them, and the ferrets don't know they're supposed to eat rabbits. And besides, the rabbits are twice the size of the ferrets. I told them off very nicely. And then took my baby girl out of there.
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Post by Heather on Apr 30, 2014 14:54:08 GMT -5
They're wrong though. For some weird reason, the pet store where I used to frequent decided to put all the cute furry pets at the front, lined them up nicely along the side of the store when you first came in (Easter is a cruel time of year in pet stores). Ferrets in the middle and rabbits on one side and guinea pigs on the other. It was bedlam. Maybe these creatures don't know they're prey but you know something they were acting like they totally understood the grand scheme of things. The guinea pigs were whistling and squeaking constantly and the rabbits kept thumping their feet and wouldn't settle. The ferrets were bouncing around their FN like little crazy men. The girls on the cash said they couldn't understand as the rabbits usually settled well after shipping. That's when I asked them if they were meaning to set up the food chain or if they even knew the problems they might have created with this set up. They looked totally bemused...hadn't a clue. Management had told them to do this, said they would sell better for Easter (grrr). So, I educated them and then helped them move the critters to different areas of the store. Everyone settled within an hour of being moved. I went in the next day and talked to management as well. Their reasoning was very similar to the excuse you heard as well.....the ferrets are fed kibble so what would they know about rabbits and the rabbits and guinea pigs had never met ferrets. So, in a cruel experiment I pulled out one of the ferrets and took it over to visit the rabbits. The rabbits started getting upset and the ferret was very happy to "play" with the rabbits. No, no one even got to smell noses....I was trying to make a point not create mayhem. My point was taken, none of the "carnivores" were ever again placed with the "rodent types" again. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 14:58:48 GMT -5
Good for you, Heather! It's amazing how unknowingly ignorant people can be...
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Post by Heather on Apr 30, 2014 15:02:41 GMT -5
I think it's as much as thinking that because a ferret, nor any of it's parents have ever hunted that it cannot hunt. I've only had a couple of ferrets in all the ferrets I've owned not capable of pulling from their ancient memories to hunt. Marshals, PV, RC farm ferrets amazingly good hunters. They don't have to come from a long line of hunters. It's a part of their psyche, it's a ferret. Unlike cats that have to often be taught by their mother, ferrets have no such needs. ciao
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Post by Sherry on May 2, 2014 9:44:14 GMT -5
A good example is our Emily. She is the sweetest, gentlest Marshall's girl I think I have ever met. I have seldom even felt her teeth even in play. I have never let her hunt, however the home we got her from started her live hunting at 3 months of age with small mice. From what I understand she was a highly efficient killer even at that young age.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2014 0:32:16 GMT -5
Oslo came from a Petland in PA and he was 3 months old (but he was soo much bigger than the others we thought he was the sad old boy nobody wanted).
