Dear ferret lovers :)
 
I have only been on this list for a little while but I have noticed some
things and I just wanted to put my "two cents" in.  I consider myself a
pretty well informed ferret owner.  I can talk intelligently on litter,
food, ear and nail care, toys, cages, play time, biting, some ferret
behavior and a good vet.  I know a little about sicknesses but not too
much about older ferrets never having owned one.  My husband and I started
our ferret ownership adventure in California and chose a ferret since they
are "cool" and I am allergic to cats and dogs.  Of course we got it by
interesting means being in CA and didn't really have much in the way of
training or help.  The first thing that the little thing did was bite
through my husbands finger!  We kept that ferret (Taz) for less than a
year and we were probably some of the worst ferret parents out there.
She of course responded by being a horrid ferret.  The people that we sold
her to said that she followed her son around like a puppy.  Go figure.
Our second ferret we were a LITTLE better prepared for but we still didn't
"get" a lot of the ferret behavior and while we were better parents to
this one we endedup giving her to a wonderful ferret shelter when we moved
overseas.  The shelter owner ended up renaming her sweetness because she
was so sweet (for him).  Go figure.  Meanwhile Sue is probably horrified
that she sold three of her babies to us!  Well, the love of ferrets stayed
with us for years and this last summer we felt that we were ready to try
again.  I discovered in the pet store that I had developed ferret
allergies and had handed them down to my five year old daughter but that
didn't stop us.  We re read all of our old ferret books, researched where
to buy ferret stuff and found a breeder instead of going to the pet store.
We talked to our daughter about ferrets and talked to the doctor about
allergy medication etc.  When we felt that we were ready we went to see
Sue and got Pippin, a at that time a 12 week old male.  Pippin decided to
bite in that first week but we were ready and taught him not to.  We had
some trouble with allergies (especially me) but after trading around
medications and purchasing 3 hepa filters that is under control.  Of
course ferret math being what it is we later got two more ferrets from
Sue one at a time.  I guess what I am trying to say is that ferrets aren't
for everyone at every stage of their lives.  We weren't mature enough or
well informed enough the first time.  The second time was better but not
quite right.  Now I feel confident that we will keep our little friends
for life.  Through it all we have loved ferrets and finally learned how to
be good parents to them.  Many other people are on this list because they
love ferrets too.  Some are brand new and know about as much as we knew in
CA.  Some know everything.  We post with questions because we want to do
the best thing, because we know that there are people here that know more
than we do.  And we post just because we have to tell how wonderful our
ferrets are!  I hope that we can all help each other and be understanding.
Sorry this was so loooonnggg.
 
                  ~Heather
[Posted in FML issue 3712]