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FerretDad
Dec 26, 2012, 7:53:59 AM12/26/12
to
Happy Holidays to you all....and also to those humans that feed you! :)
Jackie and Mia both celebrated their birthdays on Dec.17. Jackie turned 5
years old and Mia turned 4.
Jackie is showing her age now and when I let them out of the cage, she
prefers to hang out on my bed, digging around in the covers. Mia, just one
year younger, is still the difficult one. She wants to be anywhere that
she's not allowed to be. sigh!
When I catch her doing something wrong, I'll pick her up and say, "There you
go being a ferret again!"
:-D
Jackie and Mia both celebrated their birthdays on Dec.17. Jackie turned 5
years old and Mia turned 4.
Jackie is showing her age now and when I let them out of the cage, she
prefers to hang out on my bed, digging around in the covers. Mia, just one
year younger, is still the difficult one. She wants to be anywhere that
she's not allowed to be. sigh!
When I catch her doing something wrong, I'll pick her up and say, "There you
go being a ferret again!"
:-D
steve robinson
Dec 26, 2012, 8:02:57 AM12/26/12
to
haven't seen my pair for a couple of days although the foods still
being scoffed.
If those little monkeys think i am putting my hand into thier hiddy
hole they have another thing coming Santa hasn't bought them fresh
human fingers for a Christmas treat.
They are like two balls of fur now fully fattened up , probably also
sulking we decided that we didn't really want turkey this Christmas so
they wont be getting the leftovers.
Steve
Bill Leary
Dec 26, 2012, 9:22:41 AM12/26/12
to
"FerretDad" wrote in message news:50DAF367...@ferret.org...
> Jackie and Mia both celebrated their birthdays on Dec.17. Jackie turned
> 5 years old and Mia turned 4.
My two eldest are six, and "the kid" is three. I don't have their exact
birthdays committed to memory. I suppose I should dig out their birth
certificates and put them in my calendar for annual reminders.
> Jackie is showing her age now and when I let them out of the cage,
> she prefers to hang out on my bed, digging around in the covers. Mia,
> just one year younger, is still the difficult one. She wants to be
> anywhere
> that she's not allowed to be. sigh!
The two older ones have slowed down, one more than the other. No sign of
illness, just looks like age catching up to them. Still, the younger one
can get them fired up and running around, war dancing, wrestling, and all
that. They all seem happy and comfortable. I had them in their own room,
my unused front entry (with it's own heat and a/c), for a few months but
came to realize that even with the door open (I put a barrier across the
lower 3' of the door) I actually saw less of them this way than I did with
them in their cage in front hall. They were always sleeping someplace far
from the door and usually didn't hear me coming and going. In the front
hall I go right past them several times a day and often one or more will
wake up an get some stomach rubbing or tail pulling. I'm not sure why they
like having their tail's (gently) pulled, but they do. It's a big cage with
multiple levels and lots of climbing and sleeping places. They seem about
as active in there as they did in the front room. And they seem to enjoy it
even more when I give them run of the house a couple of times a week. The
cats aren't so hot about this, though.
> When I catch her doing something wrong, I'll pick her up and say, "There
> you go being a ferret again!"
I usually accuse mine of being a herd of ferrets.
- Bill
> Happy Holidays to you all....and also to those humans that feed you! :)
Same back to you.
> Jackie and Mia both celebrated their birthdays on Dec.17. Jackie turned
> 5 years old and Mia turned 4.
birthdays committed to memory. I suppose I should dig out their birth
certificates and put them in my calendar for annual reminders.
