Hi, my name is Crissie.  My fianc=E9 and I have 2 ferts named Catch-up and
Baloo.  We also had a cool Iguana named Crazy Iguana Man, and a few anoles
in a tank.  We have a few other pets that became family along the way, but
nothing has happened to them yet.  Yes, yet.
 
We loved Catch-up and think she is the most adorable silent thing in the
world.  She plays with us and tolerates my daughter very well, but the thing
is, she is a hunter.
 
Yea, she has gone after fish, hermit crabs, turtles and anoles.  Just 2 days
ago, I heard something crash.  When I got done feeding the saltwater fish, I
checked the room.  There she was, in the Iguana Habitat, with blood on her
face!  The little guy was just covered in his blood, laying on his back, not
breathing.  It was the most awful thing I have ever seen!  We loved him so
much, and when I scooped him up, he was in shock or suffering from massive
brain damage.  The day he climbed my arm to get out of the cage, when I
picked him to come home with me, it flashed before me.  I saw him in his
best days, and now his worst.  I thank God we had the chance to have him in
our lives, but I am so sorry that our ferret killed him.  His wounds were
deep into the brain and ear, plus his tail muscles were pulled out!  He
couldn't have made it, no matter how much I cleaned him up and treated his
wounds.  It was cold, so I thought just keeping him home to be warm in his
habitat, would be a more peaceful way to die.
 
The Ferret!
Now, what do I do with my fiance who has a broken heart for his Iguana, whom
he raised?  I love Catch-up, but upon release, she sneaks around to get into
the habitat again.  She tears up the wood bedding and searches the branches
and hanging gardens for him.  After knowing he was lost, I let his body stay
in there a night longer.  Catch-up found him under the heat hut and dragged
him out to eat him, pull out his eye and make a mess in the blood!
 
I can't believe she did this!  I love her so much, but have these feelings
agenst her for the brutal murder.  I understand they are natural to hunting
and killing smaller creatures, especially those with different body
textures, but the images of her and him, they HURT!  What am I to do?  Dan
never wants to see her again, he wont look at her being cute anymore.  But
she is a pet of the family, including my daughter, so we can't send her
away for what she did out of natural instincts.  I love her and so does my
daughter.  Does someone have any hopeful hints for me???
 
I want to do the right thing and get us over this time and loss.  Thanks and
please don't write anything nasty.  We never thought a ferret could get up
that high, balance herself and then pull open a tank lid that was Velcro
shut tight.
 
We thought everyone had their own space, and the Iguana never left the
habitat on his own, so they wouldn't cross paths.
 
Gotta go clean out his home now.
Thanks,
Crissie :o
[Posted in FML issue 2261]