BINGO'S ADVENTURE
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Photographing kits is really tricky, but we've managed a few. Click on the link below to see how they've grown. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF HARRY AND MITSY. 05 October 2009
Harry has had his deslorelin implant for just over 2 weeks now - so is there a difference? Yes. It took about a week and half for him to start to calm down and stop being so fractious. Although he still plays a lot and it still can be rough, it's not full on which is better for Mitsy, but now Bingo (who is a bit of a thug) seems to get the better of him and Bingo plays very hard that we do break it up sometimes. I had seen Harry constantly bother Bingo and even drag him around by his tail before the implant. As Harry's hormones settle, I spose the power of who's dominant might well be changing - I just hope that Harry will put up with Bingo. Harry's 'furry maltezers' have shrunk in size (not that I keep looking!), but it seems to be taking longer for his smell and oily coat to disappear - he's still quite yellow. We had to take Bingo to the vet again as his eyelid seems to have developed what looks like a stye. It came up just after his last illness. We have some gel to administer on it so we'll just have to hope it improves. 27 September 2009
This weekend the weather was glorious and as Mitsy likes to be up and about I took her for a wander around the garden. I normally do support ferrets backends when holding them, but the photo to a shot where she's being dangled - but I thought it was a nice photo - not bad for late September! We weighed Harry today and at 5 months he's a chunky 1.9kgs - that's almost 4lbs! And as you can see from the photo where Bingo is - Harry is normally quite close behind. I'm still not convinced Bingo isn't trying his best to wreak havoc and dominate Harry, but they do wrestle quite hard and I'm not totally convinced it's play - but then again Bingo has always wrestled hard. Harry's had his implant for about 1.5 weeks and he's still smelly, but I haven't noticed him dragging Bingo around at all which I dunno is a good thing or not! ZEN LESSON #1
I've been thinking...so what's the lesson Bingo has taught me? We bought Tsuki and Hershey to fit in with our ferrets Willow, Casper and Bingo but getting them to mix was a dismal failure. Casper passed away leaving a bouncy 3.5 year old Bingo and an elderly Willow so when we boarded them that year the rescue lady tried him with a few ferrets she had, but none were really suitable. She proclaimed the problem was that Bingo thought he was human - which actually is true to an extent. He was brought up on his own for a good 6 months and never really learned ferret etiquette. I think he's fearful and intolerant of other ferrets and goes into fight them first before they have a go at him first. Anyhow, although we weren't sure they were a match we came home with 2 gorgeous young jills, but they went back after a week or so as it was apparent that they weren't the right mix for Bingo and Willow. So the next year we tried Samson which was pretty traumatic for us as he came down with salmonella poisoning just as we got him. The poor ferret had been through too much to then put up with a bolshy Bingo and Bingo made his feelings about him very clear - he went back and that was after we paired him for a week at the rescue! Then this year Willow passed away leaving Bingo alone. We thought we would try and mix our groups as this would give them a huge cage to live in. We weren't sure if we could do it and always knew that Tsuki would be the problem. We just about got Bingo living with Hershey and Mojo but it wasn't a happy pairing and we did get Tsuki into the mix but she's right minx and terrorised Bingo and he really wasn't happy with her. So we split them up again leaving Bingo to be a single ferret. I think at this point lots of people would have given up and said 'well, Bingo obviously wants to be on his own so leave him be'. But I always felt that wasn't right and he should have company 'for his own good'. We then impulse bought Harry and Mitsy and after 24 hours of being with them he attacked Mitsy. Well that was probably our fault they were too young to mix, but we both had a sinking feeling that we would never get them to mix. We waited for the kits to grow and as you know we have got Bingo living with them, and actually he seems to be settling well and enjoying Harry's company. He's playing more with Harry and just generally seems happier and livelier. Come winter time I know he will appreciate their warm bodies. So what's the lesson? Regardless of what people say, you always know best - so follow what you know your head and heart are saying and NEVER GIVE UP if you feel it's right! 19 September 2009
Harry and Mitsy have now been microchipped and Harry neutered using the deslorelin implant. I discussed the implant further with the vet and we know it's still early days - so I'm going to keep my eye on him and see how well I think it's working and then decide whether to use the implant on Mitsy. The problem also being is that we don't know how the long the implant lasts for and we wouldn't want an unplanned litter esp. as they're siblings. I'm hoping we're getting a break through with the kits and Bingo settling down together. Although they've been living together for 3 weeks or so, they're still wary of each other and Bingo does like to pick on the kits given half a chance. However, later this week Bingo has actually been playing with Harry - see who can fit best in the jiffy bag - he actually seemed happy and had a spring in his step! I'm really pleased. But then Bingo wrestles Harry a bit and then it turns really rough and Harry has got 3 extra holes in his back!! 14 September 2009
