More Ravensnest Babies

More examples of black sable ferrets from Ravensnest,
where my little black sable guy came from:

RN's Black as Sin (Jill)

RN's Sirius Black (Hob)

RN's The Dark Lord Voldemort (Hob)

I may be a bit prejudice, but I have no doubts that my little guy is the most handsome of all! I will have photos of my new baby (LOTS and LOTS of photos) to post as soon as I can get my computer's virus protection to quit recognizing Photoworks as a threat...

And from PFH's Oscar and SHD's Sparrowhawk of RN...

One champagne point hob kit born 6/25/07:
RN's Gyrfalcon

Isn't he just the cutest?!

They are keeping this little one and I'm not sure I would be quite ready to go through the biting baby stage again just yet anyhow! I have had the same bottle of Bitter Apple for literally years--at that time, it cost $8.99 and was advertised as a taste deterrent for dogs--I bought a bottle last week for $11.99 and this bottle was advertised as a taste deterrent for birds!

Anyhoo, somewhere down the road, a champagne or champagne point from Ravensnest will be added to our family and may even end up being one of the above little guy's descendants!

~Mustelid Mommy~

Adventures in Babyland

Ah, the adventures of my first ever baby... Let's just start with, I used an entire bottle of Bitter Apple in three days! His first contact with the Bitter Apple, he bit my forearm, let go, bit a different spot and then took off running, pawing at his mouth and rubbing his face on the floor. As the breeders put it--liberal use of Bitter Apple is a good thing because the ferrets punish themselves when they bite! Amazing stuff, I just never really felt the need to use it until this recent experience with baby teeth.

The next few times, he came over, ready to bite and then you could see the little wheels turning in there as he thought better of it. Then he got smart and started smelling to determine which areas were covered with Bitter Apple and would figure out which areas were safe to bite. Or he'd quickly scale over the Bitter Apple covered feet, launch himself up inside the pant leg, to gnaw on the tasty unbitter human legs underneath. Oh, he is a smart little one! So yes, I basically began bathing in Bitter Apple before getting him out.

He screamed and cried his first few days here, leaping from ferret to ferret looking for his own family. Of course, this was too much for my maternally-inclined older girl, Link; she followed him everywhere trying to console him. But he really only showed interest in Cinnamon and finally established a bond with her. Most often the bond included him hopping around crying until he'd find her and then he'd drag her around as he calmed himself down. This also helped Cinnamon and I bond on greater levels since she now would run to me to swoop her up and save her...

He's still unnamed. He was going to be Sirius Black (since I won't be showing him, it's okay), but now I am not sure. Of course, I'm toying with Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows--with his razor sharp teeth, love for biting human flesh, and his dark coloring--it fits. Time will tell with that, I guess. Don't get me wrong, the biting has eased up significantly. In fact, he is now viewing me as the neck massager and comes over sometimes just for love (the Bitter Apple is still sprayed liberally upon me when I am down on the floor cleaning their cage--otherwise, I've had the new bottle almost two weeks and it is still pretty much full).

He is finally sleeping in the big cage with everyone else. I've caught him sleeping with the others a few times, but he still often prefers his birth family scented blanket that came home with him from the breeders. He's getting along well with the other weasels and is playing pretty well with me, too. He's knocked the bullying, cockiness out of Cinnamon and they are best of pals now. Overall, he's turning into that big, sweet baby that I was hoping for...

~Mustelid Mommy~

The End of Debate

Well, I'm sure that you guys knew I couldn't resist... on July 21st, I went and adopted my first baby ever, my first ferret from a breeder, and my first ferret from Ravensnest. Yup, it's the beautiful little black sable hob that we had been posting pictures of!

I decided that $650 was a ridiculous price for staining my tiny, little observation deck and steps (that didn't even include touching the big deck!)--regardless of whether it meant the difference between a Ravensnest baby or not. Three gallons of stain would normally be $70--that week, it was marked down and three gallons could be purchased for $60--then they kicked in a sweet rebate deal and I walked away with my three gallons for $45! So yeah, saving $25 on the stain and saving myself $600 altogether? Not even a question! If someone offered me $600 to stain the deck, would I do it? Hell, yeah! Is it essentially the same thing? Yup, it sure is!

That same week, a friend clued me in on a tip that the professionals used when doing her deck--old socks and plastic gloves. Apparently, when they stained her deck, they used plain old cheap lunch lady plastic gloves and then slipped a tube sock over top--dip it in the stain and rub the deck--could it get any easier or cheaper? Plus, she even donated a bunch of her old socks and an extreme amount of plastic gloves! But I guess this helps prevent runs, wastes less of the stain, and the spindles no longer have me trembling in my shoes--they will actually be the easiest part now! I may not TOTALLY ruin the deck after all...

So we add the super stain sale and the friendly tips--all within the same week as I am debating the ferret deal--a sign? Perhaps. Then just days before I am to make the trip, one of my psychic friends calls--mentions that her insomnia forced her into turning on the TV at three am and what does she happen upon? The ferret special featuring the Buckeye Bash and as I learned from group postings that week--appearances by Dr. Ruth and the Ravensnest ferrets. Mere coincidence? I think not!

So, I ended up scrubbing the deck and steps last weekend--hopefully, this weekend I'll be motivated and do the staining. It really makes the $250 for the baby much easier to justify. $650 to have my deck professionally stained or $300 spent when doing it myself and getting a new weasel... I see the new guy as having just saved me a couple of hundred dollars! Well, okay, it seems logical to me--that's all that matters, right?! ;)

~Mustelid Mommy~