> Jackie is showing her age now and when I let them out of the cage,
> she prefers to hang out on my bed, digging around in the covers. Mia,
> just one year younger, is still the difficult one. She wants to be
> anywhere
> that she's not allowed to be. sigh!
illness, just looks like age catching up to them. Still, the younger one
can get them fired up and running around, war dancing, wrestling, and all
that. They all seem happy and comfortable. I had them in their own room,
my unused front entry (with it's own heat and a/c), for a few months but
came to realize that even with the door open (I put a barrier across the
lower 3' of the door) I actually saw less of them this way than I did with
them in their cage in front hall. They were always sleeping someplace far
from the door and usually didn't hear me coming and going. In the front
hall I go right past them several times a day and often one or more will
wake up an get some stomach rubbing or tail pulling. I'm not sure why they
like having their tail's (gently) pulled, but they do. It's a big cage with
multiple levels and lots of climbing and sleeping places. They seem about
as active in there as they did in the front room. And they seem to enjoy it
even more when I give them run of the house a couple of times a week. The
cats aren't so hot about this, though.
> When I catch her doing something wrong, I'll pick her up and say, "There
> you go being a ferret again!"
- Bill
FerretDad
Dec 27, 2012, 10:15:33 AM12/27/12
to
steve robinson wrote:
>
> Happy Christmas to one and all sounds like your having a great time.
>
> haven't seen my pair for a couple of days although the foods still
> being scoffed.
>
> If those little monkeys think i am putting my hand into thier hiddy
> hole they have another thing coming Santa hasn't bought them fresh
> human fingers for a Christmas treat.
>
> They are like two balls of fur now fully fattened up , probably also
> sulking we decided that we didn't really want turkey this Christmas so
> they wont be getting the leftovers.
>
> Steve
heheh.... nice to hear from you, Steve. :)
>
> Happy Christmas to one and all sounds like your having a great time.
>
> haven't seen my pair for a couple of days although the foods still
> being scoffed.
>
> If those little monkeys think i am putting my hand into thier hiddy
> hole they have another thing coming Santa hasn't bought them fresh
> human fingers for a Christmas treat.
>
> They are like two balls of fur now fully fattened up , probably also
> sulking we decided that we didn't really want turkey this Christmas so
> they wont be getting the leftovers.
>
> Steve
FerretDad
Dec 27, 2012, 10:20:34 AM12/27/12
to
Bill Leary wrote:
>
> My two eldest are six, and "the kid" is three. I don't have their exact
> birthdays committed to memory. I suppose I should dig out their birth
> certificates and put them in my calendar for annual reminders.
My 2 birth certifiates were wrong. That's why I combined birthdays to one
>
> My two eldest are six, and "the kid" is three. I don't have their exact
> birthdays committed to memory. I suppose I should dig out their birth
> certificates and put them in my calendar for annual reminders.
day and guessed as to the correct age.
> The two older ones have slowed down, one more than the other. No sign of
> illness, just looks like age catching up to them. Still, the younger one
> can get them fired up and running around, war dancing, wrestling, and all
> that. They all seem happy and comfortable.
is still the more active one. She follows me around and wants to play with
me. Jackie will play on the bed and wait for me to come get her to play.
She loves being carried around in a pillow case.
Gary
Bill Leary
Dec 27, 2012, 10:35:30 AM12/27/12
to
"FerretDad" wrote in message news:50DC6742...@ferret.org...
I haven't tried that trick. My only problem with them is that the younger
one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not talking about
play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been keeping ferrets for
going on twenty years and this is the first one I haven't been able to
reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly removed, starts to chew.
I've tried every trick in the books, and on the forums, and a few of my own.
I've gotten to where I can hold him so he can't get at me, and can catch the
signs (body language) he about to bite so it's been pretty rare the last
year and a half. But it does mean I can't let anyone else handle him. And
he's the one everyone want's to handle because he's the traditional ferret
sable. The other two are albino and blond. It wouldn't bee so bad, but I'm
usually barefoot around the house so if they're out playing I have to either
put my feet up (which really screws up my typing) or put shoes on. Socks
don't do it. He's apparently figured out there's bite worthy skin under
them. And yeah, he'll bit above my shoes, but he takes him a couple of
seconds to get under the leg of my pants so I can usually pull my foot up.
