ANOTHER FERRET POST ALREADY?!!

[stoopbeck]

I realized today that I haven't ever (to my knowledge) posted ferret pictures here. I've posted them in the photoblog, but not here. THAT MUST BE REMEDIED.

So here you go! These are the bright shining faces that stare at me in the early morning, waiting for me to get up and feed them.



About 80% of the time, they look like this. Po is the gray one, and Bela is the white one. She looks so sweet, curled up into a little ball like that. Don't let that fool you.



And then they wake up, and they move so fast that when I try to take pictures, all I get is photoblur. Even on the Children and Pets settings!

Bela sat on my shoulder today. She's captivated by my camera, and sometimes I can get her to sit still long enough to snap a quick one of her.



In case you're wondering, it's very cold in my room. I have to wear a hat. :(

This is the coveted treat. Po scrabbled madly to get away so he could hide it under my dresser.



Bela hissed madly, which is the ferret equivalent of cussing like a sailor. She does it all the time. ALL THE TIME.



Po and Bela like the camera.



Bela looks especially demonic in that last picture.

And those are my babies!

Comments

[featherfish.livejournal.com]

SO CUTE!! :-D

I used to want a ferret... I heard they smell really bad. Is this true?

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

NOT AT ALL. Allow me to climb upon my ferret soapbox. :]

Part of the ferrets-are-smelly myth comes from the fact that oftentimes people don't realize they can be litter-trained, and they're allowed to poop wherever they please in the cage, which doesn't make for fresh clean air. They're ridiculously easy to train (Bela learned in a day), so that part isn't really bad. You can also purchase a food/water additive that eliminates ammonia from their system, so their litter boxes have very little smell to them.

They are related to skunks, and unaltered ferrets have scent glands similar to (but nowhere near as pungent as) skunks, but all ferrets sold in pet stores in the US have had their glands removed and have been fixed. When they get overexcited, they can get a slight musky odor to them, but you can bathe them or wipe them down with a damp washcloth (the washcloth is better because bathing them can strip out the natural oils in their skin, and washclothing has the added benefit of calming them down, which is always good).

Having a ferret actually smells a lot better than having a cat (I had a cat with an incontinence problem, and as much as I dearly loved her, if I never have to smell cat urine again it will be too soon), and somewhat better than having a dog (we have a poodle, and she MUST have a bath every couple of weeks, because any longer and she reeks).

Wow. That was... longer than I meant it to be. I hope that was helpful in some way? I am always willing to dispel myths about ferrets. :D

[skroberts]

I'm so glad Rosie has short hair. She only needs a bath maybe once a month. Bonnie, though... GAH. *gag*

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

Leena has had maybe four baths in her entire life.

Pansy really should be bathed once a week. :P

[featherfish.livejournal.com]

Hee! It was all very interesting! I shall log it away if I ever decide to get one.

[skroberts]

That last one of Po is ADORABLE.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

*smishes him* He's a cutie-pie!

That really is one of the best pictures I have of him. :]

[dragonbetween.livejournal.com]

So here's a question for you, do you leave them out of their cage for the most part? It looks/sounds like they're running around a lot and I can't tell if that's just when you're around or if they're okay to have out and unsupervised like you would your cats and dogs.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

Ferrets are incredibly curious and almost invariably find ingenious ways of getting themselves killed, like getting washed in the dishwasher/dryer or finding a hole and getting stuck in the wall or something. So it's usually only a good idea to let them out in rooms that have been ferret-proofed. They get full run of my room for at least two hours every day, but they have to stay in there because the rest of the house is definitely not ferret-safe. I usually supervise them, but they can run about my room with no supervision.

There are people who will come to your house and make it ferret-proof, and then you can let them run around all the time. That's my eventual goal. :D

They're only really awake about four to six hours of the day, and for the rest of the time I keep them locked up. Also our Chocolate Lab severely dislikes Po, and will pick him up by his head if he gets too close to her.

I can take them around the house and outside on their little leashes, though. :]

[alana-eldora.livejournal.com]

*cuddles ferrets*

*and Alex too*

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

*purrs*

[thelasttoknow03.livejournal.com]

Well, we did ask for more stories. But pictures are a million times better! :)

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

:D

[mei-chan1029.livejournal.com]

haha, yes, I'd have to say that in the bottom left one, Bela looks like something from The Pet Cemetery. :)

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

You should have seen her this summer, when she had chunks of fur missing... definitely looked like an extra from Pet Sematary then... :P

[mei-chan1029.livejournal.com]

hahaha, any pictures??

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

Haha, I'll see what I can do...

[ewanspotter.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't think I've ever seen your babies before. They're darn cute! (And I read your comment about them smelling... which is really interesting, because I'd also heard they're smelly, so that makes sense.)

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

Teehee, I think so too.

Any time I tell someone I have ferrets, people tell me that they stink. :] They also tell me that they're viciously bitey, and that they'll poo all over. I like to shed the light on our maligned weasel companions.

I'm totally the scary person on the street corner with the pamphlets, when it comes to ferrets.

[ewanspotter.livejournal.com]

I'm most impressed that you can potty train them.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

They're actually not that difficult to potty train. Bela learned in a day. Of course, she's pretty smart... It took Po longer, but that's because my friend was using cedar chips for the litter, and he thought those were his bedding. :]

[ewanspotter.livejournal.com]

Hey, even I'd get confused on that one.

[stoopbeck.livejournal.com]

Me too. Poor little guy.