My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
So hard to get good shots of my ferrets, but I try. Some come out pretty good. They're a barrel of fun. =)
This is Cooper in my dogs bed being all cute. He's only cute when he wants something. LOL
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Ren and Cooper with their dinner. Mm, chicken gizzards. Their favorite foods are chicken gizzards and heart, and egg yolk which they only get once or twice a week to keep fur and skin healthy, and keep down hairballs. Also, for those of you who thought ferrets were rodents or plant eaters...well, here you go. Like cats, they're obligate carnivores. And feeding them raw making them sick is a myth, best thing you can give them.
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Ah, Egg Day(got some duk soup mix in there). :3 Cooper gets some on his chin and tries to lick it. Makes me face/palm, but I swear he's smart!
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This is Ren trying to slink over to my cat. Yes, they get along great.
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Cooper being a bear. Initially he was looking at me upside-down, but you know ferrets - or if you don't, they never hold still for long.
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This is Ren giving me her undivided attention. :3
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Ren with her gorgeous winter coat. She's static-y from going through the tunnel and has a devilish face because she had her brother trapped. Ha! She's half his size and still beats owns him. In case you wonder why I have less photos of her than I do of Cooper, it's because she NEVER holds still.
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Carnivore teeth. Her teeth are actually pearly white. They look really gross here because I had given them ferretvite, which I never give anymore because it's nasty sugary junk, and bad for the teeth, as you can see. This is Ren tossing a tantrum because I wouldn't let her out while I changed my fish tanks.
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Yes, she's still going! Don't worry, she got out when there was no longer worries of her being stepped on.
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Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
And some more...
This is one of my favorites. I had just gotten them all dry and Cooper tried to sneak back in the tub while I had his sister in the towel. He saw me looking and got wild, knowing full well I didn't want him wet again! This photo was an accident, he slipped. He attempted to dance and almost fell in. xD
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Neighborhood watch! Alanna the cat and Cooper.
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Neighborhood Watch has found an intruder...and he knows it. lol
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Ren messed up my bed. They love blankets. They both get under them and wrestle.
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Leo the cat(RIP) and Ren when she was a skinny little kit. She was not well cared for before I got her, she stayed very thin and ill looking for quite a while, but with a vets help and speaking with some specialists, we fixed her up. Leo was their absolute BEST friend. That is his "I am curious, and I wanna play" face. He passed away last year(February 5th, 2013), and they mourned him severely to the point they would not eat or play and would coo and call to him in all the spots he used to frequent. I got them to eat again...after I got them a new cat to play with, but they still look for him. It was very sad. Ferrets make VERY tight bonds with each other and those involved with them, especially if it's from a young age. They always played, slept, ate and waited for me to come home together. They were a great trio.
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They want to go to bed. LOL
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First time ever having a tunnel. They went nuts and wrestled and played in that.
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They always met half way and nommed at each other.
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Ren and Cooper as kits. Cooper was nearly all black with some white and a grey and white face, he's now much, much lighter. Ren was much lighter and is now darker. Some do in fact change as they get older. =) I've seen near black sables go almost completely white within six or seven years.
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Cooper at six weeks and two days old. He was a Marshall Flub, they sent him out waaay too young with a shipment of older kits. I don't understand how they do that. He got some good care from me, and thankfully Ren mothered him and taught him how to eat because he didn't know how. His mother hadn't taught him enough yet. He was darn cute with that big head and small body though.
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Ren and my little cousin. She's nice and careful, and Ren absolutely adores kids. She's very good with children. Cooper is gentle and good with kids too...he just doesn't adore them. They're too loud for his taste, but he will play. He is more for older, quieter children. Ren however loves youngsters so when we go out we have to be VERY watchful or she'll go right to a toddler to be cuddled, and possibly mushed! She's like a dog. lol
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Cooper and Leo's very first meeting...Yeah. LOL Glad Leo was such a good cat. Never hurt anything BUT a fly...or moth. I was never able to get any video of them running around the house. Leo would instigate the chase and Cooper would run after him. It was the most hilarious thing ever. Best one was when Leo and he ran across the kitchen and Leo jumped onto a tall desk...Cooper of course in hot pursuit tried to jump too...Safe to say he didn't make it. xD He flew right under it, but he actually came close! Ferrets are typically very poor jumpers, but Cooper has a knack for it. He's a little thief! Most, if not all ferrets are though, he's just crafty about it. That, his funny antics and his big nose got him named after George Cooper, the King of Thieves in a book I love.
