Howl
Sex: Male
Age: 3 (September 2020)
Colour: Albino
Totoro
Sex: Male
Age: 3 (November 2020)
Colour: Blaze
Howl and Totoro are a direct rehome and come with their carrier, cage, and everything that goes in them. Here are the notes from their owner.
Howl was born September of 2020. He is a fixed, albino ferret from real Canadian
ferrets, adopted from Big Als. He was named after a Studio Ghibli film’s character from,
“Howl’s Moving Castle”.
He is very energetic and smart. He is very bonded to his brother Totoro and cannot
separate from him. Howl is completely potty trained and gets uncomfortable when his
living space isn’t clean. He enjoys sleeping next to his brother Totoro, but will
sometimes sleep in the hammock. Howl will sometimes play in the litterbox when there
is fresh wood chips because it’s a fun substrate for him. When we got Howl from the pet
store, he was alone without his litter mates for two months. He was 5 months old when
we adopted him. This was during the pandemic. The crate he was in was full of feces
and urine. He had one hammock and a bell ball. The floor was just wiring. He didn’t
receive the care he deserved, and it seemed the people who worked for Big Als were
not used to handling him. The man who gave him to us used gloves to put him in a
cardboard box. When we meet Howl, he had already developed some of his habits and
quirks since 5 months of age is nearing adulthood for ferrets. Luckily, he had potty
trained himself (100%) and we never had an issue with potty training him. He is a very
clean ferret. When we arrived home with him, he was extremely happy and excited to
have space to roam. We did notice, unfortunately, that Howl was nippy and if over-
stimulated, he would nip, sometimes hard. We worried about this, however, he has
been a lot better about biting since a few years ago. The warning signs when he is
about to nip is he will lick you a lot and then have the urge to nibble, I don’t let him lick
me more than a few times before becoming more cautious. Howl is not cuddling nor
affectionate, however, he likes to play and be silly. He also enjoys having human
company and does not mind being handled by people he has not met before.
As for play environment, he went from using plastic cube connectors as a play pen,
which we knew shortly after was dangerous for ferrets (deadly), he soon after had a
Marshall’s play pen to play in with his brother, Totoro. When Totoro was brought home
and adopted from our local pet store, we weren’t sure just how friendly Howl was going
to be. We read online that some ferrets preferred to be alone, and some were ok with
having a crate-mate. We slowly introduced Howl to Totoro by having their crates near
each other and I would swap their bedding so they would get used to each other’s
scent. They had separate play-pen times, as I wanted to wait until Totoro was slightly
stronger and bigger to play with Howl who was already a full-grown, big, fluffy boy.
When Totoro was finally introduced to Howl in the play-pen, Howl seemed excited but
would drag him around by the scruff a lot, so their time spent together was strictly
supervised to avoid injuries. Totoro would squeal and Howl would not back down. Over
time, Totoro learned to play with Howl, and vise versa. Howl stopped dragging Totoro
around when Totoro reached adult size and was able to be more agile and play just as
rough as him. When I saw that their play could go on for longer and there wasn’t
anymore “bullying” from Howl, I would find them snuggling together under the covers in
their play-pen. I then placed them in the same crate together for a few hours at a time to
see if they could be kept together in a smaller space without getting on each other’s
nerves. They were fine. Except, Howl did not like Totoro pooping and peeing in his
home. It took some getting used to, and Totoro becoming better at potty training, in
order for Howl to feel better about his new litter mate. Ever since then, they are the most
loving to each other, and Howl is often seen grooming Totoro by licking his face and
snuggling on him. They are truly inseparable.
Totoro was born in November-December of 2020. He is a fixed, panda-patterned
Marshalls ferret, adopted from Marla’s Pet Store. He was named after a Studio Ghibli
character from, “My Neighbor, Totoro”. Totoro was born with Waardenburg Syndrome
and cannot hear at all. However, he is sensitive to vibrations and can kind of pick up
when you’re walking towards him from someone walking on the floor. For the most part,
he is able to use the potty, but sometimes, he will use corners of the crate if his potty
isn’t to his liking. Potty should be cleaned daily to avoid accidents. The crate had to be
closed off at the bottom because Totoro had too much space and options for places to
go pee/poo and would go everywhere. When the floors had fleece covers, he would pee
all over it. What has worked for him is bare plastic flooring with a comfy place to
lay/sleep, and he will not go pee/poo where he sleeps. Totoro, being a Waardenburg
ferret, also seems to have a developmental delay. Aside from being unable to be 100%
potty trained, he has low muscle formation and is unable to climb up stairs and will
mostly “drag himself” around. When he is excited and playful with his brother, he does
perk up and is able to hop, jump, and run. While he does not always drag himself, this is
something that has occurred and been observed since he was a little kit.
Totoro is non-verbal and rarely will he be heard making sounds like dooking. When he
would play rough with his brother, he would squeal. When he was REALLY excited, he
would dook. Totoro Is very docile and extremely friendly. However, rarely he will nip
gently when over-stimulated or excited while playing. When he was a little kit, he would
climb onto my lap and sleep there. As he got older, he would rather play but would
sometimes lay on my lap or in my arms for 10 seconds before moving onto something
else.
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