Hi All,
 
After searching high and low for a ferret to purchase in Bs. As., Argentina
(where I live, by the way) I located one this past weekend at an obscure &
remote exotic pet store.  They had, in between the crates of spiders, snakes
and iguanas, what they said was a one year old male that had been given up
for consignment because the owner was moving overseas and couldn't take it
with him.  I have been an FML lurker for a while and have come to know a few
things about how to keep & care for ferrets, so imagine my surprise with
what I found.
 
The ferret was in a tiny aquarium with wood shavings and had a supermarket
tray of raw hamburger thrown in a corner for food.  I asked the pet store
owner to take the ferret out and this is where it gets really weird....the
man put on a stiff leather glove that went all the way up to his elbow and
quickly thrust his arm in the aquarium and pulled the ferret out by the
neck.  The poor animal was thrashing like crazy and then bit the handler
through his protective glove.
 
The handler dropped the ferret, which then made a bee-line to a cage with
chinchilas and proceeded to maim one of the large rodents by biting the heck
out of it through the cage's wire frame.  The pet store owner then grabbed
the ferret's head and started hitting the ferret and yelling at him, at
which point the animal broke loose from the man's grip and went straight for
my girlfriend's ankle, where she now has two distinct puncture wounds to
show for the experience.
 
Now....the guy is asking 300 bucks for this psycho ferret.  I need advice
from some of you more experienced FML'rs as to whether or not this creature
can be rehabilitated.  It seems to have a very electric personality and has
clearly been abused and neglected by his previous owner & his present pet
shop keeper.  I also doubt it is one year old, although I have no experience
in determining a ferret's age.  I had my heart set on a young, trainable
ferret, but unfortunately this is the only one I've been able to locate in
Buenos Aires!  I would welcome any thoughts, advice, suggestions & general
comments.  Please send them privately so as to not clutter the FML.
 
Many thanks and regards,
Alex Vitale
[Posted in FML issue 2122]