Before I get into this, I want to commend Millie for taking on this project- this is ALOT of ferrets to handle and make sure are taken care of and I give her alot of credit for doing this and doing it well. I also want to be very clear that my goal with this posting is not to slam anyone or the ferrets, but simply to put some awareness out there, so that when these ferrets are placed, they are placed forever, and do not end up being shuffled around- according to all I've spoken to, Millie and crew are doing a wonderful job. Now to the issues- first off, temperament. These ferrets make wonderful pets. They can be sweet, and loving. They are not, however, Marshall ferrets. They are far more demanding and pushy, and they are perfectly willing to use their teeth- not always aggressively, but if they are pushed and get mad, most will bite. More than a few will sink fangs in gleefully. They tend to be awake far more than the typical domestic, and have a much ranker odor to them. It won't matter how clean you keep them or their things- it is a different smell than your regular ferrets. They can be taught an amazing variety of things, as they seem to be able to problem solve extremely well, which can also present new issues in ferret proofing. They do not take "no" for an answer- they are far more persistant than the regular ferret. They are also more destuctive than Marshall ferrets- and I have decided that if I have said no about something else they will go destroy something to get my attention. They are alot of fun, as they are more intuititve, I think, and you can take them alot of different places. Oh, they tend not to appreciate new people until they are used to them. Universally they tend to like feet and if they can get under the covers, well, whatever part they can get teeth on seems to work. They are much stronger than regular domestics as well. Your other ferrets may have a hard time with them, simply due to size and strength- they do bully and have a sort of pack mentality. They also bite and shake- they don't let go, so if anyone is introducing RWE to their existing group be very careful. Sometimes it will go fine, but if there is an altercation, the Rainbows don't back off. Those of us with both are now running multiple groups- The gentler ferrets that play well with others and the bullys aka Rainbows:-) I thnk in five years I have come across maybe three very gentle RWE that I would equate with a Marshalls ferret. Oh Yeah- some mark their stuff-including people. This kind of personality works very well for alot of people, and these ferrets need to go to homes where the people know their personality and are not expecting docile Marshall ferrets, so that they have a better chance of it being forever. The more disclosure people have the more they will hold on and love these babies. When I explain them to people I call it first comparing a VW beetle (Marshalls) to a space shuttle (RWE). If you pick the space shuttle you'll have a hell of a ride, but don't complain about the nausea:-) Second, the health concerns. I have dealt with dozens of these ferrets over several years and a few states. The infections coming out of the farms most common seem to be Pasturella and Step B. The veterinarians are telling us that it is most likely from cross contamination from the rabbits and guinea pigs at the farm- I can go into more of how we know it is from the farm, but suffice to say we made sure. The only way to tell what the ferret IS carrying is to do a trachea swab, which can be done while they are being spayed or neutered. Both infections are highly contagious and will spread like wildfire. The Pasturella cannot be eradicated, only supressed, which means that anytime the ferret is under stress or ill, it may flare. They will still be fine pets, but this is important to know because anyone taking them will be exposing their own animals, so it will be important to get the testing done first. Also these ferrets may need intermittant meds for their lives. What is seeming to keep it under control, until it mutates, is Doxy and Enro. The ferrets were only transported in cedar bedding- at the farm they were kept on wire cage flooring, so the cedar is most likely not responsible for the URI- I'm guessing that is probably the pasturella, although, again, a trachea culture is needed. I would highly encourage you to get at least a few of the sick ones tested before sending anyone out to new homes. The amount of antibiotics we have had to give ours to get this under control is staggering, and there is no telling what the effect will be on them from all this is 3 or 5 years. There was considerable inbreeding at the farm, which is something else we are watching, some of the ferrets we have taken are obviously products of this, they are very recognizable, but again, we don't know what their health consequenses are going to be. The whole thing is very sad, but thank God there will be no more coming out of there. Again, I want to emphasize that these ferrets make wonderful companions for the right people, My aim is just to make sure they go to forever homes where people know exactly what they are getting into. These ferrets have done nothing wrong and should not be penalized for any of this, I just want people to understand that the Rainbow ferret is not the docile Marshall farms ferret, and the health issues are so very important. Thank you again Millie- We have been doing this for years up here, it is nice to have someone else who loves them as well. Gerri [Posted in FML 5925]