by debferret

IKEA Rug

The other day I picked up this rug from IKEA – just $12.99 fake fur rug – thinking my ferrets would like it. Apparently ‘like’ is an understatement, the first thing Bandit does when being let out is search for her rug. She then proceeds to spend the next hour curled up on it like a princess.

Princess Bandit

At first I was really worried that she was feeling ill because of how much she slept, she would spend hours there, only getting up to eat and drink. Even her brothers were worried. I caught Radish trying to get her attention (if you see in the background Turnip didn’t seem to notice, he just kept stashing things in his ‘hideout’). Radish tried to play, then eventually just sat on her. At this point I was like ‘omgosh she’s dying!’

Brotherly love

I tried enticing her to play, she just wanted to sleep, I tried laying with her she just ignored me.

Then, I tried treats…

Treats?

Magically she had tons of energy*, even wanted to come up to help me do chores like usual. Then of course I gave her a treat and away we went.

In the end I calmed down again, didn’t even call the vet crying this time! Moral of the story is I’m an excellent ferret accessory shopper, therefore I should go out and buy them more.. Just an FYI this is the rug I’m talking about.

Here’s some cute ones of her brothers looking serious;

Ninja ferret

There was this space under the cupboard that only a ferret could fit through, I tried blocking it off a million times, they were so darn determined they got through every time. Eventually I just took pictures with my phone to verify they weren’t going to hurt themselves getting in there, it was safe, so I gave in.

Turnip looking epic

The construction people that put together my kitchen in my bachelor apartment seemed to have put all the counter stuff in, figured there wasn’t anything to do about the corner (too tight for another cupboard) so they just left that section empty, nothing but a ferret noticed.

By ferret I mean Turnip specifically, first thing he did was search out the perfect stash spot for all my dish cloths, socks, shoes, bras (he ate so many of my bras!), etc.

Standing guard on his hideout

* anyone concerned about insulinoma, her burst of energy came from hearing me open the treat cabinet not from eating it. She really was fine, just being a lazy bum, who gets away with it because she’s freaking adorable.

03.10.16

by debferret

2013 Christmas Ferret Frolic

Every year the Manitoba Ferret Association holds an annual Christmas party. Although this post is from a few years ago, and it’s not the season, currently Winnipeg is cold and windy so close enough!

Santa

Christmas 2013 was both Turnip and Radish’s first. They met Santa, learned snow was cold and enjoyed playing with their brothers and sisters at the shelter. Radish and his brother were adopted out to two members, I adopted Radish and another member adopted his brother, because of this they hadn’t seen each other since late October/early November.

Don’t be surprised by their short attention span, ferrets are very intelligent animals, there was a posting I read on Reddit the other day of someone’s ferret who escaped and ended up at her work (she took them to work often).

During the frolic I placed Radish in the baby room, at this point he was maybe two months old, immediately his brother came directly for him and played for hours. It. Was. Adorable.

Brothers

Starting out Radish was half the size of his brother, last time they met he looked to be about twice his size!

(Animal safe) Packaging peanuts

The MFA Winnipeg branch is run out of a lady’s home where she has a room set aside for ferret play, pictured above, it has multiple cages surrounding secured on shelves. Below the shelves have ferret hanging beds, along the walls venting is secured for ferrets to run through. There’s multiple litter boxes, tons of toys and right in the middle for the party they placed a kiddy pool with (animal safe) packaging peanuts. (I would just like to say again, these are not just any packaging peanuts they are specifically made to be safe for animals).

Mommy cuddles

The frolics go for a few hours and at times Bandit and Turnip get a little tired from all the action, Radish… he never gets tired. Ever.

All my babies

One of the ladies husband dresses up as Santa and we all get pictures of our Monsters with him. If you are lead to believe ‘Bird People’ are strange – here’s a quick reminder they aren’t alone.

03.06.16

by debferret

2014 Camping With Ferrets

Summer of 2013 I decided I would take Bandit and Turnip (Radish wasn’t born yet) out camping with me, I’d never taken pets camping before so I wasn’t quite sure how exactly it would go. First thing was figuring out what exactly was required for camping with ferrets. The ferret specific supplies I took were; Food/Water dishes, Water bottle, Ferret food, Guinea pig cage (it was smaller to make living in a tent more convenient), Mini litter box (for the smaller cage), Hammock bed and hanging tunnel (they still needed to be comfortable), Leashes!

At night they slept in the Guinea pig cage with us in the tent, locked (unlocked Bandit could escape within 5 minutes..), before bed I did allow them to roam the tent for a while.

Bed Time!

During the day we put their harnesses on so they could explore but close enough to keep an eye out for unfriendly animals (there’s many birds, and other dogs around). They really enjoyed the many smells and sounds, although Turnip was a little shy of how open it was.

