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Post by Agronvall on Aug 27, 2016 19:40:53 GMT -5
Hello, fellow pet owners! Please tell me sweet stories about your experiences of adopting/rescuing ferrets. And please provide me with personal reasons of why it's such an amazing thing to do, thanks!
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Post by unclejoe on Aug 27, 2016 20:35:44 GMT -5
Hi. Have you ever had a ferret? Ferrets are unique little heartstealing critters to the right kind of person. I've met former ferret owners who said, yeah, we had one but it stank. Then there's people like you'll find on this forum who lose their minds when something hapens to one of their fuzzies. The only way to know is to somehow hang out with one. or 6. If you have any love for animals in you, you'll probably be totally in love in a short time. Then it's a matter of dealing with all of the surprises and problems.
I got my first couple ferrets from a pet store. When the first one escaped, I put an ad in the lost and found in the newspaper. I got calls from 2 ferret owners a week apart both looking to re-home 2 male ferrets. Of course I took them all. I went from 1 to 5 in a week. They were all great and loving and got along so well. In a year, I lost one to escape (she dug thru a screen and got killed by a neighbor's vicious dogs) One to old age, one to lymphoma. That's the stuff you have to live with. the next pair I took in, from older owners that appeared to love them, but were pretty clueless about care other than vetting every year, didn't last a year. They were both 2 years old when I took them in. I had papers. They were fed purina cat chow for those 2 years. One was diagnosed with insulinoma a week after I got him and the other had juvenile lymphoma and died a month after his 3rd birthday. I don't regret taking on any of them, as they all had their own personalities, and at that time, they all got on with each other. I have to say, that taking in a "used" ferret is like buying a used car. Unless you get it inspected, there's no way of knowing what you'll get. I am the last one to tell you not to give a ferret a second chance, but I just want you to be prepared. One set of mine lived in a shed IN FLORIDA for a year on pedigree dog food. another lived outside on the south side of a white trailer IN FLORIDA, on dollar store cat food. The other set came from "a bad situation" that a friend said he just had to get them out of there. So, no regrets. I'v had 26 ferrets in 9 years, about half of them used. learned some hard lessons but we keep going
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Aug 27, 2016 21:05:44 GMT -5
I didn't adopt my fuzzies (got them from a breeder) but yesterday I saw the sweetest little male ferret at the shelter I volunteer at. He was terribly skinny (his kennel card said he came to the shelter at only 1 pound!) Both of his ears were cut/bitten off and he had scratches on his face. Hopefully someone will take in that ferret and give him the peaceful life that he deserves but has probably never had. When you adopt a ferret like that you know that you are giving him a better life, and he knows it too.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Aug 28, 2016 8:09:28 GMT -5
I purchased most of my babies from petco(6) They are so fun and hilarious. My baby brother had a lot of convulsions as a child, so the first war dance I saw, I assumed:)))) I remember chasing my Buddy and somehow roles reversed with me running and hollering and jumping on couch. My little man on hind legs with paws on couch was just thrilled:) My last two came from Craigslist. A beautiful 1 year old dark sable. Highly, prey oriented. I was sanding baseboards the other day, and the rubbing sound woke her up. She came to investigate and jumped my hand as it went back and forth. My last craigslist girl is a 20 month old deafie. The very first ferret that we have owned who will go to sleep in our arms. Only read about those kind. She likes to sneak up on us and jump on the backs of our legs. She is a happy ferret. Although costly and a lot of time spent on them, they r a blessing to our home.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 10:35:07 GMT -5
I answered a craigslist add for three free ferrets. Because they were free, I knew I was probably walking into something, but I didn't know how bad it was until I got there. These ferrets lived on two feet of packed urine and feces. They were emaciated and smelled like death. I wasn't going to leave them there. One was half bald, the other had a swollen vulva, and the third was so tiny from mal nutrition. They lived in this h*ll hole for four years. I spent a lot of money on dentals, blood work, ear mite medication, and DES implants. I knew taking them was a gamble so I named them Ace, Edge, and Blind Bet (B.B.). Ace's hair grew back after her implant and they're all happy little ferrets now. My other rescue was a five month old ferret who was neglected and emaciated when I got him. Now he's a healthy, happy boy. [/URL] B.B Scooter Ace and Edge
