The Chubby Ferret

Minion and Jack Jack taking a nap together yesterday.

They still woke me up at 3:30 AM fighting, however; I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that Minion’s hissing is his “play?” in ferretese. He’s constantly sticking his head into whatever place the other two are napping and hissing. Needless to say, Jack Jack doesn’t like to play so much, so the fighting continues.

We picked up a little ferret tower last night at Petsmart. It’s only about 2 feet tall and in the very middle of the playpen (which is 5 feet in diameter with walls around 3-4 feet tall). I’d been wanting to get a kitty tower for Minion to play on (he likes climbing and carpet, seemed perfect for him). Pogle was worried he’d fall and hurt himself, however, so this little one is a perfect compromise.

Last night while watching the ferrets play in/on it, we noticed Jack Jack sitting on top, peering intently at something in the distance. Then, without warning, he jumped.

I’m pretty sure I screamed. >.>

Jack Jack was able to get a tentative hold on one of the higher support bars for the cage but couldn’t maintain a grip on it, so he toppled to the ground, almost into the water bowl. He was pefectly fine, or at least well enough to try again. >.<

Then Minion decided to mimic him a couple of times. >.<

Needless to say, this behavior had to be stopped. Thus, the Anti-Jumping Device!

Otherwise known as the ferret ball with one end closed strapped to the tower with a belt donated to the ferrets by Pogle’s mom. So far it’s working perfectly. 😛

I’m now on reaction-watch (remember Minion and the Canine Distemper reaction?). Thankfully, our two little ghosts seem to be doing fine thus far.

Of course, Minion has to make up for it.

I added a bit of ferretone to their playpen water bowl because Jack Jack simply doesn’t open his mouth–ever. So getting him to realize it’s yummy is proving difficult, and I need him to realize it’s yummy and ferret-catnip so that I can trim his huge nails. I walked away just for a moment, I promise.

I came back to Minion gulping down the spiked water. Oh boy. >.>

He got a bit of a time out after that so the others could have a chance to drink some of the water. That’s all well and good, but now Minion keeps scooting/oozing around on his tummy.

It’s funny, but also a little freaky.

Better picture of Ysabell (silver on the left) and Jack Jack (staring at the camera)

A few notes, because I can form sentences but not coherent paragraphs for some reason:

Ysabell is my funky spelling of Isabelle (her original name); it’s pronounced the same.

Jack Jack is my nickname for Jack (his original name); turns out his former owner nicknamed him that too.

Last night, Minion and Ysabell weren’t getting along; she kept pinning him to the ground and he’d flip out. This morning I got both of them to lick ferretone off each other, so now they get along fine. Jack Jack and Minion are now fighting every moment.

Ysabell weighs approximately 1.5 lbs; Jack Jack weighs about 2.5 lbs; Minion weighs 3 lbs. I always thought he had a bit of a booty on him. >.>

You’ve all met Minion, of course:

Now meet his new friends, Jack Jack and Ysabell:

Jack Jack is a Dark-Eyed White male about 2 years old and Ysabell is a Silver Mitt female about 1 year old. They’re both going in for their shots this morning, so hopefully that goes well. They are both getting along well with Minion, particularly since Ysabell (the 1 lb. female who likes to kick both of the 3 lb. boys’ butts) decided she liked ferratone. Jack Jack is more of an enigma: he doesn’t seem to smell ferretone even when it’s on his stomach, and he does this constant chuckling/singing thing which is really interesting. I’m beginning to wonder if he has some smell/hearing issues, so I’ll be doing some research into that.

They’ve had a couple of extended play sessions together in the playpen since we picked them up last night. Minion’s currently by himself in his big cage as we’ve been trying to give him “alone” time so he doesn’t feel like the other two are ganging up on him. Once he gets near the playpen though, his paws start clawing the air in a “let me in! let me in!” motion, so I think he’s excited to have friends to play with.

Which, of course, was the point.