Once they discovered the picnic bench was essentially a large ferret shelter, they basically were determined to spend the entire day under there watching and smelling.

Picnic Table of Safety

Ferrets have very short attention spans, and pretty poor near sight (apparently it’s good far away – according to my vet), after a while of under the picnic bench adventure they noticed the tree line. Which commenced an almost impossible attempt from keeping them from running towards it. I suppose it’s just a natural feeling, but whenever I took Bandit out for walks she always tried to escape into the trees no matter where we were. I figure it’s to keep her safe from the birds overhead, I would put them away thinking they’re too nervous (cage in the shade and tons of water) but then she’d scratch until I let her out again.

Runaway Bandit

Turnip was only four months into being part of the family at this point, so I’m unsure of whether or not he’s been outside, which is why for him I was a lot more cautious with how he was feeling.

Later on we visited some friends staying at a cabin close by (and by close I mean a bit of a drive but there was a beach!) Although pets were not allowed on the sand, I did take them near by at least. With all the people here it was a lot louder than the campground and way more food smells,

Curious Bandit

It looks like they’re further away because of a little hill, the trees gave shade and it was waaaay less crowded.

Monsters on the Beach

Bandit became the scout while Turnip was determined to protect her, it was pretty adorable. They stuck together adventuring, then both came back to cuddle on my lap after a bit.

Being Distracted

On the way home miss Bandit slept the whole way, She was pleasantly exhausted 🙂

Sleepy Bandit

03.05.16

by debferret

Introducing: Rose Family Business

If you have noticed a few extra posts in the last few days on the point of view of one of the Manitoba Ferret Association’s members family, that’s me! Time has become too scarce to entertain my own blog full time. As well my business and I are moving to England!

Hope you enjoy reading about the Rose Family Business adventures!

12.30.14

by debferret

FERRET NATION CAGE-DANGEROUS SHELVING

I can’t tell you yet if this story will have a happy ending but I am very optimistic because my vet has told me that Scrappy did not need to be put down. I am hoping the degree of her handicap will be minimal. Scrappy caught her left front paw in the shelf of her Ferret Nation cage.

I was not home when this happened so I do not know how long she struggled but the end result was that she freed herself. However in order to free herself, she literally pulled her shoulder out of its socket and even stretched the tendon. The left front shoulder and paw are now completely useless and fold in on her body. We have her on Pred. to help reduce the swelling. She is confined to a small cage to keep her from moving around. My first thought is yeah right, keep a healthy 4 year old girl” named Scrappy for a reason” immobile!! Well, she is in enough pain that she is not moving/trying to use the shoulder.

Before you jump all over me for not giving her pain medication, the reason as explained by my vet is this; she will stay off the limb, stay quiet and let the nerves heal. If she was numbed of the pain, she would try to play like she is used to. Crappy is not biting at me, not grinding her teeth or whimpering when handled. I feel she is coping very well with her situation.

I have tried water therapy and she lay in my hand looking up at me totally unimpressed, not doing anything. I am going to try again but for some ferrets, the water therapy is a bust!

Now, back to my reason for telling you all this! This accident did not need to happen. I take full responsibility. The MFA has 4 Ferret Nation cages. These cages were donated along with a surrendered ferret(s). I personally think the Ferret Nation cage is the Cadillac of cages. The large double doors make cage cleaning a breeze. The plastic floor pans are easy to slide out and clean. The shelves are nice and wide.

There is one problem. The older model #142 had a plastic insert instead of a plastic tray on the shelving. The plastic insert has a tiny gap and this is where ferrets were getting their front or back paws caught.

plastic insert

wire shelf without the plastic insert

Now after several ferrets actually died and many more were injured, the Ferret Nation shelf was modified. Anyone with the original shelf could contact the company and the replacement shelf would be sent out. My understanding is that the cage owner had to contact the company. I had read about this problem but at that time we did not have any Ferret Nation cages in the shelter. So, in one ear and out the other as the saying goes!

By the time we started getting Ferret Nation cages donated with ferrets I had completely forgotten about the shelving issue. In the last seven years we have received 4 Ferret Nation cages and until December 23rd we had never had a problem. I wish that I had contacted the company and requested the replacement pan even though I wasn’t the original owner. I previously had no time to go on line to Ferret.com to order treats(my friend looked after that for us) and so I did not see that they sold the replacement pan!

replacement shelf from Ferret.com

I have contacted the company, sent pictures at their request and now I am waiting to see if they will replace them free of charge because we are a shelter. If not, then I will be ordering the shelves and bite the bullet at the $200.00 cost.

I am grateful that Scrappy did not die from her injury. I don’t know how I would have coped with that guilt.

So, if you have a Ferret Nation #142 check your shelving. If you have the plastic insert, please don’t wait till something happens! Learn from my mistake!