Before I get into this, I want to commend Millie for taking on this
project- this is ALOT of ferrets to handle and make sure are taken care
of and I give her alot of credit for doing this and doing it well. I
also want to be very clear that my goal with this posting is not to
slam anyone or the ferrets, but simply to put some awareness out there,
so that when these ferrets are placed, they are placed forever, and do
not end up being shuffled around- according to all I've spoken to,
Millie and crew are doing a wonderful job.

Now to the issues- first off, temperament. These ferrets make wonderful
pets. They can be sweet, and loving. They are not, however, Marshall
ferrets. They are far more demanding and pushy, and they are perfectly
willing to use their teeth- not always aggressively, but if they are
pushed and get mad, most will bite. More than a few will sink fangs in
gleefully. They tend to be awake far more than the typical domestic,
and have a much ranker odor to them. It won't matter how clean you
keep them or their things- it is a different smell than your regular
ferrets. They can be taught an amazing variety of things, as they seem
to be able to problem solve extremely well, which can also present new
issues in ferret proofing. They do not take "no" for an answer- they
are far more persistant than the regular ferret. They are also more
destuctive than Marshall ferrets- and I have decided that if I have
said no about something else they will go destroy something to get my
attention. They are alot of fun, as they are more intuititve, I think,
and you can take them alot of different places. Oh, they tend not to
appreciate new people until they are used to them. Universally they
tend to like feet and if they can get under the covers, well, whatever
part they can get teeth on seems to work. They are much stronger than
regular domestics as well. Your other ferrets may have a hard time with
them, simply due to size and strength- they do bully and have a sort
of pack mentality. They also bite and shake- they don't let go, so if
anyone is introducing RWE to their existing group be very careful.
Sometimes it will go fine, but if there is an altercation, the Rainbows
don't back off. Those of us with both are now running multiple groups-
The gentler ferrets that play well with others and the bullys aka
Rainbows:-) I thnk in five years I have come across maybe three very
gentle RWE that I would equate with a Marshalls ferret. Oh Yeah- some
mark their stuff-including people.

This kind of personality works very well for alot of people, and these
ferrets need to go to homes where the people know their personality and
are not expecting docile Marshall ferrets, so that they have a better
chance of it being forever. The more disclosure people have the more
they will hold on and love these babies. When I explain them to people
I call it first comparing a VW beetle (Marshalls) to a space shuttle
(RWE). If you pick the space shuttle you'll have a hell of a ride, but
don't complain about the nausea:-)
Second, the health concerns. I have dealt with dozens of these ferrets
over several years and a few states. The infections coming out of the
farms most common seem to be Pasturella and Step B. The veterinarians
are telling us that it is most likely from cross contamination from the
rabbits and guinea pigs at the farm- I can go into more of how we know
it is from the farm, but suffice to say we made sure. The only way to
tell what the ferret IS carrying is to do a trachea swab, which can be
done while they are being spayed or neutered. Both infections are
highly contagious and will spread like wildfire. The Pasturella cannot
be eradicated, only supressed, which means that anytime the ferret is
under stress or ill, it may flare. They will still be fine pets, but
this is important to know because anyone taking them will be exposing
their own animals, so it will be important to get the testing done
first. Also these ferrets may need intermittant meds for their lives.
What is seeming to keep it under control, until it mutates, is Doxy and
Enro. The ferrets were only transported in cedar bedding- at the farm
they were kept on wire cage flooring, so the cedar is most likely not
responsible for the URI- I'm guessing that is probably the pasturella,
although, again, a trachea culture is needed. I would highly encourage
you to get at least a few of the sick ones tested before sending anyone
out to new homes. The amount of antibiotics we have had to give ours
to get this under control is staggering, and there is no telling what
the effect will be on them from all this is 3 or 5 years. There was
considerable inbreeding at the farm, which is something else we are
watching, some of the ferrets we have taken are obviously products of
this, they are very recognizable, but again, we don't know what their
health consequenses are going to be. The whole thing is very sad, but
thank God there will be no more coming out of there.

Again, I want to emphasize that these ferrets make wonderful companions
for the right people, My aim is just to make sure they go to forever
homes where people know exactly what they are getting into. These
ferrets have done nothing wrong and should not be penalized for any of
this, I just want people to understand that the Rainbow ferret is not
the docile Marshall farms ferret, and the health issues are so very
important. Thank you again Millie- We have been doing this for years
up here, it is nice to have someone else who loves them as well.

Gerri

[Posted in FML 5925]