Jake and Phoebe

So I got another 2 ferrets... Ruby was still on her own, she is petrified of adult ferrets so I thought she might accept a kit... I really wanted another albino hob but there were no albino kits advertised anywhere near so I eventually decided to phone somebody about 45 miles away near Aberystwyth and we went to see them on the 29th of June 2005. They had beautiful kits. They didn’t look very good (as in healthy), were fed cheap cat food and were thin, not like healthy ferret babies should be. I wanted to get a hob kit and really liked one and Pete fell in love with a beautiful jill- so we ended up with 2 companions for Ruby... Ruby was still scared of the babies! Then she eventually figured that they weren’t going to hurt her and left them alone and after 2 weeks she finally started to play with them! She still got a scare at first when they pounced on her but she was soon war dancing with them. :-) I was sooo happy to see that. :-)

The kits were going to be called Phoebe and Cole (from "Charmed" like Leo and Piper were) but Cole didn’t suit the boy so he ended up being called Jake which suits him really well. :-)

Jake and Phoebe soon started to look a lot better. They were thin and had poor coats when I got them but now they’re little podgy babies and their coats are thick and lush. :-) When they arrived, I had no meat for them, well, I had the portions of chicken for the other ferrets but didn’t have enough to feed an extra 2 mouths. But the dogs had minced beef and they had more than enough so I gave the babies some beef- and they ate it right up like they were starved. :-) They will eat any meat I put in front of them, chicken, beef, lamb... I gave them a chicken wing one day and they were fighting over it, they came out with noises that Leo literally fell out of bed, he was stood in the cage looking all puzzled as to what on earth this noise was! He had the funniest bewildered look on his face. :-) The babies finished the wing as well, they just left 2 long bones but ate all meat and skin off it. :-)

The babies' favourite food is chicken chunks now, they prefer it to the chicken mince. But they also like minced beef. And do not mind dry food. They're just excellent. :-)

The only worry I have now is that it looks like Phoebe may be deaf which may be due to her colour marking. :-( But I admit that they are absolutely beautiful and very photogenic (so this page will end up very big and full of pics). And very nice natured and sweet. :-)

Sooo- the kits are real fun and make me laugh every day. They are stupid like kits are, they are so full of life and jump up at everything just for the sheer joy of jumping. I keep thinking they're like jumping beans (except that jumping beans don't really jump but certainly the erratic movement is what they have in common). :-) They play and play with such energy and are kind to Ruby which is so nice. The kits have now (17th of August) outgrown Ruby a lot. Well, Phoebe is a little bigger and Jake seems to grow into a really big boy. When I had Leo and Piper last year, they both stayed the same size for ages and now Leo is only just bigger than Piper but Jake is a lot bigger than Phoebe. They make a very handsome pair. :-) 

Update August 2007

Jake and Phoebe now live with Kobi.  I took Jade and Kobi in in August 2005 and because Kobi was young and playful and Jade was old and more quiet, I started letting Kobi out with Jake and Phoebe.  Jade died February 2007 and then I added Kobi to Jake, Phoebe and Ruby.  Kobi bullied Ruby and just didn't like her so in the end Ruby went into a group with new girl Honey and Spike who was was sick and wasn't doing well in his group with Leo and Piper.  Spike died June 2007 so now Ruby and Honey are a very happy group and so are Jake, Phoebe and Kobi.