I've come to the tentative conclusion that he's not quite right in the head.
- Bill
one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not talking about
play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been keeping ferrets for
going on twenty years and this is the first one I haven't been able to
reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly removed, starts to chew.
I've tried every trick in the books, and on the forums, and a few of my own.
I've gotten to where I can hold him so he can't get at me, and can catch the
signs (body language) he about to bite so it's been pretty rare the last
year and a half. But it does mean I can't let anyone else handle him. And
he's the one everyone want's to handle because he's the traditional ferret
sable. The other two are albino and blond. It wouldn't bee so bad, but I'm
usually barefoot around the house so if they're out playing I have to either
put my feet up (which really screws up my typing) or put shoes on. Socks
don't do it. He's apparently figured out there's bite worthy skin under
them. And yeah, he'll bit above my shoes, but he takes him a couple of
seconds to get under the leg of my pants so I can usually pull my foot up.
I've come to the tentative conclusion that he's not quite right in the head.
- Bill
steve robinson
Dec 27, 2012, 1:23:46 PM12/27/12
to
Bill Leary
Dec 28, 2012, 3:41:44 AM12/28/12
to
"steve robinson" wrote in message
news:xn0i7c4x...@reader80.eternal-september.org...
> Bill Leary wrote:'
>> ((..omitted..))
- Bill
news:xn0i7c4x...@reader80.eternal-september.org...
> Bill Leary wrote:'
>> ((..omitted..))
>> can usually pull my foot up. I've come to the tentative conclusion
>> that he's not quite right in the head.
>
>> that he's not quite right in the head.
>
> No in ferret world its fun to watch them furrless oafs squeal
Yes, it's just like that.
- Bill
FerretDad
Jan 2, 2013, 7:26:02 AM1/2/13
to
Bill Leary wrote:
>
> My only problem with them is that the younger
> one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not talking about
> play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been keeping ferrets for
> going on twenty years and this is the first one I haven't been able to
> reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly removed, starts to chew.
> I've tried every trick in the books, and on the forums, and a few of my own.
My youngest one, Mia, is 4 years old now. I got her as a rescue when she was
>
> My only problem with them is that the younger
> one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not talking about
> play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been keeping ferrets for
> going on twenty years and this is the first one I haven't been able to
> reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly removed, starts to chew.
> I've tried every trick in the books, and on the forums, and a few of my own.
1.5 years old. At first, she would do the biting hard on the feet or
ankles. I cured her of it quickly. Whenever she bit me hard that way, I
would immediately pick her up, yell "NO" at her face then put her back into
the cage for a 5 minute time out. After only a few times of this, she
learned and has never bitten since....except for the play biting which is
fine.
Gary
FerretDad
Jan 2, 2013, 7:38:04 AM1/2/13
to
steve robinson wrote:
Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up and
say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
She also has a strong "ferret smell" around her head. I actually like that
smell.
Gary
>
> Bill Leary wrote:
> > My only problem with them is that the
> > younger one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not
> > talking about play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been
> > keeping ferrets for going on twenty years and this is the first one I
> > haven't been able to reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly
> > removed, starts to chew.
>
> Bill Leary wrote:
> > My only problem with them is that the
> > younger one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not
> > talking about play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been
> > keeping ferrets for going on twenty years and this is the first one I
> > haven't been able to reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly
> > removed, starts to chew.
>
> No in ferret world its fun to watch them furrless oafs squeal
LOL! heheh ;)
Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up and
say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
She also has a strong "ferret smell" around her head. I actually like that
smell.
Gary
steve robinson
Jan 2, 2013, 10:34:52 AM1/2/13
to
Bill Leary
Jan 2, 2013, 7:52:27 PM1/2/13
to
"FerretDad" wrote in message news:50E42759...@ferret.org...
Tried that. It's one of the things that usually works. No good for this
guy. I really think he's got some bad wiring between his fuzzy little ears.
