*wipes brow with tired hand*  Another ferret bath day over in this house.
It's such an ordeal, for me and the gang!  Taz, Coffee, Daphne and Grendel
all take the nail-clipping and tooth brushing fairly well (although Coffee
and Daphne fight the brushing) because they all like Petromalt and will
lick it happily off their tummies while I clip.  Gretchen and Tia are both
afraid of the clipping.  Gretchen likes baby food and I've tried that on
her tummy, to no avail, she still runs away.  Tia doesn't like anything
but food, not even Ferretone, so that's out with her as well.  It takes me
as long to clip either of them as it does to clip the other four all
together.  Mostly I try to be very gentle and snuggle them a lot and talk
softly, letting them know that they'll be alright; but I'm also a bit
stern about it, trying to let them know that it has to be done, however
much they struggle.  It eventually gets done.
 
Of course, they ALL date the ear cleaning and bath.  Even Grendel, who
likes water.  Taz always poops all over me.  They also hate teh spray
bottles I mix the shampoo and conditioner in (both are a 15 to 1
concentrate, one tablespoon per 8 oz spray bottle) but it's easier than
pouring it and ending up with it everywhere.  It's good shampoo too.
Probably the most hated thing, even though it's the quickest, is their
heartworm medication.  I always get a whine and a vigorous headshake when
they have to taste it.  EAr cleaning, while hateful, sometimes is the
easiest, possibly because I have a put-it-in-rub-let-them-shake-it-out
kind and they like the ear rubbing.
 
Well, after all is said and done, I'm always scratched everywhere, messy,
and dripping wet, so it's my turn for a bath.  From start to finish, for
all six ferrets and me, it takes two hours. :)
 
On another note, Grendel (not quite five months old and unneutered) is
definately feeling his oats.  He's constantly trying to mount Gretchen and
Tia, the littlest two in the gang (probably because Coffee and Daphne are
big enough and tough enough to still beat the crap out of him, although
they are rapidly loosing that ability, Taz is still the only one who can
really give Grendel a run for his money).  IN fact, I found bloody teeth
marks on Gretchen's neck during the bath today.  A couple days ago we
turned the back bathroom into a temporary ferret room.  He has food,
water, his favorite jingle toy, his favorite tunnel toy, a carrying case
to sleep in, a terry cloth pillow, and his litter box.  He's not really
thrilled about the solitary confinement, but we let him play with the
other five at least one hour a day.  We want to breed him at least once
before we get him snipped, but I'm not sure he's actually capable yet,
just thinks he is.  We have another five weeks or so to hold on until his
six month birthday -- I don't know if we can make it. :)
 
Michelle
 
--
Meet my pets.  The ferrets (Taz, Coffee, Daphne, Tia, Gretchen and Grendel),
the gerbils (31 permanent residents and various babies), the zebra mouse
(Racer), the rats (Timmy, Sue, Princess, Brownie and Perrin), the budgie
(Sky), the cockatiels (Summer and Snow), and the fish (various).
[Posted in FML issue 1302]