there are two ferrets in the house today
Earlier this week I contacted the woman who runs the ferret shelter about adopting a buddy for Sissy. Midweek she emailed me about a woman who had to give up her healthy youngish ferret due to health reasons, and last night me, M and Sissy all went to visit the woman and her ferrets. The two ferrets seemed to hit it off pretty well, so we have now added "Cocoa" to the family! His name is in quotes because I'm not sure it will stay his name. I'd better think of something soon though because I've been calling him Cucamunga, and that's going to stick if I'm not careful. He'll be turning three at the end of October and is in great health, super energetic and playful. He's loving all the cage-free time he's getting here; we're still caging him separately from Sissy when we're sleeping/not around, but the plan is once he starts finding sleeping spots on his own outside of the cage and we know for sure the ferrets won't seriously fight, then we can phase out the cage. Right now though we want to make sure both ferrets are safe, and also we want him to have something familiar. This is a very different environment from his last house, which was rather densely cluttered. In fact we somewhat marveled that he made it this far, given the recliners, cats, access to the fridge and stove, rubber toys, etc., but he's clearly a resilient fellow. The two ferrets have been chasing each other around, a mix of play and sorting out who the boss is. It will undoubtedly be Sissy, so the new guy just has to adjust to that, and then they will be fine. He hasn't had experience with other ferrets since he was a baby, but he did play with the cats at his last home, so playing with another animal is not a foreign concept. I think he's astonished to find that there is an animal more relentless than he is ;-)
Isn't he a cutie?
Here he is about to pounce at the photographer:
And this is a pretty accurate depiction of the difference in size between him and Sissy. As I said, though, I am sure she will be the boss ferret. Tiny ferret girls are like that.
He's still cautious here and jumpy but is already playing with us and definitely likes being talked to, even when he doesn't feel ready to actually approach a person. His nip training wasn't handled that well (the former owner told us what she would do, which sounded like more of a reinforcement technique for a playful ferret than a deterrent) but he's so friendly that I'm sure he'll figure it out quickly. He's pretty smart, too, thinking things through. Though he did last night stick his nose up into the downspout of the water fountain and manage to douse his entire face in water. In other words, he is beyond a doubt a ferret :-)
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Isn't he a cutie?
Here he is about to pounce at the photographer:
And this is a pretty accurate depiction of the difference in size between him and Sissy. As I said, though, I am sure she will be the boss ferret. Tiny ferret girls are like that.
He's still cautious here and jumpy but is already playing with us and definitely likes being talked to, even when he doesn't feel ready to actually approach a person. His nip training wasn't handled that well (the former owner told us what she would do, which sounded like more of a reinforcement technique for a playful ferret than a deterrent) but he's so friendly that I'm sure he'll figure it out quickly. He's pretty smart, too, thinking things through. Though he did last night stick his nose up into the downspout of the water fountain and manage to douse his entire face in water. In other words, he is beyond a doubt a ferret :-)
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