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Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
They're adorable!
Always wondered are ferrets easy pets to keep?
Can you teach them to not ruin the furniture and to not poop all over everywhere?
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Are you just showing us your ferrets or showing your photography?
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Bit of both. They can be hard to snag, and getting good shots of them takes more time than waiting for lightning to strike. x.x However...did I pop it in the wrong area? LOL Sorry! It's been a while since I bounced around the forums and I forgot where photos of randomness go. Can it be moved to the proper thread if it's not in it? For the most part it IS just showing off my fuzzbutts and talking about them, more than any real photography, though some may be worthy of attention other than "Awuh" I doubt any would make it to a magazine. lol
---------- Post added at 09:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 AM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Major.Tom
They're adorable!
Always wondered are ferrets easy pets to keep?
Can you teach them to not ruin the furniture and to not poop all over everywhere?
They are cute...but no, they're one of the harder pets to keep. Costly, require a lot of your time(yes, they sleep a lot, but they need to be out and with you for at least six hours a day, spread out). They're like perpetual two year olds. They also need a lot of space, silly rabbit hutches don't do it, best to get leveled cages at least 5-6 feet high and three feet around, and you need proper ones since they're escape artists. You can find good ones cheap online sometimes, otherwise they can cost a few hundred dollars. Always up to trouble and mischief. They need a costly diet, people who give them low quality cat food are idiots, people who feed obligate carnivores vegan are just headshot worthy. Their food can cost $6-$12 a pound, and they eat often having a very short digestive tract and very fast metabolism. Vet bills aren't a breeze either, they're prone to a lot of problems and injury. Care DOES cut back on that a lot, proper care means healthier ferrets who likely wont come down with super nasties after two years old or some such. Of course if you feed them raw, or high quality kibble AND raw, it's often cheaper than just being on costly kibble, a proper raw diet is cheaper than all. I'll show you the difference between mine when they were on 8in1 and mine now on Wysong Epigen 90 and raw at the end.
However, as for messing up the furniture and pooping all over the place: Give them enough toys and/or set up a proper playroom and you don't have to worry about the furniture. Often they don't mess with furniture...unfortunately mine did. >>; You can also litter-train them. Don't expect them to be like cats and never miss, sometimes they just can't make it and it's not their fault. However some are also stubborn brats and will go next to it just to spite you. lol
Thought I'd pop up a couple more. ;D
I love it when Ren sits on her butt, it looks funny. They had themselves their egg again. Mixed the whites in this time(seems I failed a proper mix, it LOOKED mixed lol), usually it's just the yolk.
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Cooper, one year old or so, still had his black coat. He was sleeping in the slide with his head upside down in the bottom, but he woke up. Are we ready to play?!
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This is how we clip nails, I dab a little ferretone on their bellies, lean them somewhere comfy and clip, they don't even notice you're there. Well, Ren does and tries to hide her feet under her shin or kick you, Cooper couldn't care less.
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This is one of my homemade "Duk Soup" recipes, also known as the Ferret Omelette. Chicken thigh, gizzards, egg yolk, bit of hot water, ferretone and duk soup mix. They get one version or other of that once a week with their egg.
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I got a photo earlier of Ren paying attention, but not Cooper. Here he is. =)
THIS is also to show diet difference. The first one is on 8in1 kibble, supposed to be a pretty ok kibble for them. Both were skinnier than I'd like and Cooper got rat tail(loss of fur on his tail) and other issues. These photos were taken one year apart, give or take a week. He actually lost all the fur on his tail(some do this during the molting season, but he wasn't at this time, can also be from poor diet or allergies). I don't have any of him when it got really bad, it was upsetting and all the vet could tell me was "It happens sometimes, likely not agreeing with their diet." He ended up losing a good bit around his shoulders too, but he came up negative for adrenal disease, which can cause fur loss too. lol
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Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Do He have bite ? i scare the teeth
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Doan Bao
Do He have bite ? i scare the teeth
Well-trained ferrets typically don't bite. Ren and Cooper haven't bitten me except once since they were about 4-5 months old(Cooper got me, just a nip really last week, first time in nearly three years because I wouldn't let him down in the snow without his harness on). I used to have trouble with Ren, but one of the admins here(Not sure what he's going by these days, Batman, Regex...) gave me a helpful tip on bite-training, scruff and tell them "No bite!" After they caught on it worked like a charm. That and lots of toys and fun stuff to do.