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Post by Sherry on Aug 28, 2016 11:51:17 GMT -5
I got a wee fear biter from a pet store. Assistant manager had been the abuser, using nose flicks and whisker pulls/pinches to discipline for a baby biting. Took a lot of work as she was terrified of human hands for a while. This was the payoff:
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2016 15:41:13 GMT -5
I rescued my little boy from my local animal shelter 5 days ago. He had been found roaming around outside of someones work during a week where there was constant raining and storms. Its a miracle he survived with the weather, no food and didn't get taken by a bird or another predator. (I live in Texas, where homeless little prey such as himself don't survive long without shelter). The person who found him brought him in to the shelter, he was underweight and starving. He ate food like it was the last time during his time at the shelter. The shelter staff also were taken back by how friendly he was. He let everyone hold him, play with him and loved everyone. Most people who spotted him there were enamored at first sight, including myself. I came to the shelter that day on a whim to see some animals and give them a walk or some playtime (my shelter encourages this from the community). Instead I ended up asking to see the ferret, which I did. I held him and got to know him for a bit and absolutely fell in love. I decided then to adopt him because I knew I was willing to devote the time and energy necessary and would be heartbroken if he didn't go to a home like that. We have become the best of friends these past 5 days and I am so glad he is part of my family. It is so important to check out all your local shelters for ferrets if you want to adopt one. This little guy is a miracle and still one of the most well behaved and friendly ferrets I've ever met, just think about what people could be missing out on by going straight to a breeder or pet store! I now have a ferret that I can say I rescued and gave a better life and it is the best feeling.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2016 19:15:20 GMT -5
I adopted my third fert Noodle, from a Craigslist ad. His owners were young couple - the husband had gotten back from Iraq about 6 months earlier. They had 4yo twin boys and wanted to get them a pet since hubby was finally home - he had always wanted a ferret. After about two months they realized things wouldn't work out as Noodle would take great pleasure in war dancing down the hallway while chasing the boys, etc. The fact that he was deaf didn't help either.
Noodle was very well taken care of.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2016 21:47:47 GMT -5
I got Mei from a locally owned pet shop. Ferrets aren't very popular here so she'd been in the pet shop a couple of months. They kept her in a wall cubby cage barely big enough for her and the only time she came out was to be handled by potential customers. I didn't know very much about ferrets at the time so we kind of impulsively bought her when we heard a mother and some young kids were looking at her. We got her home and she didn't act like I thought she would, so I did some research and discovered she didn't know how to play. She would just wander alone and if I did something she didn't like, she nipped me. It took a few weeks to turn the lonely girl into one of the most energetic pets I've ever owned. She loves to wrestle and stash toys all over the house (including my "stash box", the closet). She hasn't bitten me since the first week or so we had her home since she's learned to trust me. In an effort to make sure she wouldn't be lonely again we got her a companion from petco and she's like a whole new ferret now than she was when we first got her. She's so playful and adventurous now, nothing like the timid little thing we brought home.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2016 12:49:58 GMT -5
We wanted a pet who could fit our schedule and decided on a ferret. When we saw Monty on the SSPCA website and saw he had been there for weeks, we decided to go and see him. When we met him, he was the most gorgeous fluffy thing I'd ever seen. Well, says I, we can't not take him. we didn't want him to stay there all alone so home he came. Then we realised he needed a friend so we went to see a ferret who was described as a bit under weight but lively and he wasn't on the website yet. So down again we went and introduced Monty to a ferret the shelter named Frodo and all went well. So home he came too and got a name change because he was small, ginger and ate tons! We travelled hundreds of miles, 12 hours of driving each trip, just to see and get two ferrets and we haven't regretted a moment. We've had downs but the moments of play, the "kisses" goodnight from Monty when I was feeling down due to work, watching Pippin try and fail to war dance (his back end tries to go one way but his front end wants to roll over, it's hilarious) and every funny little "hey it wasn't me" moment makes it well worth it.
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