- Bill
guy. I really think he's got some bad wiring between his fuzzy little ears.
- Bill
Bill Leary
Jan 2, 2013, 7:55:42 PM1/2/13
to
"FerretDad" wrote in message news:50E42A2C...@ferret.org...
going to let me do it again, aren't you?"
- Bill
>
> steve robinson wrote:
>> Bill Leary wrote:
>>> My only problem with them is that the
>>> younger one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not
>>> talking about play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been
>>> keeping ferrets for going on twenty years and this is the first one I
>>> haven't been able to reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly
>>> removed, starts to chew.
>>
>> No in ferret world its fun to watch them furrless oafs squeal
>
> LOL! heheh ;)
>
> Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up
> and
> say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
>
> She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
I always took that look to be something like "Yes, but I'm so cute you're
> steve robinson wrote:
>> Bill Leary wrote:
>>> My only problem with them is that the
>>> younger one I have been flat out unable to break of biting. I'm not
>>> talking about play, which all of my ferrets have done. I've been
>>> keeping ferrets for going on twenty years and this is the first one I
>>> haven't been able to reason with. He draws blood and, if not quickly
>>> removed, starts to chew.
>>
>> No in ferret world its fun to watch them furrless oafs squeal
>
> LOL! heheh ;)
>
> Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up
> and
> say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
>
> She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
going to let me do it again, aren't you?"
- Bill
FerretDad
Jan 20, 2013, 7:00:37 AM1/20/13
to
Bill Leary wrote:
> Gary (aka-ferretdad) wrote:
> > Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up
> > and say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
> >
> > She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
> I always took that look to be something like "Yes, but I'm so cute you're
> going to let me do it again, aren't you?"
Yep. Mia will push things off the countertop then look over the edge to
approve what she did.
My original two ferrets worked as a team. The female (Farrah) would climb up
on shelves or countertops and, one by one, push things off onto the floor.
The male ferret (Fred) would wait on the floor and hide everything that she
pushed off. Darn those two! ;)
> Gary (aka-ferretdad) wrote:
> > Mia often gets into things that she's not supposed to. I'll pick her up
> > and say, "So...you're being a ferret again?" heheh
> >
> > She just stares at me and silently says, "Yeah"
> I always took that look to be something like "Yes, but I'm so cute you're
> going to let me do it again, aren't you?"
approve what she did.
My original two ferrets worked as a team. The female (Farrah) would climb up
on shelves or countertops and, one by one, push things off onto the floor.
The male ferret (Fred) would wait on the floor and hide everything that she
pushed off. Darn those two! ;)
steve robinson
Jan 20, 2013, 7:28:56 AM1/20/13
to
kits and splodge who i rescued from a pet shop) they operated like a
tag team, i put up the 'ferret'board to keep them all in one room,
they worked out if spock the biggest jumped from sofa onto board the
rest could climb over him end result 11 little sods tearing around the
house causing mayhem.
Being what i thought was smarter than these little terrors i moved the
sofa and increased the height of the ferret board accross the door,
within 2 days plan b they created a stack of ferrets , splodge climbed
up and hung over the edge the others all hung on each other , climbing
over each other in turn off to create mayhem again all exept inky who
decided he preferred to have a nap with his best mate the dog.
After that i gave in they won
Bill Leary
Jan 20, 2013, 8:01:39 AM1/20/13
to
"FerretDad" wrote in message news:50FBDC65...@ferret.org...
Ah, you just reminded me of something. At one point we had a room fitted
out to raise shelter kittens. The left over construction materials were on
the top of a bank of cages the kittens spent the night in. One of my
ferrets would climb up there and push things right up to the edge. She'd
have three or four things ready to go. She'd peer down at the floor waiting
for one of the other ferrets to come by then push one of the things over the
edge. She never quite hit the other ferrets, but came awfully close several
times. Either she wasn't quite good enough to hit them, or she was very
good about staging near misses. I secured anything heavy enough to be
dangerous, of course, though I'm not sure I really needed to. She never
used anything heavy before I caught on to her. It was pretty clearly a game
of some sort, though I never did puzzle out the rules.
