From:
princesspunkrock83@hotmail.com
Date: 2004-07-03 19:14:20 UTC
Subject: RE: Squeaky Toys and Behavior
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <3338151.1088887192300.JavaMail.nobody@chromium.smartgroups.com>
I got both my girls at Petco, so they are from Marshall's. According to their "birth
certificate," they were about 8-9 weeks when we got them, but when we took them
to get their second round of shots, the vet said that Fiona was probably only 6
weeks and Mila 8 weeks. Fiona was tiny when we got here and I suspect she was the
runt of the litter. They are about nine and a half months old right now. Fiona is
actually much bigger now, bigger than her "sister" Mila, which I thought was kind of
weird since she is younger than Mila and was thus younger when she was taken
from her mom. She displays a lot of differences compared to Mila. Mila is what I
would call a typical ferret, she's overly curious, very playful, she does the crazy
hopping dance and makes all kinds of noises, and she is very agile. Fiona is a bit
chubby (though she has a stockier frame) and is much more calm. She is more
loving and she doesn't get as wound up as Mila does. But she loves wrestling with
Mila and is very playful once she gets in the mood to be. She doesn't really make
noises except sometimes with the squeaky toy and that only started in the past
week. She is also more timid and she is doesn't have the agility that Mila does. My
ex (their "dad") thinks Fiona isn't agile because she is chubby, but I suspect that she
just never developed the agility, just like some people are athletic and some people
(like myself) are not. She has gotten a little bit more daring and will try doing some
things that Mila does (like trying to climb up stuff or make jumps) but for the most
part she doesn't take the risks Mila does. At times I do worry about them because
this is my first experience with owning ferrets (though I used to work at a vet that
had shelter ferrets) and since they are so different, it is hard to not compare them.
Anyways, that should answer your question plus probably lots more than you
wanted to know...
I'm a psych major and am incredibly fascinated by psych and it has become second
nature to me to analyze everything or look at everything from a psychological
viewpoint, so thats where a lot of my questions come from.
[Moderator's Note: It is IMPORTANT to remember that age of kits can NOT be told
from size. Things like having other kits get most of the food will reduce size. If
they were erupting their adult canines at the time you got them then they were
about 8 weeks old or older. Teeth can vary some, too, but are the most reliable way
to age kits. So, if the age estimate wasn't from teeth, and you know the adult
canines were coming in then they were at least 8 weeks old.]