Ricebox?

Ever wonder why this blog is titled "Tales from the Ricebox"? If you are a ferret enthusiast, your answer is probably no. For those who are new to the world of ferrets or just curious....

It would be an understatement to say that ferrets like to dig and burrow.  They will dig just about anything if given a chance.  To enrich their lives and allow them to do something they naturally enjoy doing, many ferret owners provide dig boxes.   A common filler is rice,  ferrets will lose their minds digging in  rice.  Very entertaining for the humans too!   It is important to note that it should be long grain rice, NOT instant rice for the ferrets safety.  

I decided rice would be a good idea, as it was much easier to clean up after.  I tried shredded paper once.....it wasn't such a good idea!   Sure they fling the rice out of the box from time to time as they dig.    My favorite is tunneling into the rice and then bursting out in a blast of happiness.   The rice really flies then!

We've always kept our posts to be about the ferrets on the blog, so we wanted the title to relate to the ferrets somehow.  The Ricebox seemed to suit us.

The photos feature BenBen playing in the rice, not really digging just playing.

Tornado Warning

Last weekend we had our first tornado warning of the season.  My husband and I gathered the ferrets into their carriers and took them to the basement.

Mind you they could care less about the sirens going off, and were oblivious to the potential danger they were in.  They were however very excited to be going somewhere.

Imagine their surprise when the arrived in the basement, and placed into a cage.  They were not happy and were pretty rowdy for awhile.  They did eventually settle down.

Here is a picture of them waiting on Mom to decide it was safe to take them back to the ferret room upstairs!

Photo's from the ferret room!

A few recent photos of the family for your enjoyment...

Ozzy celebrating his 3rd birthday playing in the tubes!

Mojo, checking out the world upside down..thinkin' he's pretty darn cute!

Cracker Jack posing handsome for the camera!

Moki demonstrating how to REALLY relax!

Ben Ben "Tastes Like Chicken Poofer" sneaking up on someone....

Bobo, playing with her new favorite toy she got for Easter.

Luna says "This is the face you get when you take pictures of my while I'm sleeping"

No wonder they never have any toys to play with...who put them all under the cage?

State of the Ferrets

Today was Spa day in the ferret room!  Everyone had pedicures, their ears cleaned, their teeth brushed, we brushed coats to pull out loose hair from the spring shed.  We also put everyone on the scales to see how much they weighed.  Paying attention to weight fluctuations in ferrets helps a ferret parent know when something might be amiss.

For the curious of mind here is what the scales said:

BenBen 1360 grams

Ozzy 1350 grams

Mojo 1189 grams

Moki 1081 grams

CJ 989   grams

Bobo 796   grams

Luna 795   grams

Nothing out of whack there, it is important to note that Bobo officially has junk in her trunk.  We are so happy she is back at weight.  In March when she had GI issues she very quickly dropped down to a low of 622 grams.  She has gained and maintained her weight.  Yeah!

As for the overall state of affairs with the family, well it could be worse however we have somethings to keep our eye on.

Cracker Jack- has lost the hair on his tail with his seasonal shed and it has not grown back.  We suspect Adrenal Disease in him and will give him a few more weeks to see if any hair grows back.   We are waiting in part because there is nothing that puts him in immediate danger and I will be traveling for work the first week of May.  Daddy and Grammy would not be pleased if I left them with a convalescing ferret to take care of.  

Mojo- Appears to be happy and healthy.  He has a full soft furry coat that makes him look much bigger than he really is.  I suspect he will be shedding this soon.  Mojo had his rabies vaccination and annual exam last week.  The vet felt a lumpy mass in his abdomen, so we will need to investigate this.  Mojo will have an ultrasound in the next few weeks, since he is otherwise healthy and does not act like he doesn't feel well we are going to wait until he goes back in for his distemper vaccination unless the situation changes.

Moki-What can I say about our kamikaze ferret?  Crazy as can be and appears to be happy and healthy.  He seems to be doing well with his IBD as longs as we provide him with some daily soupie to supplement his regular food.  He is a happy boy, and we humans could learn a thing or two from him in his enjoyment of life!

Bobo- The Princess is doing quite well now, as mentioned earlier she went through a bought of GI issues at the beginning of March.  The road back to health has been long, and filled with yucky medicines.  We are now done with the medicines and she is back to her royal self again.  She is in the middle of her shed, and looks so darn cute with her short coat.

Luna- She's doing well, and there is nothing of note to mention about her health wise.  She is our little "pipster", and enjoys playing with her family daily.  One of her favorite activities is climbing on Mommy, sometimes if she is fast enough she can even make it to the computer desk from Mom's shoulder.

BenBen- Poofer Dude, seems to be happy and healthy as well.  He is typically the 'last man' standing in the ferret room and relies upon us to play with him long after the others have settled down for a nap.  As with Luna there is nothing of concern with his health.  We'll be scheduling him for his distemper vaccination soon.  We do not look forward to this, as he has a history of reaction.

