>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]