this one is about ferrets.....hope you enjoy!

Most of you know that we have three ferrets that we just love, I thought I’d make this post about them, along with a few facts about them. I have heard of some people that have had bad experiences with ferrets that have not been properly socialized or cared for and are now totally against them. If you leave a ferret in a cage without love and attention and proper care, that ferret is not going to appreciate the human touch at all. Like any other animal it needs these things. It is very important to the ferrets character and loving nature. Ours have never been and never will be caged.

Contrary to what some people believe, a ferret IS NOT A RODENT!!!! It upsets me when someone says they are rodents. They are mammals related to the weasel family.

They have a life span of 7 to 10 years and only weigh between 1.5 and 4 pounds.



In my experience, Ferret’s play like a cat, walk like a skunk and think they are a dog. With proper socialization they make wonderful pets and playmates to other pets. Although there are some no no’s. don’t let them play with your pet birds, rabbits, etc. These animals are prey to the ferret in the wild. Some people may think it would be really cute to introduce them to their pet mouse or hamster….don’t do that, most ferrets are great mousers and you most likely will not have your pet mouse or hamster. I am sure there are some exceptions to the rule but I just wouldn’t chance it.





Ever do the ferret shuffle? Lol, we do it all the time. If your ferrets have free run all the time like ours do then you learn to shuffle your feet along the floor as you walk. This guards against stepping on these curious little, under the feet, sweet and utterly lovable pets.

Our ferrets diet consists of marshalls ferret pellets in water in the morning and at night and a high quality mix of ferret pellets, and cat foods with no coloring. We also give a ferret supplement that comes in gel form which is very handy when trying to clip nails! If you have ever tried to clip a little ones nails then you know what I am talking about. Putting some of this gel on the upper side of your thumb allows you to hold the ferret while he eats and clip his nails with no problems.

These animals are very intelligent creatures also, they will figure out how to get something they want and usually won’t stop until they get it. There was a person that owned a ferret and the ferret wanted something so badly that she finally moved something in front of what she wanted so she could climb up on the object and get it.

Did I mention they are thieves??? Oh yes, if they want it, they will steal it. Most of the time you can find their stash easily but other times you have to hunt for the things they have stolen from you. Shiny objects are a big big thing. Watches, rings, etc….but I have found they like to steal our socks and shoes too. They love to pull the inserts out of shoes and run like hell with them. They are very comical and entertaining pets.

Ferrets are very susceptible to tumors. This is one of our biggest fears. We are so worried about the day we have a sick ferret. Removing the tumors do not guard against them coming back. I am up in the air about this subject. Do you keep removing the tumors or do you euthanize so the pet does not suffer at all? I guess that is something we will have to wait and see what happens. Doesn’t mean it will but it is a possibility. It will be a very sad day if we lose any of them to tumors.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I enjoyed writing it. There is so much more I can add but I’ll leave it for another time.

okay.....now i'm PISSED!!!!!!

i am going to veer off the subject just for this post....because well.....i'm pissed and need to vent.  the charity yard sale we had and got the material donations for....doulgas and i  had decided that the clothing that was left from the sale should go in the planet aid box right next to our house.  we figured that the people that donated all the clothes for the sale would appreciate it if we redonated it to people in need.  it seemed appropriate.  so, we put the large box in front of the planet aid box knowing that the next day they would be picking it up.  well, it disappeared.  the driver pulled in and i asked if they had gotten the box and he said "no".  two blocks down the street was a yard sale.....so.....we went down.  i was looking around at all the clothes and low and behold, there they all were.  for sale!!!!!!  i turned around and said "um, ma'am.....did you take the box of clothes in front of the planet aid box?".  she says "yeah", they are supposed to be in the box, not in front of it.  well, needless to say, i flipped a lid.  then came home and called the state police who also confirmed that what she did was theft.  he said if it had been in the garbage then fine but since it was something we wanted donated to people in need that it is in fact "theft" and that she was selling it for a profit.  he instructed me to go down and tell her to give the clothing back or she would be procecuted.  we did just that.  douglas told her she had 2 hours to get it all back to the house or we would be contacting the state tropper and they would be stopping by.
now, don't get me wrong, if she had looked at me and said "i just don't have money and could really use it from these clothes" i would have gladly said okay, keep them, or even if she needed the clothing to wear.  but she did none of that, she made excuses that if it rained....and blah, blah, blah.  now, was i wrong?  would you take from a planet aid box and then have a yard sale and sell them?  i just think it was wrong.  if i'm wrong, please tell me.  i guess i am fighting with myself here.

puppy and two new tiels

so we just dropped the puppy off for his second eye surgery.  if you remember on April 12, Ryder had his surgery for cherry eye.  well, he was doing great and late last week his stitches popped.  they are doing the second surgery for free......i hated leaving him there again.  the closer we got to the vet tonight the more agitated he became.  he is begining to associate car rides with vet. 

last night we went to talk to a lady that needs to get rid of her african gray (20 years old) and 9 cockatiels.  she has been so upset about having to do it, but she is 71 and can't keep up with them any longer.  i wanted to be a support post, so to speak, for her and to refer her to a local rescue that will monitor the birds adoptive home rather than give the bird to someone and not be able to do anything after the fact.  well, i went over with the intentions of "not" comming home with any new birds.  we go into the room she keeps them in and immediatly this male white faced grey is trying to get my attention and comes as close as the screening will allow.  she opens the door and this cockatiel comes flying out and right to me.  he sits there for the entire time we are talking and then this woman reaches over for "nemo" to step up.......low and behold he lunges for her, then snuggles closer to me.  it was unreal.  i told her there was no way i could leave without this bird if that was okay with her.  she asked then if i would be willing to take his daddy also how is about 17 years old.  i said absolutely.  i wanted "nemo" to be as comfortable as possible with the transition.  needless to say, i will go in the aviary now and he is either on my should within 5 seconds or on my head.  he chatters to me something fierce lmao.  he is most definately the sweetest cockatiel i have ever met in my life.  i am so in love with this little bird. 
so anyway, hopefully tomorrow i will have some pics i can post but its kind of difficult to take a pic with five or six tiels sitting about my head lol.