>From:    [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Frit Stash
 
Thanks.  I needed a good laugh!
 
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>From:    Tina Femea <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Nippy kits?
>Is this normal?
 
In my experience,  yes for the most part.
 
>How hard is it going to be to get them to stop when I get them home?
 
Just read the FML for a while.  It takes lots of patience & persistance
w/some of them.  You also have to be careful you don't make a game out of it
for the little fur blur while trying to teach them you're not another frit
to chew on.
 
>And am I going to be better off waiting until, say, the middle of January,
>when they aren't being handled so much?
 
They're not nippy because they're being handled so much, they're nippy
because they're kits & that's how kits play w/each other.  They have to be
taught that you are not another kit.  Waiting until they're not being
handled so much, or not at all, could be a mistake in itself.  The contact
they have w/us (humans) helps to socialize them.
 
Have you considered going to a ferret shelter?  You'll know exactly what
you're getting - no surprises about how the adult will turn out.
 
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>From:    Troy Lynn Eckart <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: After a 9 month quarantine we took in our first ferret on Friday.
>She came down with diarrhea 48 hours after she came to us.
 
I'm sorry to report this to you.  I waited a full 1 1/2 years after my
babies recovered (no symptoms) before thinking about taking in fosters.  I
finally broke down & took in 2 robust gibs, both approximately 2 yrs old (no
history, dumped at animal control).  I quarantined them for almost 3 weeks,
did a vet check up & rabies & distemper vacs before exposing them to my
remaining 3 frits.  Both of these poor guy broke w/the slime in 48 hours.
But they're good as new now - it only took a month.
 
My heart goes out to you.
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I had a major breakthrough w/my problem child Chaos just now & had to tell
someone.  Boy am I glad you're here!
 
I was doing the FML when I heard fussing in the next room.  The guys were
still in their *room* (what a georgous 3-story cage) & it sounded like
someone was having a disagreement.  I ran it expecting to find Chaos picking
on one of this roommates.  I found that the ramp unhooked from the 2nd story
& had fallen.  When Chaos tried to climb down, he pushed the lamb's wool pad
away & his little leg got caught in the wire floor - he was hanging by his
leg screaming.
 
The cage is on a standard height counter, so I had to grab my trusty step
stool to get up to him.  As I was springing into action, I was just dreading
getting my hand ripped apart.  I just knew I was going to have major damage
inflicted on my hand that was going to send me to the hospital.  I was
probably going to fall off the step stool in the process breaking some of my
major required parts.  Amazing how quickly all this stuff can flash through
your mind in an emergency.
 
I grabbed Chaos around his back, he twisted & turned, I felt teeth on my
hand, I felt teeth on my hand, I felt teeth on my hand again, & nothing!  He
didn't bite me.  I lifted him safely out of the cage & he just trembled in
my arms.  I gave him NutriCal to calm him while he continued to tremble.
After enough NutriCal I needed something else to give him to soothe him, &
when I reached for a raisin, he reached over & licked the hand I was holding
him with - he's never done that w/out immediately inserting canines into
flesh.
 
I finally put him down when he was calm enough to do the *put me down
wiggle* & went in to sit down at the puter in the adjoining room.  He came
running in & started rubbing against my leg like a dog.  It was only for a
little bit, but it made my heart melt.  I wonder if he knows I stopped his
pain.
 
You see, Chaos was such a ferocious biter when I got him that I had to open
the cage door & quickly put a carrier in front to get him out in order to
clean his cage.  He would viciously attack.  I went through absolute H&%$
nursing him through ECE & trying not to get chomped on.  Even after working
w/him for at least 5 months, he would still bite, hard.
 
Well, so much for miracles, he just nipped me.
 
Juliana
Frodo, Rocks, Anola Gay, SNAFU, FUBAR, Tabu, Chaos *i don't know why i do
it* & Tuxedo
[Posted in FML issue 1781]