Over the weekend Bingo returned to his normal self - so we are hoping that he is all better now. Harry is now booked in for his neuter for this Thursday. It's been difficult to decide whether or not to go with the new implant as it's so very new and there's not so much written about it. I have had a few case studies from people who are using it and in general people are quite positive about it and their ferrets. The other one thing that tipped the balance for me was somone said that her hob still felt like a hob - chunky. So I'm giving it a go...or Harry is! At the end of the day if we're not happy with it we can just have him surgically neutered. 10 September 2009
Last week we went away on holiday for the most of the week and employed a friend's petsitting company to look after our ferret friends. We felt very happy and comfortable with them looking after the guys, but there was a tiny niggle as they are more used to cats and dogs. We got back late Saturday and said hello to everyone and everyone seemed ok - then later on during the evening we had Bingo in so he could have some fun running around the house. Well, it was apparent that he was really not right - I can't blame the petsitting company for not noticing cos he's a difficult ferret. He was really lethargic and just wanted to go back to sleep and he felt really hot. Not a lot we could do so late at night so we thought we'd see how he was in the morning. Sunday morning - no change and he really wasn't with it and we were quite worried for him - also how long had he been unwell for - after a bit of dithering we decided it was time to call the emergency vet. The vet saw Bingo and diagnosed him with a non specific virus/infection and he had a really high temperature and gave us some anti-inflammatories and antiboitics to give him. We kept him indoors aways from the nutty kits so he could recover. Sunday evening he seemed a little perkier and were quite happy. After we came home from work on Monday he seemed as though he'd relapsed and he still felt really hot - we were worried for him and the next day made an appointment for the vet to see him again - but they couldn't fit an appointment in until Wednesday - wasn't happy with that. Tuesday after work he still seemed very under the weather and we were glad of the appointment for the next day. Then we were preparing to go to be at about 11pm when suddenly Bingo wakes up and starts doing normal ferrety things like pottering around, scatching and investigating things - he even ran around the house a bit and wanted to run upstairs (which we decided was a bit too soon), but how does he suddenly change?! Of couse we were pleased but a bit perplexed. The next day he felt a lot cooler so I spose his temperature had come down and he was brighter so hubby cancelled the vet appointment and in the evening he seemed a lot more like himself. We were really pleased as I was really thinking the worse. This morning I tried him back in with kits so that the other ferrets could have a run around indoors and also I didn't want to separate him for too long aways from the kits incase they forgot that they'd been living happily together for the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Harry is so enthusiatic about Bingo that he doesn't really leave him alone and that is abviously stressing Bingo out. He just wants to rest but Harry wants to play and starts pulling Bingo around. This also isn't helped that Harry is prone to his hormones - so although I'd like to leave it longer I think he's due for an early neuter. But rather than surgically neuter him I think I will try the new deslorelin. Then hopefully in a couple of weeks peace will reign. 26 August 2009
It's been a few days and the introduction is going very well. Bingo actually seems to enjoy some ferrety company. Initially we thought Bingo would tolerate anything just to have his old home back, as he'd been living temporarily in a small basement apartment! He seemed so pleased to have his old home back and his spacious bed in the shed back. I think the kits were just what he had to tolerate to have it back. But actually...he seems perkier and more alive with the kits around. I'm not saying that he's not sleepy ol' Bingo still, but this is the best introduction we've done with Bingo. He still throws his weight around a bit and tries to pick the odd fight especially with Harry, Mitsy isn't dumb enough to let him get a grip. Yesterday, we had them all in and Bingo played with kits running through tubes and chasing a bit, well until the chase turned into a grab and fight!!! But it's still early days, but it's very promising. Harry seems to love Bingo and follows him everywhere...to Bingo's annoyance. 16 August 2009
