IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAVE UPDATED MY FURRY BABIES BLOG ... MEA CULPA ... I WILL WORK ON IT THIS WEEKEND...
It is too bad I am prompted to blog because I have a little half broken hob by the name of Sebastian. I have bugged the vet over and over regarding my #7 ferret and next to last baby who I named Sebastian ... This little guy is very special ... he stole my heart the moment I saw him ..he grabbed my arm with all fours and won't let go ... I knew he was mine .. we bonded instantly...
For the record ferrets are NOT rodents (I have owned some awesome rodent pets also) but these are not. Except for my dwarf ferret Chiquitita most of my ferrets are the size of full grown cats ... Caspar, Finibeau and Pepe are even bigger now. Out of my 8 ferrets I have 2 true albinos, 1 pole cat colored, 3 sable, 1 silver and then there is SEBASTIAN .... a mix ... of what?
The thing is Sebastian is the LOUDEST one at play otherwise he is TOTALLY QUIET and cuddly .. when he rough necks with his brothers and sisters he is the loudest and he caused them to get loud because he does not know when to stop at their signals .. I used to reprimand his brothers and sisters by holding back a treat with stern (NO NO) when Sebastian yelped only to realize that he was crying out wayyyyyyyyyyyyy before the others even touched him ...
Another thing and most important is the Pez Head ... pick up Sebastian and his head just flings all the way back like of its own volition and no control ... like he had no control over his neck ... the shape of his head is different ... kind of broader than his brothers and his neck flings back even when he is trying to make and hold eye contact ... so I asked the vet ... and I ask the vet...
As I am prepping for a future international move taking these fellows along with me I want to be on top of everything ... so thanks to some online questioning on my DDs part she emailed me an article a few weeks back and after reading it I ONCE AGAIN PURSUED TO VET ARMED WITH SOME INFO....
So after a few hundred dollars down and several exams it was determined that Sebastian does indeed have Waardenburg Syndrome and IS my Waardenburg-like colored ferret ... Sebastian not only has the coloration but also has the pez-head ... and although I feared the worst regarding deafness we found out that our Sebastian is only partially deaf and partially blind ....
Poor Sebbie ... I wanted to cry as I watched his reaction to both visual and auditive stimuli ... he was so cute even when so challenged .... and he stole my heart ... ALL OVER AGAIN.... hell yeah he is coming with me ....
It doesn't matter that his eyes and ears are all jacked up ... he is loved ... by us and his brothers and sisters .... we treated him well and no difference when we did not know ... and now while we will be more careful of his need he will continue to be pampered and loved still....
So I have 8 ferrets ... with eight different personalities....
Chiquitita: a jill... she is a dwarf teacup ferret ... a sable ... she is an escape artist and a caretaker...she hoards and saves her treats
Petunia: a jill ... keeps the cage clean ... is motherly and nurturing...
Maxwell .. a peach colored sable .. .a diplomat ... he is the mediator.,.
Slinky ... my silver ... he is a cottony and cuddly and sneaky ... he is a thief ... if it is missing Slinky's got it...
Caspar ... my pink eyed albino ... he is a huge cuddly cat...
Pepe ... my reversed pole cat ... a white albino with a black stripe that all but disappeared... he is the BIGGEST FERRET IN THE PEN... yet the gentlest...
Finibeau ... the baby ... seriously the big baby ... he is the polecat colored ferret ... very dark with black feet and is HUGE ... he has established himself as the king of the pen ... he loves to be held ... he can't wait to be held and he purrs when cuddled...
Now I have a dilema with my ferret Beau ... he thinks all animals are friendly and are going to playfully play along with him ... yeah right .. NOT! ..and he found out the hard way... after several tries at being playfully friendly with the wandering pole cat (skunk) while being walked along the trail he found out that he was so NOT friendly even when they are considered 'cousins' ... after several misses this tyke got squirted .. yup.. pissed on by a pole cat while running on a long leash along the trail an stopping to be nosing with any and everything in about or below the brushes ... and we have washed and we have washed and we have washed ... and if tomato juice works on people it is not having much effect on this one .... I think are finally getting it under control ... a few days after ... thing is we cannot wash these guys this often....
While Beau is still a bit stinky we took some AWESOME pictures over the weekend ... he is all loving his dry ferret shampoo these days and a skirt of his odor be gone ... he could not even stand himself ... what a weasel LOL...
Now look at the difference between Finibeau and how he holds his head and Sebastian who had NO control over his neck and just cranes his head back...
And then there is Sebastian ... the owner of this thread ... that Waardenburg colored ferret who stole my heart ... YUP I AM LOVING HIM STILL OR JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE .....
This picture was taken of Sebastian when he first came home...
This is Sebastian this morning...
Me and Sebastian this morning... I am going to love him anyway...
This is Sebastian with Pez Head... no control over that neck....
A little bit of info on Waardenberg colored ferrets and ferrets with Waardenberg Syndrome if interested...
Terminology and coloring
Typical ferret coloration, known as a sable or polecat-colored ferret
Male ferrets are called hobs; female ferrets are jills. A spayed female is a sprite, a neutered male is a gib, and a vasectomised male is known as a hoblet. Ferrets under one year old are known as kits. A group of ferrets is known as a "business",
[32] or historically as a "fesnyng".
