Meet Oni (left) and Ruby (right), our new pets! Don't worry, our cat was unhappy at first, but he seems to be adjusting, and we are giving him lots of extra love. :)
My husband adores ferrets, and showed some to Liz at Petco. She was immediately in love. There was an albino that no one wanted who has been at the store for some time we were told, apparently because many people find them creepy or spooky. But it is the gentlest little thing, not nippy at all (probably from being handled the most and being a bit older than the others), and so that is the one Liz wanted. Even though it is a month early for her birthday, we decided to go ahead and get her the albino ferret, just in case she was gone by her birthday.
Liz has named her Ruby, for her eyes (which are beautiful, not creepy, though they do shine in the light, and for the camera!). We know she may have some sight issues as she ages, but we are ok with that. She still needs a loving home. :)
We did a lot of research, and find that ferrets are much happier and easier to take care of if you get two. They groom each other, play together, sleep together and keep each other warm, and generally keep each other company when they have to be in their cage (at night and nap times). And so we also got a little silver girl that James has named Oni (which means spirit in Japanese). The coloring on the silver one is called "panda", which I do not understand. Doesn't look a thing like a panda...lol. It's James has a new baby now...
The really get along well and sleep and/or play together constantly.
We purchased a cage plenty large for 2 ferrets, with multiple levels for activity. It came with a cheep canvas hammock. It was clear they wanted to use the hammock, but it wasn't comfy, so I sewed up an envelope style sleeping sack for them out of a nice leftover piece of fleece. The both love it!
This is just the top half of the cage (plenty of sleeping and play options), the bottom half has the litter pan and a toy slide.
Since ferrets like to have cozey hidey spots and different sleep areas, I also sewed up a reversible flannel sleep sack from remainders of flannel fabric from Liz's PJ's.
from Liz's PJ's. Oni loves the sleep sack, and has claimed it as her own. It is really cool, it has a 4" opening on each side as well as the large opening on the top, allowing for lots of entrances and egresses and options for play.
Welcome to our home, Oni and Ruby!
They are really cute-I like them. I have never been around ferrets-do they have an odor? Would my terriers eat them? (yes)
ReplyDeleteMary, yes they do have an odor, even with the scent glands removed (they came with them already removed). It isn't a bad smell, I would describe it as musky. We have an air ionizer/purifier, and we also decided not to use the stupid shredded paper bedding (holds their smell a LOT and that has helped immensely). I understand that ferrets get along with most other pets very well. If your terrier wouldn't attack a cat, then it would probably be ok with a ferret. Our cat is behaving well with them, though he clearly has his feelings hurt still (pouting a bit). The ferrets really are the cutest things! They are so playful, very smart, and make everyone in the house laugh at their antics and adorable sounds, lol. Lots of work, though.
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