The kits are settling down and growing up well - they aren't quite so manic and do seem to be chilling out a bit. Harry has put some good weight on and is such a fluffy softee and Mitsy is turning out to be the cutest little minx going. We were going to wait until after our next short holiday to try and mix Bingo and the kits, but as the kits are quite big now, Tony decided upon a whim to try them together on Friday. As you know I hate introductions as they never seem to go well and we end up with weeks of fights and nastiness. However....after Bingo threw his weight around a bit (to be expected), had a go at Harry, tried to have a go at Mitsy but failed - with ferrets size really doesn't always matter, things settled down ok. To the point that we fed them all together and put them back overnight all together. We kept an ear open and heard a couple of arguements, but nothing that Harry could cope with. Early signs so far are very encouraging. Bingo every now and again asserts his dominance over Harry, but Harry does stand up for himself even though he keeps a respectful distance away. Bingo tries it on with Mitsy but she won't stand for it being the little madam that she is and today they are sleeping in the same bed together. Hurrah! Bingo also seems quite perky and possibly even had a little play with Harry (although we can't be certain he wasn't just trying to pick a fight!). There's none of the major sulking and pretending it's all not happening like when we tried integrating the Mojo group in. Bingo is the most morose ferret we've ever had and he does look chirpy for him. So fingers crossed that they become best friends. 25 July 2009
The kits are growing up fast and are very fast whizzing around so that it's difficult to photograph them. Anyhow, here's a few good shots to show how fast they're growing and how super cute they are. 13 July 2009
Well, we've just come back from holiday and yesterday picked our ferrets up from the boarders. We booked our adults in with our usual boarder - no problems there except the lady did mention how 'odd' Bingo was. We could only agree. As the kits were an impulse purchase and are at that very impressionable age where they need lots of attention and care we wanted them boarded somewhere where it could be a little more personal. We were in a bit of a panick when we realised that we needed to find somewhere at such short notice, but thankfully another rescue lady kindly offered and we were so pleased and relieved! We picked the kits up in the morning...and my gosh...I didn't recognised the little terrors and terrors are what they've apparently turned into - they're obviously had fantastic care and I heard lots of steak. They'd grown so much in just a week and half not just in size but robustness and strength...and being kits they'd been rolling in all sorts of unmentional things and they stunk!!! So first thing after getting them back was Tony gave them a bath and they're back to being soft, sweet smelling balls of fluff - albeit little fluffy ferrets now and not babies. Now for the surprise for all our ferrets - a change around in the ferret home. Well, as the intention is for Bingo to live with the kits once they're robust enough and the kits need so much more space as they're so active, Bingo now has his own basement apartment which actually he seems very happy with - he's not very active outside and doesn't seemed fazed - we think he's just glad to be back home from the boarding place!! The kits now have Willow and Bingo's half of the home and Tony added a new shelf, ramp and tubes and after being intially a little overwhelmed by all the space they LOVE it. The Hershey group are having to get used to new neighbours and Tsuki true to character spent most of the first evening trying to attack them through the mesh - but being kits they took it all in their stride and actually gave as good back! It may look small in the photo but it's about 6' x 4' with a bed area in the shed - so actually pretty huge.
Kits are growing up very fast! In just the last week they've put on so much weight and are so much more active and are growing in confidence. We were told when we bought them that they were 8 weeks old, but really I think they were more like 6 weeks old. We've name the jill Mitsy and she's turning out to be a right little mischief maker that likes to climb and the hob is called Beanie Harry - and he's a typical albino, soft, cuddly and likes to explore. Get ready to say...."Awwwww...." (Click image for larger one).
17 June 2009
After Willow passed away, we once again entertained the idea of getting only 1 group of ferrets and thought about trying Bingo with the Hershey group. We always knew that with some effort we could get Bingo in with the boys, but Tsuki has always been a challenge to the enterprise. Anyhow, we took some advice from a rescue lady we know who said to add each ferret to Bingo one by one until they are all together, leaving Tsuki till last. The psychology being that she'd see everyone together and want to behave. It took us only 2 weeks to get the boys all living together. However, it wasn't happy - they were really wary of each other and the Hershey boys missed Tsuki lots. They were all eating and sleeping together and we did even try Tsuki one night with Bingo, but she didn't behave and turfed Bingo back into the cold and he looked completely miserable with a sore neck. I suppose if we had the gumtion we could have stuck it out and probably over time they would have settled...but would Bingo have been happy...proabably not. So we gave up! Put the Hershey group back together and they were instantly happy - so that says it all. But then what to do with Bingo? He can't really live on his own. In a fit of utter stupidity we found a local ad advertising ferret kits that was just up the road from us...well...what would you do? Of course, we went up there and came back with 2 kits...how really, really, really stupid of us. The intention now is to wait for them to grow up and then introduce them to Bingo. Oh well...we obviously don't want a quiet life! 27 May 2009Little Willow passed away today. View her memorial. 