[33]
Most ferrets are either albinos, with white fur and pink eyes, or display the typical dark masked Sable coloration of their wild polecat ancestors. In recent years fancy breeders have produced a wide variety of colors and patterns. Color refers to the color of the ferret's guard hairs, undercoat, eyes, and nose; pattern refers to the concentration and distribution of color on the body, mask, and nose, as well as white markings on the head or feet when present. Some national organizations, such as the American Ferret Association, have attempted to classify these variations in their showing standards.
There are four basic colors. The Sable (including chocolate and dark), Albino, Dark Eyed White (DEW), and the silver. All the other colors of a ferret are variations on one of these four categories.
Waardenburg-like coloring
Ferrets with a white stripe on their face or a fully white head, primarily blazes, badgers, and pandas, almost certainly carry a congenital defect which shares some similarities to
Waardenburg syndrome. This causes, among other things, a cranial deformation in the womb which broadens the skull, white face markings, and also partial or total deafness. It is estimated as many as 75 percent of ferrets with these Waardenburg-like colorings are deaf.
White ferrets were favored in the
Middle Ages for the ease in seeing them in thick undergrowth.
Leonardo da Vinci's painting
Lady with an Ermine is likely mislabelled; the animal is probably a ferret, not a
stoat, (for which "ermine" is an alternative name for the animal in its white winter coat). Similarly, the Ermine portrait of Queen Elizabeth the First shows her with her pet ferret, which has been decorated with painted-on
heraldic ermine spots.
"The Ferreter's Tapestry" is a 15th-century tapestry from
Burgundy, France, now part of the Burrell Collection housed in the Glasgow Museum and Art Galleries. It shows a group of peasants hunting rabbits with nets and white ferrets. This image was reproduced in Renaissance Dress In Italy 1400–1500, by Jacqueline Herald, Bell & Hyman –
ISBN 0-391-02362-4.
Gaston Phoebus' Book Of The Hunt was written in approximately 1389 to explain how to hunt different kinds of animals, including how to use ferrets to hunt rabbits. Illustrations show how multicolored ferrets that were fitted with muzzles were used to chase rabbits out of their warrens and into waiting nets.
Regulation of ferrets as pets
Australia – It is illegal to keep ferrets as pets in Queensland or the
Northern Territory; in the
ACT a licence is required.
Brazil – They are allowed only if they are given a
microchip identification tag and sterilized.
New Zealand – It has been illegal to sell, distribute or breed ferrets in New Zealand since 2002 unless certain conditions are met.
[35]
Portugal – It is illegal to keep ferrets as pets in Portugal.[
citation needed] Ferrets can be used for hunting purposes only and can be kept only with a government permit.
United States – Ferrets were once banned in many US states, but most of these laws were rescinded in the 1980s and '90s as they became popular pets. Ferrets are still illegal in
California under Fish and Game Code Section 2118
[36] and the California Code of Regulations,
[37] although it is not illegal for veterinarians in the state to treat ferrets kept as pets. In November 1995, ferret proponents asked the California Fish and Game Commission to remove the domesticated ferret from the restrictive wildlife list. Additionally, "Ferrets are strictly prohibited as pets under Hawaii law because they are potential carriers of the rabies virus";
[38] the territory of
Puerto Rico has a similar law.
[39] Ferrets are restricted by individual cities, such as
Washington, DC, and New York City.
[39] They are also prohibited on many military bases.
[39] A permit to own a ferret is needed in other areas, including
Rhode Island.
[40]Illinois and
Georgia do not require a permit to merely possess a ferret, but a permit is required to breed ferrets.
[41][42]It was once illegal to own ferrets in
Dallas, Texas,
[43] but the current Dallas City Code for Animals includes regulations for the vaccination of ferrets.
[44] Pet ferrets are legal in
Wisconsin, however legality varies by municipality. The city of Oshkosh, for example, classifies ferrets as a wild animal and subsequently prohibits them from being kept within the city limits. Also, an import permit from the state department of agriculture is required to bring one into the state.
[45]
Japan – In Hokkaido prefecture, ferrets must be registered with local government.
[46] In other prefectures, no restrictions apply.
Import restrictions
Australia
Ferrets cannot be imported into Australia. A report drafted in August 2000 seems to be the only effort made to date to change the situation.
[47]
Canada
Ferrets brought from anywhere except the US require a Permit to Import from the
Canadian Food Inspection AgencyAnimal Health Office. Ferrets from the US require only a vaccination certificate signed by a veterinarian. Ferrets under three months old are not subject to any import restrictions.
[48]
European Union
As of July 2004, dogs, cats, and ferrets can travel freely within the European Union under the
Pet passport scheme. To cross a border within the EU, ferrets require at minimum an EU PETS passport and an identification microchip (though some countries will accept a tattoo instead). Vaccinations are required; most countries require a rabies vaccine, and some require a
distemper vaccine and treatment for ticks and fleas 24 to 48 hours before entry. Ferrets occasionally need to be quarantined before entering the country. PETS travel information is available from any EU veterinarian or on government websites.
United Kingdom
The UK accepts ferrets under the EU's PETS travel scheme. Ferrets must be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies, and documented. They must be treated for ticks and tapeworms 24 to 48 hours before entry. They must also arrive via an authorized route. Ferrets arriving from outside the EU may be subject to a six-month quarantine.
