From Portland OR

[bassicmleodies]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Christopher. I've been reading here frequently for the past couple weeks, what a great resource you've developed! My girlfriend and I are getting two ferrets tomorrow from our local shelter. We are both quite excited. They will be our first ferrets. I've owned cats and dogs in the past, and now that I'm out on my own I am ready to try out something different.

I'm 22 and currently not going to school, although the goal is to become an energy therapist (chi-gung & acupuncture)/ naturopathic doctor. Fortunately, this sort of medicare has become very popular in the Portland area! I am a musician. I play bass guitar for a neo-soul group called "Jarrod Lawson & Good People." That has occupied a majority of my time for over two years now. At the end of this month we'll be starting a three or so month studio session to produce a full length album! I also compose music of my own, which is on the verge of being published for commercial / public use.

I enjoy studying astrophysics, aromatherapy, gardening, nutrition, eastern philosophy, german, Traditional Chinese Medicine and music.

I guess thats about it.

[sherrylynne]

Hi Christopher, and welcome to the forum!! You must be so excited about getting your fuzzies in This is coming from someone with 9 of the little monkeys
We look forward to hearing all about them, and about you! That's a really interesting field you are looking into. And a musician!

[Heather]

Hi and welcome Christopher
Your choice of study is so interesting. You're certainly training in the right fields. Musician too....awesome.
You will find studying your newest charges very enlightning. Your study in Chinese medicine, acupuncture and energy therapy will really help your little charges (though they don't always accept the gift of energy...like cats they find it too intense as they carry their own, though they will accept it indirectly )
Please feel free to prowl the site, ask questions and participate in the discussions. Everyone is friendly and helpful. Good luck, enjoy and I hope that I will be seeing you around.
ciao

[bassicmleodies]

So my lady friend and I have had the ferrets for two days now. We got a female named Evie (E.V.) who is one year three months old, altered and descented, and a male named Sam who is three years old in march, altered and descented as well. They are both adorable! So far they are addicted to the kibble that they were fed at the shelter. We've been training them to come to kissing sounds using Feritone. We've also been cooking chicken breast and liver in low amounts of olive oil, then rubbing feritone on it as well. They don't seem to want it cold, warm or raw. So that has been a little disappointing. The shelter owner said it could take up to six months to get them off the kibble. Is that a reasonable time frame? I don't know what to expect.

We ran into an issue with cage stress and the female. We had placed a small amount of kibble into their food bowl with a good portion of cooked salmon. She would have none of it, in fact she would rather starve than dig through the salmon for the kibble! So she bit the cage and shook it for half an hour or so. We thought it was the new environment, considering that it was their first night in our home. Eventually we let her out to wander the room and get a good smelling of our sleeping space, and I freshened up the food bowl with strictly kibble, within ten minutes she was passed out.

The other issue has been litter training. They're trained in the cage, using the litter box. We've been using wood pellet stove pellets, which are cheaper than litter. When urinated upon it turns to sawdust. It's easy to clean out the dirty dust and feces and reuse the untainted pellets. Really convenient. My question is if I have a litter box outside the cage in our living area (i.e. kitchen / living room) the are ignoring it. So is that a lost cause? Will they continue to use multiple corners if out and about? We have been trying to deodorize the areas they relieve themselves in hoping that the smell of the litter box will be the only area that seems logical to excrete waste into. Is that asking too much?

Other than that they've been great! Everything we were hoping for! Thanks so much!

[sherrylynne]

I'd keep an eye on the corner they use the most, and put either the box there, or newspaper. I've one who absolutely refuses to use a box out of cage, but will use newspaper no problem!
As for the food, the older they are, the longer it can take. Why not sign up for a mentor, and get some one on one help for transitioning them to a much healthier raw diet?
6 months sounds a bit much to me, by the way!

[Forum Administrator]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thank you for taking in these shelter ferrets. They are so many wonderful ferrets waiting for homes in shelters. I am glad these little ones found a loving home with you and your girlfriend. Don't be frustrated or detered by the initial difficulties of switching ferrets to a natural diet. It can be quite difficult (especially with ferrets over a year old), but it is well worth it. I see you have signed up for a mentor, and rest assured we will have you paired with one shortly.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the site. Feel free to post any questions you have on ferrets or ferret care. We are more then happy to assist you.