17 May 2009So much for the vet's investigation - all she came up with was that Willow had ear mites - well most ferrets have ear mites to a greater or lesser degree - so we have treated her for that and kept her on a long course of antibiotics. However, despite telling the vet several times that the 'muck' down her ear is a tumour/polyp she didn't believe us, but a few weeks on it has become more noticeable. Also although Willow's breathing has improved a little - it's obvious there's something very wrong with her and her general health is declining and we must face THAT decision soon. With regards to Bingo who will all too soon become a lone ferret we have decided against putting him with a new ferret and have slowly been introducing him to our other group. Introductions to the boys have gone ok, but poor Bingo is very socially inept and refuses to interact much even though Mojo and Hershey are doing their best to be friends. This weekend we tried adding Tsuki to the mix and as expected she's a little typhoon and there was a bit of fighting and tussling...but to be honest not as much as we expected. Bingo did a super sulk and completely refused to budge and went to bed hoping that everyone would just go away. Unfortunately for him, we put them all together in his side of the court in the hope that they will settle. Tsuki wasn't happy with the arrangement and Bingo is very unimpressed that there are 3 ferrets in his bed! He's taken to sleeping in the hammock alone as Tsuki keeps nipping his ears! We'll just have to wait and see if they will live together. 22 March 2009I think finding Bingo a friend might be jinxed. Bingo never got to meet Dewy as Dewy fell ill and passed away - I was gutted. We'll keep an eye out and see if we can still find a friend for him. We had to take Willow to the vets yesterday as her breathing has become increasing labored. This is something she's suffered from ever since she had her adrenal surgery and the vet at the time did investigate it, but didn't come up with anything. For the most part she was alright up to the last 4 months where it's become increasingly uncomfortable for her. It also seems to be linked to a recurrent inner ear infection that she's been treated for since Xmas. So she's booked in with the vets for a full inspection. Fingers xed. 30 January 2009In the back of our minds we've still wanted to find a friend for Bingo. With the new year, the ferrets are getting a bit more playful and soon will be losing their winter podge and Bingo once again tries to bounce, wrestle and play with Willow but she's so not up to it or into it, so we have to take her away for her safety. Not that Bingo would be nasty to her, but she just doesn't like being played rough with. She's equivalent in ferret years to your great grandmother!! I'm a regular on a ferret discusion forum and one of the members mentioned that the same rescue that we tried last year had some new ferrets in that needed homing. A lot of ferrets that need homes don't seem to be a good match as many are quite young and very soon an influx of baby ferrets will come in or there'll be last years kits which just wouldn't suit. Also as seen by our try with Samson, a timid ferret is no good and to be honest if you look at his photos...he does have a bit of vacant look about him! Bingo needs a friend who is big enough and bolshy enough (intelligent enough) to match him. And...potentially, hopefully, we may just have found him - Dewy! From what the rescue says he's 5 years old, has been entire so is a good size and is friendly...could he just be Bingo's new friend? We really, really hope so. He has a look about him that says he might just fit in. Once he's been castrated he will lose the yellow tinge. He's being held pending him being fit and well and then we can try Bingo and Dewy together to see if they will fit in together. So PLEASE send positive thoughts our way that they will accept each other + Willow. Cross everything you've got!!! 21 December 2008Well, Bingo was kept in at the vets for a day so that they could have a really good look at his eye. It conspired that he severe inflammation of his eye and that his lens had slipped which meant he was practically blind in his right eye. However, we were given special drops which we've been administering and over the last 3 weeks his eye has improved so well that he's practically got most of his sight back. Hurray. Last week, we'd noticed that Willow was under the weather, it's difficult to tell with ferrets if they're ill or just a little unwell, especially as Willow is 9 years old we expect her to slow down. However, Sunday when we brought into the house she was listing very noticeably and was completely miserable. Who wouldn't be eh? So Monday off to the vets she went for a course of antibiotics for a middle ear infection. We kept her indoors so she wouldn't have a huge Bingo crawling over her and over the week she's improved dramatically. So fingers crossed for a full recovery. But why does it always happen near to Christmas? 22 November 2008Over the last few weeks it became very obvious that Bingo is developing what looks like a cataracts in his right eye, so today we took him to the vets today. We saw a new vet who wants us to bring him in next week to have our usual vet have a good look at his eye and check him out. She said that the poisoning episode he had when he was younger might be significant and could possibly have a bearing on his health now and in the future. So I would feel better that they give Bingo a thorough checking over to make sure he's in no discomfort and to check his general health out. 6 September 2008Samson has been rehomed and is happily living with 4 of this years kits and is bossing them around! Glad that he's found a great home where he's happy. After all of Bingo's experiences he also seems a lot happier playing with us on his own - I think we'll leave him this way - just him, Willow and us. I was sent a couple of picture of Samson in his new home and it looks great! 