|
Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2012 18:31:40 GMT -5
;D cocchi agrees she smells like teenage hob not-quite-in-rut-but-got-the-BO She tried to bit Pimm in the testicle this morning and regretted that decision... somehow she's blaming it on me.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Nov 18, 2012 18:53:23 GMT -5
Got to love intact fuzzies....don't you know, it's like having teenagers in the house....it's always your fault ;D ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2012 18:58:58 GMT -5
between emo-raven and the teen-kits, it's hella fun over here!
But the kits still sleep on my husband's chest. Or mostly on his chest.. Pimm spreads out quite a lot. I need to take new pictures.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Nov 18, 2012 19:01:26 GMT -5
With a name like Raven he would have to be emo ;D Just thinking of a novel I had read years ago ;D The title character's name was Raven and he was horribly emo ;D You are going to have to update those photos....those babies would be getting so big now ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2012 23:02:06 GMT -5
Finn has gotten SO cuddly as he's been in rut! Has anyone else seen this happen with hobs in rut? He sometimes appears to enjoy being held and scratched so much that his eyes sort of roll back in his head and it's like he's hypnotized, I call it "hobnotized" haha... And not only that... Tonight he was doing something so freakin cute I couldn't believe it... He was in a sleepy and cuddly mood, and I picked him up and was just holding him close to my body nice and warm, and he was kind sort of half falling asleep in my arms, and when I was just holding him still, if I started talking to him, he would respond to my talking baby talk by air-licking with his little tongue ;D I'd stop talking and he's stop, then I'd start talking to him again and his tongue would start going ;D Lately he's the most cuddly I've ever seen him!
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Nov 20, 2012 0:02:55 GMT -5
That's so cute Mikey. Finn is such a sweety. I wonder what the tongue thing is all about Finn is so laid back Tico is much more clingy this time 'round. Wanting to be snuggled and held, he will even climb up onto my lap for snuggles. He's still rather nippy but it's not to hurt anymore (which is nice), he will bite and hold there is no pressure, or true intent to the bite. I will be interested to see what Tico is like this year when he actually goes into full season. He appears at the moment to be in a holding pattern. He's not in full season....he's not in full hob funk, smellier than he needs to be but not near as bad as he could be. His manly bits are down but not like when he flew over from the UK and not anywhere as oily. He's much more playful but then I don't know if it's because he's not in season or because he's finally considering this place home. ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2012 2:26:22 GMT -5
Finn harassing Fenton, this is why only Rosco can live with Finn ;D
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2012 4:23:55 GMT -5
Finn enjoying some cuddles and scratches, hard to video this because it takes 2 hands but I used a tripod. He gets into it more than this usually but the tripod and my awkward positioning were distracting lol...
|
|
|
Post by crazylady on Nov 20, 2012 16:55:29 GMT -5
awwww what a cutie he still got his channel going ? or is the smell and grease lessening ? lol give him a kiss from me take care bye for now Bev
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2012 19:45:31 GMT -5
awwww what a cutie he still got his channel going ? or is the smell and grease lessening ? lol give him a kiss from me take care bye for now Bev The smell and grease seem the same to me so far, I don't think he's going out yet... but we'll keep trying!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2012 14:48:59 GMT -5
Hi all! Just wanted to post a couple updates. First of all, Finn is still in rut, in fact his rut has intensified a little bit. He is now doing the thing where he wanders around "talking to himself" on the trail of a girl ;D Another thing he has started to do is drag his belly over things as if he's "pee marking". However, I have paid very close attention, and so far he's not leaving any pee. But I've recently read some literature on ferrets (Heather knows which book) that suggests they might be marking with some scent glands in the skin on their belly when they do this, so maybe that's what he's doing right now. BUT, the main thing I wanted to say was, we had a major victory in containing the smell! Finn is at his very most stinky right now, ears oozing brown gunk, fur all greasy and mussed-up looking, marking things, etc. But I was able to contain the odor for our Thanksgiving feast! We just had Thanksgiving at my house, 22 people in the house eating, and many of them are very sensitive to ferret odors and would complain if they could smell them! So, in preparation, the day before, I gave Finn a bath, cleaned the ferret room, dusted the carpet with baking soda and then swept it into the pile with a broom, then vacuumed the floor, changed all the