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 21:44:59 GMT -5
We got Pumpkin at Petland and she was a tiny little 10 week old girl! We just got Otis a plump 12 week old boy at a place called Pet Depot. It was amazing the difference in the health of these two! Pumpkin was still on wet kibble when we got her and they had Otis on Stella and Chewy! We looked at Petland again right before we found Otis and the little guys were about 8 weeks old and soooo skinny! They also had a chewed up octopus toy (I'm sure you know the one) and there was red felt in the poop! When we talked to the girl who had sold us Pumpkin she was so nonchalant it disturbed me! Saying they do it all the time! I felt so bad for the 2 little fuzzies there! I read about how easily they can get blockages! It amazed me how awful Petland treated their ferrets compared to Pet Depot where they socialized them with the employees own ferrets and genuinely seemed to care about the fuzzies well being!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2014 21:44:07 GMT -5
I understand this topic is old, but I'm reading through to better understand the ferret world. Few things to say: My Puck was bought from a local Petco at seven months old. There were ten of them in one small cage, and they were still being fed kibble soup. That is the kind of cruelty I had to be informed of by my family when they dropped the boy off. Question: We want Marshall's and other ferret farms out of business, right? It's one major unifying thought among responsible ferret owners, and as much as I agree with not supporting Marshall's or the pet stores that buy for them... How can we, as a group, put an end to the cruelty? I personally feel as if I rescued Puck from horrible circumstances, but I also know he was BOUGHT from a horrible company. It's a catch 22! I know I'm ranting a bit, but how do we rescue the Marshall's boys and gals without supporting the company at the same time? Another Question: How do we stop the impulse buying of ferret kits? They're so cute, an people think it's like having a fish, that it's easy and requires no forethought.... They're wrong, and when they realize that they drop the darling little Fuzzy off at a shelter Now we can't just focus on stopping Marshall's absolutely wrong and cruel practices, but on the people who ruin these baby's lives a second time by dropping them off to age and sadly die in shelters. I want to learn more about the Fuzzball I have been blessed enough to receive.... But the more I learn the more I start on this personal mission to save them. I can not adopt any more fuzzbutts until I have fully learned how to take care of the one I have, and am financially stable enough to add one more and not feel stressed. But I want to know how to prevent the horrible practices that the farms make so much money off of...
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Post by Heather on Jul 14, 2014 1:36:26 GMT -5
Your thoughts have been tossed around, ranted about and wished but there is nothing we can do. To understand the Marshal farm you have to understand what they are. Marshals does indeed breed and sell pet ferrets but it's just a small portion of their "product". What Marshals really sells is ....lab animals. If you were able to convince everyone in the whole of US and Canada to not buy Marshals ferrets you would not hurt them financially. Their biggest product is the selling of ferrets and beagles as lab animals. You can actually look them up. How can you convince people to not "impulse" buy? Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits.....we are a disposable society and if something no longer fits our lifestyle we toss it away. Pets are no different. They are a commodity, many people do not regard them as anything other than something that is supposed to amuse them and when it becomes too much work, sick or old you dump it at a shelter. So, how do you prevent this....you stop the selling of pets in pet stores. Perhaps, every pet that is ever sold needs to be microchipped, when it's sold it's registered and if it's found wandering, or dumped you're fined. I honestly don't think "big brother" is the answer but sometimes it's tempting. It's not going to totally get rid of the problem but it will help. Unfortunately, there is no real answer. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 1:56:11 GMT -5
Long rant ahead: (Sorry)
I guess I'm just living in an idealistic world where enough people cared about these animals to realize what they were doing to them... Like the unfortunate circumstance I got my Missus Bea from... She was seven years old, and tied to a tree by a thick tree... Fed cheap filler kibble, and bred every time she went into heat because they refused to put her through the "abuse" of being spayed... She was timid, and had never had enough love from a human being. She was one of six dogs... I would have taken them all, but my budget only allowed for one, and a quick call to the ASPCA... I saw these chocolate eyes begging for respite... Begging for a special place to lay her tired old head... So I brought her home, removed her imbedded collar, and gave her a bath... Her brown hair turned a beautiful blonde as the water soaked in, and her frown turned to a timid smile... The ASPCA did not consider the living conditions she was in abuse because she was fed and had water... Cause that's enough... Or when I got my horse Rocket... He had no shoes, hadn't had his hooves cared for, and was given extremely hot feed that caused cracking... He had saddle sores, and had cribbed so much his teeth were in horrible shape... Again the ASPCA said that he was fed and watered... No abuse was found... Breeding for color and profit is abuse... Over breeding is abuse... And disposing of an animal because it's no longer "cute" is neglect. If I were to do ANY of these things to my son, I'd be FRIED by the full extent of the law... If I raise my voice to much around my son I'd have him taken away... If my husband did this to me, he'd be imprisoned... Why is one acceptable and the other is not? I'm sickened by human nature to see themselves as superior to all other living and breathing creatures...
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