Hello ALL!
I have had ferts for over 18 yrs and altho most were Marshall or pet
shop ferts, I had one hob that I got from our local Animal Shelter.
When he first came to live w/us POOFING was a BIG problem as I already
2 other ferts and my one boy, Samson, was a bit of a bruiser so I'm
sure Max poofed from fear, new surroundings and all, but once he was
fixed (not descented tho) he only poofed maybe once or twice and it was
very mild. I currently have 2 DMK hobs who are sched'd to be fixed on
Dec 15 as I want them to be full grown (they are about 5 months old
now) and we have only had ONE STRONG poof experience and one or 2 light
poofs. They will also not be descented when they get fixed and I'm not
expecting any bad poofs as they fixed ferret poofs are NO WHERE NEAR as
bad as the whole ferret poof as I was told that a large portion of the
scent glands are in their wholeness genitalia? Not sure but that is
what I was told. Max, my last whole boy who was at least 1, possibly 2
when he was fixed never really poofed again. He was just a little more
ferrety' than the pet shop kids.
Also, a big update on my 5 yr old boy, Hamlet, who has insulinoma - he
is on Pred, and was doing much better, but I have been slowly switching
all my kids to a more natural diet (I call it gibble-guts) which is
COOKED chicken livers, chicken hearts and gizzards, pork soup
meat/bones, and chicken leg portions mixed in my food processor. I
also take the bones and tho I don't grind them up, I keep them in the
freezer and add a few to the gibble-gut mixture that is also mixed
w/some kibble. The kibble softens in the gibble-gut mixture. AND I
give them a piece of chicken and rabbit jerky each day too.
My older boys didn't take to it too well at first, but now they are
actually eating the gibble-guts too. Before that, they would only pick
out the kibble pieces. I have even seen Hamlet chomping on a piece of
chicken skin/meat and a bone! The bones are pretty well eaten - only
the hardest parts are left and the knuckle/cartilage portions are being
chewed on too - keeping teeth cleaner than having everything chopped
to a soup. Anyway, my insulinoma boy is THRIVING on the gibble-gut
mixture! He plays for over an hour now (before, it was about 15 min's,
then back to his hammy.) and his tail was a little bare but the hair
is growing back! He's been on Pred for about 3 months now and the
gibble-gut mixture for not quite a whole month, but I have noticed the
changes about 2 weeks AFTER the gibble-guts! My 6 yr old (who is bald,
but still spry) id thriving on the gibble-guts too! He plays and
bounces and dooks like a kid again - plays for about an hour too before
looking for a place to sleep or going back to the cage! Slowly I'm
mixing in raw, but only Alexander, my youngest DMK baby will eat it.
Kitty brought home a mouse and he CHOWED down so I'm looking for a
place to get frozen fuzzies that don't cost an arm and a leg! I have
just lost my job and my fiance's hours have been cut so we are trying
are best to provide good food, but at a decent price. I have a butcher
up the street that I'm going to ask about rabbit, but I'm afraid it
might be out of our budget right now - hence I'm still mixing kibble
to try to balance out what nutrients they get. I have all my friends
and relatives save chicken carcasses and I break them up into smaller
chunks and give the kids the bones/meat scraps still stuck to the
carcass. They also get the turkey carcass - and LOVE the rib bones,
eating them all up! Will keep everyone updated on their progress of
this diet and how well they are doing - so far, I'm doing SOMETHING
right!! Someone suggested to go to reptile shows and buy some frozen
fuzzies there as they are usually quite inexpensive and I save on the
shipping (which is the costly portion of them). Oh and Simon my deaf
boy is doing better all the time - he's learning the sign language and
is also starting to trust me enough to come to me and now scamper when
he sees my shadow so he's getting startled less. I try to pound the
floor first before approaching him too which I think he's learning
means I'm around. We're all getting there and my 2 DMK boys are just
AMAZING! Alexander was a lover right from the start! No major biting
probs at all from day one - only nipping when unsure.
More later!!
Dawn (ferretlady3), Socrates, Hamlet, Romeo, Alexander and Simon, oh
and fiance Pat who puts up w/the house being over run w/fuzzbutts!
[Posted in FML 5802]
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