Point of curiosity... what are the sources for those names?
I name most of mine after classic horror creatures (we had a Quasimodo, for
example) or fantasy characters. For the last few years it's been vampires,
because of their protruding fangs. The current three are:
Nicholas, Knight from Forever Knight
Barnabas, Collins from Dark Shadows
Mina, Harker from Dracula, specifically The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen version where she's a vampire.
I also had a Marie (from Innocent Blood).
Anyone else? Names and sources?
- Bill
out to raise shelter kittens. The left over construction materials were on
the top of a bank of cages the kittens spent the night in. One of my
ferrets would climb up there and push things right up to the edge. She'd
have three or four things ready to go. She'd peer down at the floor waiting
for one of the other ferrets to come by then push one of the things over the
edge. She never quite hit the other ferrets, but came awfully close several
times. Either she wasn't quite good enough to hit them, or she was very
good about staging near misses. I secured anything heavy enough to be
dangerous, of course, though I'm not sure I really needed to. She never
used anything heavy before I caught on to her. It was pretty clearly a game
of some sort, though I never did puzzle out the rules.
Point of curiosity... what are the sources for those names?
I name most of mine after classic horror creatures (we had a Quasimodo, for
example) or fantasy characters. For the last few years it's been vampires,
because of their protruding fangs. The current three are:
Nicholas, Knight from Forever Knight
Barnabas, Collins from Dark Shadows
Mina, Harker from Dracula, specifically The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen version where she's a vampire.
I also had a Marie (from Innocent Blood).
Anyone else? Names and sources?
- Bill
FerretDad
Jan 23, 2013, 12:03:10 PM1/23/13
to
Bill Leary wrote:
>
> Point of curiosity... what are the sources for those names?
>
> I name most of mine after classic horror creatures (we had a Quasimodo, for
> example) or fantasy characters. For the last few years it's been vampires,
> because of their protruding fangs. The current three are:
> Nicholas, Knight from Forever Knight
> Barnabas, Collins from Dark Shadows
> Mina, Harker from Dracula, specifically The League of Extraordinary
> Gentlemen version where she's a vampire.
>
> I also had a Marie (from Innocent Blood).
>
> Anyone else? Names and sources?
My original two were Farrah and Fred. They were my daughter's ferrets and
>
> Point of curiosity... what are the sources for those names?
>
> I name most of mine after classic horror creatures (we had a Quasimodo, for
> example) or fantasy characters. For the last few years it's been vampires,
> because of their protruding fangs. The current three are:
> Nicholas, Knight from Forever Knight
> Barnabas, Collins from Dark Shadows
> Mina, Harker from Dracula, specifically The League of Extraordinary
> Gentlemen version where she's a vampire.
>
> I also had a Marie (from Innocent Blood).
>
> Anyone else? Names and sources?
she named them. After Farrah died, I bought another to keep Fred in
companionship. She was a tiny baby from a pet store. I named her "Jackie"
only because my daughter liked the name.
Two years later, Fred died and that left only Jackie. After a couple of
months, I found a rescue ferret about the same age to keep her company. This
is the only one I've named myself. I had her for 4-5 days, trying to think
of a good name. Finally, one night, I thought of "Mia" and see looked like
a Mia to me....hence her name.
They both have several nicknames and they recognize them all.
Jackie: baby, peanut, peanaro, Jackie Bear, etc
Mia: Meepee, bobby head, bobbers, peepee, etc
Anyway, if I call any one of those names they will come to me. :)
FerretDad
Jan 23, 2013, 12:06:15 PM1/23/13
to
keep blocking her off but she's determined to go there. No matter what I do,
she finds a way around my barrier.
Jackie is a year older now and she's slowing down with that. She's very
content to get out of the cage and just play on my bed....digging around in
the covers.
Gary
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