Most bite out of fear or because their owner didn't train them right...or didn't socialize them right which most people don't. It's actually difficult to do because a lot of people fear them or think they're gross which is sad. They have a lot to offer. I take mine out on leash and harness to the pet stores, usually at least a couple people who want to see them, and since I socialized them early, they don't get upset and will go to people willingly. Provided those people don't try to be wild and wrestle with them I allow it. They like to play rough, but not with strangers. They're also extremely good with children and seem to know since I got them that kids aren't to be chewed on or played rough with. lol
Got some more recent photos for you guys.
First off, Thor(I didn't name him, but it's not a bad fit...I called him O'Malley because he had a big belly and would do the super arm open hug thing when excited). He was a deaf panda I took in and fostered because nobody wanted him. He was deaf, so of course. Honestly, deaf ferrets aren't much different than ones who can hear. Sweetest little tidbit. He was four months old when I got him, had him for a month and a half before a friend of mine took him in, she had a ferret already and they got along immediately...and my vet was shocked at his size. He was a massive baby and he said he'll be gigantic. We have his birth certificate, so his age was validated, but my vet made some calls to be sure, he couldn't believe it. Four months and he's the size of my Cooper, who is average at a weight of two pounds and four ounces. Thor was two pounds and six ounces(and so you know how Ren is, her normal weight is exactly one pound, in winter she often hits one pound and 2-3 ounces sometimes). He was a handful because of his size, and teething! They get in their adult teeth at four months, but still chew obsessively for another month or so. And he killed my shoes. >_>; I'll show you...I just thought I lost the darn thing. ^^; He didn't eat it, he just killed it. And no, I didn't let him, I went to the bathroom and left him loose in my room less than three minutes.
My Shoe. T_T
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This is Thor, he's a panda. Yes I know he has a stripe, but see how the colors are broken and don't connect to the back of his neck/shoulders? That makes him a panda. =) Pandas, to clarify, typically have NO color on their heads, look like bald eagles. He's an imperfect one. Some color is allowed(for shows and stuff), but what he has wouldn't be. lol By the way his color is called silver, dark silver or black-roan mitt are all proper, but silver is the "Politically correct" one. Cooper was too, but he's now classified as a medium silver-mitt, Thor likely will do the same, it's rare the darker silvers DON'T lose their dark colors.
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He was filthy when I got him...in fact he had a thing for getting dirty. So this was after his first bath, and he wanted to help dry himself off. LOL Nail clipping was harder, he didn't understand it and didn't like any of my techniques. x.x That took a while. I used watered down baby shampoo for him. Any after were oatmeal soaks(yes, real oatmeal, just the milk, it cleans without hurting their skin and stripping the oils since you can't bathe them - or shouldn't, more than three times per year as it can damage their skin permanently and makes their oils try to over-produce and they stink then, always.
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I ever mention ferrets love snow? Well many do! Not all, but my three do. This was maybe a month after I got him. You can actually SEE his size difference. Chubbier, he went raw right off and loved it, grew a bit to boot! He surpassed Cooper a bit before he went, started out a tad smaller than him. So throughout the shots you'll see some differences in his size. lol Little goof ball. He made a lot of noise since he couldn't hear. Deafies often dook and whine and hiss a lot. When he first discovered his hiss, he looked surprised and did it for about an hour at everything and just while walking around. x.x
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Thor at five months, Cooper at almost three years. Cooper is the blaze, see the difference? :3:
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Thor really liked the dog and cats, but he learned the hard way to respect Alanna when she is trying to sleep. He climbed all the way around her, but that series of photos would be too long so I'm showing you the best one. She never hurt him, but suddenly being whacked by his best buddy scared him. lol He got over it.
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Here's Ren giving Alanna a kiss. We were going out for a walk before it got too cold because she was losing her winter coat already! Warm weather got them confused.
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Cooper giving Alanna a kiss. lol
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Looking summer-y....wish they didn't, it's cold now.
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Grandma got them a random gift, new hammock/cube. They loved it. Ren thought it was a toy and is trying to run off with it, Cooper climbed in and started grooming. xD
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Here's how Ren looks when she starts growing in that summer coat. Gets real short and dark. She's still losing some winter fluff. Usually doesn't take long, but she's confused. I tried to keep their room temp moderate, but there's only so much you can do when it's 75 degrees outside for two weeks.
