A Day in the Life of a Zookeeper: March 2015

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

End of the Month Snaps

Here you go - some current snaps of at least some of the furries:

Winston

Oliver

Aggie

Zoey

Phoebe

Winston & Emma

Emma

Madison

Theo

Kai

Tabitha

Fiona

Wow - I can't believe its the last day of March. Time really does just fly by you know? Looking back at March from a critter perspective - it was a great month!

We went into March with confirmation that everyone is happy and healthy - vet visits were completed in late February and everyone passed with flying colors. Winston had outside time at my mom's, Emma walked 100+ miles with her humans, the kitties had a good month with Ollie and Zoey adjusting well to their new dosage of thyroid meds.

Winston also learned a couple of new tricks - he can play his xylophone, go through the agility tunnel and go through a hoop now in addition to sit, up, speak and around in a circle. We continue to try to build out his repertoire.

And lastly - but certainly the most exciting part of March was the addition of Bash and Fiona to our little ferret brood. They have made lovely additions and fit in perfectly with the rest of the gang. Speaking of the rest of the gang - everyone is doing just fantastic. They are all bright, active, FULL of energy, great appetites and very engaged. I am quite pleased with how everyone is doing. So far - no signs of the dreaded ECE (a virus that can be brought in by the new babies as carriers). Madison was a carrier years ago and gave it to Clooney - she would not be susceptible if they babies should have it. I am guessing we are good to go but the incubation period is 21 days so we have a bit of time to wait to be sure. We are only 5 days in to having the new little ones even though it seems like they have been here forever.

So - all in all March was fantastic! Here's to a healthy, happy and fun April for my furries....

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Weekend Recap

It's been an eventful weekend around here for sure. On Friday night we made the exciting decision to add to our little brood by adopting Sebastian and Fiona the ferrets. It has been such an easy transition and the two fit in like they have always been a part of the family. They are adjusting well and getting on our schedule slowly but surely. Kai and Bash played for quite some time this morning and Fiona had her first bath experience this afternoon - keeping me company and investigating the tub deck. They both had a good dinner tonight which made me happy as I was pretty sure they had been eating but I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. The rest of the ferret gang is doing just great!

Kitties are well - they seem to be happy and chilling out. They are enjoying the spring sun and I know they are looking forward to open window weather. Their weekend was pretty much like every other day - filled with lounging, snoozing, playtime and eating.

Emma had some time out walking with us this weekend - she did 8+ miles on Saturday. We opted to give her a rest on Sunday since it was quite the long trek the day before. She and Winston have been hanging out together and all in all she was a pretty good pup this weekend.

Winston was a bit challenging his weekend - we have entered the phase where he wants to test his limits so he is quite stubborn and disobedient. On Saturday he was a good boy. We have gotten in some great harness time - getting very good at getting into the harness, going outside to go potty and then coming in for a cookie. On Sunday we decided to take him to my mom's for some outside play time. Geez - what a little stinker. He did his own thing and didn't listen a bit to either of his humans. He threw a hissy fit getting back into the car to come home. It was a very frustrating trip - for the second week in a row - so we have decided to give that a rest for a few weeks. He has had some play time with his favorite piggy treat ball and now he is settled into bed.

All in all this was a pretty darn fantastic critter weekend. We are in love with our new additions!!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Welcome to the Family - Bash and Fiona

Yep - we have gone and done it again. Totally unexpectedly we have expanded our business of ferrets by two! You see - there was this ferret at the pet store (sound familiar??) who I noticed because he was GIANT - really - he is the biggest ferret I have ever seen. I have been watching him for a few weeks - worried about him for two reasons - 1. that no one would adopt him because he is giant and 2. that he wouldn't be in the best health being so big.

So - hubs and I went on our five mile trek yesterday and decided to walk over and take a look at the giant boy. I had looked at him but not gotten him out of the cage so I had no idea what his personality would be like. We got him out and that was it - he was ours. His litter mate was in there - a beautiful and sweet little girl and we have a thing about litter mates - we are not going to leave one behind. We'll take two please.... these little ones were born on November 1, 2014 and are now officially a part of our family.

We walked back home and got a car and headed back to the pet store to pick them up. Once we got them home they went straight to the shower. Once all squeaky clean they were allowed to meet the gang. It was a total non event - after about 30 minutes we had 7 of the 8 playing in their tunnel, wrestling and chasing each other around like they had known each other forever. So far there have been no squabbles and everyone has been interacting like champs. In fact - the new babies were allowed free roam about privileges last night - unheard of with past babies....

As for our new big guy Bash - he was obsessed with food at the pet store - I think because he was bored. He has a limited interest in food since he has been here - there is way too much to investigate and explore. I think he will be slimmed down in no time. I was drawn to him because of his size but the more I get to know him - he has a very similar personality to Finnegan (our boy ferret we lost last year). His mannerisms and expressions are very much the same and I can see Finn in him in the pictures I took today. I am so happy - it puts a little bandaid on the hole in my heart that Finney left.

Little Miss Fiona is bight and happy and very playful. She seems to love being a part of a large brood and has spent time playing with everyone since she came home with us. She has quite unusual markings - white on her chest and my favorite - four white feet. She is quite adorable. She is also immensely affectionate and showers you with kisses when you pick her up.

So - without further ado:

Meet Sebastian - he will go by the nickname Bash:

And the darling Fiona:

Friday, March 27, 2015

Safety Dog

Miss Emma has been going on walks with us each day - most of the time at night so I decided she needed some gear to make sure she is safe. I got her a reflective vest and a light that hooks onto her collar. The light has either a solid or blinking setting. We used them last night for the first time and they worked great.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Phoebe and Kai

Kai - our youngest male ferret is obsessed with making friends with Phoebe - our youngest kitty. Phoebe is a notorious ferret head bonker and isn't all that interested in making friends. Phoebe usually sleeps upstairs with us which gives Kai the opportunity to win her over. Usually the wild child who is leaping and biting and causing chaos - when he sees Phoebe he turns into a mellow little gentle soul. He lays very still and moves very slowly to get closer to her. Sometimes it works and she tolerates him laying close to her. When that happens - the whole time Kai makes the happy ferret noise (dooking). On the days where Phoebe isn't having any part of him she whacks him on he head and then he turns back into wild child and he jumps on her. They are quite fun to watch....

Monday, March 23, 2015

If They Were People...

There is a thing going around social media where you google your name and paste the first image that comes up. So - if my critters were people supposedly they would look like this. This was a ludicrous exercise and in some cases - creepily accurate with how I would envision them....