16 August 2008Well...last week Bingo made the decision for us. We went out to feed them and Bingo picked a fight with Samson - which we haven't really seen since they've been together. We separated them, let them calm down, put Samson back but Bingo went for him again. Poor Samson was shaking. So we've separated them out. We've all had enough!! I think for the time being we'll leave Bingo and Willow as they are, and perhaps rethink later. Bingo needs a fiesty ferret that will match him, but then we have the problem of Willow..... Since Samson went back both Willow and Bingo are a lot happier...I would say perhaps Bingo doesn't want a friend, but he does as he tries to play with Willow but she's just to tiny. Anyhow, for the time being I'm leaving the status quo. Strangely enough also last week Bingo came down with a runny bum which required us to give him antibiotics to clear it up. This was a pain as the vet told us to dose everyone just in case. I don't see how it could have been something he ate as Willow was fine and then a few days later Hershey was a bit runny too. Could this have been caught off Samson - is he still carrying his salmonella bugs? 6 August 2008We're just so confused by Samson - we don't think he's the right ferret for Bingo. When he comes in on his own he's ok - he likes to explore and will follow us everwhere, but he doesn't play like our other ferrets - I thnk he's looking for an escape route - he just explores everywhere - even climbing up our blinds! We took him in with Bingo and Willow one morning and as every other time when he's out with them, he jiust went to the indoors bed and stayed there avoiding them completely - wouldn't move for the whole time and curled up to sleep. Bingo came over at one point to sniff at him - not aggressive at all and Samson just bit back at him and Bingo ran off. I just don't see it working out. There's no interaction from Samson whatsoever with Bingo and Willow and he's sleeping on his own again. I think we'll give it to the end of this week and if there's no improvement, I really think for Samson's sake he should go back. He just seems so thoroughly miserable. I'm sorry to say this as we've both put a lot of time trying to get this to work, but Bingo needs a ferret that will chase and wrestle with him and Samson won't even tolerate him or Willow anywhere near him. 29 July 2008Bingo and Samson got on quite well at the rescue centre - only a couple of squabbles and they would sleep, eat together and play together, although if Bingo got too close then Samson would get nervous and cry out. We took them home and put all 3 ferrets together into Bingo and Willow's home, but there's been very little interaction. No fighting which is good but Samson seems rather anxious and if Bingo goes close he'll squark and run off. They are sleeping separately and at play times we've not seen them play together - it seems like they're tolerating each other and only going around each other - whereas before they were playing at the rescue. It's only been a few days and Samson has been through a lot of change from leaving his old home, to the rehoming place, to being ill and then ours. Perhaps all it needs is time and for Samson to feel more confident in his new home. We've noticed Willow sleeping more and more and we hope she's okay. We might well get her checked out at the vets just to discount any health problems. It might just be the heat and old age. 23 July 2008Well Samson is all better and last Saturday we drove Bingo back to try introductions on neutral territory. Once again introductions went really well and the rescue lady has been super helpful and caring looking out for both of them. Things went so well that after only 1 day she put them together in the same hutch. Unfortunately, last night Samson picked a big fight by the sounds of it and she separated them. Well, I do expect 2 boys to fight a bit to establish the hierachy so I asked her if she would try them again over the next few days, but I know how she feels - I feel terrible when I see ferret fights - they always look nasty. So fingers xed that they sort things out and things settle quickly. I felt it would be better for Willow not to stay somewhere strange for another week or to get caught in the crossfire as she's an old girl now, but despite me trying to explain and comfort her she's really quite upset that Bingo's missing. I worked out that Willow is now about 8.5 years old. Only a few more days until the weekend when Bingo and hopefully Samson will be back. 9 July 2008Poor Samson. It became apparent that Samson was more ill than we had anticipated. As we were not sure what he had been fed plus the poor boy obviously felt like crap and didn't want to eat we couldn't get his medicines down him and required a vet trip every 2 days for a top-up antibiotic injection. Our vets is located 40 minutes away and that's without traffic! Also as we didn't know if Bingo would accept Samson into the family and all our other ferrets were at risk of catching his bug, we felt the best option would be to give him back to the rescue. We and the rescue were able to piece together a better picture of Samson previous diet, and it seems that he had never been fed raw chicks before and had no immunity to any bugs they carry. It seems likely that he came down with salmonella poisoning which is quite serious and is difficult to treat as the bugs are very resistant to antibiotics - hence the problems we were experiencing. We perhaps got him over the worse and the rescue owner has been able to feed him his tablets and he improved over this week. We hope that once off his antibiotics his immune system can continue to fight the bugs. Hopefully he does improve and stays well. If that is the case, we will re-introduce Bingo to Samson in the hope that they will accept each other and Samson will be part of our family. So fingers crossed. 