Hello All,
 
My heart and prayers are with any who are coping with the sickness or loss
of a beloved weasel !
 
I just wanted to say hi, I am still a avid FMLer but like most I have to
skim through, for lack of time during the day!  The boys ( Louis and Buddy)
are doing well, however there are some issues I would like to ask your
opinion's on i possible.....
 
Firstly, I would like to comment on this issues of harassment on the FML, I
am not fully aware of what has been going on, I would like to say that this
FML has been a complete life saver for me and has given me the opportunity
to talk and make friends with many people who own, love and in a lot of
cases have more knowledge than I do on our ferts.  I hope all this gets
rectified, in my opinion Bob is a very knowledge fert person and I would
hate to lose him, like I said, I cannot say much for all this is new and
was quite a shock to me.  We are all here for the same reason ...cause
we love these animals and want to give them the best life possible, how
insults and judgments became regular occurrence is just plain ridiculous.
I hope things work out.
 
I have made the executive descion that I would jot down my questions that
I would like to post and at the beginning of the week I would ask you
all....this way you guys won't get sick of the "Narcotic Fert Mom", which
is me!  Like I have said I love my darlings to death, so of course I do
worry and have questions.  SO here you go, here are my thought/ questions
and concerns in the life and times of my fert world......
 
I would like to start with a comment on Pandas/Blazes, my Louis is a panda
and not a shock is deaf, he is my youngest and I call him my angel child,
compared to his grumpy brother Binks ( Buddy).  As for training Lou, he has
been a dream, I would never say it was more difficult to train him due to
his deafness.
 
My expierence has been quite easy and rewarding...here are some ways that
have worked well for me....Lou has never been a nipper, so we have never
had to deal with that.......but he has learned to respond to hand gestures
such as :
 
Come here - I hold my hand out as if I were holding something in my hand,
I will bend down so I am at eye level with him and will move or wave my
fingers ( the opposite of a wave--- toward myself).  As long as I have his
attention, with this movement he has come to learn as "come here", Lou
actually responds better than Binks and Binks can hear!  The trick might
be- he has associated the cup of my hand with a treat ( as a baby) so he
would always come to investigate, now he just will always come, Just in
case ( he thinks)..... it works!
 
Scolding- Now I must not brag here but my Lou is an angel, the only time I
have ever had to scold him was for missing the litter, when the litter is
right beside him........Lou completely understands that he has done
something wrong, I hold up my finger, and wave it back and forth ( with the
other fingers in a fist), and still say NO, my expression along with the
finger has made it clear "that" that is not allowed I wanted to be careful
in choosing which hand gesture to use to scold him without him getting
confused or thinking at times he was in trouble for no reason.  This
gesture is clear and is never made unless someone has been bold.  Binks
even knows the hand movements !!!!  I have found with Louis being deaf,
that I would never say it has been more of a challenge then Binks, Louis is
more observant of your facial expressions and is always watching you, so it
made it easier vs.  Binks with the sonar ears who can't be bothered to even
look at you.  Thought I would add my ideas on that, it has worked well in
my case!
 
Now for my problem child- my little angel boy is being quite bold- Buddy.
He is a great ferret would never lay a tooth on me or my friend Amber and a
few others, however, he has gotten quite bad with people he does not know,
I don't know what to do here, the last few times he has met people, he will
bite to the point that he will draw blood.  He does not run away either.
Buddy has never been mistreated, I have had him since he was a kit.  He is
not a fearful fert, never will run away, I just don't know what to do with
him, people can't pet him cause I am afraid he will bite, where ever he
can, he will bite.  The older he gets the worse he is,the last couple of
times he has done it, I have not been there, so the next time there is
someone new around, I will stand there, ready to scold him if he bites-
my plan is to say no, bad and put him in his cage for a time out (not for
long), he listens to me rather well, and knows when he is in trouble.  Has
anyone had this problem before?, he is not a mean ferret, in anyway, and
has had so much attention and love, has never been hit or punished....gives
me kisses all the time and is a big suck.  I don't know what to do , it is
hard cause he only does it with unfamiliar people and I have not been right
there the last few times to catch him in the act so he knows he is
bad.Also, it is difficult when you have someone there, what do you say, he
bites can you be my guinny pig, so I can teach him that biting is bad.  Any
opinions on why he is doing this?  and how to stop it!  He is a good fert,
really!
 
Finally, here is my last comment, I have heard quite a bit of talk about
Timmy's Tonic, can anyone tell me or show me where to find more info and
what it actually is.
 
Better go, before I yip too much! Once again, I hope all is well with
everyone and this how situation gets solved. I have met so many wonderful
people on this FML.
Have a great week!
Best Regards, Stacey and Her Precious Packages of Love
[Posted in FML issue 3222]