Hi everyone: I have something of a dilemma going on that I could use some
help with.
Some of you may remember that I lost my boy Marshmallow earlier this year.
He was the alpha of my four (the other three are girls). It goes without
saying that I miss that little guy every day, and I can tell my other
ferrets miss him too. No one seems to have stepped up to the challenge of
being the alpha, and as a group they seem fairly fragmented. So, I was
*contemplating* getting another male. I realize that just because Marsh
was male doesn't guarantee another male will take the alpha role. Anyhow,
I wouldn't be getting one for a few more months yet (I gave myself a six
month waiting period to decide if I was ready), but I had some questions
that I needed answered. First off, I have two 4 year olds and a 3 year
old. One of the four year olds has insulinoma, controlled with surgery
last July and meds. She's been pretty stable since surgery (knock wood).
Would I be risking too much (ie ECE, that type of thing) by bringing in a
new ferret? I would be destroyed if I got another ferret and ended up
losing one of the girls because of something the newbie brought in. I know
the importance of testing for giardia, etc, and quarantines for bringing
ferrets into established colonies, but I still worry about making my
established ferrets ill. Also, would it be too much stress on the girls
to bring in a kit? Again, I don't want to get a kit that through nothing
other than being a baby, stresses out the girls too much. That train of
thought makes me lean towards a single shelter ferret around a year old,
but then I worry about finding a single ferret at a shelter that would
accept 3 cagemates. Am I overanalyzing the situation? I'm trying really
hard to break myself of that habit when it comes to the kids. I knew I
was overdoing it when my vet told me I worry too much. ;-)
Any insight would be appreciated,
Laura, Gatsby, Saffy, Xena
Marshmallow at the Bridge
[Posted in FML issue 2614]
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