Matthew Ardill <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>we had one sweet little guy (we called him Stumpy because he had a short
>tail) who was the last ferret from a shipment who *cried* to be held!  it
>was heart wrenching!  when he saw us walk by the cage he would stand up and
>look out of the top and "waaaah, wah, waaaaah!" until we cuddled him!  right
>now we have another little girl who cries if you don't look at her while you
>hold her.  i know at least one ******* is going to say that i'm just
>anthropomorphising because i'm a sissy ferret lover, but i can't find any
>other reason for what that little guy was doing.
 
My Milo, (CDC ferret) when he was a baby, used to do the same thing.  He was
too small to jump off the couch, so we'd play on the couch and when I would
leave the room he's run to the arm of the couch, stand on it, crane his neck
as far as he could and cry like a baby until I came back.
 
When he learned to jump off the couch that all changed and he's never done
it again.
 
you also wrote:
>Hagen and CDC are not the same breeder.  Hagen uses an entirely different
>tattoo system to CDC, and they are not in any way (to the best of my
>knowledge) affiliated.  CDC tattoos are black and located in the right ear,
>Hagen tattoos are green or blue-green and located in the left ear.  Hagen
>have very, very bad breeding practices, and regularly screw up surgeries.
>CDC have good breeding but very poor care and shipping practices and give a
>full guarantee on all surgeries.
 
Hagen doesn't breed its own ferrets.  It contracts that out to a man with a
ferret ranch in Manitoba.  From my understanding the farm is well run (I've
friends who've visited the farm) but he's not all that careful about
pedigrees/lineages.  He also sells ferrets *not* under the Hagen label,
which is why sometimes you'll see them in pet stores without tattoos of any
kind -- at least, you will out here.
 
CDC was originally a fur farm.  They also breed other furry things like
chinchillas.  Apparently their farm is also fairly well run.  CDC ferrets
tend to be bigger than the Hagen ferrets, in my experience.  Both farms
breed funky colours.
 
And both farms use the same veterinarian.  I have pet store paperwork on
both CDC and Hagen ferrets and both use Morden Animal Clinic.  Apparently
that veterinarian is rather clueless about ferrets in general and regularly
does poor surgery.
 
Neither farm gets our stamp of approval.  CDC won't tell us what they do
with their retired breeders (don't forget they were originally a fur farm)
but I know that Mr Holden retires his jills to small cages for the remainder
of their lives as, by his own admission, "they are too mean to adopt out."
*sigh*
 
Sheena and the   |  proud LOMIG member  8-)
Wherret Ferrets!   |  "to be sane in a world of madness
Come see us at:   |    is in itself a kind of madness"
           http://www2.portal.ca/~wherret/
[Posted in FML issue 2160]