Settling in, the joy of injections and how my ferrets live.

Marigold has gained confidence so rapidly she is now fully integrated into the gang and living with them in my conservatory! She is firm friends with Strauss and they have been extremely entertaining. Strauss has been so excited in his play with Marigold we've had much tail wagging which is quite possibly the most hysterical thing I've ever seen. Roo used to wagg his tail with excitment and so did Archie but it's been a long time since I last witnessed that and Strauss does seem to have a extra vigourous wag! I'd forgotten how long young ferrets could rampage for. they must have been on the go, full throttle for at least four hours yesterday, and then after a brief nap were up and about again when I checked in on them before I went to bed.

Marigold is setting herself up to be the boss already. Willow is the current boss - despite her age and blindness. I think the whole gang just accept that and wouldn't dream of challenging her. Even Marigold let's her be and only interacts when Willow comes to her and is very good, just lets Willow sniff her and share her food. Marigold is very respectful of Little Man - which is funny because he is the wimpiest ferret in the world. On introduction to a new strange ferret he goes completely still and after a moment or two falls over! This is exactly what he did when he met Marigold and she just sniffed him and wandered off! She's shown Peregrine and Roo whose boss - neither of them made any attempt to fight back. They've both been at the bottom of the pile so long I don't think they even realise they could fight back. Strauss gives as good as he gets but Marigold seems to win the majority of the time - pretty impressive considering she's half his size!

In other Maigold related news, she came into season at the beginning of this week. This took me by surprise a little - it's only February and she's so small but I suppose it is nearly March and that's the beginning of the breeding season and having had a few days of good sunshine and light. So today she had a Delvosteron injection (also known as a Jill Jab) to bring her out of season so she's not at risk of aplastic anaemia (a condition often fatal in ferrets). Unfortunately delvosteron injections sting as you push the liquid in, so although she didn't seem to notice the needle go in, she certainly noticed as I pushed the plunger and decided the best course of action would be to plunge her tiny little needle-like teeth into my finger tip. She did seem rather traumatised by the whole experience, much shivering and hiding up my jumper but she soon settled back to normal when offered some tasty raw chicken liver. I treated myself to some cake as raw liver isn't really my cup of tea (incidently I don't like tea either).

On the general ferret news front I've, or rather my long suffering husband has, started work on constructing the extension to the outdoor ferret shed. It's a 6ft x 3ft run that will be permenantly attached to the main shed with a little door linking the two. It's looking good so far and I'm really quite excited about seeing the final product.

I've just realised that no where in this blog have I mentioned about my ferrety living arrangements. I'll give a brief run down now.

Most of the year they live in a specially designed 6ft x 4ft shed in my garden. I've adapted it somewhat over the years so it has various levels and shelves and as previously stated am currently extending it to provide more room for my latest additions. They still come into the house for play times in the evenings and we have lots of walks in the garden when the weather is nice. I prefer to keep them outside in the summer primarily so they don't overheat in the house and also, I like to regain the use of my conservatory, which is where they live in the winter.

I bring them inside during the winter months for two reasons.

One: I don't like going outside in the pouring rain and freezing cold.
Two: A lots of my ferrets are quite elderly now. Willow has a quite moth eaten look to her fur due to her age and Little Man is prone to baldness because of his adrenal disease so it doesn't seem right to leave them out in freezing temperatures.

My conservatory is still pretty cold but it elimiates draughts and damp. I do have a heater in their that I turn on low if it gets very cold like it did this past winter (-12ºC on Christmas day where I live). In the conservatory I have a 6ft x 2ft double storey hutch but the door is never shut and they just have run of the whole conservatory - with igloos and fleeces and tubes everywhere. Trying to walk through there is a bit of maze if you're human (or a cat - they always seem a bit puzzled by it all!).

That's about it for now, I should really get back to playing with the little beasties!