litterboxes, and washed all the bedding. Then, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit in the doorway to their room, because the ferrets keep pulling up the edge of the carpet there, and exposing the foam underneath, and that stuff is VERY scary, a blockage waiting to happen if one of the ferrets were to eat some. So the cardboard in the doorway (to be replaced later with a thin piece of wood) stops them from pulling up or digging at the carpet, and it's working so far. BUT the cardboard also had a surprise benefit I did not think of - It makes a better air seal under the door, so even less ferret odor leaks out into the hallway when the door is closed! After doing all this, then giving them a nice long playtime the morning before the Thanksgiving feast, I shut their door and put them to bed with some fresh turkey... And the house didn't smell like ferrets at all! None of the guests were able to smell the ferrets Only after the festivities were over did I open the door (I actually locked it during, there were 22 people in the house most of whom were children, and I didn't want them playing with the ferrets without supervision). Then with the door open the house smelled mildly of ferrets again haha...thanks to FINN and his powerful odor, even the day after a bath he already is smelling pretty strongly again ;D But not AS strong as before, at least it diminishes the odor for a couple of days. So, with a little determination, a separate air conditioner for their room, and tight control of airflow, it IS possible to have a very stinky intact hob living in the house and NOT have the whole house smell of ferrets At least for special occasions... I can't go to these lengths every day ;D Most of the time my house does have a very mild ferret smell lingering.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Nov 24, 2012 17:15:32 GMT -5
Well done Mikey....well done. That's great that you were able to have that many people over and had no remarks about ferret odour. I'm sorry that Finn isn't cooperating in the whole hob thing Maybe he was farther along than Tico was...but then it's warmer where you are too. So that could be an issue too. We had our first snow fall last night (it didn't amount to anything), but it gives you an idea as to the temps. Tico goes out to play daily....he won't be wanting to be dragging his bits around in a snow bank for very long ;D ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2012 23:33:00 GMT -5
On Joan's suggestion, tonight I switched out the yellow "bug light" bulbs in the ferret room, for darker more orange "amber light" bulbs instead. The overall effect is a little bit less light, but still enough to do the job. I also switched the one in my bedroom to the amber bulb, to help me wind down and get sleepy at night We'll see if it works any better than the yellow bulb! I already felt like the yellow bulb in my bedroom was a little brighter than I wanted it to be for winding down for bedtime. I'm going to start letting them get natural sunlight through the window and only a limited amount of amber artificial light at night. I may even switch to a red bulb which is even dimmer and is used in some zoos and animal sanctuaries when lighting areas where they don't want to expose the animals to artificial light cycles.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Nov 24, 2012 23:50:54 GMT -5
I will be interested in hearing about your results. Who would have thought how sensitive they actually are to the light. It really does make me question if we're really messing up on the hours of lighting and our intact fuzzes ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2012 10:22:25 GMT -5
Just an update on the lighting change: Yesterday I noticed that Fenton's fur, which was starting to look quite orange, now is no longer looking that way! I have not bathed Fenton or Fiona, and both of them have less odor than they did before I started changing the lighting situation. Even Finn looks less orange. Fenton's fur still looks kind of orange right at the base of his tail, but the rest of his body looks a LOT better. I recently switched to amber / orange colored light bulbs for a little while at night while I'm playing with them, and natural sunlight through the window during the day. I've only been doing that for around a week, so I doubt that this made the difference, but I did get rid of the bright blueish fluorescent light in their room at night, so maybe that gradually did it? I'm not sure because I didn't notice when exactly the fur started looking different. One change I do think I am seeing just since switching to natural sunlight in the daytime and limited use of amber bulbs at night, is that the ferrets seem more energetic and playful. Fenton in particular is really playful lately, which is cute Just as a whole, subjectively, everybody seems happier and healthier all around so far. The differences are subtle but they do seem more alert and happy and stuff. Maybe the natural sunlight gives them something they need to be more healthy? After all, they do have dark places where they can get away from it to sleep, so they don't have to get TOO much sunlight if they don't want it.
|
|