Post by hillarythechicken on Dec 7, 2010 13:53:12 GMT -5
Hello everyone! My name is Hillary. My current ferrets are Hiro and Snickers. Hiro, the boy, was my second ferret. I got him two and a half years ago from a pet shop to keep my first ferret Itachi company. Itachi had been briefly paired with my ex's ferret Tsugi, while we were living together. When we broke up they were separated (I've always wondered if that was the right choice, though in our defense, Tsugi was 7 and Itachi still a kit at the time)
Hiro and Itachi got along pretty well, though it took them a month or two to adjust to eachother since it had just been me and 'tachi for a while at that point. They had some fun times together once Itachi got used to the idea that he wasn't going to be an only child anymore. Unfortunately Itachi died very young, possibly due to cardiomyopathy, though I will never know for sure because the vet I was seeing at that time didn't really know what she was doing with ferrets. Back then I thought that just because a vet would see ferrets, that meant they were knowledgeable about them. I felt terrible, and was more careful in selecting my next vet, though I've since moved and have not found a vet where I am living now that I am happy with... yet!
Anyhow, a few months after Itachi passed on, I got Snickers, my first girl, from a shelter. Snickers is as much of a handful as Hiro and Itachi combined! And that's even with the fact that Hiro turned out to be deaf and was therefore a huge pain to train the most basic litter box and no nipping skills. Snickers and Hiro had a hard time at first- she started out scared, then she was aggressive. I had to keep them separated when I wasn't around; a huge pain since I don't use a cage! They finally bonded after about two months, while I was out of town and my new boyfriend (now fiancee) was taking care of them. Go figure.
My furkids have free run of me and my fiancee's bedroom, and once our new apartment is fully set up they will have supervised playtime in the living space (open layout means lots of fun kitchen ferret proofing, so this will take some time). They don't really go outside, mostly because of my location, and also because I worry about distemper (I chose not to vaccinate them). We are starting clicker training (with a flash light for Hiro) and they seem to enjoy the extra attention.
They are both in pretty good health, though Hiro could stand to put on some weight, and his coat is noticeably less fluffy than Snicker's. I stumbled upon this forum while looking for information about improving diet. They are currently eating Evo for ferrets and Natural Balance Feline (Ultra Premium). They also have a semi-regular treat of chicken, turkey or beef baby food with a new addition of some "extras" (thus far they've had raw egg yolk and raw ground turkey). I am planning on trying them on Wysong's freeze dried raw and maybe working our way (slowly, very, very slowly) towards a raw diet, though I feel like I will need a lot more information and assurances before I can get to that point. For one thing, as a long-time semi-vegetarian (I eat fish, but no land meat), I have no idea were to get heart or liver, or how to prepare a "raw meaty bone" meal for my fuzzies (even if I got them to the point where they woud eat such a thing!) Plus, I have my worries about raw feeding them in my bedroom, what with the whole no cage thing. (Meat in the bed? Maybe they arn't going to get samonella, but I still can!) So we'll see. Anyhow, this seemed like a good place to come for that sort of information, so here I am!
Sorry about the novel! I look forward to getting to know everyone here, and all your fuzzies.
Hiro and Itachi got along pretty well, though it took them a month or two to adjust to eachother since it had just been me and 'tachi for a while at that point. They had some fun times together once Itachi got used to the idea that he wasn't going to be an only child anymore. Unfortunately Itachi died very young, possibly due to cardiomyopathy, though I will never know for sure because the vet I was seeing at that time didn't really know what she was doing with ferrets. Back then I thought that just because a vet would see ferrets, that meant they were knowledgeable about them. I felt terrible, and was more careful in selecting my next vet, though I've since moved and have not found a vet where I am living now that I am happy with... yet!
Anyhow, a few months after Itachi passed on, I got Snickers, my first girl, from a shelter. Snickers is as much of a handful as Hiro and Itachi combined! And that's even with the fact that Hiro turned out to be deaf and was therefore a huge pain to train the most basic litter box and no nipping skills. Snickers and Hiro had a hard time at first- she started out scared, then she was aggressive. I had to keep them separated when I wasn't around; a huge pain since I don't use a cage! They finally bonded after about two months, while I was out of town and my new boyfriend (now fiancee) was taking care of them. Go figure.
My furkids have free run of me and my fiancee's bedroom, and once our new apartment is fully set up they will have supervised playtime in the living space (open layout means lots of fun kitchen ferret proofing, so this will take some time). They don't really go outside, mostly because of my location, and also because I worry about distemper (I chose not to vaccinate them). We are starting clicker training (with a flash light for Hiro) and they seem to enjoy the extra attention.
They are both in pretty good health, though Hiro could stand to put on some weight, and his coat is noticeably less fluffy than Snicker's. I stumbled upon this forum while looking for information about improving diet. They are currently eating Evo for ferrets and Natural Balance Feline (Ultra Premium). They also have a semi-regular treat of chicken, turkey or beef baby food with a new addition of some "extras" (thus far they've had raw egg yolk and raw ground turkey). I am planning on trying them on Wysong's freeze dried raw and maybe working our way (slowly, very, very slowly) towards a raw diet, though I feel like I will need a lot more information and assurances before I can get to that point. For one thing, as a long-time semi-vegetarian (I eat fish, but no land meat), I have no idea were to get heart or liver, or how to prepare a "raw meaty bone" meal for my fuzzies (even if I got them to the point where they woud eat such a thing!) Plus, I have my worries about raw feeding them in my bedroom, what with the whole no cage thing. (Meat in the bed? Maybe they arn't going to get samonella, but I still can!) So we'll see. Anyhow, this seemed like a good place to come for that sort of information, so here I am!
Sorry about the novel! I look forward to getting to know everyone here, and all your fuzzies.
) It's our fuzzies (and some of their human pets 