Ozzy- Just after Thanksgiving Ozzy experienced a urinary obstruction.  Ultrasounds showed that his prostate and left adrenal were enlarged.   He did have an adrenalectomy, poor fella.  His internal sutures came undone and a week later he had a second surgery to replace those sutures.  He has been doing well, we will need to look at a follow up ultra sound to ensure the prostrate shrank after the diseased adrenal gland was removed.  The Oz Man has been a little sleepier these last couple of days, so we are keeping a close eye on him.

So there you have it, lots of things going on for this family of ferrets.  I think I need a second job!

Our first visit to the new vet...

Ben was the first one to have a need to see our new vet.  He was due for his annual rabies vaccination so we made an appointment.

When it was our turn to be seen by the vet, she weighed him.  What a chunker 2 lbs 15 oz!  She looked at his teeth, eyes and ears all looked good.  As the exam continued she listened to his heart and mentioned that he had a slight murmur.    Since we are new to her, she asked if anyone had talked to me about this.  I explained that Ben was a rescue and aside from an initial health check when I brought him home this was his first appointment.

She explained to me how cardiomyopathy is commen in ferrets, she rated his murmur a 1 on a scale of 1-6 with 1 being the least concerning.   She asked about his activity levels, and if he ever did the flat ferret in the middle of playing.  I giggled at this, because when Ben plays he is always the last man standing!  Still something to keep an eye on. 

She also mentioned that his spleen is prominent, but again this is common in ferrets.  All in all he seemed healthy.  So it was time for his vaccination.  He was such a good boy, didn't even wiggle when he got his shot.  We thanked the vet and went out in to the waiting room.

We decided to pay first even though we wouldn't be leaving yet.   Ferrets can sometimes have reactions to their vaccinations, so it is always a good idea to stay at the vets for at least 30 minutes in the event that a reaction happens.  This way you are on site and not needing to rush back for help.  Since I wasn't expecting a reaction to a rabies shot we paid and took a seat.

Ben was chillin' in my lap watching the happenings of the vets office when he got very wiggly.  So I put him in his carrier and then all heck broke loose.  No sooner than I got him in the carrier, he began to vommit.  I knew all to well that this was the beginnings of a reaction.  I let the vet tech know what was going on and we were rushed back in to an exam room where we were met by the vet.

Ben was given an antihistamine and a steriod injection to counter the reaction, she checked his gums and heart rate all seemed okay.  She had us just hang out in the exam room while the medicines took effect.   She poked her head in from time to time to see how we were doing.

My poor baby, just layed there in my arms all limp.  If I set him down he would move around a bit.  His eyes were open, but just staring off in to space although he was breathing fine.    As the reaction continued he experienced a bloody and very liquified bowel movement.   I notified the vet of this turn of events, and she gave him an epinephrin injection.  We waited and watched some more.

He eventually turned the corner, I knew he was feeling better when he started nesting in the carrier moving the blankets around to his liking.  Before leaving Ben also received sub-q's to ensure that he was hydrated after his ordeal.

A day later my boy seems no worse for the wear and is acting as if nothing happened.

What a first impression he made on his new doctor!

Socks

What exactly are they good for?  

Ask any human and you will get answers that explain their intended purpose.  Keep your feet warm!  You might even hear they can be used as mittens or hand puppets.

Watch a ferret on the other hand and you will learn there are many uses for socks....

1. Napkins.  After your evening soupy just find a sock and wipe your face on it.  Ta-da clean dry face!
2. Toy totes, stuff your favorite toy inside and drag it all around with you.
3. A pile of clean socks make the best dance floor ever.  You can dance to your hearts content on a soft fluffly pile of socks!  Way better than any ole' laundry pile.
   
4. A means of escape from the ferret room!  If you grab on to the end of a socked foot just as it is beginning to step over the gate you can hitch a ride to the other side. 
   
5. Ramp covers, they make a nice soft covering for cage ramps to protect ferret toes.
6. A means of communication.  When your human is busy tweeting, thus ignoring you.  Just start to pull their sock down, guaranteed to get their attention!

This my friends is just a start to the many uses for socks....

The Mystery of Hair

Ever wonder why hair grows the way it does?  Until recently I hadn't given much thought to it.   A few weeks back Ozzy had surgery to remove his left adrenal gland.  I feel it important to share that prior to the surgery he had no pattern hairloss that is sometimes common with adrenal disease in ferrets.

For the surgery as expected the Vet shaved Ozzy's tummy.  Hair is now starting to grow back, but not as I expected.  Big O has random clumps of hair growing very well and then areas where no regrowth has taken place at all.  Huh?

I regularly check to see how his tummy looks, and well it just looks weird with how the hair is growing back.   I have tried to take a picture in order to show the world just how funny this looks.

I will say, wiggly white ferrets and tummy pictures showing hair regrowth is not a good combination.  I've yet to get a picture that has enough detail to be seen.  So for now you will have to use your imagination!