25 June 2008The novelty of Samson is wearing thin. He's the fussiet eater we've ever had. Can't get his medicine down him and can't tempt him to eat much. So back to the vets again tonight. Tony went there yesterday as well in order to see if he would take a different antibiotic, but obviously the answer is no. On the plus side his guts are certainly improving, but medicine and even a semi-full belly might help him to mend quicker. 23 June 2008Not such a good start. We did notice at the rescue that he had loose stools, but I didn’t think much of it and mentally just put it down to stress and change, especially as he seemed quite well enough within himself. When we got him home and put him in his new temporary home (the bottom run) he didn’t settle which again we didn’t have a problem with as it was all new. The next day (Sunday) in the morning again he seemed fine, but we did note that there wasn’t any pooh in the pans, but as the cage has lots of straw we presumed that he wasn’t litter pan trained. I also noted that although he ate his meat dinner last night, very little if any kibble had been eaten. Anyhow, come the evening, Tony brings him indoors and he does a squitty pooh which doesn’t look good, then he started wretching and looking thoroughly miserable. We set up our temporary indoor cage for him and during last night he looked very sorry for himself, wretching mucus and evacuating mucusy watery yellow diahorrea. Poor thing. We were so worried for him. So this morning Tony rushes him to the vets where they’ve examined him, no blockages but obviously some gastric problem. The vet loves ferrets and gave him sub-Q fluids and anti-biotic injection and more antibiotics to follow up during the week. So hopefully fingers crossed he’ll recover soon. I’m quite glad that we didn’t put him in with Bingo and Willow in case he was contagious. Before he became ill he seemed to have a lovely character - kinda of mellow but happy. 22 June 2008It’s been some while since my last entry, but really there hasn’t been much to say – everything has been pottering along nicely. The only thing being that since Casper passed away Bingo is at a bit of a loss. Last year he had Bailey to play with, then he was left with Casper and now there’s only him and Willow. And Willow is too old and too small to want to play much with a hefty, chunky, boisterous beany. So he comes in looking bored, potters around and plumps down flat ferret. Sometimes he has a happy moment, but really how much can humans keep playing…I get worn out. So we knew that Bingo needs a friend…the only problem…Bingo doesn’t really know he needs a friend and can be very aggressive to new ferrets. We knew we’d board our ferrets when we go on holiday and we thought this would be an excellent time to introduce a friend on neutral territory. Great idea…except the rescue didn’t have many ferrets needing new homes. They tried two little jills – a beany and a sandy and they were the most adorable girls you could meet and Bingo didn’t behave too badly whilst we’re away for the week. The problem was that they’d only recently been spayed and they kept on dragging Willow and Bingo all over the place. Even though we did take them home to try and carry on the introductions, our guys eventually had enough and Bingo made his annoyance with them known. Imagine trying to sleep, eat, pooh and there’s a tiny white jill trying to drag you off. We’ve got to keep our eye on Willow, she’s an old girl and she was getting stressed and somehow hurt her leg from all the dragging. Bingo’s last straw was when he as sleeping, the white jill got hold of his ear and tried to drag him off. He was not impressed especially as she hurt his ear and made it bleed. So the jills went back. Tony was sad cos they were really sweet – but not for a mix with Bingo and Willow. That same week, I enquired to a different rescue about a ferret that I had heard about. He was supposed to be a beany and about 3 years old – that sounded like a better ferret to add to the mix. I phoned up and asked to see if he’d been handed in and I was told he had – he was 2-3 years old, a gentleman with jills as he was currently living with 2, playful with boys and not aggressive and it turns out that he’s not a beany, but a sandy. I wasn’t sure as I still miss Bailey, but he sounded great so me and Tony arranged to see him on Saturday (21 June). Expecting the worse behaviour from Bingo, we held our breaths. But nothing…just a bit of sniffing, wandering around and all round niceness. We were a bit bowled over and of course, Louie as the sandy guy is named came home with us. As the introductions went so well, I thought I would see if Bingo would tolerate him in their home, but no…but to his normal aggressive behaviour. So we will introduce them slowly until they work their pecking order out – which means fights, ferret pooh flinging, poofing and time-outs. But hopefully in the long run it will be worth it. Louie, now renamed as Samson, is a lovely boy – so friendly, he follows you around, he’s open and inquisitive and playful and just generally very good natured, unlike grumpy ol’ Bingo. 27 December 2007Willow, Casper and Bingo all enjoyed Xmas - they shared their pressie with the Tsuki group, much to their disgust.
