Our new addition, Lola.

Here she is, one of the babies that I have been watching from birth in my 'Kit watch' series that has recently finished. The kits are slowly going to their new homes and it's great for me to still be able to see some of them progress through Facebook.
We have named our little girl Lola, she is a sable blaze mitt. At the moment she sleeps in a separate cage to the boys as they are still getting used to each other. The boys can be a bit rough, they don't seem to realise how much larger they are in comparison. Shiro is also being quite protective of his cage and toys.
She has been with us since Wednesday and in all seems to be settling down okay. She loves toys of every variety and is such a little bundle of fun! The boys are still trying to work out what this little bundle of excitable fluff is I think! Hopefully they will bond in time, and I can move her into their cage with them.
Between play time and the all important nap times I've tried to capture her on camera as much as possible during this final stage of 'growing up'. Here are a few of my favourite photographs of Lola plus a little video of her having fun with a ball!

I hope you like Lola, I will update you of her progress with her adoptive brothers in a few weeks.

Bye for now!

Kit watch, 7 weeks

The kits are still growing at a fast rate! They are now 8 weeks old but I have photos of them aged 7 weeks. Their eyes are now open and they are growing in confidence as they explore their surroundings. They can manage solid foods such as chicken portions and day old chicks with no problems. They are already incredibly playful, it's not unknown for the odd tussle to break out between the babies, which is incredible to see as they are only the size of your hand right now!
Most of them have homes waiting for them, and I have to say, one will be coming to join us and our two rescued boys in a couple of weeks. I chose her when she was a week or so old, and I'm already very much attached to her since I've been following her progress all this time. We've decided to name her Lola, and we can't wait to introduce her to Alfie and Shiro, who we've now had for 8 months and are 14 months old.
Kits such as these are cute, but please remember that they do grow up, and don't stay tiny forever. We've chosen to adopt her from a very small from home breeder after rescuing Alfie and Shiro last year. I would say that if you are looking for your first ferrets then rescuing would be a very good way to go, as I've said before there are lots of unwanted ferrets in shelters, but they are often easier to train for first time owners as they will likely have had some bite training from the shelter's owner. Our two were aged 6 months when we got them, and they sure tested us when we took them home, but young kits can be even harder to handle. They need to be taught what is acceptable and what isn't, they will explore using their mouth-and most importantly teeth! But at the end of the day, any animal can bite, and young animals especially will nip. If you are not prepared to work through a little bit of nipping from a ferret-or any animal, then perhaps a young animal isn't for you!
I will hopefully be able to bring you one last picture update of these little kits before they leave mum for their new homes!

Lola

Latest ferret show results!

Alfie

We went to a ferret show on Sunday and I was amazed at the results! Alfie only went and won the title of 'reserve best in show' didn't he? I couldn't stop grinning! I am just so proud of him, especially as he is blind in one eye due to a cataract, which is very noticeable and is something that I had originally thought may hold him back, how wrong was I?
Alfie came first in the 'Albino hob' category, 3rd in 'veterans/disabled' and obviously was named 'reserve best in show'. Shiro came 2nd in the 'Albino hob' category and together they won the 'matching pairs' class.

Rosettes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, reserve best in show and matching pairs. In the middle is the trophy for reserve best in show. Also pictured are two hammocks given as prizes. We also received certificates for each win. 

Shiro

Showing them is just fun for us, we just have our ferrets as pets and members of the family, so it's really great when they win at these shows. They have only been to two so far but have come away with 8 rosettes and a trophy so far!

We have their rosettes hanging on the wall next to their cage and are going to put a shelf up soon for any other trophies they may win in the future. With them being only one year of age at the moment I'm thinking that we're going to need more space for rosettes!