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Dark and scruffy, isn't she? :3 I had to rescue my cousins dolls. I told her not to leave them lying around. >_>; Ren hides them in the couch if she does. Doesn't chew them, but ma gets mad about the poor expensive barbies. LOL
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We have spotted the new guy....must follow. lol
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I can't tell you how much I miss that little guy. =( I'll be getting to visit him and his brother Diesel soon.
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Did I mention Ren loved him? She did, but she fell head over tail for Diesel when they met, I've NEVER seen her so smitten. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of that. Just her trying to clean Thor.
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Bad shot, I know. Sorry. Thor and Cooper...Thor was tired of Cooper stepping on his tail and rolled over to look at him.
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He was always climbing on me and making funny faces when he wanted to be held. He was certainly the most cuddly ferret I ever met since Cooper was a kit.
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Road block, Thors first tunnel...he didn't know what to do. They tried to show him. lol They're good teachers. I love how good they are with new guys. :3
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And finally....haha. Speaks for itself. You can see that stupid undersized box they made me bring him home in, he barely fit but they said it was illegal for us to walk out without him in the box, I took him out in the car. :3 Ren and Cooper had met probably a dozen times before I got him and he had a clean bill of health from his vets, as did mine before they actually got to be together(too many risks with new kits and older ferrets to let them together without a specialist vet approval).
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Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
OMG, they are so adorable. Love the stripe coloring on Thor. That first pic of him looks like he was seriously in "defense mode". The one of Thor making faces and licking his chops had great timing, but too bad it came out blurred. Wait, is that his tongue or a piece of food?
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
These are some cute & unique pets, I don't get to see pet ferrets much :D
& as for the pics, they're just wonderful, I really like how you timed many of the shots, thank you a lot for sharing them :D
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Wow! They are so cool! My favorite photo was the "accidental shot". It made me laugh out loud!
How many ferrets do you have? Where did you get them? Are they expensive?
Re: My Ferrets - Lot's of Fuzz
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CapnJack
OMG, they are so adorable. Love the stripe coloring on Thor. That first pic of him looks like he was seriously in "defense mode". The one of Thor making faces and licking his chops had great timing, but too bad it came out blurred. Wait, is that his tongue or a piece of food?
Nah, he wasn't defensive in that photo, but he sure looks like it. He was wild and being nutty, they do this thing called a war-dance when they get really happy and excited, and I just caught him at an odd time.
Yeah, a lot came out blurred. They rarely hold still for long.
Yes, that was his tongue. He was a goofball, always trying to give me kisses and wanted to be held....mostly so he could try to jump off me if not up for a cuddle(he never succeeded....well ok, that's a lie, he did get me once and I still feel bad for it, he has a really powerful kick!). =-=;
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AngelKrystal
Wow! They are so cool! My favorite photo was the "accidental shot". It made me laugh out loud!
How many ferrets do you have? Where did you get them? Are they expensive?
I only have two, Thor was a foster baby I took in because nobody wanted him. I got mine from petco(I'd recommend a rescue or proper breeder if you get the choice). And yes, they're very expensive. Too many people think they can feed them garbage food that's cheap and get away with it, but they end up with fat, sick babies who die early, usually horribly from insulinoma or a blockage, and cost thousands in vet bills. If properly cared for they need a lot of space, and lazy though they are with sleeping up to twenty hours a day, when they are up, they are really up and energetic. Food, proper food can cost a bundle, I probably spend $20-$40 a month on them depending what I need(I do raw and Wysong Digestive Support kibble which is about $80 for 18 pounds of it, and it doesn't last my two more than a couple months even with raw combined. Raw being raw meat, I can't easily get a BALANCED raw diet, so I made do supplementing them with organs and thigh meats and stuff to go with the kibble).
They also require yearly vet checks and are unfortunately prone to many issues, even if well cared for since most these days are poorly bred by farms. Proper care helps, but regular vet checks are needed to make sure nothing is amiss. Also need vaccines like cats and dogs. Even if kept indoors they run the risk of getting canine distemper, and it's 100% fatal if they contract it.
They are also always up to making trouble, and always trying to get into something. You can call your house ferret-proofed all you want, but I can promise you they'll find something. LOL And again, unfortunately accident prone. They're very smart, but with how often they get under-foot it makes you wonder...