Ever since the recent e-coli/virus outbreak, Casper really hasn't been hiself and Willow no longer wants to wrestle with Bingo as he's too rough for her, which all means that Bingo has no-one to play with and looks really bored. We've tried to give him extra time inside with us, but he still seems rather listless - he has all this pent up energy and no release. He can get quite upset by new ferrets - last year he went quiet with the introduction of Tsuki and Hershey, and perhaps he doesn't like Mojo moving in now. Tsuki who's quite territorial hisses at the Bingo group through the partition. We thought that perhaps we could get Bingo to move in with the Hershey group as he needs big ferrets to play with, but he can't help himself and is quite aggressive towards them. We can only think that we can hold Bingo on our laps for a bit until he becomes more comfortable with them and then try introductions. Hershey and Mojo don't seem aggresive at all towards him. We haven't tried Tsuki. When we took Casper to the vets over the e-coli thing she noticed his teeth were really bad and even though he's improved a lot he still does seem to have problems with the mouth/teeth, so we've booked him into the vets next week to have them looked at. He could well do with having more weight before going under anesthetic, but if his teeth/gums hurt then he can't eat and put weight on. He does seem bright enough, so hopefully he should be alright. Maybe once Casper feels better he'll play with Bingo again. It would be a shame to move him out of their group as Bingo and Casper are quite bonded. When Casper was being kept inside when he was really ill, Bingo missed him and when we brought him inside we found Bingo curled around Casper both asleep together. The only other thought is maybe if Casper improves a little more is to try another mature ferret jill with them - maybe a jill wouldn't be so much of a threat to them. 27 June 2007A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Bingo had grown a large lump under his chin. We had him out to play and he was so lethargic and down-in-the-dumps. He just wandered around and lay down flat and didn't mind when I lay down next to him and stroked him. Well, I presumed it was an abscess which had come up very quickly as they are wont to do - so off to the vets with him. We came back with a long course of antibiotics and have been medicating him for about 3 weeks now. It's been going down slowly, but we've been told to chip away at it until it's all gone otherwise it will come back and then the other option is to operate it out, which we'd all rather not do. The other good side of medicating Bingo is that it cleared up a respiratory infection that he'd also developed during all this damp and grey weather we've been having. Anyhow, we'll cross our fingers and hope the abscess clears up completely. We've also decided to give up trying to the get kits and the Bingo group together. I/we prefer the peace and status quo. 23 May 2007Bingo has lost his winter podge and is sleek, sexy and very bouncy once again. Now that he's older he's settled down and learnt not to be quite so rough with Willow and Casper. We bought the kits as companions for him as we felt he needed younger ferrets to bounce with. He doesn't look very impressed with the new ferrets and is quite terse about putting them in their places, but doesn't want to interact with them. After a quick flurry of fur fight with Tsuki, he flops down looking really fed up like saying "Don't put me through this again...just get me out". I think given time we could get them together, but Bingo is very settled with Willow and Casper. 07 Jan 2007Over this winter Bingo has piled on the pounds - it's like he's starting to have middle aged spread at only 2.5yrs old! Anyway, he's changed from being a bit of a lout to being very sleepy and quite chilled. It takes him quite a while to wake up and in that time he flops around yawning, or is very happy to sit on my lap and be stroked and cuddled. A real lap ferret. He alway did enjoy being groomed and massaged by me, but is now taking it to the max. 20 April 2006For more photos of Bingo playing in his revamped home, click here. 04 October 2005Bingo is a handful. He's a heavy, chunky fellow who like to throw his weight around and whose high energy antics can terrorise some of our less bouncy ferrets. So in order to wear the bounce from him we occasionally let me round the garden, dig in our compost heap or take him for a walk in the woods. Last Sunday, one of these activities resulted in Bingo becoming really ill. We noticed he was really depressed, we kept him indoors tried to get him to eat something which he promptly threw up. He strained to go to the loo without effect. The other really strange thing was that all his extremities: nose, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue and paw pads were bright pink. He also had a mottley red rash all over his body. We took him to the vets first thing Monday morning - really worried about him as he'd be vomiting and straining all night. There was no blockage - we were worried in case he had eaten something. The vets diagnosis was that it could be viral or bacterial...well that covers most bases! We had a feeling that he might have eaten something poisonous like a berry - he seemed to have a problem with his mouth and throat like it was really sore. He didn't really eat or drink anything much for about 2 days, but after that he started picking up. After a week, Bingo is much better, but doesn't quite yet have his full bounce back. 03 April 2005Bingo must be coming up to about a