Minkie and Pixel

Minkie was an angry little ferret when we first met her. She had not been socialized, she came from a nasty fur farm, and she did not trust anyone. She was an agressive biter. She would jump up and bite people on the legs, or bite toes, fingers, whatever she could get a hold of. For the first few weeks, I wore thick knee socks when I played with her, because she could not be trusted.

She was not yet spayed when we got her, so we hoped that the surgery would help mellow her out. No such luck! I think she came home more angry than before! She would be fine one minute and then looking for someone to bite the next.

Over time, with a lot of gentle handling and affection she has turned into a very sweet, gentle ferret. She is very big and fluffy for a female and weighs more than twice that of her friend, Pixel. She gets along well with everyone, including the animals.

There is one tiny catch, though. She randomly poofs! If you have never had a ferret before, they have the ability to give off a pretty intense stink when they are scared, upset, or for no apparent reason. Ferret people generally call this poofing. It's not as intense as a skunk spray and it dissipates fairly quickly, unlike skunk spray, but it's still not pleasant. Some of the large pet store breeders in the U.S. automatically de-scent all baby ferrets before they are sold in pet stores, but many private breeders and those outside the U.S. do not do this surgery.

Pixel is a tiny, little ferret. She only weighs 1 pound. When we first met her, she was a nervous, little ferret. She was also a "fear biter." She would spook easily and then bite anyone in the vicinity. She no longer bites people, but she will attack my cat, Cleo, for no apparent reason. Poor, gentle, Cleo just cries and runs away.

We taught her that humans are friends and now she is cuddly and enjoys being picked up and held. Every day she climbs in my lap and begs me to put a little Ferretone on her belly (a trick I use to distract the ferrets while I trim their nails). She's just adorable.

She also loves to curl up and go to sleep under the blankets and because she is so tiny, she is sometimes hard to find.