Our sanctuary ferrets got a wheel tonight, they are ready for some fitness!
Crisco's foster momma has outsmarted him, he's trying to throw his food on the floor but can't get past the invisible barrier. 😂
Isis (congo african grey, resident)'s foster auntie, Amy, caught this on video. It's very amusing.
Ghost (sanctuary resident) is an adorable little ferret with adrenal disease. This is one of top 3 diseases that affect companion ferrets as they age, it typically manifests after two years of age. Unfortunately the majority of ferrets in the US come from Marshall Farms, so the genetics and issues are all the same. That company is a massive commercial mill, breeding ferrets to sell to pet stores and to labs for animal testing.
Signs of adrenal disease in ferrets are even hair loss (starting from tail and then moving down body rapidly), increased thirst, difficulty pooping, swollen belly, new aggression towards their bondmates or humans, (in females) swollen vulva or mammaries / vaginal discharge.
Ghost recieved a hormonal implant five weeks ago to manage his condition, from one of our incredible veterinarians, Dr. Chad Given at Hillsboro Animal Hospital in Green Hills. This video shows how rapidly his fur is growing back in now. These implants really extend and improve the quality of life of ferrets with this condition, we highly recommend looking into it if yours is afflicted.
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The roads were decent enough today for me to feel comfortable with going to the store to fetch some things, it's going to freeze again and turn into a giant sheet of ice - yep. Whatever, I don't care - I have toilet paper and Dr. Pepper now.
I decided to be in a video instead of behind the camera, kind of a brave step for an introverted extrovert. I want to make video blogs and stuff - eventually.
These ducks and geese make me happy. Look at them, perfect as they are, with kazoo's on their face. Happy about fresh straw. Happy about a second bowl of pellets being added even though they have a whole troth of them on the other side. Happy about their heat lamps. Happy just to be ducks. Simple, perfect.
I spent about 6 hrs outside tonight tending the birds. (Two aviaries + barn) with one break after four hours to have some ramen noodles and tend the inside crew. It's 9°f with 72% humidity, the wind makes it feel worse. The air hurts your skin. The birds are safe, comfortable and active, their feet and legs are warm to the touch. They are eating 100lbs of pellets per day - birds consume a lot of calories staying warm. The spicket in the barn is frozen shut... last winter they were housed much closer to the house so I was able to pull from the frost proof hydrant easily. It's a longer walk now, but luckily I can pull water directly from the hot water heater in the barn for them. It is still a longer walk to the aviaries and I spilled a lot of water on my overalls. Sammy and Emily (the sheep) are doing well, their bucket is heated, they have lots of straw, hay, their bucket of minerals, pellets twice a day. I bought some power strips and extension cords today and added several more heat lamps and did some more tarping. With the power strips added, if I need to I can add aquarium heaters to bowls, which I will likely need to do tomorrow but I need to figure out which bin I packed them in because some bins aren't cataloged yet. Lots of work. I'm sore, tired and cold. It's going to be a long week.
If I build a barn later on, it will absolutely be a solid structure with heat and air conditioning, close to the house. I would never choose to house the animals in my care so far away. Something else I was thinking of last night, around 3 or 4 am, Kevin heard a rabbit disturbance and I went and checked it out - two buns had gotten into a disagreement and one was basically having the rabbit equivalent of a panic attack and the other had a bite on his ear. Kevin comforted the first while I cleaned up and comforted the second. That's the difference, between sanctuary caretakers that live with the animals as opposed to operating something in another building or only having peopl