year old now. You can see how much he's grown and how handsome he is in the latest photo. He's a really solid ferret. He doesn't look much bigger than Casper, but he's all muscle and weighs a lot more. Casper and Bingo have become firm friends and love to tussle with each other. Bingo now the weather has warmed up enjoys being outside with all the space, but he still asks to be let out and still enjoys being held. Now Willow is healthier she enjoys ragging Bingo and chasing him too. 13 March 2005I miss Bingo being in the house...with him being outside I don't interact with him as much. When he does come in it's a mad bounce and chase for about an hour with all the ferrets, then it's time for all of us to go to bed. But he's doing well and if anything has grown an inch lengthwise as he has a long tail now which is how I can tell Bingo from Casper. We haven't been for our walks as my leg hasn't been too good and the weather has been wet and cold. 23 January 2005We so wanted Bingo to be our house ferret, but we don't have the space for all our ferrets indoors. Bingo ended up having to move out as a necessity, because Bailey was too poorly to share a small indoor cage with bouncy Bingo. He has adjusted well to outdoor living, although I feel bad that he's been put outside during the coldest months of the year. As Willow has no fur, we flet it was better to keep her indoors for her protection. 3 January 2005Bingo is now getting used to being in the cage outside. Over Xmas we've been putting him out in the morning and he plays with Casper. However, he's not comfortable enough to sleep with the mob and has stayed outside in court area..at which point we take pity on him and bring him back indoors with us. However, we are sure he'll get used to it the more we leave him out. Bailey decided to show Bingo that he wasn't prepared to put up with his boisterousness, so once Bailey felt better after his op. he dragged Bingo off around the room. However, they have learnt to put up with each other, as they've been sharing the same indoor cage whilst Bailey recovers. 23 December 2004
A little after taking him for a walk - we decided it was time to have Bingo castrated. I was becoming increasingly allergic to him, he was getting increasingly smelly and being whole didn't help with integration into the ferret family. So mid-November he had his op. A week later and he smells beautiful and he's not so boisterous. A couple of weeks after that him and Casper seemed to settle down and play better together. Bailey puts up with him - we can't yet get a true reaction from Bailey as he's still recovering from his illness. Bingo is still indoors with us which on the whole we are enjoying, but for the sake of us being able to go away on holiday etc. he will need to get used to living in the ferret court outside. He'll enjoy himself much better come spring and summer. Today, Bingo was being very irritating indoors so I plopped him in the cage outside. Casper and him had some playful rucks - like whatya doin in my home!! It seemed to go well, but Bingo didn't feel comfortable sleeping with them all, and I rescued him from sitting all by himself in the court by 11am!!! We will still persevere with integrating them all. 31 October 2004
Well, we've had Bingo for about 2 months now. He's grown from a cute stumpy fluffy bundle to a big, fluffy smelly bouncer...in fact that only took him about 3 weeks! He grew so fast, but we always say that about our kidz, don't we! We have tried to get him to fit in with the crew of four, but Bailey and Casper don't seem to be having it. Willow and Tilbury get on with him fine, but now Bingo has grown SO big and chunky and he has SO much energy we have to be careful that he doesn't bully or over do it with them. We hope that once he's castrated he'll settle in better. At the moment, he is still living indoors with us. But we really enjoy having him indoors. He sleeps in the dog crate, is very good about using the litter pans and loves to play and follow us around the house. He's getting a little stinky now and soon he'll need castrating. Until that time, I don't think there's any point in trying to carry on to introduce him to Casper and Bailey. Anyhow, Bingo has become part of our family and loves going for a walk. See the pictures to your left. 17 September 2004
We couldn't help ourselves. After months of thinking "wouldn't another ferret be nice...", whilst wandering around our local RSPCA just to spend some time, we saw a little white tail flash. Then we saw a tiny white ferret and we knew he would just have to come home. We weren't quite sure how old he was, but at a guess about 12 weeks and he had been found wandering and luckily picked up and given to the RSPCA. He was quite little and kinda stumpy and I felt he needed feeding up. So he's been receiving 2 meat meals a day, along with kibble. And it's done wonders. In just 2 weeks he's put loads of weight on and has grown out of that stumpy kit into a small proportioned ferret. I'm sure he's got lots more growing to do. At first he wasn't so coordinated, but over the last 3 weeks that we've had him, he's grown in coordination and feistiness. Initially when we got him we did introduce him to all our four ferrets. Only Tilbury and Willow accepted him immediately. Bailey ragged him and Casper was just plain mean. So we've waited for Bingo to grow so that he can stand up for himself. Bingo has the loveliest nature. He's quick to learn, not in the least nasty. He's very friendly and outgoing, not to mention awfully cute and fluffy. We expect him to grow into quite a stocky large ferret. |
