Reba And Ferrets

On Saturday, I woke up at 6.45am, slapped on some make-up to cover up the sleep deprivation, and downed half a cup of coffee. Then, I packed up the ferrets into their crates (which was a lot easier than I'd anticipated, seeing as they'd both gone to sleep inside of one, so I just shut the door, and took the spare), and picked up the rucksack I'd packed the night before, and left the house by 7.25am.

Two days ago, I took Luna to the vets, so she could get her first ever canine distemper vaccine.

For a cry-baby ferret who whines if you move her when she's sleeping, she took the ordeal in pretty good spirit. Not even a whimper, or a whine, and within seconds she was already exploring the desk and computer, clambering over the very patient veterinarian, and almost falling off the table.

Having established that, now Luna is more confident and boisterous, weighing the little ferret on the small scales was out of the option, she was placed on the scales usually reserved for cats, rabbits, and other larger animals. The verdict? Luna now weighs 700g. Though shorter than Tarryn, Luna is definitely chunkier, and now, they're a similar weight, and seeing as Luna has another 4-8 weeks of growing to do, it's obvious that Luna is going to outweigh her big sister.


The above transformation has happened over the last six weeks. Still clumsy, and boisterous and overflowing with energy, Luna has morphed from a tiny ferret kit into an adolescent - her long overcoat has grown in, covering the small, softer undercoat. Her belly isn't so round and stuffed with milk-softened food, instead, she is more lithe and slender. Her feet, whilst still big, are slightly more in proportion. Her neck has widened, becoming thicker and stronger, and her teeth have grown fully out of her gums.

I feel like a mother who's realising how big her baby is getting.

So, I'll leave you now, as I'm still having a maternal meltdown.

"Why ferrets of all animals?" is a question I get asked a lot.

I can't definitively point to one reason why I picked ferrets, though I remember my older sister being obsessed with them when we were younger. When my mother approached the possibility of getting a new pet for me (my pet rabbit, Lily, died of lung cancer the previous year), I took my time to look at all my options.

The only constraint I had was that it had to be a small pet; one which could live within the space we had. This was established after I asked (jokingly) if I could have a pony. I also knew that, as I would be living in student accommodation, I might not have been able to take my pet with me, so it would have to stay at home. Knowing my mother's distaste for snakes, I reluctantly crossed them off the list of potential pets.

I considered rats, hamsters, and other small rodents, only to be confronted with a potentially short lifespan. I wasn't prepared to become emotionally attached to an animal only for it to pass away two years later.

Remembering my sister's admiration of ferrets, I decided to look into them, and after a couple hours of research, and several ferret YouTube videos, I was sold.

I trawled through the internet, until I came across a man who lived relatively locally, who was looking to sell the kits of his ferret, who had recently given birth. For six weeks, as I waited for my ferret to be old enough for collection. In the meantime, I researched ferret care at every opportunity, and purchased all the necessary equipment for housing and caring for my new ferret. I frequently received updates about my ferret as she grew.

A tiny Tarryn at 8 weeks old, the first night she came home.

Eventually, the day which I was due to collect my ferret rolled around.

After a two hour journey, armed with a travel crate, I was finally face to face with my ferret. At eight weeks old, she was still small enough to fit in my hand. She wriggled, and had a faintly sweet, musky smell. The second I held her, my heart melted. I was in love.

I definitely made the right choice for me. As much as I loved my rabbit, I am most certainly a ferret person. I'd walk outside, and take Tarryn along with me, first in my hood or on my shoulder, then on a lead. I'd be stopped a lot, but I didn't mind - I'd use it as an opportunity to educate people, and to correct many misconceptions held about ferrets.

And then one day, as I popped to the high-street to get some supplies, a lady stopped me on the street. This in itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me when Tarryn was wandering around on a lead. Then the conversation morphed into something I wasn't expecting at all. I was asked if I wanted another ferret.

 This lady informed me that she also had a ferret, and she'd also had another ferret wander into her

Luna, the first night she came home. She climbed into my hood and curled up to sleep at the base of my neck.

garden. After ensuring that nobody was looking for her, this lady had taken the homeless ferret in, and after one trip to the vets, it was established she was a female... And pregnant. Now this woman was trying to find homes for each of these little kits, and there I was, stumbling into her path with a ferret of my own in tow.

Of course, I gleefully said yes, and that's the story of how I took in Luna. This little albino lunatic, came to me as a tiny 6 week old kit who could fit in one hand, and weighed a tiny 260g, Two weeks later, she'd piled on the weight, and weighed in at 440g (1lb). Now, a month on, Luna - who is thicker around the neck and broader - feels a similar weight, if not heavier to her full grown adoptive sister (Tarryn is a relatively small ferret, only 640g).

We'll be going to the vets this week, for her to get her first round of canine distemper vaccines, and I'll find out how much she's actually grown at this marker - 12 weeks.

I've begun this blog in order to document my life as the ferret mum to two mischief makers, and to help break down some of the many misconceptions people have about ferrets. As many ferret welfare blogs and sites I see tend to be based in America, I hope to also outlining suggestions for ferret care in the UK. Obviously, I'm no vet or expert in any way, but I'll use my own experiences in order to help anyone!

That's all for now. Until next time!