>From:    Tamlyn Martinovich-Faulkner <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: fert socialising, frolic in nz, the return of eppy
>
>* well i've decided i would like to get sebastien a buddy, and i welcome
>any suggestions to make the process easier.  she loves playing with humans
>but likes to bite other ferts esp. around the face!  she is also very
>small and has been an only fert for all her life (i think).  i realise
>that this may not work and i guess she'll be destined to be a spoilt only
>fert, but i'd like to give it a go.  i've been told the woman i will be
>adopting from is very knowledgeable and helpful, and the fert will come
>home on a trial basis.  i would still appreciate opinions, own experiences
>etc...
 
Hej All,
 
I would just like to give my 2 cents worth of advice here regarding
Tamlyn's questions concerning her little Sebastien's potential to be a
social weezul.  As some of you may know, I lost my oldest weezul girl to
recurrent cancer back in early September.  Cleopatra was pretty old
(almost 9) when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge and not only was I grieving
but her long time bonded best weezul friend Nefertiti just moped around
the house and seemed to be pining away.
 
Of course, there was only one thing I could do - so before too long I
ended up with a very lively new girl, named Wilhelmina Dee Weezul.  I
was able to adopt Willie from a local Coast Guard fellow who's duties
prevented him from spending as much time as he felt was fair to his little
fur person.  Willie was about 16 weeks old when I adopted her and she was
- is a "Wild Weasel." Add to the mix that Willie, who had always lived in
a wonderfully spacious cage - was now to be a "Free Range Weezul" - having
the run of my flat along with her "new" sister, Nefertiti.
 
I had hoped that the girlz would get along from the first.... but there
was a 10 day period of the wonderfully funny weezul game of "Who's the
Boss" to play out.  Of course, Nefi was the oldest, and by right of
eminent domain had to assert her "rights" as the alpha.  The fly in the
ointment was that Willie is a big weezul - one of those almost bull dog
ferrets - when I took her to be examined by my wonderfully ferret
knowledgeable vet - Willie weighed almost 1.2 kg, which is sorta big for
a 16 week old weezul.  She easily outweighed Nefi who is a bit over three
years old.
 
At first, Nefi tried to just remain aloof... she would come up to sit on
my lap and seem to dare Willie to just try and follow.  Always exuberant,
Willie would chase Nefi around, wanting desperately to play.  Wiliie would
frequently drag Nefi around the house by the scruff of her neck and Nefi,
amazingly, didn't seem to mind this part of the game.  Initially there was
much hissing and some little spats, which I supervised to make sure that
no one got hurt.
 
Well... it took about 10 days to sort out.  But I am happy to report that
Willie & Nefi now get along famously - they even sleep together inside of
my sock drawer - crawling into a tee shirt I keep in there for them.  At
first they slept separately - Nefi in the top drawer and Willie in the
lower tee shirt drawer.  And Wiliie still drags Nefi around the house once
in a while... it has become part of their normal play.  Nefi seems to like
this new form of transportation since it saves wear and tear on her little
feeties and she hasn't learned to ride a bicycle.  (yet)
 
So my advice for Tamlyn is to make sure to give her weezuls enough time to
get to know each other and settle the dominance games that are certain to
be played.  Be sure to carefully supervise the games - but don't become
too alarmed if there is lots of vocalization while Sebastien gets to know
the new weezul.  It seems that all sorts of chirping and hissing and
squealing is more or less the norm.  I was pretty concerned by some of the
noises Willie & Nefi made while playing "Who's the Boss" and scruffed &
separated them a few times until I realized that nobody was really getting
hurt.
 
The entire process resolved in about 10 days... quite successfully to
judge by the closeness of my girlz.  And... they even both get along with
their newly adopted sister Rocky N.  Bullwinkle... but that's another
story.
 
Perro Loco & His Merry Crew
El Capitan, S/V Marsha Edmonds
 
 
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too
dark to read."
[Posted in FML issue 3682]